Dlamini family gets a new home
The family of nine lost their mother to cervical cancer in 2019 and lost their grandmother to covid-19 in October last year. One of the eldest has also been diagnosed with cervical cancer, while two of the children do not have Identity Documents.
A family of nine in Dlamini Extension 1 has received a new fully furnished home thanks to a combined effort by the Collen Mashawana Foundation and the Kasi Hero Foundation. The family of nine lost their mother to cervical cancer in 2019 and lost their grandmother to covid-19 in October last year. One of the eldest children has also been diagnosed with cervical cancer, while two of the children do not have Identity documents. Most have since dropped out of school.
Ntombi Mngomezulu (65), a neighbour to the family who had heard the story, said she was shocked to find the living conditions for the children in the house.
“I couldn’t eat the day I found out how much the family was struggling. The following morning I woke up and went straight to Kliptown to buy some groceries for them. I was also not working at that time, I’m a pensioner, but I knew that I had to do something,” she recalled. She then reached out to Jozi FM who donated a R1000 voucher to help, before she reached out to the Kasi Hero Foundation, who shared the family’s story on social media.
“We had a Mandela Day Campaign, that’s when we met Mam’ Mngomezulu. She had requested some food parcels and told us that she intended to share them with the family and that’s where we found out how tough the situation was.
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“We arrived to see for ourselves and it was very bad. The house had deteriorated, the windows had shattered and there were no doors. We shared the story on social media and fortunately, many people responded by offering help,” said Silas Mabunda of the Kasi Hero Foundation.
One of those people was a known philanthropist Collen Mashawana, who sprung his team to action and immediately went to work on rebuilding the home.
“In this case, it was a situation where we realised there was an immediate need for intervention. These are young kids that we are talking about so we could not wait, we had to act,” Mashawana said.
The house was fully refurbished almost from scratch. New doors, new windows and new electrical appliances were installed. Four bunk beds, as well as two single beds were handed over to the family.
Additionally, Meticoloso Cleaning Services donated new clothes for the children and toiletries. Speaking to Soweto Urban at the handover, Mbali Mbatha, the eldest of the nine said she and her siblings were grateful for the new home.
“I don’t even know where I am. It feels and looks like a brand new house. I want to say thank you to the Collen Mashawana Foundation, a Thank you to the Kasi Hero Foundation, to Mam’ Mngomezulu and the people of Dlamini.”
The Collen Mashawana Foundation team has also committed to building an additional two back rooms in the coming months, on the condition that the children take better care of the new home. Officials from the Department of Social Development were also present on the day and made a commitment to help the family.
This morning the Child Headed Mbatha family in Soweto woke up in Good Spirit. God is amazing. #onebrickatatime pic.twitter.com/zwMhGo07Kg
— Collen Mashawana (@collenmashawane) September 15, 2021
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