Meet Sithandile

When you believe you’re capable of anything, you’re capable of everything

17-month-old Sithandile was born with a deformed foot. The happy, smiling little girl will need complex surgery to enable her to walk comfortably as she grows. She is just at the beginning of her healing journey, but she has an extensive team supporting her, and a loving mom who adores her baby girl.

Rhuwyda, Sithandile’s mom, recalls her initial worries and concerns, and the inevitable disappointment and heartache that a mother feels as she processes that her child would have to work harder to do what most children can do with little effort at all. Yet, somewhere in her voice you hear her pride and her complete faith in her daughter’s ability to step through this transformative transition that we so simply call healing. Sithandile will learn many things along the way. On her path, she will be accompanied by many dedicated healers who have one intention: to help her live a happy and healthy life, with every chance of making all her dreams a reality.

Along the way, she may have to learn how to play in a way that helps her heal; she will have a team for that. And by that time, we trust that she will also be able to make use of the Children’s Hospital’s planned Therapeutic Playground. You see, when children learn to play, they play to learn. And Sithandile, like every child who is healing at the Hospital, will heal better and faster with more support. A Therapeutic Playground will never feel like therapy but will most certainly feel like fun. And we can all agree that there is nothing better than the sound of children laughing and having fun.

There are many children who need far more help; more than what we think. And some parents aren’t fortunate enough to be able to do it all on their own. The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital is more than just a hospital, it’s a playground for many children, because even though dressed up like a hospital, in a child’s mind it will always be what they do best – play!

Rhuwyda speaks about how helpful Red Cross has been to make it possible for her daughter to have just as equal an opportunity to enjoy her life as any other child. She is grateful that she was kept updated and informed every step of the way and says that this knowledge has given her a sense of dignity and empowerment to not feel helpless, which in turn could impede her child’s healing and development. But Rhuwyda knows that Sithandile is strong and determined and her medical team are of the best in the world. There will be no giving up here!

When you know that anything is possible, you just can’t give up. Why would you?

Rhuwyda’s face lights up when she talks about how Sithandile makes a proud effort to reposition her foot; she wants to walk, to run, to play. By her next birthday she may just be doing exactly that!

100% of your donations will go towards building a fully equipped Therapeutic Playground that will benefit children just like Sithandile as they heal through play.

As we celebrate 28 years of not giving up on the little ones who come through the doors of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, we thank you for being right there with us, and with children like Sithandile who won’t give up, because of you.