Refilwe Magwai is a young woman who doesn’t give up easily. She tries to hide it with her open smile and charming personality, but she has seen more misery in her life than other young people her age.
Both parents died and Refilwe and her brother Thabiso were left to fend for themselves as orphans. When Ndlovu found them, they were living in unimaginably poor conditions. They had no provisions at all, no money, nothing, not even a birth certificate, the prerequisite for being able to apply for substantial support.
The first step was to give the children a permanent home and Ndlovu took them into one of their children’s homes for AIDS orphans. For the first time in a very long time, the children felt a sense of belonging and care.
Refilwe tried to motivate her brother and herself to go to school regularly. But the burden became too much for her. Replacing her little brother’s parents and the pressure of living without papers and therefore having virtually no entitlement to anything – Refilwe couldn’t cope with this and dropped out of school in year 9.
Ndlovu’s social worker Ruth Chaulke took care of them and with her help, Refilwe and Thabiso finally received their birth certificates in January last year. Now they were able to apply for state support, which Ruth helped them with again.
By receiving these important documents, Refilwe made a promise to herself: She would go back to school in 2017. She would be the first member of her family in three generations to graduate from school. She would very much like to train as a nurse.
And when school started again this year, Refilwe was there. Without any outside support, she came back all by herself. She and her brother live a long way from the school, but they came. Refilwe only has a boys’ school uniform, but that doesn’t bother her. She doesn’t have any school books yet either, but even that can’t stop her. She believes in herself, if she has made it this far, then she can go even further. She has her goal in mind and the determination to prove it to herself.
We are keeping our fingers crossed!
Please help to ensure that children can go to school. Children are only allowed to go to school if they have a school uniform. If they do not have one, they will not be admitted to school. A school uniform costs around 50 euros. Not a lot of money to lay the foundation for education. Donate now! Via Paypal, simply and directly here or on our overview of current donation projects.
[give_form id=”1955″]
