You’ll be seeing a lot of dance moves accompanied by the hashtag #StepItUpChallenge this month for all the best reasons (and from people like Paralympic gold medallist Mpumi Mhlongo)! Here’s why SA is turning its efforts toward making children’s dreams of dance come true:
South Africa (07 November 2024) — November is an important month on the calendar for many South African communities. It’s National Disability Rights Awareness Month, a time when people rally support for the enforcement of disabled South Africans’ rights and spotlight the shortcomings disabled communities face in South Africa, which needs a major makeover when it comes to accessibility.
Following last year’s success, the #StepItUpChallenge is back with a bang, ready once again to raise awareness and support for children with clubfoot—a condition that impacts nearly 200,000 children around the world.
Without treatment, clubfoot (being born with one or both feet twisted inward and pointed downward as unilateral or bilateral) can leave people disabled. This is most disheartening, considering that clubfoot can be corrected in over 90% of cases when prompt intervention is accessible.
Paralympic Gold Medallist Mpumelelo (Mpumi) Mhlongo and the dancer who took the world by storm, Musa Motha, are once again backing the challenge in an effort to support the national dance mission and NPO, STEPS Clubfoot Care.
For those who are out of the loop, the #StepItUpChallenge became a massive dance challenge that saw people dance to the amapiano track, “I Am Possible”, by legendary local producers Dino Moran, Bee Deejay, and DJ Schuster and raised R230,000! It also curated a big audience on TikTok to the tune of 2.9 million plays!
This year, the goal is to raise R300 000, once again echoing the message “I Am Possible.”
“I often say Musa doesn’t believe in the word impossible; I break the word into two: ‘I’M’ and ‘POSSIBLE’,” says Musa Motha who lost his leg to cancer at the tender age of 10.
The #StepItUp Challenge encourages everyone to get involved and support the efforts of STEPS, who have made a difference for thousands of children over the past 18 years.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to be a firsthand witness of the phenomenal work STEPS does,” says Mpumi.
“It has fundamentally changed my outlook on life. It serves as a reminder of how easily we can beat the odds and empower the children of today to be the future leaders that we need for South Africa to realise its potential.”
The 2024 #StepItUp Challenge
You can support the initiative in the following ways:
- Create a dance video of your own and share it on TikTok using the hashtag #StepItUpChallenge
- Spread the word and encourage your friends with rhythm to join in
- Make a donation via BackaBuddy
Those relaly inspired can even join Mpumi at the Blue Route Mall for an in-person dance challenge on Saturday, 7 December.
You can find out more about STEPS here.
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