This little girl went to school, this one stayed home
JAZLIN Sentamu has been paralysed since the age of two, when a stray bullet ripped through her stroller and hit her in the back.
For four years, there was no school in her area that could accommodate her. Her family could not afford transport, and she was set to go through life uneducated while her cousins and brother headed off every morning for school.
By the time she should have been in Grade R, her parents had all but given up.
Then she was featured in a newspaper article last year about children affected by gangsterism.
A private social worker, Sheila Berger, was moved by her story. She took on her case pro bono, and found herself immersed in the administrative nightmare of trying to get Jazlin into a school.
Three weeks ago, the little girl finally got into Agape School in Mitchells Plain. Although it is far from her house, she has a spot on the bus that travels there.
Too young to understand how this has changed her future, the bright-eyed six-year-old focuses on the details of everyday life at school.
“We write about poffertjies and we read books and stories. My teacher is Mrs Williams. My one friend’s name is Fatima and one I have forgotten.”
Her mother, Sharon Sentamu, said: “She is a bright girl and I know she can do it in school. Some kids who are paraplegics only start school at 10 if at all, but I didn’t want her to start so late. She seems happier now, and when she gets home, she tells us all about her day.”
Not so lucky is eight-year-old Keesha Amerika, who has never been to school.
Keesha, who suffers from cerebral palsy, graduated from
I have been crying alone . . . I am hunting for a school for my daughter
her special-care preschool two years ago, but since then her mother, Sybil, has had no luck finding a permanent specialneeds school for her.
In her desperation, she even wrote to the South African Human Rights Commission in December last year. She is waiting for feedback.
“I have been crying alone . . . I am hunting for a school for my daughter,” said Amerika.
Keesha relies on her mom for her education.
“I teach her colours, shapes and how to draw a circle. I try and help her create things. I am doing my best but it is not easy,” she said.
Keesha was sent for an assessment to determine which school was best for her.
A speech therapist found that Keesha had the “potential” to learn with an adaptive curriculum and recommended attendance at a special education needs school.
But the only such school that is accessible to Keesha’s home in Capricorn, Muizenberg, has turned her down more than once.
She has tried several other schools but transport is a problem. Keesha uses a buggy wheelchair and direct transport is not always available.
But the mother of two refuses to give up and hopes that her daughter will one day get an education.
“Education is for each and every one and in cases like this you need to fight,” she said.