Durban - Significant changes have come to the lives of disabled people in the Cheshire Homes facility at Merebank – one of five in Durban – after repair work on taps, tiling, toilets, pipes and showers. Electric wiring was also brought up to standard.
Water had constantly leaked from the toilets and showers, into the rooms at the former police training centre, said social worker Samara Hughes.
“We had taps not working. They renewed our taps. It’s much easier now with a lever tap. We really appreciate it,” wheelchair-bound Khemraj Bhola, 58, said of Sibaya Casino and Sibaya Community Trust’s contribution.
He has been there for two years after having suffered a stroke.
He said it was “great” to use these new facilities after participating in ball games after which he needed a wash.
Margaret Thomas, 52, who suffered a spinal injury after a fall at home and is also in a wheelchair, said everything was now brand new.
“It’s easier. We don’t need to suffer now to open the taps and to open the toilets. The home was getting old. Everything is right now,” she said.
She has lived there a year and eight months, having moved in from her home nearby in Wentworth.
“Back home there was no space. The house was small. I didn’t have enough place to move.”
Amos Buthelezi, 40, who was born disabled and has lived at the Cheshire Homes sanctuary for 16 years, said it helped a lot that some toilets were now bigger. However, he said, there were still one or two leaks.
Sibaya Casino and Sibaya Community Trust also helped to improve their access to part of the property by changing a window in their lounge into a door. The lounge was noticeably absent of seating because most residents were in wheelchairs, Hughes pointed out.
At a ceremony at the centre yesterday, Sibaya Casino and Sibaya Community Trust chairperson Vivian Reddy said: “When we heard of the poor state of the residents’ rooms, flooring, walls, the ablution facilities not being conducive for the use by paraplegic residents, only one shower and one bathtub which catered for more than 35 residents resulting in huge time delays for the daily activities, we felt it our duty to make life comfortable for our already challenged people.
“Our spend of more than R1 million to renovate this 28-year-old facility has brought a huge amount of joy to the residents and uplifted the morale and self-esteem of residents and staff.”
Reddy said his organisation firmly believed that service to man was the work of the divine and nothing was asked for in return.
The Independent on Saturday