THE founder of Happy Home for Children with Disabilities in Mthatha, Vivian Vuyelwa Duma, said they spent their 67 minutes of celebrating the birthday of the late Nelson Mandela differently, as they were also celebrating 25 years since this centre opened.
According to her, this centre was bought by Mandela, with the aim of assisting them to fulfil their dream of helping these children.
“I had a child who was living with cerebral palsy; it was difficult to feed her. I then discovered that I was not the only one, but mostly our community did not know the reason for someone having this disability.
“As a health educator I saw the need of educating communities so that they can know that if the child is disabled that does not mean you are cursed. I then formed a support group of parents who have this problem,” said Duma.
She added that she thinks there were 2 000 parents in total who were willing to join the support group from 1993.
According to her, they were a support group under the umbrella body, Cross Disability in South Africa (Disabled Children Action Group), that was initiated by parents in Cape Town.
“Another reason that made me help this support group was that as a health educator I was visiting different areas. We also find that some parents were abused while they were pregnant, and those things led them to have children who are disabled. Parents learnt that there are a lot of things that might lead to disability.”
Duma revealed that some of the parents bring their children while they are still in denial (about the children’s condition).
She said when the schools are closed for holidays, some parents do not want to fetch their children.
Duma said that one of the factors that make the home sustainable is agriculture.
“We also managed to identify our children who have talent in using the land; now that they are old enough they even assist in their homes. We are making sure that we eat veg that is coming from our garden, and we are selling it. Now that we have old children, we are working with special schools, especially Tembisa Special School.
“We want to come with the exit strategy of these children from 18 years, so that when they leave these schools, they must have something to do. We are now looking for funding that will assist us in capacitating them, so that we know that we are preparing them for the future.”
General Manager for Southern Sun, Hlengiwe Mbonwa, confirmed that they spent their 67 minutes celebrating the birthday of the late Nelson Mandela at this home.
“We always offer a hand to various homes in Mthatha and its surroundings, and this year, Happy Home was the lucky recipient. Sustainability is important to us, and we plan to support them going forward. We assisted with gardening by planting various seedlings, serving a hearty meal for the day, cleaning the pool, and donating some crockery and linen,” said Mbonwa.
She added that they always donate to different homes and institutions in Mthatha where possible.
“We do not support any type of violence or crime whatsoever. We stand firm in our commitment to social welfare and the well-being of our community. We are happy to support institutions such as Happy Home, where kids with disabilities are well looked after with proper care.”
