Triumphing over Adversity

The optimistic Puleng Rammile was diagnosed with polio when she was just a year old and was put on physiotherapy until she was six years old of age

It is June, the designated Youth Month. Young South Africans are celebrating the milestones set by the 1976 youth, who revolted against a dehumanising apartheid education system, while reflecting on the challenges they face in 2013. Today’s young people are celebrating the essence of youth and its exuberance. They are celebrating life.

However not all youth are that fortunate. Puleng Rammile (19) is one such youth. From the obscurity of her home at Botshabelo, 50kms east of Bloemfontein, Rammile can only watch as life passes by. She  marvels and wonders why things happen in a certain way.

Rammile is a victim of poliomyelitis, which has left her mentally handicapped with a brain capacity of a six-year old. She is paralysed and has to crawl to get from point A to B. Her speech is also impaired and characterised by unintelligible involuntary lisps, among others.

According to MedicineNet.com, polio is caused by a very infectious enterovirus, poliovirus  (PV), which primarily affects young children. It is spread through direct person-to-person contact, with infected mucus, faeces, or by contact with food and water contaminated by faeces of another infected individual.

The virus multiplies in the gastrointestinal tract where it can also invade the central nervous system, causing permanent neurological damage in some individuals. About two to five percent of people with polio go on to develop more serious symptoms that may include respiratory problems and paralysis. There is no cure for polio, only vaccination can prevent the spread of the disease. Polio remains a fairly common disease.

Rammile was diagnosed with polio when she was only one-year old and was put on physiotherapy until she was six years old. At this age she was now too heavy for her mother, Sara, to carry her  around on her back.

Sara asked for a wheelchair that was provided by the local hospital. This was the first and probably the last wheelchair Rammile will ever own, because it is now too small for her.

“This wheelchair is too small, it’s uncomfortable, and I do not want to use it. I went up to standard four at school. I can write my name and address. But I cannot read properly, I do not even try, so for all practical purposes, I cannot read at all. I want to be a teacher one day and earn a lot of money. I know if I have money I will be able to buy beautiful clothes,” said young Rammile.

It is a struggle making sense of what Rammile says when she speaks but, with some patience, one can finally understand what is in her heart. She wants to live a good life where everything she needs is available. Although she has been crawling for 19 years, this is not something a human being can easily resign themselves to; but Rammile speaks with a smile on her face.

“While growing up, she would sometimes get gloomy when she saw other children running around. She was desperate to use her legs but she could not. As a mother, this hurt me a lot. Seeing my child going through all that made me realise that she was going to need me all her life,” Sara told The Weekly with tears in her eyes.

Rammile’s family is one of the most impoverished families in Botshabelo. Sara is unemployed with four children to care for. Rammile is the second born and her younger sister has already completed her Grade 12 and now works at a local factory. Although, she is the eldest sister in the family, she is treated like the baby in the house.

“Initially I suspected that the abuse I suffered while I was pregnant with Puleng was responsible for her condition. My husband used to beat me. He would punch and kick me, without considering that I was pregnant. It was a very difficult time in my life but I had to endure it for my other child.

“I am now living with HIV and I am on treatment. It was a double blow for me, but I have accepted my fate. I went to a cerebral palsy workshop in 2006. I was trained on how to care for disabled people. This enabled me to better care for my child,” said Sara.

This family is appealing for a new wheelchair for Rammile. She desires for her speech to be corrected so she can communicate effectively. She also uses hand gestures to communicate, having no knowledge of formal sign language.

The family lives in a derelict house that looks like it could collapse at any moment, and to make matters worse their ablution and sanitary facilities are also not working.

The state of the world’s children 2013 report that addresses the plight of children with disabilities states that these children and their families need help from their communities. It notes that there is not enough information about children with disabilities or what they need.

According to the report, this is because people do not always think about these children or understand what they need. Children and young people with disabilities often do not get the help they need to stay healthy.

“All children need good food, water, toilets they can use. Violence happens more to children with disabilities than other children,” states the report.

A case study done on behalf of the department of health established that there are over two million people living with disabilities in South Africa. On the other hand the Casual Day Welfare Organisation estimates that 3.5 million people are disabled in the country.