NPO making strides to assist children with disabilities

The Nomfundo Zondo Foundation recently held a community outreach programme at the Munsieville Community Hall.

The organisation is an NPO that aims to help raise awareness for the rights and dignity of children who have disabilities. The programme had 71 people attending it at the community hall with various seminars and activities held to create awareness for the children and parents.

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According to the founder of the organisation Nontombi Zondo, the main part of the programme was to educate the community about disabilities and to break the stigma and discrimination against people with disabilities.

“We aimed to challenge stereotypes, promote understanding and empathy towards people with disabilities and ultimately create a more inclusive society where everyone has equal opportunities to participate fully regardless of their conditions.”

Zondo also added what other outreach programmes the organisation has in store.

”Our organisation plans and manages activities such as swimming for safety lessons, horse riding, arcade games and other interactive and fun-filled activities for children with disabilities from underprivileged communities. These activities are designed to provide stimulation, therapy, cognitive and motor skills, and improve social skills and quality of life. We also run a parent support group and distribute food parcels to needy families.

Our programmes currently benefit about 460 children and 70 parents and caregivers,” Zondo said.

Zondo added that while their primary areas are predominantly on the West Rand, they also reach out to other areas and regions in Johannesburg.

“We’ve done awareness programmes and are planning to have one community outreach event once a month in all townships and rural areas, such as Magaliesberg, Hekpoort, Muldersdrift, Kagiso, and Soweto. We also plan to visit community radio stations to spread the message as widely as possible. We reach out to other areas such as Braam Fischer and Randfontein.”

Over the years, Zondo said the organisation has achieved several milestones, from having food and clothing projects that assisted communities and working with several public stakeholders to spreading the message wider.

”In 2024, we initiated working relations with other government stakeholders such as the Department of Health and the Department of Social Development. We further increased the number of collaborations with other local NGOs and distributed school shoes and food items to the needy children and their families.”