The Lentegeur Spring Project
Introducing 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
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
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 hospital’s 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.”
Lentegeur phases of development
PHASE:
COST ESTIMATE:
• Permaculture Design Process - Survey, Analyse, Design, Present, Engage Participants,
Implementation and maintenance plans
Phase 1
R50 000
• Outpatients Department (OPD) - A biodiversity garden for the entrance to OPD: Useful
and beneficial plants, Disabled access, Outdoor meeting
Phase 2
R200 000
• Ward Gardens - Patients will assist in creating unique and individual designs according
to their needs and aspirations
Phase 3
R250 000
• Market Garden and Nursery - A market garden will be developed and run by
agriculturally trained In-patients
Phase 4
R500 000
• Verge Gardens - Enliven dead spaces by connecting functional areas, create avenues,
Contribute to a healing green space
Phase 5
R2 500 000
• Welcoming Entrance - Pedestrian pathways, seating areas, clear signage, sensually
stimulating landscapes
Phase 6
R500 000
• Youth and Day Centre - Incorporating facilities for the use of the broader community
eg Skate park, Trim & Jungle Gym, Sensory garden
Phase 7
R2 000 000
• Water Management - Contribute aesthetic, buffer reliance on boreholes, provide income generating
R2 500 000
generating opportunities
Phase 8
TOTAL: R 8 500 000
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 FTFA’s history, development partners, board members, patrons,
employees, projects, products, media, financial statements and more, please see the
award winning website: www.trees.co.za
Current Project Partners
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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 Premier’s 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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Change Agent
Sustain Our Africa
Birdlife SA
Dr Ian McCallum
The University of Cape Town
SANBI
FENTHUMS@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
Conclusion
We hope that you will support a phase of this project. For more information contact
JeunessePark on jpark@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!”