South Africa Chapter
AFCNA International Branches & State Chapters!!!
South Africa!
We are so proud of our first International Branch!! For almost 30 years, CFCS Arinda Bothe has provided much-needed foot care for communities near Johannesburg, South Africa. She contacted AFCNA several years ago and shared the challenges she was facing in gaining professional recognition for her work. This sounds familiar to Foot Care Nurses here in the US!!! We continue to work hard to find acceptance in the healthcare community here. But our good work and the power of numbers helped us achieve that goal.
Arinda has worked toward achieving this recognition for years without any support. The AFCNA and its membership wanted to do whatever we could to help. She became a member of the AFCNA Association and worked towards CFCS Certification. As part of that process, she submitted a photographic portfolio demonstrating the quality of her technique and skills. The Certification Committee unanimously agreed that her work surpassed expectations! She then fulfilled the remaining requirements, and Arinda is now a Certified Foot Care Specialist!!!
The first South African Foot Care Training Class
After years of struggling to fulfill her mission… in April 2022, she conducted her first training class!! The pictures above were taken in that class. I think we can all relate to the excitement on the attendees’ faces. They are discovering the fulfillment that our specialty brings to providers and clients. We’ll be learning more about Arinda’s efforts in future postings. Until then… check out her training Website!
elderly elsewhere are of particular concern to us. Care workers here do not have the necessary
training to assist these residents safely but are nevertheless expected to. The mistakes, unsafe services
and techniques are to be expected as they do not undergo the relevant courses for such services.
take courses with us, for they are the corner-stones of elderly care; they simply cannot be expected
to do something beyond their training. With the necessary training completed, our students
A Season of Growth:
The South Africa Foot Care Partnership
Program Update - Summer 2026
It has been too long since we shared an update on this page, and there is a lot to celebrate. Over the past few months, the partner program in South Africa — led by Arinda Botha — continues to bring trained, compassionate foot care to some of the country’s most vulnerable communities, while also building the infrastructure to sustain and grow that work for years to come.
Reaching the Places Others Can’t
The therapists regularly travel to rural areas where the nearest clinic or doctor may be hours away. In these communities, basic foot and wound care can mean the difference between a manageable condition and a serious complication. Even children in these areas have come forward asking for help with wounds, and the therapists are able to offer real relief with the topical care and supplies made available through the program.
Arinda’s team has also brought care directly to church groups, retirement homes, and frail care facilities — often improvising with whatever is on hand, from stacked chairs used to elevate a patient’s legs, to outdoor treatment sessions when a facility has no electricity. What never changes is the diligence and warmth the therapists bring to every client they treat.
Training that Changes Outcomes!
One of the most meaningful parts of this partnership is watching the therapists grow into educators and advocates in their own right. This spring, one of the lead therapists was invited to speak to a room of roughly twenty physicians, physiotherapists, and nurses — sharing a platform with two orthopedic surgeons — about the impact proper foot care training can have on patient outcomes. It’s the kind of recognition that opens doors: several attending physicians have since referred patients directly to the program.
The training program itself has also taken real strides. Arinda’s team is currently working through formal accreditation with South Africa’s Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), a rigorous process that ensures every graduating therapist meets a national standard before they’re certified. It’s slow, detail-heavy work — but it protects the credibility of every certificate the program issues, and after a recent marathon meeting with the accrediting board, the process is now moving forward smoothly.
Building Toward the Future
New partnerships are also taking shape. Arinda has been in conversations with organizations that serve elderly South Africans and advocate for their access to healthcare, exploring a potential “sponsor a grandparent” model that would allow the public to fund footcare treatments for seniors who couldn’t otherwise afford them. Conversations are also underway with a group that supports vulnerable populations more broadly, with an eye toward standing together to help foot care gain wider recognition as an essential part of elder and community health.
A Program Built on Trust
None of this happens without the therapists themselves — women who show up to rural homes with a car full of supplies, who train personalized equipment for their clients, and who treat every patient, from a child with a scraped foot to an elderly client managing diabetes, with the same level of care and respect. Their work is the heart of this program, and we’re proud to support it.
We’re grateful to support this partnership and for everyone who makes it possible. Watch this space for more updates as the program continues to grow.
***Please help to continue training South African women to perform these critically needed service.
And this training will help them have an income to support their families!!!
Please donate today!
