Unfortunately,
her grandmother is not financially stable, despite the family receiving a small amount of money from Bongani’s uncle in South Africa, which is used for them to survive on. Due to her family’s unstable financial situation, Bongani would sometimes go a few days without any food, and she was unable to consistently go to school, as her school fees were often not paid. However, the times when she was able to go back to school, which wasn’t very often, she did not have any stationery supplies, textbooks, school uniforms or even sanitary wear. As a result of all these challenges, Bongani did not dream much about her future, as she was not sure of what her future entailed.
After meeting Bongani’s teachers at her school, we found out that she was intelligent, despite her grades being average, due to her missing numerous days of school. Nonetheless, Bongani’s teachers all believe in her and with enough support, they are confident that she has the potential to greatly improve her grades over time.
Through our holistic support provided to Bongani, we were able to remove all of her barriers, allowing her to go to school and continue with her education. Our health check examinations carried out, identified a few health issues that Bongani had. From this analysis, we were able to address all of her health issues, and thankfully, she is now perfectly healthy. Bongani’s family now has peace of mind, knowing that Bongani’s needs are taken care of by the Catalyst Foundation.
Having been part of the S.H.E Programme for a few years now, Bongani has transformed into a more confident young women, and is motivated to complete her studies with flying colours. Once she finishes her secondary schooling, Bongani has dreams of going to university to become a Nurse.
We asked Bongani to share with us in one sentence what the
Catalyst Foundation – S.H.E Programme means to her:
“I am so grateful that now I can go to school and be educated!”