Being able to play the drums has changed the life of a 14-year-old with cerebral palsy.
The teen identified as Thobani was one of the city pupils with disabilities who got into the spirit before Casual Day on September 4, when they staged a special concert with organisers of the annual fund-raising drive hoping to top R30 million this year.
Casual Day ambassadors visited the Filia School in Goodwood on Tuesday to support the school’s music band and to raise awareness about supporting persons with disabilities .
The 18-member Filia School band, dressed in their “Spring into Action” Casual Day T-shirts, played songs from well-known artists including Miriam Makeba and Alicia Keys.
Playing with precision and passion, what made their rendition of the songs even more remarkable was that the pupils were intellectually and physically challenged.
Some pupils were able to play only with one hand, keeping their eye on their music teacher, Sheila Davids, and the school’s bus driver and brass band instructor, Osman Dreyer.
Filia is home to 192 pupils with different kinds of disabilities, ranging from cerebral palsy, autism, Down’s syndrome and hearing impairment, among others.
Initially founded by the Western Cape Cerebral Palsy Association 35 years ago as a place of learning for intellectually challenged children with cerebral palsy, principal Mandy Mortlock said the school “has in recent years become more inclusive of children with other forms of disabilities”.
Filia School now falls under the auspices of the Western Cape Education Department as a resource centre for inclusive education.
There are five different types of stickers for this year’s Casual Day, at R10 each. Stickers can be bought from Edgars, CNA, Jet, Boardmans, Legit, Game, Dion Wired, Shoprite and Checkers stores, or at ABSA. – African News Agency