by Gary Williamson | Aug 7, 2026 | Impact Updates, iPoint x BackaBuddy
Some forms of care are measured in small, repeated acts: helping someone eat, supporting an exercise, travelling across town, and arriving again the next morning. For JW Stemmet and Klaas Mosala Mofoyosi, those acts have built a friendship that has carried them through almost nine years of recovery. JW was 27 when a serious vehicle accident left him with major head injuries and without his sight. His family says doctors gave him only a small chance of survival.
Today, JW can speak, walk, eat and exercise again. His progress has taken time, rehabilitation and extraordinary consistency. Klaas, who once worked with JW on a farm near Bothaville, learned how to support his daily care and rehabilitation. He has remained at JW’s side as caregiver, training partner and trusted friend. JW now lives at a care home in Wolmaransstad. Klaas travels there each day, sometimes by taxi and sometimes by bicycle to help with bathing, meals, physical exercise and cognitive activities. The Stemmet family is raising funds to protect that continuity of care while they wait for clarity on a Road Accident Fund payment.
What people made possible
- Years of consistent care helped JW rebuild everyday abilities.
- Klaas learned the routines and exercises that support JW’s rehabilitation.
- The campaign aims to cover a year of Klaas’s salary and keep this trusted relationship in place.
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BackaBuddy brings verified community stories to life. iPoint helps those stories reach people in everyday public spaces. Together, we are helping good news travel further while keeping people and communities at the heart of every story.
by Gary Williamson | Aug 7, 2026 | Impact Updates, iPoint x BackaBuddy
At 14, Haseen Gool already understands that a big sporting moment is built from hundreds of quiet ones: early training sessions, difficult drills, disciplined choices and the willingness to begin again after a setback. The Athlone teenager’s work has earned him a place in the South African squad for the IMMAF Youth World Championships in Abu Dhabi. His selection follows strong results at home, including a silver medal at the South African MMA championships and gold in a Rukana grappling competition.
Selection is only the first step. International travel, entry fees, kit and the other costs of competing can put a world-stage opportunity beyond the reach of a young athlete. Haseen’s family launched a campaign so that friends, neighbours and supporters can help turn a place on the team into a journey he can actually make. For Haseen, the destination matters. So does what the journey says to other young athletes in Athlone: talent can begin locally, and a community can help it travel.
What people made possible
- Haseen earned selection for South Africa’s youth MMA squad.
- His national and grappling results reflect sustained training and discipline.
- Community support is helping cover the practical costs of competing internationally.
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If this story stayed with you, you can view the campaign and decide whether you would like to share it or support it. View the campaign
BackaBuddy brings verified community stories to life. iPoint helps those stories reach people in everyday public spaces. Together, we are helping good news travel further while keeping people and communities at the heart of every story.
by Gary Williamson | Aug 7, 2026 | Impact Updates, iPoint x BackaBuddy
Sabelo Khomo knows that telling a personal story can ask something difficult of its creator. It means returning to painful memories, but also finding a way to shape them into meaning.
The 23-year-old filmmaker from Hammarsdale is the only surviving son in his family after the loss of his two older brothers. From that experience came Orì, a film rooted in grief, family and the possibility of hope. The work was selected for the Indie Film Awards in New York, opening a door for Sabelo to attend screenings, meet other filmmakers and build connections in an industry that can feel far away from a rural community.
It is not the first time his work has travelled further than he could. A previous film received international recognition, but the cost of attending meant Sabelo could not be there. This time, his family and supporters are trying to make sure selection can become participation. Behind the campaign is a young filmmaker, a mother who has supported his creative path, and a community story reaching beyond the place where it began.
What people made possible
- Orì grew from a deeply personal family experience.
- The film earned selection for an international programme in New York.
- The campaign helps close the gap between recognition and the cost of participating.
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If this story stayed with you, you can view the campaign and decide whether you would like to share it or support it. View the campaign
BackaBuddy brings verified community stories to life. iPoint helps those stories reach people in everyday public spaces. Together, we are helping good news travel further while keeping people and communities at the heart of every story.
by Gary Williamson | Aug 7, 2026 | Impact Updates, iPoint x BackaBuddy
For many people, a trip to the beach is as simple as walking across the sand. For a wheelchair user, the same stretch can be the barrier that keeps the water out of reach. Scottburgh resident Sue Martin understands that barrier personally. After an accident left her paraplegic, she became an adaptive surfer and a determined voice for better beach access. Her campaign focused on a practical solution: an all-terrain wheelchair designed to move over sand.
The response was swift. Residents and supporters helped raise the money needed for Scottburgh’s first chair in about six weeks, and Sue became its first user. What arrived was more than a piece of equipment. It created a new route to the shoreline for residents and visitors who might otherwise have had to watch from a distance.
Accessibility often begins with someone naming an everyday obstacle and a community deciding it can be changed. On Scottburgh Beach, that change now has wheels.
What people made possible
- An all-terrain wheelchair can cross sand that stops standard wheelchairs.
- The local campaign reached its goal through broad community participation.
- The chair makes beach experiences more inclusive for residents and visitors.
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If this story stayed with you, you can view the campaign and decide whether you would like to share it or support it. View the campaign
BackaBuddy brings verified community stories to life. iPoint helps those stories reach people in everyday public spaces. Together, we are helping good news travel further while keeping people and communities at the heart of every story.
by Gary Williamson | Aug 7, 2026 | Impact Updates, iPoint x BackaBuddy
Pepper was never ‘just a dog’ to Erwin Moses. She was family and a source of comfort through a chapter of profound loss.
When the terrier went missing on Table Mountain, a search that began with worry grew into an extraordinary community effort. For 11 days, volunteers shared information, walked trails, watched the mountain and helped keep hope alive. Wilderness Search and Rescue teams brought specialist skills to the difficult terrain.
Pepper was eventually located on a ledge and brought down safely. The moment belonged to Erwin, but it also carried the fingerprints of hundreds of people: those who searched, shared posts, supplied help and simply refused to let the story disappear.
Lost-pet stories can feel small beside the world’s bigger headlines. Yet the search for Pepper showed something important about community. People will make room for another person’s hope and sometimes that shared attention is what helps bring a family member home.
What people made possible
- Volunteers sustained an 11-day search across difficult terrain.
- Specialist rescuers helped reach Pepper safely.
- Sharing the appeal widened the number of people watching and searching.
View the campaign
If this story stayed with you, you can view the campaign and decide whether you would like to share it or support it. View the campaign
BackaBuddy brings verified community stories to life. iPoint helps those stories reach people in everyday public spaces. Together, we are helping good news travel further while keeping people and communities at the heart of every story.
