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Henlê on Klip

Henlê on Klip

Huis Horison’s own little chicken village.

After careful reflection and consultation with various individuals who have experience with such farming, it was decided to develop a Social Enterprise and produce our own Free range eggs at Huis Horison.

It will be a place for our residents and visitors alike to watch and enjoy the chickens, and the therapeutic value thereof.

We are deeply grateful for the support of Remgro and Fynbos Trust, who made it possible to launch the project.

Village Life at Huis Horison

Despite providing residents and day workers with a meaningful life we also strive to normalise their lives further through our approach to establish a Village and not an institution.

Every second Friday we have a Village Friday where residents and day workers can watch movies (with popcorn), have their nails and hair done in our parlour, be spoiled with coffee and cake in our Café, buy necessary items such as coffee, sugar, treats, ice cream and toiletries in the Tuck Shop, have a few drinks with their friends in the alcohol-free pub or just participate in activities such as cricket, a fashion parade or talent competition. They are provided with the opportunity to make decisions, experience a bit of normality in their lives and even to make mistakes, all in a safe, non-judgmental and inclusive environment.

Another aspect that contributes to the uniqueness of Huis Horison is that we follow an Ecotherapy approach. Regular fishing expeditions to our own dam, forest bathing, hiking expeditions in and around Stellenbosch, visits to Stellenbosch Animal Welfare Society are but a few of such interventions.

The Ecotherapy Approach at Huis Horison is rooted in the Human-Nature Relationship and the impact thereof on health. A study, The Human–Nature Relationship and its impact on Health: A Critical Review (Seymore, V, Frontiers in Public Health, Nov 2016, Vol 4, Article 260) found that “During the last century, research has been increasingly drawn toward understanding the human–nature relationship and has revealed the many ways humans are linked with the natural environment. Some examples of these include humans’ preference for scenes dominated by natural elements, the sustainability of natural resources, and the health benefits associated with engaging with nature”. The study continues (p. 5-6) with the inference that the Human-Nature Relationship has an impact on:

  • Physical Health: “Though it is widely established that healthy eating and regular exercise have major impacts on physical health, within the past 30 years research has also identified that exposure to nature (e.g., visual, multisensory, or by active engagement) is equally effective for regulating our diurnal body rhythms to ensure physical vitality.” The physical advantages found in interaction with nature includes reduction in pain, quicker healing after sickness, improvement in neurological- and circadian rhythms due to exposure to sunlight, “earthing yourself, i.e. physical contact with the earth’s surface, regulates your daily rhythm and walking in a forest decreases blood pressure.
  • Mental Health: The effect of nature is mostly seated in the healing effect thereof on the well-being of a person due to his/her affinity with nature. What is important here is natural movement, natural sounds, interactive activities in a green environment (especially for children, and natural forms.
  • Social Health: In this regard Seymore (p6) is of the opinion: “As studies have shown, the presence of green space can promote social cohesion and group-based activities, aspects that are crucial for maintaining social ties, developing communities, and increasing individual’s well-being (e.g., horticulture and ecological restoration). Examples of findings include usage of outdoor space exponentially increases with number and locality of trees, children’s activities in green spaces improves social development as well as accessibility to green spaces enhances social bonds in communities.”

From the above short description of our approach, it should be clear that Ecotherapy as therapeutic intervention is of immense importance for the Quality of Life (QL) of, not only our residents, day workers and personnel of Huis Horison, but for the whole community.  All people, also people with an Intellectual Disability (ID), have a right to a quality life. To maximize, or even just promote, QL for persons living with a disability places unique challenges on personnel and should be purposedly and intentionally planned and organized.

Henlê on Klip

As a perfect fit to our Ecotherapy offering, the decision was made to embark on Free-Range Chicken Egg farming. There is an area of 288m2 developed for this, within easy reach for visitors and residents (even those wait a physical disability) and near our nursery and coffee shop and thrift shop.

Our Chicken Village will be called “Henlê on Klip”. We believe the project will have a huge impact over a broad spectrum of Huis Horison’s activities, the reason for our existence, the individuals at Huis Horison and the broader community of Stellenbosch.

Project Impact

We aim to develop a work area that is specifically suited for people living with autism. The structure and routine associated with such a farming venture is ideally suited for such residents and day workers as they are dependent on a fixed daily routine and structure.

These specific residents and day workers can in general also associate better with animals than with humans and due to the nature of the project will spend a lot of time outside, with animals, and in nature (benefiting from the Human-Nature Relationship as described above).  Further on the topic of Ecotherapy it was found that therapy chickens reduce loneliness and isolation (something people living with autism are prone to) and addressing both will contribute to healthy mental health.

The caring for chickens provides for the opportunity to nurture, it provides a reason to get up in the morning and provides for the opportunity for a daily routine which reduces the symptoms of anxiety.

Visitors Welcome

We want our visitors and the greater Stellenbosch Community to share in the enjoyment of this lovely project. We invite mothers to bring their children to experience the Village, and even kindergarten schools to visit and share in the therapeutic value.

We plan a few benches around the perimeter of the area so that residents and day workers not directly involved with the work area, to visit the area and experience the activities of the chickens and how they operate. The same applies to members of the community visiting the Village. We invite sponsorships for putting up benches for our village.

Social Enterprise

It is critical as a non-profit company to be financially independent of Government funding (there is an imminent threat of reduction or termination of grants), therefore the importance of a social enterprise for Huis Horison.

Visitors are invited to back our enterprise by visiting Henlê on Klip, and support Village Thyme next-door where they can enjoy coffee, meals as well as a space to buy the handmade products from Huis Horison’s work areas, or a second-hand treasure amongst the thrift items in the shop.

In closing
Huis Horison is convinced that, not only does the project make financial sense due to the reduction in costs and generation of income, but it will go a long way in the furthering of Huis Horison’s continuous strive to ensuring there is ‘dignity of disability’, something Prof Ivan Brown from the Universiteit van Toronto uses and summarizes beautifully as ‘Ensuring that people with disabilities are valued persons in all the environments in which the individuals live’. Not only will we create the required new work area, but we will enrich the working experience of everybody involved with this

Lastly, but certainly not the least. We hope and believe that by producing our own free-range eggs we would save 250 hens from a possible life of confinement somewhere. Somewhere, somebody is going to sell less eggs thus reducing the need to keep chickens in a battery, while our hens can enjoy the daily Village life at Huis Horison. We believe in, and embrace the five freedoms of animals and it will always be foremost in our handling of the project:

  • Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition,
  • Freedom from fear and distress,
  • Freedom from discomfort,
  • Freedom from pain, injury, or disease, and
  • Freedom to express normal behaviour

In preparation

Our project manager for this phase of the project, Pieter, went to great lengths (and had great fun!) to create a scale-model to illustrate the concept of the chicken village. It is charming, and a must-see. We still need sponsorship for signage, fountain, flags, benches and invite interested parties to reach out to bemarking@huishorison.org.za.

Thank you to our sponsors

We would like to express our greatest of thanks to our sponsors Remgro and Fynbos Trust for making this project possible.

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