Helping Nicoline with better mobility in rural Mpumalanga
Nicoline Mzimba is a vibrant and bright teenager from Acornhoek in Mpumalanga. This, despite many hardships in her 16-year life. She lives with her family in a very rural area of the country where services and means are limited. She was born with club feet, but due to her circumstances, this was never treated or attended to. She also has a form of cerebral palsy, which has made getting around a mammoth challenge.
GOOD MORNING ANGELS (NICOLINE)
Helping Nicoline get dignity through mobility in rural Mpumalanga
REQUEST FROM: Karen Moss, Founder and Director of STEPS Charity NPC
REQUEST FOR: Nicoline Mzimba
ANGEL: Robert Hodson representing the Legacy Hotels and Resorts
SPONSORING: The Legacy Hotels and Resorts recently held a fundraiser and will donate these funds towards the proper wheelchair for Nicoline.
BACKGROUND: Nicoline Mzimba is a vibrant and bright teenager from Acornhoek in Mpumalanga. This despite many hardships in her 16-year life. She lives with her family in a very rural area of the country where services and means are limited. She was born with club feet, but due to her circumstances, this was never treated or attended to. She also has a form of cerebral palsy, which has made getting around a mammoth challenge. She crawls where she needs to be, which has left her with septic sores on the skin over her knees. She has not been able to attend school because of this situation. Nicoline desperately needs a wheelchair that can be operated with one hand - not only to give her mobility, but also to give her the ability to move around with dignity.
ORIGINAL REQUEST:
Dear Dianne and Good Morning Angels,
I hope you are well!
Wamaanda is doing so well. I have attached a recent photo of him with his mom at the Charlotte Maxeke clinic. We are using the donated funds from Jacaranda’s Good Morning Angels to fund his travel and sustenance for expert treatment in Johannesburg. His family are so grateful as they would never have been able to afford to travel, and there was no care available where they live.
The other case I mentioned was a 16 year old girl, Nicoline. She lives near Acornhoek in northern Mpumalanga, a deep rural area. Her case was brought to me by Monika, a physiotherapist working in the clubfoot clinic we support at Tintswalo Hospital. Nicoline has neglected clubfoot and some kind of neurological cerebral palsy to complicate it. Sadly, if she had been treated before age six, she would have had a much better outcome.
We are hoping to raise funds for a wheelchair for Nicoline. She is such a bright and happy girl despite her situation.
The local hospitals are very under stocked on wheelchairs and because of Nicoline’s condition, she needs a one-handed controlled wheelchair. After many months of waiting she was given a wheelchair by the hospital, but as it needs both hands to move it, she is still not mobile.
I would really appreciate it if you could consider her for Jacaranda Good Morning Angels?
We were hoping to raise R15,000.00 to cover wheel chair, fitting costs, and to buy a few goodies for the clubfoot clinic that does such fantastic work.I have sourced the correct wheelchair for her, it needs to be left hand operated and suitable for rural conditions. We have got a quote for the correct wheelchair, it is R11,400.00. Having a wheelchair specially fitted and made for where she lives would change Nicoline’s life.
I look forward to your reply
Warm regards
Karen
Nicoline Mzimba:
Nicoline Mzimba is a 16-year old girl who has bilateral club foot which is defined as a congenital foot deformity that results in the child’s foot being twisted out of shape or position and the tissues connecting the muscles to the bone are shorter than usual. She also has a form of paralysis, probably cerebral palsy. She stays in a rural area of South Africa close to Acornhoek.
She was admitted to Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek in 2014 and 2015 because of septic sores on the skin over her knees. She was seen by an orthopaedic surgeon in Johannesburg in April 2015 and was told that she will unfortunately not be able to have surgery to fix the deformity as she is already too old. The recurring septic wounds on her knees are due to crawling on the ground as a means of ambulating. She needs a wheelchair.
She previously had a manual wheelchair which she did not use because she has a partially paralysed right arm that makes it difficult for her to be able to push the wheelchair herself. This also meant that she couldn’t keep up with her friends on the playground so she preferred to crawl which unfortunately resulted in the septic wounds on her knees. This wheelchair is now too small for her and is old and worn out.
Nicoline is currently not in school, the reason being that the school feels that they are not yet well equipped to handle a scholar of her needs in terms of getting her to the toilet and also making the school wheelchair friendly. She was therefore forced to quit school while she was in grade 1.
Nicoline is currently living with her mother, siblings and other relatives. She is currently still crawling everywhere but understands the risks that are at hand and fully accepts that she will have to function with a wheelchair to prevent the sepsis from re-occurring. The type of wheelchair that is needed is a 20 inch width wheelchair with removable arm rests and foot rests. If she could have a one handed wheelchair, this would be the best. The tyres need to solid ones (“No more flats”) as the terrain causes inflatable tyres to get punctures very easily and wear out quickly and the family will not have the means to replace them.
At the moment Nicoline is on the waiting list for wheelchairs at Tintswalo Hospital, but this list is very long and it will take years for her to get a wheelchair through the hospital. She will also be unable to get a special one handed wheelchair through the hospital, due to budget constraints. Your assistance would be appreciated.