JANUARY 2022 - ANNUAL SOUTH AFRICA TRIP
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2022.
It's that time of the year again when Pride needs to get to South Africa for his prosthetic appointment. The cup on his prosthetic is cracked and his sock liner is worn out, plus there is the growth to consider.
Pride and his Dad, Fredrick need to get to SA to their appointment at Icexpress in Johannesburg. Flights alone are USD$480, so we're hoping to raise $650.
Please help if you can - the smallest donations add up!
Update from January 2021:
Thanks to all who have donated to help Pride sort out his prosthetic. There have been a few developments since I put out the first call for funds earlier this month, the most exciting of which is that he has been selected to represent Zimbabwe in the World Para-Athletics Championship in Dubai in February 2021.
This is a major coup as he as been trying to get onto the team for a couple of years now. As a result, the trip to South Africa has now become urgent as he has to be back with a new prosthetic blade in time to join the team's bio bubble on 25th January.
Zimbabwe is in lockdown and there are no international buses, which was their planned mode of transport. Now Pride and his dad Fred have to drive to the South African border at Beitbridge, leave their car there, and walk across the border in the hopes of getting a ride with one of the transport trucks to the final destination, which is Pretoria. They have to get a Covid test done in order to get police clearance to travel, It is valid for 48 hours, and they need it to cross the border. So they have to make haste from Victoria Falls, and cover the 760KM distance.
The upshot of this is that it now makes the cost of travel more expensive, with return fuel costs for a private car, so we find ourselves £265 short.
Please, please could you share our fundraiser to help us make up the shortfall. The breakdown of total costs shown in £GBP and $USD (which they use in Zimbabwe) is as follows:
Line Item
USD
GBP
Covid tests in Zimbabwe
$120
£ 90
Covid Tests in South Africa
$160
£118
Return Fuel , toll fees & transport in SA
$340
£250
TOTAL COST
$620
£458
Our initial cost estimates were:
Line Item
USD
GBP
Covid tests in Zimbabwe
$110
£ 80
Return Bus fares
$275
£200
Meal Allowance and Phone Data
$ 40
$ 30
TOTAL COST
$425
$310
They will be staying with a family and eating with them, so costs once in SA should be limited.
If you need any further evidence of how remarkable this young man is, Pride was on ZBC in Zimbawe, and in the news for his own charity work! You can read about it here:
https://www.zbcnews.co.zw/15-year-old-mafira-launches-one-shoe-project/
Thank you again for your incredible support!
Lynn
URGENT APPEAL JANUARY 2021:
Pride's blade has been cracked since November 2020 and we urgently need to raise £310 before the end of January to get him to South Africa with his father to get it repaired or replaced. He is using some crutches we managed to get him yesterday to minimise the load on the limb, but we are concerned it will break completely before we can get him to SA.
The breakdown of funds needed are as follows:
Covid Test and Certificate £ 80
Return Bus fare £200
Meal allowance £ 20
Phone Data £ 10
TOTAL £310
A message from Pride Tadiwanashe Mafira:
Hi, I'm a 15 year old amputee from Zimbabwe and I love competing in para-athletic events. I have two older sisters and we live with our parents in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. I really hope, with some help, to be able to raise some funds to go to medical appointments in South Africa and to compete there at sporting events. I cannot compete in Zimbabwe because they have no category for an amputee with a blade. My Shona name, Tadiwanashe means “God loves us" - something which my family are certain of, even in these uncertain times.
________________________________________________________________________
15 year old para-athlete Pride Mafira was born with fibular hemimelia. It’s a rare birth defect affecting the fibular bone, which can be partially developed, or, as in Pride’s case, completely missing in his right calf. In such a severe case, it would have restricted proper development. To give him the best chance, Pride’s parents, Frederick and Faustinah made the difficult decision for amputation below the knee when he was just 6 months old.
At 3, Pride got his first prosthetic after his father’s chance meeting in Zimbabwe with Jim Cahill, the co-owner of Thompson Custom Orthotics and Prosthetics who then invited them to the US to fit him with the limb in 2011.
He had to wait until 2014 before he got his second prosthesis thanks to Jumping Kids, a non-profit in South Africa who provide access to lower limb prosthetics for children from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, who are living with amputations.
Now at 15, Pride is on his 6th limb, and it won’t be long before he outgrows it. This promising para-athlete is hoping to be able to get a new blade for competing and a regular limb. Covid-19 lockdown has brought the family’s income to a standstill, so they really need your help!
Once a child has been supported by Jumping Kids for 2 years, they are asked to pay a monthly admin fee of R500 (about £25 or $30) which helps the organisation cover some of the costs to raise funds for equipment.
In addition to this, the annual costs for Pride to maintain proper movement and comfort are roughly as follows, and shown in 3 currencies:
Pride’s Athletic Achievements
In April of 2017, the T44 track and F44 field athlete scooped gold in the 100m race and silver in high jump at the Nedbank National Championships for the physically disabled in South Africa. He has yet to compete in his own country, Zimbabwe because the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) cannot classify him as he is the only blade runner in the country.
He was invited to compete in 2019 at the International Wheelchair and Amputees Sports Federation World Athletics Championship in the 100m race, high jump and shot put, but was unable to go as the family couldn’t raise the funds for travel.
Let's not let that happen again!
At a minimum, we'd like to be able to raise the funds for travel for limb and liner fittings, which equates to about £2,300 every year.
Ideally, we'd like to raise funds so that Pride can have a standard limb AND a blade for sports, which is another £2,500.
In the best case scenario, we'd love to be able to raise sufficient funds to cover the FULL cost for Pride's prosthesis, liners, sleeves, sockets and travel to enable Jumping Kids to help more children live Pride. That's a total of £7,860 per year.
Let's get this incredible young man off the side lines, and onto the field so he can live up to his name!
News Stories and Videos
Pride Tadiwanashe Mafira, won three gold medals at the South Africa Sports for the Physically Challenged in Cape Town, South Africa, at the weekend.
