The Lentegeur Spring Project Introducing a world first in socio-economic and environmental rehabilitation

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The Lentegeur Spring ProjectIntroducing a world
first in socio-economic and environmental
rehabilitation

• This legacy project utilises permaculture design
  principles that will engender environ-mental
  regeneration by bridging the divide between a
  mental health institution and its deeply scarred
  surrounding community.
• In essence the concept of Spring is brought to
  life through healing people and the environment.

Our task is to rediscover ourselves in nature,
Dr Ian McCallum
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The social and economic context of Lentegeur
Hospital

• Lentegeur is in Mitchells Plain, outside of Cape
  Town, an area plagued by poverty, gangsterism and
  drugs.
• With over 750 beds and serving an estimated
  population of over 1,8 million, Lentegeur is one
  of only three psychiatric hospitals in the
  Western Cape.
• The social ills that began during apartheid and
  its policy of forced removals are driving an
  epidemic of mental illness within an area that is
  already degraded socially and environmentally.
• More than one in three South Africans will suffer
  from a mental illness in their lifetimes, yet few
  receive help. The impact on their surrounding
  community is never full quantified.
• Food insecurity in some areas served by the
  hospital affects up to 89 of households.
• Climate change will affect poor communities most
  severely, driving food price inflation and social
  instability.
• In order to overcome these challenges there is a
  desperate need for mental health centres that are
  part of the community and that promote healing at
  the individual, social and environmental levels,
  that reconnect people to the healing power of the
  earth.
• Globally, the model of large institutions, to
  which the insane are removed, has become
  redundant

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Lentegeur Healing a community and its
environment

• The Lentegeur Spring Project will re-establish
  the hospital as the symbol of hope and
  regeneration that is reflected in its name. This
  will be achieved through a hospital greening and
  social development program that involves
• Measuring and minimising carbon, water and
  other ecological footprints
• A radical transformation of the hospitals
  current degraded landscape into a place of
  functional beauty
• Psycho-social rehabilitation and outreach
  programmes to enable food gardening, recycling
  and other initiatives that develop social and
  environmental skills
• A program of cultural and social revival will
  re-establish a sense of community and connection
  to the soil
• The legacy will be to transform the current
  negative perceptions of mental illness
  (surrounded by environmental degradation) into an
  understanding and functional appreciation of the
  healing role an entire community and its
  surroundings can play in socio-economic and
  environmental rehabilitation.

Lentegeur Hospital will become a place of
healing and a living example of how
rehabilitating a degraded environment will help
provide sustenance, sanctuary, healing,
inspiration, education and recreation to a
community ravaged by poverty, addiction and
mental illness.
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Lentegeur phases of development
COST ESTIMATE
PHASE
R50 000
R200 000
R250 000
R500 000
R2 500 000
R500 000
R2 000 000
R2 500 000
TOTAL R 8 500 000
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Managing partner Food Trees for Africa

• FTFA is a Section 21 social enterprise
  established in 1990 and registered with the
  Department of Welfare and the Public Benefits
  Department. FTFA has exemption from taxes and
  duties as approved in terms of Section 18A.

• Started in 1990, FTFA is a South African social
  enterprise whose objectives are
• To contribute to greening, climate change action,
  sustainable natural resource management,
  permaculture food security and organic farming
• To create awareness of the benefits of
  environmental improvement activities amongst all
  communities of southern Africa
• To contribute to local economic enterprise,
  sustainable development, enhanced environments,
  capacity building and skills development.
• FTFA has distributed 4.2 million trees, planted
  140 hectares of bamboo and facilitated the
  creation of thousands of permaculture food
  gardens and some organic farms for the poorest.
  FTFA introduced permaculture, launched the first
  South African carbon calculator and the Carbon
  Protocol.
•  
• FTFA now runs six programmes Trees for All,
  Trees for Homes, Food Gardens for Africa, Bamboo
  for Africa, EduPlant and FEED Africa. These lead
  to healthier lives for impoverished communities,
  more sustainable green environments and increased
  awareness of how human beings impact the planet
  and what can be done to mitigate this.
• The Lentegeur project will encompass all FTFAs
  programmes both on site and as outreach into the
  surrounding community.
•  
• For a complete list of FTFAs history,
  development partners, board members, patrons,
  employees, projects, products, media, financial
  statements and more, please see the award
  winning website www.trees.co.za

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Current Project Partners

• Change Agent
• Sustain Our Africa
• Birdlife SA
• Dr Ian McCallum
• The University of Cape Town
• SANBI
• FENTHUMS_at_COTTONART
• Jon Lijnes Civil Engineer
• World of Books
• 49M
• The Mitchells Plain Festival
• The Department of Environmental Affairs - Working
  for Water Program
• The Western Cape Provincial dept of Agriculture
• Landfill Consult
• Cape Contours Landscape Solutions
• Porky Hefer
• Oscar Peterson

• The Lentegeur Hospital Facilities Board
• Food Trees for Africa
• Riso Africa
• Balance Design Sandra Rippon Environmental
  Consultant
• Bluegreen Consulting
• BEN Bikes
• Fixerfilm
• The Afristar Foundation
• The City of Cape Town
• The Western Cape Premiers 110 Green Campaign
• The Western Cape Dept of Health (A Flagship
  Project)
• PETCO
• The Green Office
• Thrive Magazine
• Cape Nature The False Bay Nature Reserve
• BallStraathof
• Kelpac
• Greenpop
• Media partner Life in Balance

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ConclusionWe hope that you will support a phase
of this project. For more information contact
Jeunesse Park on jpark_at_trees.org.za
This highly visible project will revolutionise
mental health care delivery by turning a place of
rejection and despair into an emblem of beauty
and hope. Lentegeur will also drive
transformation in those communities most affected
by the legacy of apartheid and build resilience
and self-reliance in the face of climate
change. Helping nature to heal the past so that
the future can shine!