The founder and principal of Fulufhelo Special School for the Intellectually Impaired, Mr Amos Siaga, is a proud recipient of the Presidential Award from the Hamlet Foundation.

He outshone the whole South Africa by scooping the most prestigious award for outstanding achievements in the development and upliftment of the quality of life of persons with intellectual disability.

Hamlet Foundation’s Chairperson, Dr.Ntato Motlana, presented Siaga with a special trophy and certificate at a glittering ceremony held at The Castle Conference Centre, Gauteng, last week.

The Hamlet Foundation was founded in 1954 by a group of parents whose children were exempted from normal schooling, with the aim of development and empowerment of the individuals towards achieving their maximum potential, enabling them to lead as normal a life as possible. The foundation cares for, educates, trains and employs intellectually disabled people of every gender and race and makes sure that school leavers are encouraged to become independent and develop to their maximum potential, ensuring that, at the end of their schooling careers, they can function productively.

Siaga founded the Fulufhelo Special School for Intellectually Impaired in 1990 and his institution has an enrolment of 936 learners with 28 educators and 38 support staff. The school is situated in Thohoyandou, west of Hollywood Garage. He has been instrumental in the establishment of the Phalalani Association for the Mentally Disabled, which has become the mother of all his success in the school. He has established fully functional workshops under the banner of his school and learners undergo training in carpentry, welding, upholstery, sewing, flower arrangement and decoration. Through his efforts, many talents have unfolded from the learners and in 2004, he sent three learners to Sweden to represent South Africa in the International Games for the Intellectually Impaired.

Siaga said he feels honoured to have been presented with such a prestigious award. "I never thought I would make it when I submitted my entry in January this year. This clearly indicates that there are people who are watching our performance because we have been labouring in pain, to develop the community. The award will obviously encourage me to work hard because there is still much to be done to make the intellectually impaired valuable members of our communities."

He dedicates his award to different stakeholders who came on board to sing the same song in promoting the interest and improve the wellbeing of the intellectually impaired.

"Although I worked so hard to outshine the whole country, I could not achieve this alone because there are people who assist me on a daily basis. I would like to pass my heart felt gratitude to my educators, support staff, learners and community members who tirelessly worked with me day and night to develop the learners who are intellectually impaired," concluded Siaga, who was recently honoured by the Thulamela Municipality for his community-building initiatives.