Our history
Founded in 1996 by Madame Edith Lucie BONGO ONDIMBA, the New Horizons Foundation, recognized as a public utility under Decree No. 000029/PR/MENCF of January 16, 1998, is rooted in the humanist values that have marked the actions of its founder.
Edith Lucie BONGO ONDIMBA
Founder
a brief history
The Fondation Horizons Nouveaux was the first establishment to welcome young people with disabilities. This benchmark establishment in the region and the sub-region has been a real catalyst for social action. Its initial aim was to bring together the resources and skills of the medical and special education sectors to help children with disabilities, orphans and those in distress.
It was an institution devoted entirely to the welfare of children, with the primary aim of providing schooling for intellectually and visually impaired children.
The Foundation pursued a number of actions in favor of children, including: the School project and its 2 specialized centers; participation in the creation and equipping of medical-social centers; medical and local assistance to children in distress; the creation of reception and school supervision centers; and joint programs with European NGOs and international organizations.
26 years serving the disabled
26 years ago, on November 21 1996, the late Madame Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba realized her dream of better inclusion of children with disabilities through the creation of a highly qualified socio-educational structure meeting international standards: the FHN. From the outset, this apolitical, not-for-profit institution’s mission was to look after children with different types of disability: motor, mental, cognitive and sensory.
In order to structure its organization, the foundation had :
- Two medico-social and educational centers, the CNPP (Centre neuro psycho pédagogique) and the CRHV (Centre de réadaptation des handicapés visuels).
- A “center d’aide par le travail” (CAT).
For some ten years, the New Horizons Foundation, which complies with Gabonese legal provisions, has been operating on a regular basis, welcoming over one hundred and sixty children from all over the world, without any social, racial or gender distinction.
More than a social cause, the Foundation has rapidly become a HUB for human exchanges, generosity, culture and specialized education. A pioneering initiative, it has enabled children with disabilities to benefit, like other children, from a legal framework for the protection and promotion of their interests.
Through the New Horizons Foundation, a number of children have been able to dream of a better future, to train appropriately, in particular by expressing their talents, but also to open up the field of possibilities by obtaining scholarships or medical care. The Founder of this illustrious organization passed away suddenly on March 14, 2009.
Before her death, the late Madame Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba had passed on her vision, determination and resilience to her colleagues, who in turn undertook to carry on her work.
Historical landmarks
FHN today: new challenges
Faced with an evolving society, a changing legal framework and the complexity of supporting young people with disabilities in Gabon, it seems appropriate to adapt the Foundation’s project, taking into account our environment and responding as closely as possible to the needs of the young people we welcome.
Having been legally considered an association, the Foundation now enjoys full Foundation status. These changes have not altered our values, as our vocation remains the same: to support young people with disabilities, helping them to achieve a form of independence. So it’s not so much in its objectives and missions that there’s a change, but in the method and actions to be implemented.
The Foundation is reorganizing with the aim of modernizing, adapting and adjusting its service offering. The aim is to offer a multi-dimensional and varied approach to young people’s care. She wants to adapt to the times and be as close as possible to the young people she cares for. From birth to adulthood, the Foundation supports young people with visual, intellectual and autistic impairments.
The Horizon Nouveaux Foundation offers a program combining diagnosis, care, schooling and vocational training. It offers young people and their families a place to talk and reflect, and to make sense of what they are going through.
With a multi-disciplinary team, the Foundation works in the fields of prevention, screening, diagnosis, expertise, research, innovation and medico-social, educational, scholastic and psycho-pedagogical support for children with intellectual and visual impairments and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
It also intends to promote the skills of all its professionals, with a view to constantly upgrading their qualifications so as to better meet the needs of its users; skills to be acquired through training initiatives, but also through constant reflection on the part of teams and management.
To meet these challenges, the Foundation is organized into four main areas:
- Medicoeducational pedagogical center.
- Adapted education division.
- Diagnosis and guidance department.
- Training center.
Vision and plans
With a warm welcome and support
multidimensional and specialized, the Foundation aims to :
– Intervene as early as possible with young people with disabilities;
– Providing comprehensive support for young people with disabilities
– Accompanying the young person on a path of inclusion ;
– Offering everyone: children, professionals, families, a
quality, needs-based support
and potential of the individual to achieve autonomy and constant updating of knowledge in the field of disability;
– Advising, informing, guiding and helping users;
– Contribute to the training of families for
support and accompany them in their posture and questioning ;
– Managing structures ;
– Cooperating with the local environment́ (partners
institutions, local authorities, associations, liberal partners, volunteers);
– Guarantee the expertise, skills and ongoing training of professionals;
– Promote reflection, research and innovation in the support and care of the disabled within the services and establishments for which it is responsible, as well as with other stakeholders.
The Foundation’s values are to adapt its support to the needs and expectations of the young person in question. Re-assessing the individuality, uniqueness and globality of people with disabilities.
