Cape Town - After a wait of almost six years to get into a school, 12-year-old Anastacia Migils is overwhelmed with the joy of at long last being able to spend her days with children her own age.
When Weekend Argus recently visited Anastacia, the little girl’s infectious smile lit up the living room of her Mitchells Plain home. Anastacia was born with spina bifida and has an incomplete spine.
Her mother, Veronica Migils, says Anastacia is the first to get up in the morning, eager to start her school day.
“She wakes me up early in the morning every day to get her ready for school, she is always so excited. She even has a boyfriend on the school bus,” giggled her mother.
Last year, Anastacia’s mother spoke to Weekend Argus about her struggle to get her daughter into a suitable school. At the time, Migils said that in the first two years of her life, Anastacia had undergone 10 operations because she had hydrocephalus, a condition where excess fluid accumulates in the brain. At one point, Anastacia went blind for about three months.
”It was only after the article (appeared) in the Saturday paper that things started happening and now she is at Elsen Primary here in Lentegeur. If it had not been for the article I am sure she would not be in school,” Anastacia’s mom said.
Anastacia cannot sit upright for longer than an hour. This means she periodically needs either to be carried around or lie down.
“I called the school once and they confirmed to me they allow her time to lie down during the day in class and that really makes me happy because I know her body cannot handle being upright for too long,” Migils said.
But a new problem is giving the family a headache. Anastacia can’t use a toilet and was being regularly catheterised at home. Now she is attending school, she requires disposable nappies, something that is difficult for the family to afford. Migils and her husband are unemployed and there are seven children in the house.
“I don’t want her to suffer and be laughed at because she could not hold her urine but the nappies are too costly for us,” Migils said.
Western Cape Education Department spokeswoman Millicent Merton said there were 13 other children with disabilities waiting for placement at a school.
“Quarterly placement meetings are held at schools. If it is uncertain whether the learner requires placement at special school, the team may require an observation period.”