A DISABLED man from Savannah Park is finally turning his streak of bad luck.
After several years of being unemployed due to his disability, Paulos Bongani Mfene has found a job thanks to the kindness of Hillcrest resident, Lauren Johnson, and many others who have offered to help.
Paulos used to work for a shoe manufacturing company in Westmead but was involved in a bad accident in December 1995. He went into a coma and had no family or friends to liaise with the company he worked for, to let them know what had happened to him. The company assumed he had absconded and hence Paulos lost his job.
He received treatment from three different hospitals, Wentworth, King Edward (when he was in a coma) and at Clairwood Hospital (for his recovery) and has suffered since with a knee problem.
According to Paulos, he was unable to claim from the Road Accident Fund due to a technicality in the case. The lawyer in turn gave him R100 to pay for his transport back home that day.
Lauren met Paulos carrying a trolley doing shoe repairs a few weeks ago and offered him a work space at Etest, the company she works for. He preferred to work outside the office building to get the attention of passers-by. He said he would use the room when it rained.
“He has fixed a few of my shoes and does a really good job. Please support someone who is trying to support himself. He’s such a kind man and works really hard,” said Johnson.
Lauren then posted a picture and his story on her Facebook pages as well as other community pages in the upper Highway area. It was well-received, gaining 1 700 shares on the Upper Highway Community – Let’s help each other Facebook page and it generated lots of interest. The post also gained 595 shares on Lauren’s Facebook page.
Lauren said Paulus has definitely had an increase in work coming in from the community since the post. Brendon Harding from Dezzo Roofing read the post and donated a brand new gazebo to Paulos on Wednesday, 8 June. He also received a mobile vending machine from a company called Flash, where he can sell airtime, data and prepaid electricity.
“A huge thank-you to each and every single one of you who have shared my post and referred him to friends and family. He is such a humble man, he said to me the other day – ‘Ma’am, I don’t know why you are helping me but thank you so so much and may God bless you so much too.’ It really made my day knowing that we are making a difference in this man’s life,” said Lauren.
If you have any shoes to be fixed – soles, heels or straps that have come out – you can find him on Ivy Road in Pinetown outside Ivy Park Gate 4 or contact him on 079 422 1732 or 063 346 0254.
