Hear Our Story

To say 'focus on the good' seems easy to say but not to do. Silas Mkoba Foundation was formed in memory of Silas Mkoba, a man who suffered an illness that caused him to lose mobility for a long time. During these years, the family faced several challenges which usually people do not share but suffer in silence. Family and friends sometimes come and go without any idea what is happening.

The children grew up seeing their parent suffering. This was from a vibrant-loving parent to an ill parent who needed full-time care. Such a shift of events often cripples the whole family, which can affect whole communities. because as I have found at the heart of trouble is a challenge. No child should wake up to be a carer. No one knows what is in their minds, but with support, the burden becomes better.

The ill parent seeing the children he is supposed to support suffering worsens his situation. The other parent, the carer, muscles on the pain of the other, but with support, it becomes better. When the sick finally rest, a lot is even on their plate, so they need support.

Support is very crucial in these situations. Solutions to understand the situation. Information is equally important. In that situation, a lot was learnt and realised the burden other families were facing. This is what motivated the founder of Silas Mkoba Foundation to start this helping hand to alleviate some of the challenges families with a member suffering from a long illness and bereaved family members.

Firstly, the founder reflected a lot on their journey and wrote a book including some of the crucial events, how they were handled and how they could have been handled: in addition, she also researched others in the same situations. The need was apparent. The words from the Bible came alive: Ecclesiastes 4: "Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labour." Now, a group of like-minded people have come together to stand in this gap with other well-wishers to alleviate the burden.

Sifiso Mkoba
Founder, Chairperson