Arisen Women

Mitchells Plain is one of Cape Town's largest townships — a community that stretches across the Cape Flats, created under apartheid's Group Areas Act, and home to hundreds of thousands of people living with the consequences of poverty, inadequate infrastructure, high rates of gang activity, substance abuse, and GBV. It is also a community with an extraordinary tradition of self-organisation, and Arisen Women Foundation is one expression of that tradition.

Founded in January 2001 by Chantal Scoble and Sheila Scoble and registered as an NPO in February 2002, Arisen Women's founding conviction is that women — when equipped with knowledge, skills, and support — become ambassadors for their communities. Not just recipients of services, but the people who carry change outward. The caregiver training programme makes this literal: women come to Arisen Women for counselling or training, and later become mentors to other women.

Arisen Women holds formal partnership agreements with both the Western Cape Department of Health and the Western Cape Department of Social Development — enabling it to deliver accredited health care training and registered community-based social welfare services with government support.

What They Offer

Community Home-Based Nursing Care Arisen Women provides trained caregivers to respond to the needs of bedridden, terminally ill, and seriously ill people who are unable to care for themselves — visiting people in their homes, providing basic nursing care, wound management, hygiene assistance, and emotional support. In Mitchells Plain, where many families cannot afford private home care and where hospital access involves significant barriers, this service is critical for elderly, disabled, and chronically ill community members.

Accredited Caregiver Training — Two-Month Course The caregiver training programme is one of Arisen Women's most distinctive offerings. Conducted over two months, it covers both theory and practical training in primary health care and community-based nursing. It is accredited — meaning graduates receive a recognised qualification. The training creates employment: trained graduates are able to earn a salary by caring for others in the community. Most participants are women; some men have also completed the training and entered the field. Training is complemented by ongoing support, capacity building, and mentorship — ensuring that caregivers are not left unsupported in difficult situations.

Chronic Dispense Unit — 1,900+ Parcels Per Month Arisen Women operates a chronic dispense unit that distributes approximately 1,900 medication parcels per month to community members managing chronic conditions — primarily hypertension (blood pressure) and diabetes, both of which are endemic in the Mitchells Plain area. This reduces the burden on overstretched public health facilities and ensures continuous medication access for those who cannot easily travel to clinics.

Nutritional Support Nutritional support is provided to community members whose health conditions are compounded by food insecurity — recognising that medication without adequate nutrition is insufficiently effective, and that hunger is one of the most direct barriers to recovery and wellbeing.

Youth Lifestyle Modification A youth-focused programme addressing lifestyle, health choices, and risk behaviour — designed for young people in Mitchells Plain who are navigating the pressures of gangs, substance abuse, early sexual activity, and poverty. Prevention-oriented and life-skills focused.

Psychosocial Support and Counselling Arisen Women provides counselling and psychosocial support across its programmes — including for caregivers themselves through the "Care for the Carer" programme, and for women accessing the foundation's services more broadly. This is the dimension most directly relevant to GBV survivors: counselling in the community, by people embedded in and trusted by the community.

Care for the Carer Caregiving is emotionally and physically demanding work — and caregivers, particularly women caregiving in under-resourced communities, frequently experience vicarious trauma, exhaustion, and their own need for support. Arisen Women's "Care for the Carer" programme specifically addresses caregiver wellbeing, reducing burnout and sustaining the community's care infrastructure.

Arisen Women Foundation: 4 Hugo Naude Street, New Woodlands, Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. Phone: 021 372 6839. Email: admin@arisenwomen.org.za. Founded 2001 by Chantal Scoble and Sheila Scoble. Partners: WC Department of Health and WC Department of Social Development.