To assist the family’s difficult financial situation, Sibungile’s elder sister who lives in South Africa sends money for them to survive on. Despite her sister doing this, they can barely make ends meet daily. As a result, Sibungile 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, Sibungile did not dream much about her future, as she was not sure of what her future entailed.
After meeting Sibungile’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, Sibungile’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 Sibungile, 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 Sibungile had. From this analysis, we were able to address all of her health issues, and thankfully, she is now perfectly healthy. Sibungile’s family now has peace of mind, knowing that Sibungile’s needs are taken care of by the Catalyst Foundation.
Having been part of the S.H.E Programme for a few years now, Sibungile has transformed into a more confident young women, and is motivated to complete her studies with flying colours. Once she finishes her secondary schooling, Sibungile has dreams of going to university to become a Teacher.
We asked Sibungile to share with us in one sentence what the
Catalyst Foundation – S.H.E Programme means to her:
“Receiving a brand-new school uniform was amazing, as I have not had one before!”