PRESS RELEASE                                                                                                                       

 In an attempt to make education more accessible to young people living with disabilities, three young social entrepreneurs and members of the ACTIVATE! Change Drivers network from the City of Tshwane are preparing to walk more than 600KM. From 16 August to 01 September, Omphile Mangwagape, Dennis Tolo and Samuel Modise of Enabling Disability Education Nationally NPC (EDEN), together with six associates and colleagues, will embark on a foot journey from Tshwane all the way to Durban as a fundraising effort for education and wellbeing of youth with disabilities.

EDEN is a non-profit organisation dedicated to finding poverty reduction solutions for young people living with disabilities, with a key focus on education. The organisation’s co-founder and CEO, Mangwagape, says the initiative, #WalkForYouthDisabilityEducation, is a campaign not only to raise funds but also a tool to create awareness of the challenges facing young people with disabilities.

“Young people with disabilities are often excluded from mainstream society due to their limited access to the physical environment including public transportation, education and other facilities.   We can’t afford universal design living arrangements and for some of us even completing a standard academic schedule is a struggle, physically, financially and, in some cases, mentally,” says Mangwagape who has a mild cognitive impairment.

#WalkForYouthDisabilityEducation will commence from Transoranje School for the Deaf in Tshwane and conclude at ACTIVATE! Change Drivers’ offices in Musgrave, Durban. The group will walk a minimum of 9 hours a day over a period of 15 days. The aim is to collect at least R2, 000 per kilometer walked.  A portion of the proceeds from the initiative will be donated to the Transoranje School for the Deaf and the Fanang Diatla Centre for the Disabled in Temba.

“The secondary objective of the #WalkForYouthDisability campaign is to enable EDEN a financial capacity to accomplish its ultimate aim. That is to select deserving young people with disabilities and fund their higher education and training. Additionally, we plan on building supportive and enabled environments for young people with disabilities during their academic careers and their transition into the world of employment,” explains Mangwagape.

For more information or to make a donation, please contact Samuel Modise on 082 5100 432 or email sammy75modise@gmail.com.  Alternatively, you can fund the initiative through crowdfunding on www.thundafund.com/project/eden.

ends

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

About ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

ACTIVATE! Change Drivers is a network of 2000 young change makers or “Activators” across South Africa who are finding innovative ways to transform their communities and the country as a whole. The Network connects these young people and equips them with necessary knowledge and skills to thrive in their respective efforts.

About Enabling Disability Education Nationally (EDEN)

EDEN is a non-profit organisation founded by social activists Omphile Mangwagape, Dennis Tolo and Samuel Modise in response to a calling to drive change in the lives of young South Africans with disabilities. The organisation is dedicated to finding poverty reduction solutions for young people living with disabilities, with a key focus on education.

About Transoranje School for the Deaf

Transoranje School for the Deaf provides specialised education to profoundly deaf learners from preschool to Grade 12. The public school caters for the complete education and well-being of about 202 learners with deafness from a diverse cross-section of personal, social and economic backgrounds.

About Fanang Diatla Centre for the Disabled

Based in Temba Township, Tshwane,  Fanang Diatla Centre for the Disabled caters for young people with special educational requirements due to mental and physical challenges. The Centre provides a broad and balanced curriculum that is designed to especially for these young people.

Issued by ACTIVATE! Change Drivers. For more information please visit www.activateleadership.co.za

For media related queries, please contact:

Zilungile Zimela

Communications/PR: ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

Email: zilungile@localhost  (cc: communications@localhost)