Cape Mental Health (CHM) kicked off its 30th community kite festival with a day of fun and colourful kite flying for young learners from creches and schools in Heideveld in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Each year the organisation hosts the event to raise funds and awareness about mental health, which the organisation says still carries a lot of stigma. CHM offers mental health services to people with mental health disorders and their families.
This year’s kite festival theme is #HopeOnAString and will be hosted at Melkbosstrand Beach on Sunday, 27 October.
CHM works in different communities, which include Heideveld, Athlone, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Mitchells Plain. According to the organisation, they serve about 50 000 people and their families a year. There are 22 intervention programmes with 138 staff.
Raising awareness for mental health
On Wednesday, the sound of children’s laughter and screams could be heard across the sports field as they played games and enjoyed treats while surrounded by brightly coloured kites.
CMH spokesperson Barbara Meyer said, “Bringing the kites into the communities works well because many kids do not get to see or experience kites.”
“Events like this raise awareness but also make the government and businesses realise that mental health needs more attention. When it comes to mental health awareness in our communities a lot more needs to be done,” she said.
She said funding remains one of CMH’s biggest challenges. CHM is dependent on donations and fundraising. The kite festival used to be a two-day event, filled with celebrations and outreach programmes. But budgets have shrunk, and some services have had to be cut.
CMH’s care centres manager Mpilo Khumalo said the organisation also supports learners with profound to severe intellectual disabilities. “In some cases you find that a learner with an intellectual disability also has a physical disability.” Khumalo said the funding crisis has limited the support they are able to give to these learners and their families.
CMH charges R580 per month for this service but families who cannot afford it are not turned away.
“Out of the three centres, we do not even get 50% of the fees on a monthly basis. But we understand that we are the drivers of the right to education for children with intellectual disabilities, so no one should be excluded. We provide support despite not getting contributions from parents,” said Khumalo.
This article was first published by GroundUp.
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