UCT Students Health and Welfare Centres Organisation (SHAWCO)

UCT Students Health and Welfare Centres Organisation (SHAWCO)

In the early 1940s, students from the University of Cape Town began to visit some of the poorer communities of the Cape Peninsula. They recognised that the current health care provision in such areas was inadequate and that there were a huge number of sick and needy people without access to adequate treatment. In 1943, as a result of this conviction and subsequent action,

The Students Kensington Clinic was established. Each Friday, students from the university would travel to Windermere/Kensington, where they would provide free health care services. The clinic operated from the African Methodist Episcopal School and was staffed by student volunteers, although it was not yet officially supported by UCT. Andrew Kinnear’s name must be mentioned as the pioneering student, working closely with Dr Selzer, the first doctor of the organisation, who later became the Honorary Life President of the organisation.

In 1947, the clinic’s constitution specified the aim of providing “free social and medical services in the Kensington area by means of regular clinics”. As is shown below, this continued when the clinic eventually became SHAWCO, the Student Health and Welfare Centres Organisation. In 1954, it became a registered welfare organisation and was officially recognised by the university.