Mhlaba Memela

The launch of a trust by people with disabilities kicked off on a high note when it awarded R10000 worth of bursaries to three children with disabilities.

The Indimezulu Trust was launched in Durban yesterday and is the brainchild of novelist and motivational speaker Musa Zulu and his friend Vusi Ndimeni.

Zulu and Ndimeni are both confined to wheelchairs but their predicament did not stop them from striving to make other people with disabilities enjoy and live better lives.

Zulu said their aim is to transform one disabled life at a time.

"We understand that R10000 does not go far in the life of a person living with disability, but we had to start somewhere," he said.

The United Nations estimates that the number of people with disabilities in developing countries could be as high as 10percent and that translates to 80million people in Africa.

More than 90percent of children with disabilities do not attend school and more than 80percent of elderly people with disabilities are unemployed.

Zulu said the figures are frightening.

"Millions are battling to feed their families," he said.

"Parents of children living with disabilities are not coping with caring for their disabled children's needs.

"But the trust hopes to deal with such situations."