Volunteers from the Body Stress Release (BSR) Outreach program bring much-needed care and therapy to the Khwezi Lokusa School for Special Needs Learners in Mthatha, overcoming challenges and transforming the lives of the children.
Mthatha, South Africa (26 June 2023) – The Khwezi Lokusa School for Special Needs Learners in Mthatha constantly faces enormous challenges. Lack of resources, facilities, finances, assistance and support hamper pupils and teachers at every turn. Life for the learners – many unable to walk or talk – is difficult and desperate.
Twice a year, however, their bodies, minds and spirits get a boost when the Body Stress Release (BSR) Outreach volunteers arrive to provide them with much-needed kindness, care and therapy. And the volunteers benefit from the interaction as much as the children.
In May this year, Louise Larsen, Mishka van Niekerk, Dawn Spies, Susan Kühn and Rolf van der Jagt made their way through the rough Eastern Cape terrain to the school where they met up with Thembisile Gunuza – the school’s resident BSR practitioner. The six of them worked on over 170 learners and teachers in the first two days!
“What an amazing, humbling and joyous experience it is to work with these children,” says Shelly Beach-based BSR practitioner, Louise Larsen. “It is such happy work! BSR is not just a job for me it is a passion and when you are passionate about something, you need to share it.”
A 2018 Carte Blanche Exposè highlighting the neglect at Eastern Cape Boarding schools, brought the plight at this particular school to the attention of the BSR Outreach programme.
Says one of the Outreach organisers, Surè Tredoux: “When we saw the programme, we contacted the school and have been working there ever since. A team of BSR volunteers now visits the school twice a year and gives the children three sessions each over a period of about ten days. The school has very limited resources and the children don’t get much assistance at all. The BSR sessions are the only help they get for their physical disabilities.”
Body Stress Release, a unique complementary health technique researched and developed in South Africa in the 1980s by Gail and Ewald Meggersee, is now practiced worldwide. It offers a gentle and effective way to release stored tension from the body, thereby activating a process that restores and enhances the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Using a very gentle touch, a practitioner tests for stored muscle tension and applies light but precise pressure to release this tension, which takes pressure off the nerve supply, enabling the body and brain to communicate more efficiently. Body Stress Release is a safe, natural technique which is suitable for everyone, from infants to the elderly.
Thembisile Gunuza, who now has his BSR practice room on the school premises, was instrumental in facilitating the BSR Outreach at the school. He trained as a practitioner in 2018 after the modality helped him recover from a stubborn shoulder injury. He left his job as an IT Engineer at a law firm in Cape Town to relocate to the school in 2021 and become a full-time practitioner. He absolutely loves what he does.
“BSR helps the kids so much,’ he enthuses. “There is a great lack of care at the school. These kids have such problems with their bodies – some are stiff as wood. There are approximately 250 learners here and with BSR Outreach almost all of them get treated. It works so well. One child who was in a wheelchair was able to walk on crutches after only three sessions.”
According to Gunuza, the most obvious benefit is how it lifts the mood of all involved.
“The emotional improvement is amazing. The kids love to see us and they all ask for hugs. The physiotherapy room was a house of horrors for them as that was always a painful experience. BSR makes it a happy place.”
Larsen was also touched by the joy with which they were greeted. “The children know exactly who we are. This time there were three practitioners who had been to the school on previous occasions. The children recognised them and received them with hugs and laughter and chattering about their lives and activities. There were children who would not allow anyone else to work on them except the practitioner that they had seen previously. It was hugely moving.
“The whole experience of doing the outreach touched me in places that feel as though they have never been touched before – emotional is too small a word to use for the experience. In a matter of moments I went from wanting to cry as I saw a child being wheeled towards me to wanting to just laugh and smile from ear to ear as I realised that the hearts of these children are just so big and accepting that they make us feel small and inadequate. Their bodies are so receptive – the slightest touch has a huge impact on them. In some instances just gentle releasing and touch is all that can be received by them but when they are taken off our couches the spirit of thanks that shone from their faces was so rewarding that the tears you wanted to cry for them turned to tears of joy at being able to make a small difference in their lives. The release might just last for some for a short while but the memory of us and the work we were able to do in the school I am sure lasts a lot longer. “
BSR Outreach programmes were initially founded by passionate BSR practitioners who wanted to make the therapy accessible to communities around the world. Although Outreach programmes initially focused on working with disabled children from previously disadvantaged communities in rural areas, the programmes have now been expanded to urban areas as well.
There are currently BSR Outreach programmes at:
- Sherwood Park Special Care (Mannenberg) Six BSR practitioners visit once a month
- Home of Hope (Cape Town) Four BSR practitioners visit once a month
- Jo-Dolphin (Malmesbury) Two BRS Practitioners visit once a month
- Heartlands Baby Sanctuary (Somerset West) One BSR Practitioner visits once a month
“We also collaborate with a Foundation in Zambia. In 2018 one of our BSR practitioners went to Zambia and gave BSR sessions to the disabled children. It was so successful that they have subsequently sent three people to do the BSR course in South Africa and they now work full-time for that foundation,” explains Tredoux.
“You will often hear the BSR practitioners on an Outreach say, ‘I feel like I am getting more out than what I am putting in’. We often see very miraculous changes after a BSR session. For example, children with very tightly locked limbs will come back for their second or third session almost completely relaxed, drooling disappears almost overnight, speech and hand/eye co-ordination improves. We’ve also seen huge improvements with walking and stability. These are just a few of the benefits of BSR. It may seem too good to be true, but video, picture and personal evidence don’t lie,” she concludes.
For more information on BSR click here.
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