'THERE'S NOTHING I CAN'T DO'

She was born without arms, but Mbali wants to be treated like everyone else and hasn't allowed her disability to stop her from chasing her dreams

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

HER desk is slightly lower than those of her classmates and she has a different chair to theirs. But those are the only accommodations she’ll allow her school to make for her.

All Mbali Mahlale wants is to be treated like everyone else. Even though the 16-year-old was born without arms and is the only pupil at her school with a disability, she refuses to accept any special treatment. She’s able to write with her right foot and eats using her left foot – a skill she taught herself. From skipping rope to debating, drawing and playing soccer, Mbali is always right there in the thick of things at school.

“Being born without arms won’t stop me,” she tells us. “There’s nothing I can’t do and I don’t feel restricted by my dis- ability.”

It’s the start of the day at Myngenoegen English Private School (MEPS) in Polokwane and Mbali is itching to get to class so she can get stuck into her favourite subjects, maths and physics.

She hopes her good grades will one day allow her to pursue her dream of becoming a dentist or doctor.

“I want to help other people,” she says. The director of the school, Barbra Losper, has no doubt Mbali, who’s among the top 10 pupils in her grade academically, will achieve her goals.

Over the years she’s watched in admiration as the plucky pupil refused to allow others to underestimate her.

“She’s never let her disability bother her and she does everything able-bodied people do,” Barbra says.

Mbali says she’s never felt self-conscious or left out.

“People should be judged by who they are and not what they look like,” she says. “At school everyone treats me like everybody else.”