Lighthouse History
We will be forever grateful to a number of folk, no longer with us who gave their hearts to assisting our members over the years Among them ...
Marjorie Watson, whose insight into the social needs of visually impaired people prompted her to establish the Lighthouse club for the Blind.
Gerald and Agnes Schermbrucker, who, inspired by Ms Watson's vision, took over the running of the Club and made it their own for many years until Agnes's death, after which Gerald, himself blind, as Manager and President, continued to encourage and mentor similar folk, partially sighted and totally blind, young and old, until he passed away in 1995.
Christine ("Chris") Elliott Guard, who was a most courageous person, despite the tragic loss of mobility through Stills disease at a very young age and loss of sight at the age of 20, when she joined the Lighthouse Club.
Winifred Guard, sister of Chris, who served the Club in many wonderful ways for over 40 years.
Yvonne Archer, who lost her sight through diabetes and, spurred on by Gerald, regained her self-confidence and became a Lighthouse icon as Home Visitor and PRO, inspiring many a new member and initiating regular tea parties. She organised a successful fundraising fete, believed to be the first such event ever undertaken by a blind person.
Cornelia van Tonder, who helped our members in an indirect way. She collected used postage stamps and material off-cuts and donated the money she received from selling them for the purchase of cassette machines, most necessary for blind people to listen to recorded books and magazines, supplied free of charge by Tape Aids for the Blind and the Grahamstown Library for the Blind.
Terry Wilson, who invented the adaptation of Bingo especially for Lighthouse members.
Major Dougie van der Riet lived at Gordon's Bay and was a keen sailor. For many years he organised an annual boat trip in False Bay for Lighthouse members, in conjunction with the Strand Rotary Club who treated members to a delicious braai afterwards. The tradition continued after his death until the boat used was no longer seaworthy (Lighthouse members had nothing to do with its demise!). Since then, Strand Rotarians continue to provide the annual braai and arrange some form of entertainment.
Jim McMurray was for many years the Association's voluntary accountant and set the standard for wise investments. Soon after he eventually took leave of that position, he was unanimously elected Honorary President and continued to watch over financial matters until shortly before his death in 2005.
Sidney Mullins was driver for the former Cape Town branch of the S A National Council for the Blind. He was also always a willing helper with the transport of Lighthouse members and initially helped out in the small office the Association occupied in the same building as the former National Council branch.
Tommy Green, who helped with driving members, at games and social evenings and served on the committee for over 10 years.
Will Parry, who with his wife assisted at meetings and he was a one of the first Bingo callers.
Mr and Mrs Matchett, who were also regular helpers at club meetings.
And our thanks go to those who are still with us for their willing helpfulness:
Joyce Smit, now living in Canada, who for many years did sterling work in the kitchen for Thursday evening meetings.
The Rondebosch branch of the Victoria League took an interest in the Association for a long time, providing a delectable tea spread.
Members of various Peninsula Rotary and Lions Clubs lift members to and from meetings held twice a month at the Claremont Civic Centre.
Lukhanyo History
Based on a longer article written by the late David Nunneley, who was Chairman of the Lighthouse Association for many years. (Lukhanyo is the Xhosa word for "light")
Some time around October 1964, Agnes Schermbrucker raised the thought: why should only the white members of the Lighthouse Club be privileged to have socials and outings and not the many blind black folk who were living out in the townships of Langa and Gugulethu? The idea developed quite rapidly with the Schermbruckers running with it, and after an initial gathering of four blind men and a social worker (Mrs Matetwa) from the townships around their kitchen table in Rondebosch, it was agreed that a' venue should be sought and the first meeting was held at the Langa Community Hall on Saturday 13 February the following year.
The idea was to provide these blind folk from the poor communities of Langa and Gugs with some of the simple things of life that the rest of us took for granted. Investigations had shown the blind folk there were condemned to a life usually restricted to one room where they were left often alone, while all the rest of the family were out to work. This was because the community were unaware of what facilities such as education and disability grants were available for blind people. Very seldom they were "allowed" out to sense the sunlight or to beg on a street corner. So the idea of going out to a party was quite a revelation for the blind members as well as the sighted community.
Meetings were held every 3 or 4 months. with the initial membership of less than ten growing very rapidly. Membership was strictly controlled and limited to registered blind persons. One of the first objectives was to assist them to register so they would qualify for a disability grant. A stalwart member of the team (and Lighthouse secretary) for the first 20 years or more was Winifred Guard. Win diligently compiled a list of all members with their addresses and other details painstakingly written on cards one for each member a task she maintained until shortly before her death over 20 years ago. This card also held a register of when the member attended meetings. As the numbers grew and the magnitude of the need began to be fully appreciated, the frequency of meetings was increased to every two months.
Quite a large number of young members highlighted the need for education, which had been previously neglected. Arrangements were made for the blind children to be sent off to Efata School for the Blind near Umtata. Agnes and often her daughter Daphne would return from a shopping spree with two or three sets of clothing and a whole pile of other comfort and food goodies for a child who was collected, in the early days by Sidney Mullins in the National Council for the Blind car, and taken to the station to be sent off on the long journey, usually accompanied by their mother. All this was funded by the Lighthouse Club for the Blind.
By 1972 the number of members had outgrown the Langa hall and meetings were moved to the Gugulethu Community Hall, a much larger hall and hired from the City Council at a very nominal rental, Rotary Club members with combis and even David's old trailer were used to transport all the goodies for the party. By now the party had expanded to provide a meal of a bread roll with cold meat and fruit or whatever could be scrounged from the many willing donors. Each member also went home with a food and goodies parcel containing tinned food, rice, sugar, etc and soap, toothpaste and similar necessities. The men got a pack of "BB" tobacco, which was added to the ladies' parcels when they felt left out' Many of them were, as we all know, ardent pipe smokers.
From the very early days entertainment was always an important element of the party. The members were most enthusiastic in their singing, especially of Nkosi Sikelele (then bannedl) and Abide with Me. There was also a very good men's choir with the best bass voice coming from Michael Ntulu. From the early days at Gugs a group of "outsiders", including members of the Lighthouse Club, would often go along to entertain the members. Those were the days of great fun until the bad times of 1976. The meetings in Gugs continued for some months after the June unrest, but on good advice it was resolved a move was necessary and the St Thomas's Church hall in Rondebosch became the new venue. When that wasn't available, substitutes were the Claremont Civic Centre, the Claremont and Rondebosch Congregational Church halls, Mowbray Town hall and the Groote Schuur Hospital's Nico Malan Hall. Eventually, in the early 1990's, the Salt River Town Hall, with all its facilities, was found to be ideal.
In his inimitable manner, Gerald Schermbrucker pursued the task of raising funds, and even more so gathering donations in kind, from every source he could muster. This included many Rotary and Lions clubs as well as many corporate donors. Family and friends were all called on to join in, especially in collecting food donations on the Saturday morning. One such large donor was Claremont Woolworths, who would willingly hand over two or three car or station wagon loads of food, on which the sell by date had just expired. Many loads of fresh fruit, rolls, cakes and especially Chocolate Mousse puddings were thoroughly enjoyed by all the Lukhanyo members, Over the years vast piles of clothing were collected and distributed, initially virtually all by the efforts of Agnes Schermbrucker, and after her death in 1985, most of the work of sorting and distribution was done by her daughter Daphne and friends and family. One amusing incident happened when Daph came to go home and could not find her favourite new shoes. They were eventually found on the feet of a Lukhanyo member leaving on the bus, having been "given out" as a gift when Daph took them off as she often did - she preferred running around the hall in bare feet!
Through the 1980's and early 90's membership numbers grew steadily and it became more difficult to control access and prevent hangers-on from joining the party. David took over the task of maintaining the list and register in about 1983 and he managed to persuade his able secretary to handle it all on her computer. This was then used to maintain an ongoing register of who attended each meeting (now every three months). The very willing social workers went to visit those members who did not attend and this proved most valuable in many cases as they were either sick or frail and needed help more than ever. Whatever assistance could be given was provided via the social workers. That included food parcels, clothing or even transport to the clinic or hospital as needed. The register of members was also given to the social workers to help them control access to the buses and prevent hangers¬on from joining it. Indeed, to the present time, the Xhosa social workers have played an important part in the running of gatherings by way of communication, as many members are not fluent in English.
Thanks to the efforts of Peter van Niekerk, the old membership cards have now been replaced with laminated ones bearing the name and a photo of the member.
Special thanks must go to the many people and organisations that have over the years helped to build and maintain Lukhanyo. Besides the Schermbrucker and Nunneley families, many individuals such as Win Guard and her brother-in-law Geoff Fullalove, Mr & Mrs Will Pany and their son Allan, Graham and Cedie Pitt and Tommy Green all played a major role in Lukhanyo. An enormous debt of gratitude also goes to various organisations that have helped over the past 40 years; these include various Peninsula Rotary clubs, the Lions and Leo clubs, the Radius club, the National Council for the Blind, as well as many corporate sponsors.