Mirriam Ndebele (70) from KwaThema is one of the nominees in the community development category, in the Greatness Awards.
The awards, which will take place in April, are organised by the Skutu Mogafe Foundation and are in their second year.
Mirriam is the founder of the KwaThema Stimulation Centre, which she has headed for the past 16 years.
She has been nominated with community workers such as HIV activist, Criselda Kananda.
Mirriam says after her husband divorced her after the birth of her daughter who is deaf, she was forced to come back home from Soweto.
She then joined a support group with parents of disabled children, attending workshops hosted by the Disabled Children Action Group.
They were taught advocacy, dealing with disabled children and given skills on how to open informal centres.
Kwa-Thema Stimulation Centre opened its doors with only 10 children, and has multiplied the number to 85 children from KwaThema, Tsakane, Duduza and Geluksdal.
It caters for children with different disabilities such as Down Syndrome, Autism, blindness or deafness.
The focus is early childhood development, and the centre also places the children in different schools when they turn seven years old.
Mirriam says she is driven to do this work because parents of disabled children don’t know their rights, “I want them to be able to go and work for their children without worrying about who will look after their children,” said Mirriam.
She is also ecstatic about the nomination, saying, “I am pleased that my work is not going unnoticed and is getting recognition.”
