GOD’S GIFT

LOVE: Zoliswa Fodi and her two-year-old blind daughter, Indiphile, share a moment during a Dispatch interview this week. Picture: MICHAEL PINYANA

ALTHOUGH Indiphile Dlephu has cried as often as any other kid, the little girl from Komga has never shed a tear.
The toddler from Siviwe township was born at the Frere Hospital on August 16 2010 with a double layer of skin covering her eyes. Other than being blind, she has no visible tear ducts.
Indiphile (God’s gift) has never had a formal medical test performed on her to determine whether she can be helped, but thanks to the Saturday Dispatch, Life Health Care East London has agreed to assist the young girl.
Marketing and communications coordinator Ailsa Thorpe said a team of medical specialists were scheduled to make an appointment with Indiphile next week and a medical assessment will be conducted free of charge.
Officials from the Eastern Cape social development department have also been roped in to assist. They visited Indiphile’s home yesterday to assess whether she qualifies for a care dependency grant of R1200, which she is currently not receiving.
It is suspected that Indiphile suffers from a very rare condition called cryptophthalmia, or congenital absence of the eyes. Indiphile also has no eyebrows or eyelashes.
She is terrified by darkness and her mother Zoliswa Fodi said her daughter always needed to be in a well-lit room or else she cried.
However, Fodi saw this as a positive sign, because the fact that she could distinguish light and dark could mean her daughter will one day see.
“Doctors who helped deliver my daughter told me that there was nothing they could do to help her regain sight,” Fodi said, adding that Frere Hospital doctors had told her Indiphile had eyeballs that do not have lenses.
“They said I should care for my child and just accept her as she is and that is what I have done,” said Fodi. “She is a very bright child and I won’t be disappointed if I were to be told that she will never see.”
She said she just wanted the best for her daughter. “I need help with finding her a special school where she can learn about everything people with her needs learn about.
“One day I will die and I need to know that even when I am gone, she will be able to look after herself,” said the single parent.
The toddler’s grandmother Ventshu Siganga said: “Indiphile is an angel who will never see the troubles of this world, though she will hear about them.”
The Dispatch came across Indiphile and her mother in the streets of Komga on Monday morning while on an unrelated story assignment.
Her condition, coupled with her bubbly personality has made her the most famous kid in town. Indiphile identifies neighbours and regular visitors by their voices.
She loves listening to news and soapies on TV, counting, and singing. Her favourite song is Happy Birthday to You.
Fodi said she had given up her job as a domestic worker to look after Indiphile. The two live off a R280 child support grant and grant money that her grandmother receives.
Indiphile’s favourite spot in her grandmother’s house is a brown two-seater couch, which she usually shares with her cousin Likhanyile.
“She sits there all day and recites everything she has been taught by Likhanyile ,” said her grandmother.
Nokhaya Nenzani, a neighbour, said: “Indiphile is a very amazing girl, she is more clever than children who can actually see. Not only does she know me by name, she also calls me by my clan name, Mampisa.”
Social development spokesman Gcobani Maswana said Fodi had applied for a care dependency grant and social workers were busy processing the paperwork.
Thorpe said once an assessment had been done on Indiphile the hospital would release their findings to the Dispatch with the consent of the mother. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za