By Rendani Nthangeni | Project Coordinator
Accessibility to resources and services is one of the many factors that make inclusion a reality for most persons with disabilities. On our previous report we mentioned how one of our Life Journey beneficiary – Mr Simamisa managed to secure an internship/ learnership in the midst of the pandemic. He also did receive a specialised light weight wheelchair which the idea was to make it convenient for him when he had to use public transport, In South Africa a typical public taxi ride is in a form of a mini bus taxi with 15/16 other passengers. As much as this is cheaper, it is also not the most convenient or comfortable for someone using a wheelchair because they will need more space than some drivers and passengers are willing to give.
Fortunately for Simamisa and through GlobalGiving, he became the 2nd recipient of the E-trike Wheelchair which he will be using to drive around 15kilometres through traffic and going to work on his own daily. This is a huge empowering move for him because he will no longer struggle with finding “the right taxi” to/from work. Now he keeps his light weight wheelchair at the office for easy access around the office. The E-trike Wheelchair affords him more freedom to access most services around his community with ease.
The global pandemic has of course made us readjust most of the services that we offer to our beneficiaries and how we engage with them. For a Life Journey program to be a success, health and safety of our beneficiaries is our main priority. We have continued distributing masks, sanitisers, soap and even food parcels to some beneficiaries in need. While it's all hands on deck for our Utho Ngathi team making sure we are looking after our beneficiaries, we never take the support and donations through GlobalGiving for granted. One of the many teachings of this pandemic, is to invest in the wellbeing and future of our beneficiariies so that they too may be self sustainable and be at the point in their lives where they are able to look after their loved ones outside of the little social disability grant that barely covers their essential needs.
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