awareness | JOURNEYS OF HER

Nicolette Ripepi, founder of Autism Connect

Nicolette Ripepi, the founder of Autism Connect, and a certified neuroscience and cognitive coach, specializing in autism-specific education, has been strongly advocating for children with autism since the early 2000s. She is a mother, a champion, and an advocate for voices that are often sidelined and overlooked in most societies around the world. Through her lived experience, she has encountered innumerable challenges but has continuously defied the odds. Her story shows us that resilience is the ability to pull through any hardship, and oftentimes, the changes we want to see in the world around us need to be trailblazed by the actions of our own hands.

This is Nicolette’s story …

As the youngest of my family, I grew up in a household surrounded by love, support, and a sense of belonging, but when I was six years old, my father died of lung cancer, leaving my mother single-handedly struggling to raise six children, which included my intellectually challenged brother, Kevin. Watching my mother struggle has vividly informed my perspective that nothing in life comes easy, but that through faith in God and family togetherness, you can overcome any difficulty.

As a family, we grew closer during the emotionally challenging times, such as dealing with the grief of losing my father, taking turns to tend to Kevin, who was shunned by the schooling system as he was labelled “retarded,” and dealing with the socioeconomic challenges that automatically came with living during the Apartheid era. Life went on and we adjusted to our new normal. Through it all, I managed to graduate from secondary school and went straight into the workforce. It was here that I met my future husband, Jeremy. We fell in love and dated for a good four years before I fell pregnant with our first child. We got married that same year, filled with so many dreams and so much hope for our future together.

During our first year of marriage, after the birth of our daughter, Tammy, Jeremy was diagnosed with a hereditary condition, diabetes. Although it was hard, we managed with regular medical appointments, changes in diet, medication, and the daily adjustments that came with a diagnosis of such a nature. Four years after we had our daughter, I fell pregnant with our son, Tyler, and we were all over the moon, especially Jeremy. Being the rugby fanatic that he was, becoming a father to a son really excited him as he had all these dreams for his little boy, the way fathers do for their sons. But what was supposed to be an exciting time for everyone soon turned into heartache for us because the dreams we had had to die to give birth to God’s Plan for our lives.

In 2004, Tyler was born and the household was abuzz with excitement and life felt like it came full circle with our pigeon pair. Tyler, like our daughter, Tammy, was an adorable baby, filling our lives with so much love and warmth but as the days stretched into months and the months were heading into two years, I started noticing that Tyler wasn’t progressing as he should for his age. He would display frustration by biting his knuckles, banging his head against the walls, and didn’t respond to his name, or would stare long into space. Everyone around me said, “Ag, he’s a boy, boys take longer to develop” or “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine” and even the doctor had his own theories about what was wrong with Tyler but my maternal instinct knew something was amiss. I eventually went back to the doctor and pushed for a second opinion. Eventually, at 2 years and 10 months old, Tyler was diagnosed with Level 3 Non-Verbal Autism Spectrum Disorder which meant he required substantial daily support.

I felt relieved. Relieved that finally I had an answer, and could work with what we knew because not knowing is far worse than knowing. It did not make the road ahead any easier, but it gave me a place to begin. With this, I went to autism specialists, as help for autistic children in the early 2000s was not readily available to the general public. Either you had money to consult a specialist or you did not. Seeing these experts, however, was proving to be financially draining for our family, compounded by Jeremy’s trouble with accepting the diagnosis. It pained him deeply that he turned to substance abuse to cope with Tyler’s diagnosis. Meanwhile, I did not have the liberty of time to sit in my grief as I eventually became the sole breadwinner, took care of Tammy, Jeremy, and had to attend to Tyler.

It got to the point where crèches were not accepting Tyler due to his autism. Like my brother, Kevin, the same reality was now becoming Tyler’s. Shunned by the schooling system, I had to find a way and this was when an idea struck me. I asked Jeremy’s aunt to take care of Tyler while I still worked in the corporate sector. We bought a small table, housed it at my home and she babysat Tyler and two other autistic children. God bless her soul, she taught them shapes, and colours, and anything they could learn at foundational level because learning for an autistic child is very different from that of a child who does not view the world through an autistic lens.

With time I came to realise that if this was the reality of my situation, how many more families were out there struggling with a lack of support, from financial to moral, and just needed a space where they could be welcomed and have a sense of belonging in a world that often excludes children and families with autistic children. But by then, my marriage had reached breaking point and sadly ended in 2011. Although our marriage had ended, I continued to care for Jeremy while focusing my energy on being a champion for our son and children on the autism spectrum. Those difficult years strengthened my resolve to ensure that other families would not have to walk the same journey alone. With this, and Jeremy’s moral support, I formally established Autism Connect in 2013 and left the corporate sector to manage my organisation full-time.

Autism Connect was established in our hometown, Mitchell’s Plain, with the belief that no neurodivergent child should ever be left behind. What began as a deeply personal journey has grown into an organisation dedicated to providing specialised education, skills development, and support for autistic children, young adults, and their families. At Autism Connect, we recognise that every autistic individual is unique. Rather than expecting learners to fit into a conventional education system, we tailor our programmes to meet each learner’s individual needs, strengths, and interests. Through this learner-centred approach, we strive to foster independence, communication, confidence, and social development while creating an environment where every learner is valued and supported.

Our Early Learning Centre caters to children aged 3 to 16 through structured, individualised educational programmes. Using the internationally recognised TEACCH approach, each learner follows an Individualised Educational Development Plan that incorporates visual supports, sensory routines, and integrated speech and occupational therapy to maximise their developmental potential. Recognising that learning does not end in childhood, we expanded our services to include a Skills and Coaching Centre for young adults aged 18 to 25. The programme focuses on preparing learners for greater independence through life skills development, pre-employment preparation, physical development, and vocational training in areas such as information technology, hospitality, and woodworking.

Beyond education, Autism Connect is committed to building a community of inclusion, understanding, and belonging. We work closely with families, recognising that supporting an autistic individual also means supporting those who walk the journey alongside them. By partnering with parents, caregivers, therapists, educators, and the wider community, we continue to advocate for greater awareness and acceptance of autism. More than a decade after opening our doors, Autism Connect continues to remain true to its founding vision: unlocking the greatness within every learner by providing opportunities that empower autistic children and young adults to develop their abilities, realise their potential, and participate meaningfully in society.

Looking back at my journey, and seeing the impact of Autism Connect on our children and their families, I can say all the challenges and insights from my early years, to growing up with our older brother Kevin, to dealing with the hardships that came with my path, to eventually losing Kevin in 2014 and Jeremy in 2016, all these experiences have enabled me to build the support we now offer to other families.

I won’t lie by saying it is easy. It has never been easy, and it still is not easy. There are days I wish I could just have breathing space, just shut down, relax and unwind, but I can’t. There are many hurdles we face as an organisation with limited resources in light of the greater need for the type of work we do, but that was how I started this organisation. Jeremy and I did our research and started off with the little we knew, and had, but see how it has grown into what it is today. If you had asked me when I bought that table for those three autistic children sitting around it if it would prosper to this, it would have seemed unattainable. But it was through God’s Grace that we are all here today, as part of an inclusive community for autistic children, and it is my hope that going forward, it will continue to bring hope, support, grace, and compassion to families of autistic children in a society that often does not understand the joy that these pure hearts bring us.

If you are interested in learning more about Nicolette or would like to get in contact with her, please reach out via the website https://autismconnect.org.za/, her Facebook page, Autism Connect, or email her at director@autismconnect.org.za.

*Sharon Nambakire, the founder of the MHAMIA Foundation and SIYA TV Uganda*

Sharon Nambakire, the founder of the Mental Health and Mental Illness Awareness Foundation (MHAMIA) and Siya TV Uganda, an online streaming channel, is a mental health advocate and humanitarian who is dedicated to helping the vulnerable and needy populations within Uganda. Shaped by her struggles of socioeconomic hardships, Sharon vowed as a little girl to become a contributing citizen of society. Her story shows us that a pure, good heart will always shine through, and that it will lead us to doors of opportunities no money can.

This is Sharon’s story …

As the youngest child and only daughter among eight siblings, I grew up surrounded by the love of my brothers and hardworking mother. After my parents’ divorce, when I was a little girl, my mother had to fend for us, her children, single-handedly, in the bustling and unforgiving terrain of Makindye, Kampala. Life was hard, and money was little to come by but my mother forged ahead by working as a cook at a nearby primary school, to pay for our school fees and to make ends meet.

During the school holidays, our mother cooked maize that my siblings and I would sell on the streets of Kampala but in spite of all her efforts, the financial woes just deepened, resulting in my mother being forced to send two of my brothers to live with her own mother in Entebbe, a neigbouring city of Kampala.

Seeing the hardships, the sweat and the struggles of my family, was the only life I knew. I did not know of a life beyond the microcosm of my own existence and that of my neighbours. We all went about our lives, living hand to mouth and hustling to earn the basic living standards. Surrounded by this reality, I had no dreams, growing up, but I most certainly aspired to be like my mother; hardworking, loyal and dedicated to the upkeep of her children who were sadly neglected by our own father.

A short while after the divorce of my parents, my father was initially present in our lives. I remember him bringing us stuff, at times, to support us in his own way but he was not very present growing up. As an adult, I harbour no resentment nor hate towards him because I understand how hard life can get although the little girl in me always questions the ‘why’. Be that as it may, our lives continued without him because our mother became our sole focus.

I thought our financial woes were normal until it was time for me to attend primary school. It was here that I realized just how bad our situation was because the schoolchildren would make fun of me. They made fun of my shoes, saying I wore my brother’s shoes and my schoolbag, was basically a plastic, polythene bag. I also got chased away from the school premises, during exams, because my mother defaulted on my school fees. I did not inform my mother of the bullying as I knew how hard she was trying to give us the best she could. Despite all the struggles, I became close to one of the teachers, Madam Christine, when I reported the bullying to her and she helped me with my term fees and provided me with books to read, to improve my English since Luganda is my home language.

Growing into a more socially aware young girl, and entering my secondary schooling years, I always used to admire the other children that had better resources than me but it seemed like such a far-fetched reality for me to have nice stuff. Our financial woes resulted in me skipping a school term and working as a nanny, washing clothes and selling maize, to save up money to return to school but even then, it was not enough. When I reached Senior Four, my mother wanted me to attend a vocational institute but I was determined to finish secondary school by attaining my A-Levels.

Fortunately, the secondary school that I attended, Molly and Paul High School, always received visits from American missionaries and through one of these visits, I met a lady by the name of Kimberly, two years prior, during Senior Two, and we kept in touch since then, via emails, as I did not own a cellphone back then.

When I reached my wit’s end on how to proceed with completing my schooling, despite working for extra money, I decided to explain my situation to Kimberly and she offered to pay my school fees for me. With her help, I managed to finish my A-Levels and am forever indebted to her for her assistance.

Shortly after the completion of secondary schooling and with my passion for talking, I received an opportunity to venture into online broadcasting, on a pioneering channel called Vory Wood TV and was trained on the job. During my first stint, I had a show, called Follow Up, where I interviewed different people in the movie industry, every Friday. Later on, I joined Crown TV Uganda, where we hosted The Expendables, interviewing different people in the music industry and then TMC where we hosted the Deep Dive show, once again focusing on the entertainment industry but I eventually quitted the industry due to the prevalent nature of sexual harassment – of which I refused to be a victim of – and decided to focus full-time in the non-profit sector, while hosting my own online broadcasting show called Siya TV Uganda.

Due to growing up very poor, I developed an affinity for helping those just like me. It was during secondary schooling years, when in Senior Five, that our school grounds shifted from Kibuye, to a village in the MPIGI District. It was here that I saw children coming to school without shoes. I was so touched by their plight that I prayed to God to one day put me in a position where I am able to help others. The decision to follow through on my prayers came after I quit working for others, in the online broadcasting sector, and ventured on my own.

In 2021, I established the Sharon Inspiring Youth Africa (SIYA) Foundation dedicated to the upliftment of the youth. During this period, for three years, my family, friends and I would collect shoes and clothes for school-going children, to give them a sense of dignity when attending schools. We also provided stationery and any other materials, to facilitate their school-going years, and to this day as an organization, we still do these collection drives albeit under a different name,

We rebranded the SIYA Foundation to the Mental Health and Mental Illness Awareness (MHAMIA) Foundation, in 2024, shortly after the suicide of my cousin in April 2023. His death came as a complete shock to our family, which many deemed as a result of witchcraft, which is a common misconception among Ugandans. I have to admit, even I was not clued up on mental health, and its prevalence, until I had to educate myself on it and with this, the MHAMIA Foundation was born.

The purpose of the MHAMIA Foundation is to create mental health awareness and destigmatize misconceptions surrounding mental illness in Uganda. To date, we have had outreach programmes within twenty-two communities, including schools. Through our awareness campaigns, both the youth and older generations have gained insight and understanding on topics relating to the importance of mental health and well-being and the demystification of witchcraft, as its cause. As an organization, and through my online broadcasting show, we hope to reach more people and create a culture of acceptance, non-judgement and compassion towards those suffering from mental health issues and to stress the importance of mental well-being.

By the end of my life, when I look back on all the milestones in my life, I want to be proud of myself for taking the needed steps to help others. I want to help people. I want to listen to them, without judgement. I want to be there, even if its just my presence. I also want to encourage others to be the needed tool of change within their respective societies. You do not need the world to make a difference but the world certainly needs you, to make that difference, to be like the Madam Christine’s and the Kimberley’s that shines their light when it is most needed.

While I may not be a university graduate, although this is a milestone and dream, I will achieve in the foreseeable future, God-Willing, my journey shows that it does not take an education to make a difference. It simply takes a good heart, with pure intentions, to light the candles of others, so they, too, can achieve their dreams.

If you are interested in learning more about Sharon or would like to get in contact with her, please reach out via her website https://mhamia.ahavah-creations.org/, her Facebook page, MHAMIA Foundation, or email her at mhamiafoundation18@gmail.com.