CHANGEMAKER | From struggling at school to empowering people with disabilities

Health-e News CHANGEMAKER | From struggling at school to empowering people with disabilities Thapelo Tshabalala, author and co-founder of Tshwane Disability Empowerment Projects, knows what it is like to feel excluded because of a disability.

Growing up, Tshabalala struggled to read and write and says he was repeatedly told by teachers and family that he would not succeed.

“Living with digraphia was difficult for me because every time I have to go to school I will always think about the words from the teachers saying I am not going anywhere,” he says.

Dysgraphia is a neurological condition that can affect a person’s ability to write.

Despite his difficulties at school, Tshabalala continued studying and completed a master’s degree at Tshwane University of Technology in 2022.

His research focused on creating accessible adventure tourism experiences for people with disabilities.

Listening to the experiences of people who participated in his research prompted him to become more involved in disability advocacy.

“I then decided to be a voice for them,” he says.

His experiences eventually led him into disability advocacy.

He published Epitome of Disability: Challenging Barriers in Education and Beyond and in 2023 co-founded Tshwane Disability Empowerment Projects in Stinkwater in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.

Creating opportunities Tshabalala’s centre now provides programmes to 45 people with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 45.

These include sewing, agriculture, baking, sport and recreation.

A mobile vegetable garden, created using recycled tyres, produces vegetables including spinach, beetroot and onions for its kitchen.

Tshabalala is currently a third-year PhD student at the University of the Western Cape, where his research focuses on developing guidelines for accessible transport for people with disabilities in South Africa.