Stella Lawareth is a 2020 South Africa Program grantee and master’s student in Public Health at the University of Cape Town. Stella is Ghanaian and is the female physiotherapist to be commissioned as an officer in Ghana. She works as a pediatric physical therapist at a military hospital, where she trains the parents and caregivers of children living with disabilities and runs a clubfoot clinic. She is currently on leave to develop low-cost assessment tools to measure physical fitness of children living in low-income urban areas in Ghana. During postgraduate studies in South Africa, she became acutely aware of the gap in the standards of physical therapy being applied in the two countries. She became passionate about raising the level of physical fitness of Ghanaian children and helping turn around the growing incidence of non- communicable diseases linked to their being obese or overweight. Through her study she has already reached several hundred children and is looking to scale up significantly by partnering with schools once she completes her master’s. Stella volunteers as an exercise instructor for pregnant women, as well as with a non-governmental organization that treats children with clubfoot.
Faatima Omarjee Ebrahim
Fatima Ebrahim is a 2020 South Africa Program grantee. She is pursuing a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Cape Town. Faatima Ebrahim is South African and a clinical occupational therapist with 20 years’ experience serving the disabled community primarily in pediatric practice, and in a public health managerial capacity. Having a special needs child opened her eyes to the heavy burden on - almost exclusively female – caregivers, and radically changed her views on the role of the therapist. Ebrahim returned to university to better equip herself to research and advocate for caregiver engagement in therapy, as well as promoting inclusive communities, where those with disabilities can integrate and thrive, in collaboration with relevant NPOs.
“I grew up in apartheid South Africa. It was only in my first year at university that I was exposed to other cultures and communities within my own country. My parenting journey of a child with special needs has been a significant influence on the way I view my work. My own lived experiences of discrimination have empowered me to own my identity, and created a yearning for me to create and build the capacity of other women and children.”
