Jabulile fights for the rights of people living with disabilities
Jabulile has taken it upon herself to educate the masses, informing them about the different disabilities and creating awareness in schools, churches and any other platforms within her reach.
Giving birth is the most strenuous and exciting moment in a woman’s life.
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After nine months of waiting, you finally get to hold him or her in your arms.
Jabulile Alpha Nkosi experienced all these emotions being a new mother until she was told her baby girl has a disability.
Her journey has been an emotional and painful one, but she has risen from the clutches of despair to lead at the Isibanesihle Stimulation Centre.
Born and bred in Amersfoort, Zamokuhle, Jabulile is a township girl at heart.
After completing her Grade 12 at Elangwane Secondary School in Volksrust, she moved back home to Amersfoort when she fell pregnant.
Her journey of self-discovery began at the Amersfoort Police Station where she worked in the Victim Support Unit.
It was there she saw the horrors of the world when she was tasked with assisting and supporting victims of rape and abuse.
During all this emotional turmoil, she gave birth to a girl with a disability, who she named Gugulethu.
With limited resources at her local clinic, nurses could not detect the disability during her pregnancy.
Gugulethu was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, plunging Jabulile’s life into more emotional trauma.
“I blamed myself at the time and wondered if all my sins are catching up on me and whether I am punished through my little girl.”
Not being educated on the condition of her daughter and having limited resources, Jabulile began a journey that would be her saving grace.
Being a mother to a child with a disability meant frequent visits to the clinic where she met mothers in a situation similar to hers.
“My eyes and mind were opened when I met them.
“We had the same fears, hopes and dreams for our little ones but most importantly, I saw
we all needed one another as we shared similar experiences.”
She began a support group for mothers of children who had disabilities.
“Through this group, we achieved many things.
“We began learning how to take care of our children and supported one another emotionally, physically and sometimes financially.”
However, it was not enough as their children faced challenges including bullying, being stigmatised and ostracised.
She took it upon herself to educate the masses, informing them about the different disabilities and creating awareness in schools, churches and any other platforms within her reach.
She mobilised all the mothers going door to door, opening dialogue with the community of Amersfoort.
In as much as she was teaching others, she also was learning new things along the way.
Her focus went back to helping the children more than the community and she saw a need for a stimulation centre.
This led to the birth of Khethokuhle Stimulation Centre which to this day is still running.
Her work did not go unnoticed as she was chosen by the Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA) to be a fieldworker in their Community Base Rehabilitation Project in the Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Municipality region where she identified people living with disabilities.
She taught them their rights which included but were not limited to shelter, having wheelchairs and crutches.
The organisation also provided counselling to the disabled and their family members to change the attitude of locking them away for days on end in backrooms.
Her self-less journey brought her to Ermelo in 2008 when she was looking for a school for her daughter.
“I had the belief that she could live a normal life and go to school like a normal child, so I went around looking for schools and found a special school in Ermelo.”
However, that dream did not materialise as the school was closed down shortly when they moved here.
Not deterred, she volunteered at Isibanesihle Stimulation Centre in Wesselton.
The centre caters to the needs of children living with disabilities so it was the perfect solution as she could take care of her daughter all day long, while helping other children.
Jabulile worked her way up the employment ladder and is now head of the centre.
The centre takes care of 16 children who are living with various disabilities, including Down Syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy, just to name a few.
They also do house calls taking care of more than 35 children whom the centre cannot house due to limited space and funds.
With the help of six staff members, they keep the children active in body and mind through activities that exercise all the five senses.
Even though she has achieved a lot, Jabulile never stops pushing the rights of people living with disabilities.
With the right funding, she hopes to build a 24 hour centre that will not only cater to children but adults as well.
“There is a need for such a place in Ermelo.
People living with disabilities are people too and deserve the best care they can get.”
This pastor’s wife knows how to make moves and believes with help from the community and stakeholders, this place is achievable.
“When I held my daughter in my arms 22 years ago, I knew my life would change.
“It has changed for the better.”
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