PUPILS from Khulani Special School received early Christmas gifts when presented with new wheelchairs by the Union of Jewish Women.
Khulani Special School near Hluhluwe was started in 2002 by Cresentia Ngobese, mother of a mentally handicapped child who felt that special needs children in the district were being failed by the government.
Owing to a lack of facilities, parents of handicapped children were being forced to travel as far as Vryheid for their children’s education.
It’s a common misconception that handicapped children are unable to be educated.
This has been a stumbling block for the volunteers who started Khulani Special School but, thanks to a number of people in the community, such as the Principal of Mdodla Primary who donated a two bedroom house in 2008, Khulani Special School now receives funding from the Department of Education.
With an increase in the number of children attending the school, they found themselves bursting out of their two bedroom house in 2010 and it was then that Africa Foundation raised sufficient funds for a larger school building.
Now more than 180 children attend Khulani Special School, including 100 boarders, with another 280 on the waiting list.
The Department of Education noted the need for such a school in the district and agreed to add an entire school premises, including boarding establishment and school hall, to the Africa Foundation-funded building.
The new premises are now complete and will be used from the start of the 2014 academic year.
The Pentecostal Church, whose church is on the site of the new school, has been given half the land on the old school site across the road, making way for a playground and vegetable garden for the Khulani students.
The Union of Jewish Women, based in Durban, has been involved with Khulani Special School since 2005 and donates necessary items, including toiletries, specialist equipment and educational toys.
Dr Ben Gotlieb, an American doctor who himself is physically handicapped, contacted the Union expressing a desire to donate money to a special needs school in South Africa.
After learning of Khulani and visiting the school, Dr Gotlieb donated R10 000 to be used according to the school’s requirements.
The Union of Jewish Women saw the need for new wheelchairs and on 26 November presented the children with nine new ones.
A welcome donation indeed, for which children and teachers are extremely grateful.
