KwaThema – Impumelelo Self Help Centre’s dream of opening a day care centre for disabled children has been put on ice.
The house the centre was planning on using for the day care centre does not have electricity to make this possible.
Centre’s chairperson Joseph Macweu says the centre owed the municipality R12 000 and their electricity was cut down.
“We have to pay the amount before the electricity can be reinstated but we don’t have it.
“The little that we have is used to keep other projects running,” he says
“We are heartbroken by the number of young disabled children who are often locked behind closed doors.
“The centre will be open to all the disabled children from and around Springs and Kwatsaduza.
“Most of them are placed in schools which do not cater for their needs or only start formal education late.
“We want to fight and break the stigma of disabled children being neglected by family and society.
“We want them to be trained educationally from a young age so they are well equipped to compete with their peers in tertiary.
“Being physically challenged shouldn’t deprive anyone to chasing their dreams, it is only a condition which some were born with but this doesn’t make them less capable than the other,” he says.
Joseph says they want to ensure that they also receive a fair educational journey.
“We have premises and already interviewed early learning practitioners but the only stumbling block is the funding to get the ball rolling.
“We are calling on the community members and business people in the area to help us with donations and funding to help make this dream possible.
“The initiative will not only benefit the children but also the community at large.
“It will create employment for over 10 people while helping educate a physically challenged child,” he says.
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