20 May 2015<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Asive Mbokotyana is a bright, energetic young girl who dreams of becoming a teacher. But despite her love of books and reading, attending her local primary school had become a painful experience for the shy nine-year-old.<\/p>\n

Orphaned when she was only a few months old, Asive is being raised by an ailing grandfather who struggles to make ends meet on a small government pension. As a result, Asive has not been able to afford a school uniform for the past few years.
\nGoing to school looking looking different from the other children caused her to become increasingly withdrawn and isolated, says DWF Community Health Outreach Worker Zanele Mkwenkwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves school, but it was hard for her to go because she felt so different from everyone else,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was important for her to get a uniform so that she could feel like she belongs there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Asive is one of the hundreds of children in the Mbovana region of the former Transkei who is being supported by the Donald Woods Foundation through its Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programme.<\/p>\n

In addition to kitting her out in a brand new uniform, Zanele has also been working closely with the girl\u2019s grandfather, Mqhuma Mbokotyan, to access a foster care grant with which to better meet Asive\u2019s material needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assisted in in applying for the grand, and today the family is in a much better position as a result of that extra money,\u201d Zanele said.<\/p>\n

When the DWF team visited Asive at her hut in May 2015, the girl was beaming, proudly showing off her uniform. \u201cI am very happy,\u201d she said shyly, through an interpreter. \u201cI feel right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 May 2015 Asive Mbokotyana is a bright, energetic young girl who dreams of becoming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[113,105,128,104,129],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DEjh-16Z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4272,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/case-study-new-lease-on-life-after-hiv-diagnosis\/","url_meta":{"origin":4277,"position":0},"title":"CASE STUDY: New lease on life after HIV diagnosis","date":"May 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"12 May 2015 Despite the constant strain of financial hardship, Nofumanekile Mboxo prided herself on her positive, even jovial, outlook on life. 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The Donald Woods Foundation became aware of Okuhle\u2019s desperate situation during a routine Health in Every Hut\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4253,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/donald-woods-reburied-at-ancestral-home-in-transkei\/","url_meta":{"origin":4277,"position":4},"title":"Donald Woods reburied at ancestral home in Transkei","date":"September 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Internationally acclaimed anti-apartheid activist and former Daily Dispatch editor Donald Woods has been reburied, alongside his wife Wendy and their infant son Lindsay, at Woods\u2019 ancestral home in Hobeni in the former Transkei. 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