Football Foundation netball girls with Ronwell (11 y/o) from Elim Home.

On Friday – August 9th, the Football Foundation took a group of 15 netball girls, aged 12-17, to visit Elim Home.  Elim Home is an organisation that houses and cares for severely disabled children from a young age.

The organisation receives a small amount of funding from the government, but depends majorly on support from individual funders. Most of the children in the Home are wheelchair bound and only a minute amount of the children can communicate verbally.  Once the child and resident of the Home turns eighteen, their parents must take them home in order to care for them. The sad truth, however, is that most parents abandon their child, leaving them in the Home long-term and, as a result, fewer spaces for other young children are available. The Foundation used this Holiday as an opportunity to introduce the girls to others who are less fortunate.

Prior to the Friday trip, the group crafted handmade bracelets that they gave to each child at the Home. It was really nice to see the girls pushing the children around in their wheel chairs and helping to tie bracelets onto each child’s wrist. Alongside the girls, the Football Foundation volunteers also delivered a box with washrags, soap, shower gel, and toothbrushes to the Home. The nurses were very grateful for the donations and were happy to introduce the girls and the volunteers to the residents.

A few also received personal tours of the Home from the more energetic kids! Women’s Day was successful and helped the girls realise how fortunate they are – to have their health, be able to walk, run, play netball and communicate with the world.

Erika Mueller