Johannesburg, 07 Jan 2014
The South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind (SAGA) has received a large donation of office furniture from Sage 300 ERP, Sage CRM and Sage ERP X3 technology and solutions provider Lorge, which relocated from Woodmead to new offices in Waterfall Office Park.
"Lorge's office furniture donation replaced SAGA's very old furniture, which in turn was donated to another charity organisation who were in dire need of furniture," says Morag Cardoso, SAGA's Interim Executive Director. "Our 50 staff members are very grateful for the office furniture. Some of the furniture will be used in our Service Dog training centre to train our Service Dogs on how to open and close cupboards, which is an essential skill for the dogs who service the physically impaired."
The only organisation of its kind in South Africa and Africa at large, SAGA does not receive any funding from the government and relies solely on donations and sponsorships from the corporate and private sectors to meet its ongoing objective of improving the mobility, independence and overall well-being of visually-impaired people and other persons with disabilities.
Founded in 1953 by Gladys Evans, SAGA this year celebrated giving 60 years of independence, mobility, companionship and dignity to the visually and physically impaired. SAGA is the 10th oldest guide dog school in the world, and one of the founder members of the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools. There are more than 90 schools worldwide.
SAGA has its own in-house breeding kennel and raises approximately 100 puppies a year. Every attempt is made to ensure that all breeding stock is Hip Dysplasia free as well as free from any other hereditary diseases. Certain breeding lines have proved to be very successful. Labrador and Golden Retrievers most consistently exhibit the desired characteristics: stability, a degree of initiative, docility, an ability to take things in stride, and a stubbornness that helps them through difficult situations.
The pups are placed with their Puppy Raising families at around seven weeks of age and are socialised as much as possible and taught appropriate behaviour in the home as well as in public. They are also taught basic obedience and how to walk on a leash.
The dogs return to the training centre at approximately 12 months and then they are allocated to a Guide Dog Instructor or a Service Dog Instructor, who does the final polishing of the dog's training. On the Guide Dog side, this includes obedience training, obstacle work, responding to commands, avoiding obstacles and to watch for traffic when crossing roads. On the Service Dog side, this includes teaching the dog to to retrieve, and push and pull skills, which would ensure they can open and close doors and cupboards, and switch lights on and off.
Since 1953 to date, 1 457 Guide Dogs and 97 Service Dogs (since 1993) were trained by SAGA, and there are currently approximately 350 Guide and Service Dogs working throughout South Africa.
It only costs a visually or physically impaired person R105 to receive a Guide or Service Dog (R5 for the dog, R100 for training including three weeks accommodation, meals and all equipment). However, the true cost of training a Guide Dog is R80 000. Add to this the fact that SAGA accepts full responsibility for a Guide Dog for its entire life. Furthermore, should the owner not be able to cover all the costs for the care of the Guide Dog, then SAGA is prepared to assist financially, so, without any government support or funding, SAGA welcomes financial support and infrastructure donations.
"We are very proud to have been able to donate our office furniture to such a worthy cause," says Carlien Thomson, Lorge's Chief Financial Officer. "We would like to thank SAGA for the difference they are making to not only the visually impaired's lives, but also the physically impaired, and we appeal to other corporates to bear SAGA in mind when next they are looking for a not-for-profit organisation to donate to."
Share