Nisha Varghese, who has cerebral palsy, says she knows that life is tough and that’s why she dedicates every living moment to helping others in need.
East London, South Africa (27 February 2020) – Nisha Varghese who is from East London has cerebral palsy, but despite her disabilities, the 28-year-old is always on a mission to make people’s lives better.
“Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that affects speech and movement. Because I have cerebral palsy, I can’t walk, and my speech is sometimes difficult to understand. Some people think cerebral palsy affects everybody the same way when, in fact, it affects people to varying degrees depending on how badly the brain was damaged during the injury.”
The passionate South African does something for charity every year, and this year her birthday campaign is to raise money to help vulnerable babies in South Africa.
“Birthdays are usually a time when one gets gifts, but I would like to flip that tradition on its head.”
On the 25th of March, the young South African turns 29, and instead of gifts, she is asking all who can rather, to donate diapers (of all sizes) and formula (Infacare 1 and Infacare 2) to Breath of Life.
Breath of Life, an initiative of the Restore Trust, is a place of safety for vulnerable babies in East London. The place of safety has the capacity to take care of up to 6 babies simultaneously.
What’s unique about Breath of Life is that the babies live with House Mom, Michelle, House Dad, Andrew and House Siblings, Jasmin, Lily-Anne and Alex-Rose along with carers who are there to help the family take care of the babies ensuring the babies have stability and love until they are adopted or reunited with suitable blood relatives.
Varghese heard about Breath of Life from a family member and immediately thought: “babies, cute, I must go visit.”
“On my first visit to Breath of Life, I was greeted by Michelle, who reminded me of many new mothers I’ve met, in that she was absolutely besotted with all her babies. I was so shocked by the depth of love on her face when she looked at the babies I actually considered reminding her that she wouldn’t get to keep any of the babies but instead I just decided that for every baby that would eventually have to leave, I would always return for Mommy Extraordinaire, Michelle.
I went for the babies, and the babies are deeply loved by me, but truly a large part of me returns monthly for Michelle so that she knows she will never be alone.”
The young South African has even used her own money every month since then, to send care-packs of diapers and formula to the baby home.
“I can’t tell you what to do I can only share with you what I do in between my monthly visits to Breath of Life… my parents don’t even know this, I guess they will now. But I use TAKEALOT vouchers every month to buy diapers and things for the babies which are delivered directly to Breath of Life.”
Varghese is no stranger to fundraising though. She has spent her entire adult life campaigning and getting involved in various projects to help others and been involved with initiatives such as the Smile Train and the Not For Sale Campaign.
“I started my community work and fundraising at the age of 19. In retrospect, I realise that while losing myself in the service of others, I accidentally found the best version of me – the me I didn’t even know I wanted to be.”
To help Varghese on her quest to do good, email her by clicking here.
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