Help a Child Go Back to School

Pelo Foundation is raising funds for children from indigent communities born with Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) to receive life-saving surgeries and continue to receive medical treatment.

One of the children who desperately need assistance is Yibanathi Stofile from Kirkwood, a small town in the Eastern Cape, who was born with a hole in his heart, to receive a heart operation, so that he goes back to school in 2023.

Since birth Yibanathi has been living with a heart condition and is currently taking treatment for Outlet Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) while awaiting surgery. The heart disease has prevented him to have a normal childhood and seldom attends school.

The 13-year-old is an aspiring soccer player who one day sees himself playing for one of the teams in South Africa, however, due to his condition that may end up just being a dream.

The funds raised will ensure that Yibanathi receives the much-needed surgery to close the hole in his heart and he will get the opportunity to join other school-going children in 2023 and start playing soccer regularly!

Yibanathi is among 500 children who are on the list at the Dora Nginza Provincial Hospital, waiting to receive the most needed surgeries and treatments. Some of the children have succumbed to the condition while on the waiting list.

Pelo Foundation has partnered with Busamed Hospital Group and Wings and Wishes for the children to receive surgeries at reduced private medical rates and be transported safely and comfortably from the public health hospitals to Busamed Private Hospitals.

The partnership has enabled 13 children from the Eastern Cape to receive the most needed surgery from September 2021 to November 2022. These children have been reported to be healthy and active. Some have gone back to school, and some participate in sports.