The Gentlecare Care Centre in Britstown has received a R75 000 donation from De Aar Solar Power, to assist in their care for terminally ill patients. This dynamic facility, which is situated in the remote town of Britstown in the Northern Cape, will use this donation to upgrade the centre.
Gentlecare help poor terminally ill, frail patients, who need care and don’t have homes or relatives to provide for them. Although the majority of the centre’s inhabitants come from the immediate vicinity and the surrounding towns, the facility has been known to lend a helping hand to community members as far as Cape Town. “If we have a bed, anyone is welcome, depending on their illness and the referral from their local day hospital of course,” explained Ivonne Gentle, the founder of Gentlecare. The age range is as wide as the geographic distances that they open their arms to – from as young as just a year old to as aged as 98; their care and kindness has no limit.
Ivonne Gentle and her husband, Tommie, initiated this dynamic programme of care in 2007, but have been caring for the frail and ill from the poverty stricken rural communities around Britstown since 2000. “The Karoo is known for its extreme climate, which can be hard on the patients who suffer in the stifling heat and freezing cold temperatures, so the air conditioning that the centre can now install, will go a long way to helping make them more comfortable,” said Cornell Moutan the Plant Manager for De Aar Solar Power.
The daily routine includes basic care and essential medical administration and their hopes of building a new ward and ICU where they can care and treat people with dignity has become a reality. “We are currently looking after underprivileged weak patients who have been sent home but in reality have nowhere to go; we take them to the local day hospital and on instruction we give them their medication. We love them, feed them three meals and see that they are warm and comfortable. In short we give them the care that they would usually receive at home,” continued Gentle.
Gentlecare centre is funded by donations and by selling crafts.
For further information contact ivonnegentle@telkomsa.net or 053-6720229 / 0828991632
