02/10/2024
Snake Park Cerebral palsy forum members are very excited about the sessions because they get information from the health care professionals. Navigating the health care system can often be an overwhelming experience, Snake Park does not have a center that takes care of children with disabilities, most of these parents are unemployed and they struggle to pay for transport to take their children for treatment in Baragwanath hospital or any other center.
Parenting a child with disabilities can be extremely challenging. Most parents who give birth to children who have special needs suffer mostly from stress and depression. This happens because most parents find it hard to accept their child's condition whether it is mental or physical problems such as cerebral palsy.
Thulani Snake Park is one of the Soweto townships suffering from the negative impacts of the Witswiterand 1886 gold mine rush. This community is adjacent to a toxic mine tailing facility which is not fenced, sign-posted and maintained. The mine tailing storage causes radioactive dust storms daily, this dust contains heavy metals like cyanide, copper, and uranium affecting air quality levels causing air pollution, and higher adverse health effects.
The community of Snake Park has been living in a pandemic, with a wide spread of infectious diseases spreading across their community almost every day. Infections like TB, lunger cancer, Asthma, Bronchitis, and the most feared of them all are giving birth to a child with mental and physical deformities. These are the most prevalent diseases in their community which has even made their clinic a TB unit because of the increased number of chronic patients.
“Almost every street in Snake Park you will get a child with disabilities and these babies suffer from the same condition which is cerebral palsy”, said community activist Nobulawo Sitshaluza secretary of an organization that was formed by mothers who have children with disabilities ( Snake Park Cerebral Palsy Forum). Most of these babies cannot walk, talk, or feed themselves, Some of them have never touched the ground with their feet and have never even uttered a single word with their mouths.
In 2017 Benchmarks Foundation conducted a study about the negative impact of the Witswaterand gold rush. Almost every household interviewed in the study had respiratory problems and children with mental and physical deformities https://www.bench-marks.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/policy_gap_12.pdf. It has been almost six years since the study was been conducted in Soweto but neither of the mine companies has reached out to help impacted communities in Soweto.
Most parents who have children with cerebral palsy feel isolated. They are unable to attend other social activities because they fear the stigma of the community. “I can't risk my child being bullied and excluded by other children It is better if she is at home safe”, said Tshidi Sebogodi community activist and chairperson for the Snake Park Cerebral Palsy Forum.
This year (2024 ) Benchmarks Foundation has started a program in Snake Park to assist parents who have children with special needs and these sessions are held every month with the help of professional nurses, and social workers around Soweto. These support groups will be able to help parents to get counseling and to bond with other parents who have children with special needs around the community.
On the 17th of May 2024, the Johannesburg Metropolitan District rehabilitation center was invited to hold a session for parents of children with special needs. The session was to educate the parents about Cerebral palsy and the different types of cerebral palsy. Xoliswa Mngemane who is a physiotherapist started off the session by asking the parents what does the term cerebral palsy mean? She continued to explain that is a movement disorder that happens because of the lack of oxygen in the brain. She briefly explained that when the brain lacks oxygen this will affect the baby's movement, balance, and posture. “This happens when the baby is still a fetus and when the mother is having health complications that can lead her to give birth to a child who has a brain that is not mature”, said Xoliswa. They also taught parents about types of cerebral palsy this made mothers happy because now they can understand how their babies are different from one another.
“My 13-year-old boy Hlamluko Rikhotso's hands are always stiff and it is difficult for me to stretch them, today I have learned that he suffers from Spastic Cerebra palsy”, said Geraldine Maphosa 51-year-old caregiver of a boy with disabilities.
Snake Park Cerebral palsy forum members are very excited about the sessions because they get information from the health care professionals. Navigating the health care system can often be an overwhelming experience, Snake Park does not have a center that takes care of children with disabilities, most of these parents are unemployed and they struggle to pay for transport to take their children for treatment in Baragwanath hospital or any other center. These sessions educate parents about their child's disability and how to communicate effectively.
When Lerato Dladla who is an Occupational therapist was asked if the Department of Health offers any assistance to parents who have children with disabilities ? she said When the child has been diagnosed by the doctors that they have CP, they offer them counseling and get them in touch with the social worker so that they can apply for a disability grant.
