Due to Bunjiwe’s mother having to look after her siblings and the household, she is unable
to earn a living. To assist the family’s difficult financial situation, Bunjiwe’s elder brother dropped out of school and became a casual labourer, carrying out menial jobs in the nearby villagers’ fields. Despite Bunjiwe’s brother doing this, they can barely make ends meet daily. Due to her family’s unstable financial situation, Bunjiwe 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, Bunjiwe did not dream much about her future, as she was not sure of what her future entailed.
After meeting Bunjiwe’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, Bunjiwe’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 Bunjiwe, 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 Bunjiwe had. From this analysis, we were able to address all of her health issues, and thankfully, she is now perfectly healthy. Bunjiwe’s family now has peace of mind, knowing that Bunjiwe’s needs are taken care of by the Catalyst Foundation.
Having been part of the S.H.E Programme for a few years now, Bunjiwe has transformed into a more confident young women, and is motivated to complete her studies with flying colours. Once she finishes her secondary schooling, Bunjiwe has dreams of going to university to become a Teacher.
We asked Bunjiwe to share with us in one sentence what the
Catalyst Foundation – S.H.E Programme means to her:
“My dream to become a teacher is now possible, through the Catalyst Foundation’s support they give to me!”