Siyakwazi launches “Look Closer. Support Earlier.” campaign for Disability Rights Awareness Month
Press Release, KwaNzimakwe – Local nonprofit Siyakwazi has launched its 2025 Disability Rights Awareness Month campaign today (3 November), a month-long programme of advocacy calling on the South Coast community to look closer and support earlier when it comes to children with invisible disabilities. Throughout November, Siyakwazi fieldworkers are hosting awareness events at local schools and clinics to strengthen the network of support around children with disabilities.
Many children in under-resourced classrooms face invisible barriers, yet their challenges are not always recognised in time. At the start of this year, Siyakwazi screened more than 2,000 pre-Grade R, Grade R and Grade 1 learners at 34 partner ECD centres and primary schools in Ugu, identifying 651 learners who required additional support (1 in 3 children). These children now benefit from Siyakwazi’s School Readiness Programme, a weekly CAPS-aligned ‘catch-up’ intervention designed to strengthen the building blocks for learning.
“This campaign is really about seeing what’s often unseen,” says Siyakwazi Director, Cathy Mather-Pike. “So many children in classrooms are struggling quietly with barriers that teachers and families might not recognise straight away. Things like hearing or vision challenges, concentration difficulties or developmental delays. When we take the time to look closer, we begin to understand what kind of support a child truly needs. Early intervention doesn’t just change a child’s learning experience. It creates a support network.”
Through #ProjectAccess, Siyakwazi is also partnering with physiotherapists from Port Shepstone Regional Hospital this month to host outreach events at local clinics and meet with Community Healthcare Workers.
“Many families don’t realise that physiotherapy and other rehabilitation services for children with developmental delays or disabilities are available through their local clinic or hospital,” says Katlego Modimakoane, Physiotherapist at Port Shepstone Regional Hospital. “Rehabilitation not only helps a child gain independence; it uplifts the whole family. Through #ProjectAccess and our work with Community Health Workers, we’re helping families see that support and hope are closer than they think.”
To support early screening, therapy or learning resources for children with disabilities this month, visit Siyakwazi’s For Good campaign page to donate.