The centre offers boarding facilities for 100 disabled students from ages of 5 to 20.  Children live in family units under the guidance of a houseparent and practise independent living skills.

The Centre also provides rehabilitation with physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.

 

Independent Living

100 physically disabled children stay in our 11 Independent Living Houses:

Sunshine – 14 children 6 to 10 years

Sinqobile – 9 little boys (11-13)

Rainbow – 8 little deaf girls

Roses – 12 senior girls

Paradise – 12 senior girls

Gangsters – 12 senior boys

Famous Five – 12 senior boys

Millennium – 8 senior girls

Whitestone – 9 senior boys

Green Future – 3 KGVI school - leavers (graduates) attending other schools for their ‘A’ level exams

In the independent living units every child is trained to be as independent as their disability will allow.  This is vital for a disabled child in Zimbabwe today who faces the very real threat of being orphaned and abandoned.  Our hope and belief is that every child that passed through KGVI will have something to offer not only to their families but to society as a whole.

Skills include: budgeting /cooking /cleaning / washing / ironing /gardening /participation / confidence building /leadership.

 

Independent living at KGVI

 

Rehabilitation

Physiotherapy………………..Speech Therapy………………..Occupational Therapy                   

Here the children learn to either overcome or to deal with their disabilities.  The rehabilitation programme is an essential part of the total education offered to the children and is a vital partner to the independent living programme.   For instance the OTs work in the houses with the children making adaptations to cooking, cleaning and washing facilities.

• In the physiotherapy department the children learn to control their bodies and are also fitted out with wheelchairs, callipers and crutches.  Not all our children learn to walk and not all will be able to push themselves in their wheelchairs, but even the most disabled child needs exercises to build muscles and to try and give them as natural a movement as possible. 
• Working in conjunction with the independent living programme, the occupational therapy department helps each child to reach their full potential for self-care. 
• In the speech department the children learn to speak clearly and to speak out for themselves.  For those children who will never be able to speak, an alternative form of communication is devised. 

 

Physiotherapy Session                                                                                                                             Occupational Therapy – ‘we made them ourselves!’