I established my paediatric Occupational Therapy practice in rooms at our home, in Chartwell, in 1990. Our young family had been living on farms around the country, and in remote areas of Lesotho, as my civil engineer husband was gaining site experience. Our peaceful country homes had taught me about how living close to nature, and living within a caring community, is important. I learned about how the body takes strain when we lose our connection with nature and with natural processes. We enjoyed the taste of rural living, and when we returned to Johannesburg, we were keen to continue living in the country. So began our life in Chartwell, where we share our space with guinea fowl, wild hares, porcupines, hedgehogs and many species of birds.
It warms my heart to see children who come to our therapy rooms testing their gross motor skills on the play equipment in the garden, and learning to be gentle, and to be still, as they feed the rabbits.
I share my therapy rooms with a wonderful multi-disciplinary team of neurodevelopmental physiotherapists.
Adjacent to the therapy rooms, Kingdom Mtombeni manages an organic vegetable garden, Chartwell Veggie Patch, which is certified through the Bryanston PGS. Visitors are welcome to stroll through the gardens and to purchase herbs and other produce directly from Kingdom. We offer courses on growing produce organically. Children are encouraged to learn about growing their own food, and we have a small children’s vegetable garden and an earthworm garden which they can explore.
