iThemba
The name iThemba is used by several South African organizations. The word comes from the Zulu language and means hope .
iThemba teams from Youth for Christ
iThemba is a branch of Youth for Christ in South Africa. Young Christians from South Africa are in several teams in South Africa itself and in Europe and North America . The teams perform with music, dance, theater and personal reports in various institutions and in public places. The program is aimed primarily at young people. The themes of the performances are current problems in South Africa, especially racism and AIDS .
According to their own statement, it is the aim of the team members to “show the young people in different countries that there is hope for their lives”, hence the name.
iThemba Aids Aid and Orphanage
iThemba is a Christian aid organization in South Africa that is primarily committed to helping people infected with HIV and AIDS and caring for orphans who have lost their parents to this disease. iThemba tries, according to its own definition, to also take on the spiritual sponsorship for the AIDS orphans. iThemba collects donations for the Amakhaya street children's home in South Africa, which means “our home” in German.
iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences
The iThemba LABS is a research facility funded by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). It is located in Somerset West , in the Western Cape Province. The iThemba LABS operate an ion accelerator which, in addition to basic physical research, also produces radionuclides for nuclear medicine purposes and has been carrying out proton therapy since 1993 .
The ion accelerator system consists of three cyclotrons , two of which pre-accelerate ions. The two cyclotrons differ in the preceding ion source , so that mainly protons are accelerated in one, and heavier elements up to argon in the other . In a downstream separated sector cyclotron, the ions can be accelerated and receive an impulse of up to 220 MeV / c.
In 2010, iThemba LABS was one of the few plants in the world to put a beam splitter into operation, which is supposed to ensure a greater yield in radionuclide production. Future plans include building a separate facility for radionuclide production in order to be able to carry out more basic physical research at the main accelerator.
