Casual Day welcomes new ambassadors on board

Remember, remember Casual Day is on Friday 5 September

Casual Day this week welcomed twelve new ambassadors aboard to raise awareness around the project and its aims. Casual Day is South Africa’s most successful fundraising project for persons with disabilities – and the amount raised for last year has climbed to R24.8 million. Sponsored by The Edcon Group, Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa (NCPPDSA), which this year celebrates 75 years of service to the community of persons with disabilities.

“Our ambassadors are persons with disabilities or people who have dedicated themselves to fighting for the rights of persons with disabilities,” says project leader Celeste Vinassa. “They speak from experience and knowledge about disability. It’s called ‘self advocacy’. They are all people who have overcome great adversity, and are now ready to help Casual Day with its evolution. Casual Day changes lives one R10 sticker at a time. Our ambassadors are there to give society a deeper understanding of the world of disability and how to make the world a more respectful and nurturing place for everybody.”

Our new ambassadors are:

Kashveera Chanderjith is the first profoundly deaf chartered accountant in South Africa. She is audit manager at Anglo American and is one of Accountancy SA’s 15 women representing transformation. She is a winner of a 2013 Siyabakhumbula Tribute Award and a finalist in the Women of Excellence Award – Durban Chamber of Industry & Commerce (2012) and a finalist in the Shoprite Checkers Woman of the Year 2012.

Michael Stevens is a double amputee who is a volunteer for Jumping Kids, a registered not-profit organisation that facilitates access to advanced prosthetic solutions to those who need it most, children living with lower extremity amputations from formerly disadvantaged backgrounds. He is a participant in Vodacom’s Change the World initiative and owns a real estate business.

Irene Fischer was a young and popular traffic presenter on the Mambo Jumbo show on OFM when she suffered brain damage when a truck plowed into her car. Against all odds, she survived and has made a miraculous recovery. With her life profoundly changed, she is now a motivational speaker and runs a website www.mylifewithabrokenbrain.co.za to raise awareness around hemiplegia and brain injury.

Terry-Ann Adams lives with albinism and sight impairment. She is a presenter and newscaster at Campus Radio Tuks FM and editor of The Follow Through. She has been a poet since the age of ten. “I was born into a coloured family. As the only Albino, not only in my family but in my community as well, it was a bit challenging for people to understand me. I have cried many tears, experienced prejudice and mocking, I have been spat on, laughed at and thrown around all because of my disability. But I have achieved much. I have learned to fight. I have learned that life does not come easy. Most importantly I have learned that my Albinism does not define me.”

Thulisile Matlala is a CSI manager and disability activist. She is a winner of the Barloworld CEO Award and a 2010 Tributes Award winner. She is client liaison manager at Tshikululu Social Investments. A wheelchair user and paraplegic, she has served on the following organisations: Disabled People of SA, Disabled Youth of South Africa, National Youth Commission, Danish Organisation for the Disabled, Organisation for Women with Spinal Chord Injuries, National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities, Presidential Working Group on Women, SA Employers for Disability.

Simphiwe Mkhize is a former TV actress and played Kukie on Muvhango. She was also a presenter on Zwahashu and Deaf TV. She is a 2010 Tributes Award winner and a sign-language facilitator. She is profoundly deaf and communicates through sign language or writing. “People sometimes expect me to lip-read but it doesn’t work for me.” She’s also not comfortable using her voice, unless she’s with people who know her well, such as her family and close friends.

Rhulani Baloyi Presenter of educational programme Shift on SABC 1, Trustee for SA Mobility for the Blind Trust, 2010 Tributes Award winner. Baloyi studied and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Wits University Among others Rhulani received a PANSLAB award for multilingualism on Shift and the prestigious CityPress/Rapport Women’s Achievement Award.

2J Harmonix – or Jonathan Groenewald – was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy (MD) at the age of 2. He is a rapper known for his thought provoking lyricism and clever wordplay. Born in Pretoria, the city dubbed Capcity Rapcity for its abundance in skillful emcees, the wheelchair rocking rapper moved up the lyrical food chain with his hard hitting metaphors and brow raising statements. His greatest achievement has been to overcome a hurdle he thought he could not overcome – self acceptance.

Luvo Nelani is a human rights activist in the field of disability and completed her LLB at Wits in 2013. Passionate and caring, she matriculated at Queenstown High School in the Eastern Cape. She was a student councillor at Wits University Law Clinic and has decided to use her background in legal research to advance the cause of persons with disabilities.

Cape Town ambassadors

Jabulile Ngwenya is a deaf journalist, media personality and events manager, SASL sign-language transcriber and on the team that produces content for Deaf TV.

Marlene le Roux is well-known in the Western Cape for her disability activism. She is a person with polio and the Director of Audience Development and the Education Artistic Program for Artscape. To say that Marlene is a music educator, arts administrator, a youth development specialist, an advocate for persons with disabilities – and international woman of mystery, is to understate her many achievements. Educated at Bergrivier Secondary High School in Wellington, she has also received many accolades for her contribution to social transformation and the arts. Among these awards are the Shoprite/Checkers Woman of the Year, art category, Desmond Tutu Legendary Award, Woman of the World Path the Way and the Western Cape Provincial Award for Arts and Culture. She is a member of the Paralympic committee and serves as a Commissioner on the Constitutional Commission for the Protection of the Rights of Cultural and Linguistic Communities.

Karen Smit is the founder of The Women’s Disability Network and Vodacom Product Manager: Specific Needs (disabled & elderly) Consumer Segments.

Concludes Vinassa: “This year we celebrate Casual Day’s 20th birthday and invite everyone to help us celebrate the work of all our beneficiaries which are committed to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Apart from the services they provide to their constituencies, they are involved in advocacy and lobbying for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream society. All our national beneficiaries are committed to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities – and are representative of a spectrum of conditions and disabilities.”

The beneficiaries of Casual Day are:

National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in SA

South African National Council for the Blind

South African Federation for Mental Health

Deaf Federation of South Africa

Autism South Africa

Down Syndrome South Africa

National Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy

South African National Deaf Association

National Institute for the Deaf

Alzheimer’s South Africa

South African Disability Alliance

QuadPara Association of South Africa.

Stickers are available from:

Edgars, Jet, JetMart, Boardmans, CNA, Red Square and Legit;

Absa outlets;

Game and DionWired stores;

Shoprite and Checkers stores; and

Casual Day national office on 011 609 7006.

www.casualday.co.za

FB: www.facebook.com/casualdaySA

Twitter: @CasualDay_SA

#BringouttheBling

#CasualDaySA

Author: Andrea Vinassa from Casual Day.
More Info link: https://www.casualday.co.za
Twitter: Twitter: @CasualDay_SA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/casualdaySA

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