Tuesday, 6 September 2011
When wheels roll out heavenly blessings
Tears of gratitude - Sakhephi Kunene couldn’t believe that she received such a great gift
Receiving a wheelchair for the first time was a joyous occasion for these Makhowe residents
Before receiving a wheelchair from the Ikhaya Lethu Support Group last week, Sakhephi Kunene used to lie in bed most of the day. ‘I had to be picked up and carried if I needed to do anything. I try not to burden my family, that is why I just stayed in bed, but now I can help my family with chores ' says Kunene in a tearful voice.
The Ikhaya Lethu wheelchair project is a voluntary project managed and administrated by the Ikhaya Lethu Support Group (NPO) based in Hluhluwe.
Recognising a need, the project is driven by private individuals with a focus on delivering wheelchairs to disabled individuals in rural areas.
Six lucky recipients from the Makhowe Clinic in Hluhluwe eagerly awaited their very first wheelchairs from three wheelchair-bound pioneers, Dean Shand, JJ Bezuidenhout and Development Officer Sipho Mdletshe.
The QuadPara Association of KZN have been instrumental in organising storage and distribution of chairs from their Pinetown-based Ashley Village, which is a self funded home for about 70 disabled people.
Another 15 chairs have been allocated to Phakamisa Industrial Park in Hluhluwe, where they will be stored and prepared for local distribution.
Gratitude
Crying tears of joy, 93 year-old Jameson Mngomezulu said, ‘It is very difficult being blind and not able to walk. It makes me sad. ‘I praise the Lord for giving me new legs.’
Project Manager, Brett Domleo trained the recipients and their families on how to use a wheelchair. Each chair came with a pump and patch kit, just in case a tyre goes flat.
Longer term plans are to expand the wheelchair project to other municipal districts in the Umkhanyakude region.
Also supporting this great project was local Hluhluwe business owners and residents Louis de Fortier, Ally Robins and Craig Sutton.
Apart from Bezuidenhout, Frank Kruger and Cedric Hedgcock actively motivated partners to get involved.
International aid and charity associations deliver the chairs and entrust local organisations to distribute them to appropriate institutions like clinics, hospitals and ultimately individuals.
With smiles on their faces and support from the community, recipients were wheeled home, for the first time being able to go somewhere without having to crawl or be carried.