This organisation is leaving no one behind in its efforts to empower communities

Small scale farmers from the Camphill Village, a fresh producing community led organisation, are not letting anything stand in their way – not even being intellectually challenged. The group is credited with producing some appetizing veggies and baked treats found on the West Coastal area of the Cape. The community, made up of women and men who describes themselves as being very dynamic.

The organisation said it is working with intellectually challenged adults, where they are taught on how to care for the environment and produce quality products in a farm setting. The organisation was established almost 60 years ago, with the aim of giving men and women who are intellectually challenged some purpose in life. “[We wanted] to provide a unique inclusive approach to life for intellectually challenged adults, offering them purpose and dignity,” said the organisation. Apart from the vegetable gardens they produce, the organisation also has a bakery on site where mouth-watering cakes and other treats are baked. “Our enterprises – bakery, dairy, herbal workshop, farm and vegetable gardens,” it said.

The organisation explained that it was originally started as therapeutic workshops for its residents. “[We] grew into income-generating enterprises which now contribute to the financial stability of the organisation. Our products are made with care and have a reputation and following in the greater Cape Town area,” the organisation said. The village provides a safe environment where over 90 people, intellectually challenged
adults, live and work. The idea is to give them the opportunity to experience a meaningful and fulfilling life, the organisation explained.

The village is located on a farm, 40km north of Cape Town and comprises of 13 houses and working Enterprises which facilitate daily interactive work for the residents. All the products the organisation produces are consumed by the very same people who produce them. “We eat what we produce. All the products made in the various enterprises are used to feed the residents.” But some of the products are sold to locals as a form of fundraising. “We have a faithful following of customers who buy our products from a number of outlets across Cape Town. The revenue generated forms part of the income and financial stability of the organisation,” the organisation added.

On the 1st Sunday of each month (except January), there is a market in which all Camphill products are sold. It was Rudolf Steiner who started these villages, which can be found it other parts of the work. He pioneered the Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and new frontiers in science, the arts, sociology, medicine, and curative work.

Editor’s note: What I love about the approach this organisation has taken is the unique inclusive approach which speaks to giving intellectually challenged people some kind of purpose and dignity.

Description: The village provides a safe environment where over 90 people, intellectually challenged adults, live and work.

Editor: Anirlé de Meyer

Project manager: Anirlé de Meyer