Triomf Clinic opens for destitute residents of Pretoria West

Situated in Vom Hagen Street, at the Suid Afrikaanse Vroue Federasie Margaretha Ackerman Old Age Home, services at the Triomf Clinic are rendered free but it is not a walk-in facility and patients have to make appointments to see a doctor.

The aim is to make medical services available to the community, especially children and the elderly - people who are the most vulnerable when it comes to health problems.

The clinic offers general medical services during the mornings and, in the afternoons, it offers specialist services, including dermatology, a paediatric service, internal medicine, an ear, nose and throat clinic, as well as ophthalmology.

"We work with various social organisations that will refer patients to us," explains Zahn Hulme, head of the Atterbury Trust. The Trust's involvement at certain schools in Pretoria West made it aware of the lack of health care available for impoverished families in the area.

The clinic officially opened at the end of July and patients expressed their gratitude for finally having access to medical services that were previously unavailable to them. They were also visibly relieved over the fact that they would no longer have to wait in long queues to see a doctor.

Listeners of GROOTfm 90.5 were also invited to get involved and generously supported the project. "The doctors' initiative, in collaboration with the Atterbury Trust, is an example of how ordinary South Africans can make the solutions which they want to see, happen," says GROOTfm 90.5 station manager, Etienne Piek.

Atterbury Trust forms part of Atterbury's business philosophy to give back to the community and create opportunities. Apart from its involvement with the Triomf Clinic, it has also been providing bursaries to needy students at tertiary institutions across South Africa for the past 17 years. The Trust also contributes vital monthly financial aid to schools in Pretoria West. It advances arts and culture, with the establishment of the Atterbury Theatre, the National Atterbury Piano competition and its investment in community radio station GROOTfm 90.5, which is a platform to mobilise the public and obtain further support for The Atterbury Trust projects.

"We hope to one day have similar clinics all over the country," concludes Hulme.