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 25th 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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