Physical Health South Africa Project #46210

Life Journey: Disability in Rural South Africa

by Utho Ngathi Disability Projects

Life Journey: Disability in Rural South Africa

Project Report | May 29, 2022
Life Journey: Disability in Rural South Africa 6th Report

By Rendani Nthangeni | Project Coordinator

Being able to find a suitable school for a child with severe disabilities is quite a difficult task, which is worse when both parents are young and unemployed. Some parents of children with disability finds themselves having to choose between sending the child to a school where all disability grant will go towards the school fees or rather keeping the child at home so that the disability grant can help sustain the family. Thankfully, for the 5 year old Lwenziwe and her family, being a beneficiary of the Life Journey programme has helped a great deal. Through GlobalGiving donations, she has been enrolled at a preschool for children with her specific disability, Life Journey funding pays for her monthly school and transport fees. The children at this preschool receives the best care and support they can get. Her mother as the primary care giver also gets to join a support group for parents whose children are living with the same disability, this goes a long way in the psychosocial development, care and support of the family at large.

Mr Zakes is one of the organisation’s longest beneficiaries, who recently through the GlobalGiving and the Life Journey programme support has started a small business where he sells cleaning products. He goes door to door on his wheelchair selling and marketing his products to individuals and schools in his neighbourhood. Life Journey programme was able to fund for his start-up business so that he may be independent and be able to increase his household income to support his family of 5 people all depending on him.

We are once again thankful for the continuous support of this programme, we are only able to render these services to our beneficiaries through your giving and kindness.

- The Utho Ngathi team.

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Jan 31, 2022
Life Journey: Disability in Rural South Africa 5th Report

By Rendani Nthangeni | Project Coordinator

This year has started on a very good note for 2 of our young beneficiaries whom through various challenges, including their disabilities have seen them dropping out of school. Thankfully through the funding and support from GlobalGiving and Life Journey campaign, these two young men have been successfully enrolled back to school. In our previous report (dated October 2021) we mentioned the challenges young Mfanafuthi was facing and the intervention of Life Journey Campaign. Well at this point we are happy to update that as of January 25^th 2022 he has been enrolled back to school with our full support. He was so excited on the day that he couldn’t even wait for school transport to pick him up, he walked all the way to school and arrived an hour earlier than everyone in his class.

Lunga is our recent Life Journey Campaign beneficiary, a charismatic young man with so much potential that just needed people to support and see his abilities. Being at a schooling system that was not inclusive enough for his form of disability saw him dropping out at the time. However as of this year, through the Life Journey Campaign interventions and support, Lunga has enrolled at a school where he will be attending late afternoon to evening classes. During the day, he works at our Inclusive Vegetable Farming Project in Soweto where he shows his passion for gardening and growing fresh organic vegetables that is sold to the local community. Living with disabilities and still be able to participate in the local community’s economic development has been a great form of awareness to fight stereotypes and stigma surrounding young persons with intellectual disabilities.

No matter what form of disability, background and challenges, the words of the late Nelson Mandela when he said; “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” still rings true. We are thankful for continuous support given to the Life Journey Campaign through GlobalGiving platform, which enables us as Utho Ngathi Disability Projects to touch and influence the lives of more persons with disabilities. We are looking forward to seeing these young people, and more like them, reach more milestones and making inclusion an actual reality in their Life Journey.

- The Utho Ngathi Team

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Oct 4, 2021
Life Journey: Disability in Rural South Africa 4th Report

By Rendani Nthangeni | Project Coordinator

The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members – Mahatma Gandhi

A 12 year old Wiseman stays with both his parents and 2 other siblings. He suffers from severe Cerebral Palsy which has resulted in him having multiple disabilities. They stay in this common dwelling around South African townships called a Shack, the unfortunate reality of staying in such a shack is that you experience all weather conditions twice as hard than an average person living in a common house structure. His parents are both unemployed, the father only does odd jobs here and there just to put food on the table. Wiseman is however lucky to have a mother who’s devoted her time to taking care of him day in and day out. Life journey campaign helps us to be able to support families like Wiseman’s by buying them food parcels, masks & sanitisers as well as with physiotherapy assessment. This makes a great difference to his family as they had to stop going for his monthly physiotherapy assessment at the public hospital because they couldn’t afford transport fares and specialised wheelchair suitable for his disability. At this point, his assessment and measurements have been done with us and we await a brand new purchased specialised wheelchair that the mother can push him outside for some sun and fresh air comfortably.

There can be no keener revalation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children – Nelson Mandela

The 13 years old Mfanafuthi just wants to be at school with his peers. He suffers from an intellectual disability but that does not stop from dreaming and wanting more out of life. He lost his mother at a very young age, currently he stays with his father (who struggles with substance abuse) and older brother. The only form of care and support he gets is from an elderly woman next door and NGOs like ourselves. Life Journey campaign is facilitating for Mfanafuthi to get assessment to be enrolled at the school that has a boarding facility. Wiseman and Mfanafuthi are great examples of why the Life Journey campaign is crucial for even more younger beneficiaries because they can receive support that can set them on a better path of life with life changing opportunities.

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