Tag / capetown

by Yumnah Jones

Nicolette Ripepi

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.

by Yumnah Jones

Suraya Williams

Suraya Williams, founder of Design26 Foundation

Suraya Williams, the founder of the Design26 Foundation, has been featured in several local South African newspapers, media campaigns and has been awarded recognition for her contribution to the young women of the Cape Flats, through her skills empowerment programme. Her story shows us that the key to our destiny is often right in front of us and that no matter what path we choose to follow, it will keep bringing us back to what we need to do and when we persevere to answer that call, the level of impact and influence we leave in our wake, is momentous.

This is Suraya’s story…

I was born in Bonteheuwel, a suburb within the larger Cape Flats region of Cape Town, South Africa, that is often only associated with gangsterism, poverty and crime. My parents, with their growing family, lived in a backyard shack and the struggle to make ends meet, within a segregated coloured community, under the Apartheid regime, were both common but also our norm.

When I was 2 years of age, in 1979, my parents moved into their own home, in Rocklands, Mitchell’s Plain; another area within the segregated Cape Flats. My father was a paint contractor and my mother was a clothing factory worker, with both of them having obtained a primary school education.  

In 1984, my mother was retrenched, when most clothing manufacturing companies, in Cape Town, were closed down. Subsequently, she made the decision to use her seamstress skills and worked from home.  However, due to the lack of a formal education, she worked from hand to mouth, barely making a minimum wage.

As a little girl, growing up, I remember always standing alongside her while she did her sewing and cut-make and trim (CMT) work. She would always tell me, in these shared moments, that she wants me to continue in her footsteps when she passes on. I secretly scoffed at the idea of taking over from her, as I believed it was a dying industry flooded with low-paid labourers destined for a life of continued poverty and destitution. I wanted better for my own life and sewing was not what I associated with having or doing better.

Determined to do better, and to help our parents in our own small way, my older sister and I, aged 14 years, would work for a salon on weekends and earned R30 (US$2) and a plate of food. In 1992, aged 15, during Grade 10, I started working for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) after school hours and during weekends, earning R450 (US$29) every second weekend. In 1996, I finally graduated from secondary school, after failing Grade 10, at first attempt, but through sheer persistence and focus, I finished school, at aged 19.

Upon completion of secondary school, I did a one year secretarial course that enabled me to get my first formal job as a receptionist, at a community newspaper house, Cape Flats Mirror and Muslim Views. After a one year stint, I saw an opportunity to progress as a secretary at a much bigger company and in 1999, secured the job. However, a few years later, I got retrenched, in 2004, but soon thereafter, I became employed as an administrator at a well-known accounting and auditing firm, Mazars. Within two years of being employed, I progressed from being an administrator to becoming a personal assistant to two directors at the firm.

I have had to hustle all my life to get to this level of ease, from being a child of menial workers to working in the corporate sector but just when things seemed to be falling into place, my life was, unknowingly at the time, starting to shift gears, and steered me onto a pathway that was always meant to be my destiny.

In 2006, my mother passed away of yellow jaundice. Her death was sudden and shocking. Two weeks after she was diagnosed, all her organs failed and sadly she passed away, on my birthday, the 26th of January. She bequeathed her sewing machines and all her dressmaking equipment and fabrics to me; the middle child of her five children, but I was just as disinterested in sewing then as I was while growing up. I was not prepared though to dispose of it just yet, as it held sentimental value, and instead stored the sewing machines in the garage, until I found a suitable candidate to give them to.  

Three months after my mother’s passing, my brother was murdered as he was a state witness to another murder. It was hard losing two family members in quick succession. I then decided to have another child, who was unfortunately born with a weak immune system. With a sickly baby and being in and out of hospitals, while shouldering other responsibilities, compounded by increasing responsibilities at work, this subsequently interfered with my career. I was not in an emotionally good space to deal with the trauma and hardships but I somehow soldiered on because I was afraid of losing my financial independence.

During one incident of having to be home to tend to a sick baby, I was approached by my cousin who insisted that I make her child a 21st birthday dress. I flatly refused but she was persistent saying that I have the machinery, left her fabric with me and stated that my mother used to be the one making dresses for the family and I should give it a try.

Weeks passed by and her fabric started to haunt me. as her child’s 21st birthday party drew closer. Eventually, one Saturday morning, I thought let me just give this a try and if I mess up, she is well aware of me never having sewed in my life. I called her up to bring her daughter over for measurements and then the magic started to happen. Everything I thought I did not know, I knew. I made that dress from the memories of seeing my mother making dresses. It was a complete out of body experience. It felt as if my mother was with me in spirit guiding my hands, in every cut, every trim, and every measurement. I never knew I was capable of this. Needless to say, my first beautifully made pumpkin-styled dress and bolero jacket were a success. To have created it from scratch and to see the kind of joy I brought to my family changed me internally and a dream within me, my mother’s dream, was born.

I went about my normal, daily life, striving to keep my financial independence, but the dream kept growing within me and presented me with mixed emotions and potential challenges. Do I leave my job to pursue something that I did not know anything about or do I stay in my comfort zone and sacrifice my soul’s desire? What do I do?  

After opening up to my husband about wanting to start my own clothing line, and with his full support, I handed in my resignation letter in September 2012. Instead of accepting the resignation letter, my directors made a counter-offer, offering me more money, which I accepted. I thought maybe more money is what I needed for the extra responsibilities that I had to take on but the feeling of wanting to make dresses and making women smile did not leave me. Two months later, after 14 years in the corporate world, I resolutely handed in my final resignation letter and embarked on my destined path.  

With no knowledge nor qualification of how to manage a business, I established Design26 (Pty) Ltd, a public company, in February 2013, in commemoration of my late mother and the significance of her passing and my birthdate. I started from my bedroom, with two inherited sewing machines and R500 (US$33) to open a bank account. I manufactured women’s ready-to-wear clothing, custom-made matric ball dresses and wedding dresses and each year, I would donate a matric ball dress to a less fortunate girl living in Mitchell’s Plain. Two years went by, and I realized I was selling dresses but without making a profit. I then enlisted in a small business management course offered by the University of Stellenbosch, at a discounted price, specifically for people living in the Mitchell’s Plain area. Through this course, I learnt skills on presentation, marketing and financial management and realized that in order to be charitable, and make a difference, I need to ensure that I am profitable.      

Fast forward to 2018, I have been donating matric ball dresses for several years now and would follow up with each of my customers on whether they passed secondary school and enquired about their future plans. The common response I would get is that they cannot afford to further their studies and some struggled to find employment because they lacked working experience or skills. Since many of them could not find employment, they then turned to one of the many social ills that clouded the Cape Flats; teenage pregnancies.   

Teenage pregnancies is a scourge that deeply affects the lives of young girls living in the Cape Flats. A third of girls, between the ages of 15 and 20, fall pregnant, each year, and instead of things improving, it appears to be getting worse. The problem is not always solved through the use of contraceptives. It goes deeper than this; it can be influenced or directly impacted by other social factors such as an unstable home environment, drug and alcohol abuse, gender-based violence, gangsterism and crime and high rates of unemployment.

The circumstances of these girls really affected me and galvanized me to be more involved by imparting my skills to them. I then registered the Design26 Foundation, a non-profit organisation and public benefit entity, and set about offering a free sewing skills training course for underprivileged girls, from the ages of 15 to 20, from Mitchell’s Plain and the greater Cape Flats area, with the hope of making them employable, self-sustainable and restoring dignity to women in my community. 

To date, the Design26 Foundation has assisted 104 women; 50% of them are working class women, over the ages of 20, who attended our paid courses, to start their own businesses or to sew as a side hustle or for their personal needs. The other 50% are teenage mothers or underprivileged girls, between the ages of 15 and 20 years, which we offer our sewing skills training course to, for free of charge. Both salaried and free courses, which are FP&M SETA (Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority) Accredited, are conducted over a 12 week or 6 month period.  40% of these women have started their own businesses. The Design26 Foundation also have an alumni programme that provides further mentoring and opportunities to the women who attended our courses and shared networks, in  which these women have access to our premises and are able to make use of our machinery to improve the quality of their products.

Currently, with 3 directors, of which I am actively involved in the day to day operations of the organization, and 2 qualified facilitators. who became qualified through our skills training programme, the Design26 Foundation provide these weekly classes on a Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, from 8h30 to 12h30, in an adjoining section to my house.  We are only able to accommodate five ladies per class, due to space constraints. However, we are in the process of securing land to develop a fully operational skills center in Mitchell’s Plain and to expand our skills training course, with an in-house CMT (cut-make and trim) factory, to be able to provide employment opportunities to women who completed our skills programme.

As the founder of Design26, I hope to reach out to more young girls, to start them off with skills during their most formative years, and to keep them focused on the future. The social reality of these young girls in the Cape Flats are often daunting and disempowering and can easily distract them from a life that they are capable of achieving. However, success is still within their reach if they stay focused. My message to these young girls; teenage mothers or not, is that there are organizations out there, like ours, that care about your well-being and while success may seem outside of your reach, with consistent effort, time and dedication, it is achievable.

If you are interested in learning more about Suraya or would like to get in contact with her, please follow her on her Facebook page, https://web.facebook.com/design26foundation or email her at info@design26foundation.org.za