Blessed Gérard's Malnutrition Clinic

Sundumbili and Mandeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa · 15 March 1993–12 April 2026

The clinic was initiated within the young Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard by its founder member, the medical practitioner Dr Paul Titus Zakhele Thabethe, and his wife Nokuthula Marigold Thabethe, a qualified nursing sister. It combined immediate nutritional assistance with medical care, prevention and practical education for families.

How the original programme worked

Contemporary project documents written in 1993 describe regular special consultations for malnourished children. The children were examined, weighed and registered, treated medically where necessary, and their progress was documented. Parents and carers received instruction in basic health care, nutrition, hygiene, immunisation and disease prevention. Where poverty caused malnutrition and breastfeeding was insufficient or impossible, milk, baby food and protein-enriched porridge were supplied free of charge.

Opening15 March 1993

Original venueDr Thabethe's surgery and, in the surviving historical account, St Benedict's Roman Catholic Church Hall, Sundumbili

Original timeSaturdays at 10 a.m.

Age groupChildren from birth up to five years

Contacts named in 1993Dr Thabethe, Father Gérard and the sisters at the local clinics

Formal conclusion12 April 2026; food assistance continued through the Relief Fund

More than food relief

The German project description, prepared in March 1994, stressed that hunger relief must do more than fill stomachs. It linked childhood malnutrition to poverty, unemployment, the social wounds of apartheid, inadequate education and disrupted family life. Its four-part response was medical assessment and treatment, health and nutrition education, prevention and social-work referral, and targeted free supplementary food. The programme was conceived without a fixed end date.

Three decades of documented service

A 1995 report by Nokuthula Thabethe recorded 33 infants in the programme, including seven sets of twins. Consultations were then held fortnightly, with monthly weighing, medical examinations, nutrition advice, immunisation guidance and referrals to state social services.

Later annual reports show that the clinic continued well beyond the previously documented year 2013. In 2014 it recorded 1,514 consultations. In 2021 it supplied 30,330 specialised food servings in 337 consultations for 59 malnourished children. The latest full annual report records 59,694 specialised food servings and 703 consultations for 100 children in 2023, followed by 21,610 servings and 149 consultations for 25 children in 2024.

Conclusion and continuation through the Relief Fund

On 12 April 2026 the Governing Council of Blessed Gérard's Care Centre formally concluded the Malnutrition Clinic as a separate service. This did not end food assistance. From then on, nutritional and emergency food support has been provided through the Blessed Gérard's Relief Fund, allowing help to continue within the broader emergency-relief programme.

Historical record and privacy

Historical photographs and films are preserved in the project archive. Images showing identifiable patients, especially children, are used only with particular care and where publication is ethically and legally appropriate.

Primary sources: HUNGER.SAM and HUNGER_N.SAM (7 May 1993); FEEDING.SAM and FEEDZULU.SAM (26 July 1993); FEEDENGL.SAM (27 July 1993); FEEDGRAP.SAM (7 September 1993); PROJHUNG.SAM (9 March 1994); BBG Newsletter No. 7 (Christmas 1995); Annual Report 2014 (publication.pdf); Annual Report 2021 (nl-41.pdf); Annual Report 2023/24 (Newsletter.pdf); historical project page; Clinic-chart.pdf; and the BGCC Governing Council decision of 12 April 2026, confirmed by Father Gérard Lagleder.

Historical archive page: The original programme description has been retained and supplemented with details recovered from contemporary source files, later annual reports and the final Governing Council decision.