Meet Vumi
Today, we’d like to introduce you to Vumilia – or Vumi, as we call her.
She’s been part of the team since the very beginning. We were in a rented guesthouse back then – she remembers when we had just five children in our care at any one time; she never dreamed Kafika House would grow so much.
In Vumi’s village, children with disabilities were hidden away for fear of stigma and shame; they were seen as a curse, or punishment from God.
It was only when she heard about Kafika House that she learned they could be treated.
What struck her was that children who arrived unable to take even a step on their bent-inward feet or bowed legs left walking tall and proud; they were truly being healed.
She joined in 2008 as a House Mama. Through our professional development programme, she trained as a Therapy Assistant. She loves working with children post-surgery, helping them take those first brave steps into a new realm of ability.
Of all the children she’s cared for, Justin stands out in her memory.
He had fallen face-first into a cooking fire during an epileptic seizure. His healing journey took four years and multiple surgeries — including the reconstruction of his nose using a flap from his one remaining arm.
Through it all, Vumilia was by his side. He called her Dada Zuni - his lips couldn’t form ‘v’ and ‘m’.