Programs

We offer a range of programs to help every child

We offer residential care and protection services to children from birth to six years in need of care. This programme includes reception and temporary safe care pending placement. During the period of stay re-unification services are implemented to ensure re –integration of children with their families and community of origin.

Children are placed in age groups inside the home, from 0 to 18 months: 15 children, 18 months to 3 years: 15 children; 3 to 4 years: 25 children and 5 to 6 years old: 25 children. Our 25 Caregivers are the driving force of this programme as they are the primary cares of our children from bathing, dressing, feeding, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry for them.

Typically parents teach their children skills to overcome life challenges, thus our psychosocial programme is structured to meet ongoing emotional, social and spiritual needs of the children in our care. It is coordinated by our in-house social workers and focuses on rendering psychosocial support through play therapy, basic counselling, and structured developmental assessments. Developmental assessment of each child is done and assessment results analysed to inform the activities that can be facilitated by the social workers to meet each child’s needs.

There is a say_ ‘a healthy child is a happy child’, thus the focus of this programme is to promote healthy development and improve the standard of health and care in an overcrowded environment such as Bethany home. This programme is coordinated by our in –house Health Care Practitioner (Nurse). It is implemented on two intervention stages: 1). Primary Intervention, 2) Secondary Intervention.

The former encompasses:

  • Daily health checks and preparing protocol of care for sick children,
  • Providing a daily balanced 5 nutritional meals inclusive of tea time and afternoon snack,
  • Immunisation done monthly as per needs,
  • De-worming of children as prescribed per age group,
  • Control the milestone of childhood for infants and toddler,
  • Prepare and manage proper administration of ARV’s and TB treatment for affected children.

The latter level of intervention includes referring children to hospital for further examination, and at times children who are very sick do get admitted.

It is our belief that all children have the right to grow and develop within a context that is supportive of their development. Research findings continue to substantiate of the distressed the belief that, without this critical foundation, a child’s later participation and inclusion in his/her society is severely hampered.

Therefore Bethany Home embraces a holistic and innovative approach that meets the needs children in our care. Our ECD programmes have   main objectives adapted from Erickson stages of development that fits our 4 age groups (See attachment: ECD Log Frame).   The Pre-school group has a more structured programme, learning facilitated using various themes (themes are designed to be facilitated from known to unknown and concrete to abstract concepts). The 5 to 6 years old are taught Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills Monday to Friday, 4 hours per day. Side by side with play therapy organised by Social Worker to help children normalise after the trauma of separation with their family, many positive changes have been noticed following a placement of a child in Bethany.

Every Cent Counts

Help by giving children in need the start to life they deserve

Visit us to see for yourself

1 Gerald SpilkinStreet
IkhweziLokusa Complex Ikhwezi Township
Eastern Cape