A polio survivor depending on a wheelchair and walking sticks for mobility, is desperate for assistance to make her life easier and less stressful for her family.
Mamaribe Tlhabanelo (60), who resides in Phase 3, Bloemfontein, is pleading for help to have an interior bathroom with a toilet.
She lives in a state-built house with an outside toilet. However, Tlhabanelo says the outside toilet is not ideal for her conditions, but further complicates her situation.
She says the house was from the onset constructed with an outside toilet despite her physical condition.
Tlhabenelo is pleading for help from anyone or a contractor to help change her life by construction of a bathroom with a toilet.
“It is unsafe at night or anytime of the day for me to use an outside toilet. It is difficult to access and during rainy days it is even worse. I get stuck in the wet ground, irrespective if I am using a wheelchair or walking sticks.
“I depend on family members whenever I must go to the toilet. Having a bathroom with a toilet would make life much easier and will relieve my family of the burden. I am able to bath myself, but my biggest challenge is that I am unable to dispose of bath water in the drainage outside,” said Tlhabanelo.
For now, she depends on her partner for assistance as her daughter is also disabled. Her daughter stays and attends school at the Lettie Fouché Special School. The school caters for mentally handicapped learners.
Tlhabanelo’s wheelchair is not adaptable to rough terrain and the house does not have a ramp to the entrance to make it possible to access her house.
