DON’T HIDE A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

By Joey Wa Rabapane | June 23, 2021 | 13h20

A proud mother to a 12-year-old child diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy from Ga-Raphahlelo village in Sekgosese is worried about the parents who hide children with special needs.

Moreover, she is concerned about the people who label children with special needs with extremely derogatory names.

“It’s wrong to hide those sweet innocent angels but some hide them because of how people label them with sort of names. Some says are the results of witchcraft while others are locking them in their houses because they haven’t accepted. Sometimes I wish I could just take all of the special needs children and look after them”, said a 33-year-old proud mother, Tebogo Evah Machete.

She is a single parent mother of two and her first born is diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy and feeding via gastronomy tube.

“Cerebral palsy is a damaged part of the brain that controls movement and posture. Lesedi is diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy which means all his sides of the body are affected. He can’t talk, walk and sit without support”, explained Machete.

At first she was shocked when she discovered of her son’s health condition however with the support of the family she was able to accept the condition and became a better mom.

“I was shocked at first because he stayed in the ICU for 6 months and I never understood what was happening until it was explained to me. With the support from my family and friends I managed to accept his condition even though I was stressing. I even failed my 1st semester during my 2nd year at TUT Pretoria campus. It was easy accepting because at the place where I grew up there was a child who had the same condition as Lesedi”, Machete told Sekgosese Insider.

She further said she is not a type of a parent who hides a child with special needs.

“I always show him off to other kids so that they get used to kids of his kind and other conditions. I have a support from other mommies with special needs children. We call our group the ‘Warrior Mommies’.  We are one of the kind raising angels”, she added.

One might even think that parents such as Machete are facing more challenges raising children with such special needs however is not the case with her. She told Sekgosese Insider that challenges are rare because her family is there throughout.

The only challenge she faces is the shortage of nappies because as old as her son is he still uses nappies because all his sides are affected. He has the devices to help him sit however he doesn’t find them user friendly.

“My second challenge is our society calling our kids with different names. Sometimes I get offended when one says “ngwana gao ke segole”. Sometimes it gets to me that our society must be taught about their conditions.  Do drives and awareness and teach people about this condition like they do with cancer and HIV for example”, she said.

Machete is currently on a mission to make the Sekgosese community and surrounding areas aware of cerebral palsy.

“On the 6th of October is a World Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. I want to paint Sekgosese in green as green is the colour for cerebral palsy. I want to campaign and raises awareness for the day. As it is my first doing this awareness at a rural area I aim to have at least few people who will benefit from it. Remember it is not only children who have cerebral palsy we also have adults”, she told Di Reng Tsa Masa.

People can take part in this campaign through donations which may be dropped at Sekgosese Insider offices. The donations may be in a form of nappies any sizes, wipes, food and toiletries which will be distributed to children and adults diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

In case you want to donate or know someone diagnosed with cerebral palsy you may contact Machete on 0726643404.

“Cerebral palsy is not contiguous. If you see a child with cerebral palsy play with them show them some love than giving them nasty looks. People with cerebral palsy are people too”, she concluded.