Fred Benning (88) from Fish Hoek (Cape Town) is proving that determination and love can carry you through even the trickiest online hurdles. As South Africa marks Deaf Awareness Month this September, his story highlights what’s possible for people living with hearing loss who want to raise funds and share their voices. Profoundly deaf and a bilateral cochlear implant user, Fred launched a crowdfunding campaign on 20 June 2025 to support his wife of 86 years (and also as a birthday present), Denise, who is now paraplegic after White Spinal Cord Syndrome and requires full-time care. With patient guidance and a little humour, he turned devotion into action—one careful step at a time.
A determined love story, 64 years and counting
Denise is the kind of person who has spent a lifetime giving: a mother, community volunteer, and quiet doer. After a rare post-surgical complication left her permanently paraplegic, daily life changed overnight. Full-time care, wound care, physio, supplies, and non-chronic medication now stretch well beyond what medical aid covers. The family’s goal is simple: dignity for Denise, comfort at home, and a little breathing room each month.
For Fred, the decision to act was immediate. He might be 88 and profoundly deaf, but he is, in Tess’s words,
“an extremely determined bugger.”
Early messages landed in the customer-support inbox flagged: “PROFOUNDLY DEAF, WHATSAPP ONLY.” A chuckle followed—and then the work began.
There were dropped lines and do-overs; at one point, after Tess emailed to say Patience, the carer, could help set things up, Fred replied asking how on earth she knew about “Patience”—possibly forgetting the thirty-minute phone call that happened the week prior, with Patience relaying every sentence to Fred as it progressed. Through it all, the love story stayed centre stage: a husband doing everything he could for the woman who has given so much to others.
What it takes to start a campaign when you’re living with hearing loss
Step by step, the team and family became Fred’s champions in the truest sense: supporters who helped navigate the platform while keeping the campaigner’s voice at the centre.
“We painfully went through every step very slowly over the phone,” says Tessa Rae Van Rensburg from the BackaBuddy team. “Just like my granny, Fred can be quite hasty in pushing buttons—we had to start over a few times. If this experience didn’t teach me patience, I don’t know what would. It also showed me that 88-year-olds can indeed use the platform when the love is strong enough, and being deaf doesn’t have to hold you back.”
The breakthrough came when Fred’s son, Alex Benning, joined as a co-champion. With Alex on board, uploads, forms, and verifications fell into place. Patience stayed close, relaying instructions and keeping spirits steady. Fred’s cochlear implants helped a little; clear written steps, screenshots, and kind repetition helped a lot. In the end, the page went live with photos, a heartfelt story, and a transparent breakdown of costs that donations would cover: Patience’s salary, Denise’s medication, and any outstanding medical bills or shortfalls not paid by medical aid. In every sense, this was inclusive crowdfunding in action—guided by champions, owned by the family’s voice, and built on patience.
How hope turns into help
This September’s focus on Deaf inclusion is more than a calendar moment; it is a call to action. Since launching on 20 June 2025, the campaign has received support from 11 donors—R18,100 given on the platform and a further R10,000 contributed off the platform—toward a goal of R300,000. Every contribution lightens the family’s monthly load and gives Denise the comfort and care she needs. It also honours a marriage of 64 years—and the relentless love of a husband who simply refuses to give up.
If you’ve ever wondered whether a loved one living with hearing loss could start a crowdfunding campaign, let this be your sign: it’s challenging, not impossible—and a champion makes all the difference. And if you’re deaf or hard of hearing and thinking this platform isn’t for you, think again. Find a trusted person to sit alongside you, create a short video with subtitles, add a few photos, and tell your story in your own words. If Fred can do it, so can you—and you’ll find a patient team on the other side, ready to walk you through one step at a time.
South Africa is full of ordinary people doing extraordinary things — from feeding hungry children, to keeping heritage alive, to creating inclusive spaces for those living with dementia. If you’re looking for a way to give back this year, here are a few inspiring initiatives you can support through BackaBuddy.
Here’s a list of charities you can support
Hope & Hunger: Feed the Children of Promiseland
In Promiseland informal settlement, Palmridge, Gauteng, Nonkululeko “Nonny” Mda has made it her mission to fight hunger where it hits hardest.
As founder and chairperson of Ikhaya Lethu (Our Home), Nonny provides hot, nutritious meals for 40 to 100 children and families at a time — many of whom would otherwise go hungry, especially over weekends when school feeding programmes aren’t available.
Running this initiative from her own community, Nonny works as a cleaner to contribute what she can, but relies on donations to keep the pots full. Between R6,000 and R10,000 a month is needed to sustain the project.
Every contribution — whether a once-off gift or a small monthly donation — helps fight hunger and bring hope to families who need it most.
In Diep River, Cape Town, lies a resilient community known as Gatjie. Families here face daily hardships: leaky shacks, hunger, and vulnerability during heavy rains. Yet, their spirit and sense of togetherness never fade.
This initiative honours the legacy of a mother who dedicated her life to helping others. Today, her family continues her work by feeding children, repairing homes, and creating safe spaces for play and connection.
Your support provides essentials like food, blankets, clothing, and building materials — helping children and families not just survive, but thrive.
Bringing Joy & Connection to Families Living with Dementia
Dementia doesn’t only affect the elderly — it touches families of all ages. That’s why Be in the World creates uplifting, inclusive workshops that use art, music, movement, and play to bring connection and dignity to those living with dementia and their loved ones.
After successful pilots in Lotus River and Woodstock, the programme is now expanding to Cape Town’s Deep South. Donations help cover facilitators, venues, nutritious catering, and accessibility needs so that no family is excluded because of financial barriers.
Your gift makes these spaces possible — transforming isolation into joy and shared moments that truly matter.
Stories are at the heart of culture, carrying values and lessons from one generation to the next. Yet in South Africa, 81% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in any language — a crisis that impacts the future of education.
That’s why FableReads is on a mission to make timeless global fables accessible in multiple languages, starting with isiXhosa. With your support, 25 stories will be translated, narrated, and published online, before being printed and distributed to under-resourced schools and communities.
Every donation helps expand access to mother-tongue literacy, ignite imaginations, and connect cultures.
This Heritage Month, Neighbourhood Old Age Homes (NOAH) is celebrating not just buildings, but the people who bring them to life.
One of their treasures is Pothier House, a listed heritage building that has sheltered elders for more than a century. But Pothier is just one of 11 NOAH houses — all providing dignity, companionship, and safety to older South Africans.
Your donation helps maintain these homes — from fixing leaking roofs to replacing geysers — ensuring that elders can continue to live with stability and purpose.
Support heritage by preserving the spaces, stories, and wisdom of those who’ve shaped our country.
While we celebrate what makes South Africa unique, let’s remember those who go without — whether it’s food, safety, literacy, or connection. Supporting these initiatives is a way to uplift communities, preserve heritage, and ensure no one is left behind.
Create your own crowdfunding campaign
South Africa’s leading crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy, has supported more than 10,000 individuals and charities to raise funds for medical care, education, community projects, and countless causes across the country. To date, the platform has helped raise over R400 million for those in need.
The non-profit organisation Be in the World is shining a light on dementia and the people it affects, especially in the awareness build up in light of World Alzheimer’s Day on 21 September. Its mission is simple but profound: to create safe, creative spaces where families living with dementia can connect through music, art, movement, wellness activities, and shared meals.
Be in the World grew out of lived caregiving experience and a deep recognition of how lonely and exhausting home-based care can be.
Linda Pithers (Founder of Be in the World) says: “Families are too often left without guidance, battling stress, burnout, and stigma.”
The organisation she founded last year is working to change that by building community hubs that reduce isolation, foster inclusion, and demonstrate that life with dementia can still hold creativity, dignity, and connection.
Building Community-Rooted Support
Rather than applying a rigid clinical model, Be in the World adapts to local needs — whether in Woodstock, Lotus River, or the Deep South. These hubs are not simply workshops; they are lifelines where families can experience companionship, peer support, and dignity.
Above image: Woodstock workshops
Importantly, Be in the World sees its programmes as community-led. The idea is that each pilot area develops its own outcomes. Participants, activity providers, facilitators, and coordinators all play a role in shaping what works for their community.
The Pilot Sessions
The pilot sessions Be in the World has coordinated so far are designed as platforms to explore new approaches and activities — or to reintroduce ones that aren’t widely available. Sessions may include painting, collage, movement, music, or salt-dough modelling, alongside caregiver wellness coaching, counselling, and basic training. Families also share nutritious meals, laughter, and moments of lightness together.
One participant, Denise (57), described the change it brought to her family:
“The workshops were informative but also deeply meaningful, giving us tools, encouragement and a sense of connection…. I saw my mother in a completely different light. She still has abilities we were overlooking.”
Another, Rashid (61), expressed his relief:
“Now I know we are not going through this situation alone. That has made life so much easier.”
Facilitators, too, have seen the impact. Kenneth from Art4Life recalls how hesitant participants eventually joined in:
“The sessions unlock social cues and non-verbal memory prompts, and a calmer and happier mood, creating meaningful interaction even when recall is limited.”
These stories reveal the potential of inclusion: when people with dementia are seen, heard, and celebrated, stigma begins to give way to belonging.
The Campaign of Hope
To ensure these pilot projects remain accessible, Be in the World launched a BackaBuddy campaign on 15 August 2025. The goal is to raise R20,000, so that no family is excluded due to financial barriers. So far, eight donors have contributed R4,850, helping the dream take root.
Donations cover essential costs such as facilitators, venues, catering, and outreach. Each session costs about R5,000 to run and serves up to 20 people. For R250, a donor can sponsor one person’s participation in a single session. A contribution of R1,000 covers one person’s participation in all four sessions of a pilot programme.
This support helps Be in the World provide ongoing opportunities for families, while also building evidence of need and establishing a community presence. The pilots are a first step — gathering the data and local involvement needed to build long-term sustainability.
Changing the Narrative Around Dementia
One of the greatest barriers families face is stigma. Dementia is too often misunderstood as “normal ageing” or something to be hidden. Be in the World is helping to challenge these myths by raising awareness that dementia is a disease — and that activity, connection, and support can improve quality of life.
This November, Be in the World is focusing on Cape Town’s Deep South. The pilot there will explore how families, businesses, and local leaders can seed a future “dementia-friendly” community, where inclusion is part of everyday life.
Be in the World’s projects demonstrate that dementia does not mean the end of joy, dignity, or belonging. Instead, they highlight how communities can rise together to provide support, reduce stigma, and create spaces where everyone feels included.
The campaign is more than fundraising — it is about building a culture of compassion and resilience.
In aid of raising awareness around World Alzheimer’s Day, Be in the World reminds us all: families living with dementia don’t need to walk this journey alone. With collective action, small donations, and open hearts, we can build communities where everyone truly gets to Be in the World.
The 10th of September—World Suicide Prevention Day—South Africa must face a crisis we often avoid. Lino Muller(49), CEO of SafeTalk, is asking us to answer with compassion and action: training teachers, parents and community leaders to spot warning signs, ask brave, caring questions and connect people to life-saving help. By prying open the silence, he’s starting a healing movement where children can speak and adults feel equipped to hold the big, scary word “suicide” with steadiness. To keep this work moving, he’s launched a community crowdfunding initiative so that the hope that SafeTalk delivers to so many can keep moving forward.
The person behind SafeTalks
Lino speaks English, Afrikaans, German and conversational Sesotho, shaped by a life moving between South Africa, Lesotho and Austria. He keeps grounded with exercise, connected breathing and quiet reading—but what steadies him most is the courage he witnesses in ordinary rooms.
“Every session becomes an ‘aha’ moment,” he says. “People who have hidden their pain for years finally feel safe to speak.”
Twenty-five years ago, Lino’s brother died by suicide—an experience that taught him how stigma fuels silence.
“One of the strongest myths around suicide is that it’s selfish,” he reflects. “In reality, it’s the opposite. People who reach that point often believe their loved ones would be better off without them.”
Determined to change this narrative, Lino founded SafeTalk(2024) in Johannesburg, Gauteng, drawing on international best practice while tailoring the content to South African realities where resources are scarce and the need is great. SafeTalk’s focus is practical: awareness, anti-stigma education, and community training that equips ordinary people to notice distress, open a safe conversation, and connect someone to professional care.
What does a SafeTalks Workshop look like?
Inside a three- to four-hour SafeTalk workshop, participants practise how to ask directly about suicide in a safe way, listen without judgement, and guide a person to support.
“People leave feeling more confident to recognise the signs,” Lino says.
At a large primary school, a principal assured Lino there were “no mental-health issues” because discipline was strict. Lino invited 200 learners to stand, then to sit if a statement resonated: Have you ever gone without food? Do you have problems you can’t talk about? Do you feel ashamed sharing your struggles? By the third question, every learner was seated. He then asked them—anonymously—to write one thing they would never tell anyone. As he read a handful aloud, the room heard stories of self-harm, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. The principal wept. In private, she thanked Lino and said her approach would change. It was a stark, compassionate awakening: even where adults believe “there are no problems,” young people are carrying heavy, hidden burdens. SafeTalk exists to make those burdens visible—and bearable—by giving communities safe language, clear steps and real pathways to support.
Why the work of SafeTalks is so important
Official figures suggest around 14,000 South Africans die by suicide each year—already a national emergency—and frontline experience shows many cases go unreported. The pain isn’t confined to teens; middle-aged adults are increasingly at risk too, often under the same roof. That’s the hard truth. The hopeful truth is just as real: when even one trained person is present in a school, clinic or workplace, the chances of someone reaching out rise dramatically. SafeTalk’s three-to-four-hour workshops turn fear into readiness—so the next time a learner whispers “I’m not okay,” someone nearby knows what to do.
“World Suicide Prevention Day is about more than awareness,” he says. “It is a call to end the silence, to see each other fully, and to create communities where no one feels invisible in their pain.”
SafeTalk is based in Johannesburg but also runs online workshops nationwide and travels where resources allow, ensuring access for communities that rarely receive specialised training, and in turn hope for those who didn’t know speaking out was ok.
What R150,000 makes possible
Lino has carried roughly 98% of costs himself to date—training sessions, support groups, transport, venues, even borrowing equipment—because the need outpaced the funding. The BackaBuddy campaign seeks R150,000 to keep doors open and widen the circle of care:
Training for teachers, parents, community leaders (and, as resources grow, nurses and police).
Educational materials & awareness that reduce stigma and spread simple, lifesaving steps.
Outreach to under-resourced and rural areas where help is scarcest.
Dignity support—food, clothing and care—so conversations about mental health can land where stomachs aren’t empty.
Every rand turns into seats in a room, pages in a hand, fuel in a car, and—most importantly—confidence to speak out. As of now, early donors have contributed, and the gap to the goal is where you can make the difference.
A word from the CEO of LifeTalk himself
When we asked Lino what he would say to someone who felt like a burden he replied:
“You are not a burden. You matter. You’ve been carrying something heavy alone for too long—please reach out. One small step, one conversation, can start to lift that weight.”
For families, peers and colleagues, his advice is practical: show up, listen without judgement, check in again tomorrow, and help connect a person to care. Immediate Support For immediate support, South Africans can contact the SADAG Suicide Crisis Line on 0800 567 567, or WhatsApp 076 882 2775 / 087 163 2030. With steady backing, SafeTalk plans to complement these services with its own call-centre capacity to meet growing demand.
Conclusion
A once-off or recurring donation means more schools reached, more adults equipped, more children heard before harm. But the movement is bigger than money. Hope starts with one conversation: today, ask your classmate, your colleague, the shop attendant, the woman waiting for a taxi, “How are you—really?” A simple question can provide hope and maybe even save a life, because we are not meant to walk it alone. If you would like to book a workshop or find out more about SafeTalk, visit Safetalk.
Call to Action
Here’s how you can help today in 3 steps:
Share this story with friends, family and online communities.
Support with volunteer time, venues, printing, transport or food parcels.
Donate—every rand counts and directly powers training, support groups and outreach.
On 17 September, Hout Bay therapist, coach and wilderness guide, Penelope van Maasdyk, will set out across northern Spain to walk up to 1,000km on the Camino de Santiago—linking the Del Norte, the Primitivo and sections of the Via de la Plata—by 30 October. Her mission, Walking for Mental Health, is to offer free on-trail coaching, walk-and-talk support, and craniosacral therapy to fellow pilgrims processing grief, change or trauma, while raising R55,000 to keep the journey safe and simple. Since launching her crowdfund on 5 August 2025, supporters have given R18,900 offline and R3,883 online—with six donors already stepping in. A QR code on her backpack will let anyone book time to walk beside her, talk, breathe, and begin again.
Why Walk, Why Now
Penelope is deeply attuned to people. Clients describe a listener who notices what’s said, what’s unsaid, and what the body is whispering. She speaks frankly about surviving childhood sexual abuse, depression and years of silence that bred shame. Naming her story, she says, loosened its grip—and shaped her vow to create safe, stigma-free spaces where it’s okay not to be okay.
“Life happens in spirals,” she says. “We meet old pain as new selves.”
The Camino called to that vow. One cold evening, watching The Salt Path, the clarity landed:
“I had my answer to all the things that weren’t aligned … I had to walk. Why? Because that’s what I have always done through all the tough times in my life.”
With limited time, she chose a demanding route: Irún to Bilbao along the hilly coast; Santander to Oviedo to join the ancient, forested Primitivo; then a bus to Sevilla or Mérida to meet the Via de la Plata and walk north as far as Ourense—or the calendar allows. Her aim is simple: be a steady presence, a regulated nervous system others can borrow, a companion who will walk as long as it takes.
Therapy on the Move – A Day on the Camino
Days begin in the soft shuffle of headlamps and zips at 5:30am. Penelope with intention, steps into the dark, and walks toward sunrise. Eucalyptus breath drifts from wet groves; salt rides in from the Bay of Biscay; a bakery’s first loaves send warm air into the lane. Way-markers flash yellow; shells clack on backpacks; bells call from unseen chapels. Around 7am she pauses at a lookout to mix her plant-based superfoods—vital for a vegan in rural Spain—before walking on through quiet hours that invite conversation or silence.
Some days are solitary; some are full of encounters. On her last Camino she met “Susie,” raw after a breakup and tangled in shame. They walked, rested, talked. Movement softened the edges; coaching gave language and tools. They still check in years later.
“Connection rewires shame,” Penelope says. “And walking makes truth easier to speak.”
Afternoons end at an albergue—a simple pilgrim hostel—where stories braid over sinks and supper. She never imposes therapy; she offers it. A scan of the QR code sets up a few hours of walk-and-talk the next day, or a quiet craniosacral session for nervous-system regulation. Her pack stays as light as she can manage (about 20% of her body weight), feet are slathered each morning with shea butter and massaged at night with arnica oil, and boundaries hold firm so she can hold others. Short videos on Instagram and YouTube will share the road so supporters can see the work unfold in real time.
Read Penelope’s blog on Camino symbols and what they’ve mean to her here
The Night She Almost Quit
There was a day she pushed close to 50km, much of it uphill through dripping forest. Supplies ran low; her period began; the last 15km offered no water, no café, only mud and roots. By dusk she limped into a hilltop village, only to hear the words every pilgrim dreads: “We’re full.” She slid to the floor and wept—spent, shaking, empty. A caretaker crouched, helped her off with her shoes, found a shower and a cushion, then an extra mattress at the town hall for the night.
Ten hours of dreamless sleep later, Penelope stepped into a pearly rain, following a mossed aqueduct with strangers who had become a community of the trail. Giving up wasn’t an option; there was only forward. That night is why she trusts this path to hold people when their own strength is gone.
Who she is matters as much as what she’s studied (integral coaching, craniosacral therapy, meditation/yoga, wilderness guiding) or where she’s worked (investment banking and consulting, NGO social development, writing).
Penelope(left) guiding a small group on a hike
Those chapters expanded her view: trauma is trauma, whether you wear a suit or sleep rough. Her promise on this pilgrimage is to listen without fixing, to sit with the hard, to be the calm in someone else’s storm.
Penelope’s therapy room in my Hout Bay Garden surrounded my Milkwood trees, birds and squirrels
What your support makes possible: a transparent, modest budget—ZAR12,000 flights (already covered offline via therapy-voucher sales); ZAR8,000 gear (ZAR6,500 sponsored); ZAR5,000 internal travel; ZAR20,000 accommodation; ZAR10,000 food & sundries (including a ZAR400 boost from Soaring Free Superfoods). Shout-outs to the friends who funded her Patagonia waterproof jacket and T-Rockets hiking sandals, and to psychologist Rick Hanson, who gifted a course on grief and loss. Every rand buys a bed after 30–40km, a simple meal, a bus between trailheads, and the data so a struggling pilgrim can find her.
Penelope’s future dreams are big, and she plans to seed monthly Cape Town wellness walks, donation-based community hikes and corporate nature immersions that will subsidise at-risk youth programs—movement medicine for a city that needs it. If you or someone you love needs support today, please reach out to SADAG Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0800 567 567 (WhatsApp 076 882 2775 / 087 163 2030). You are not alone.
Call to action
To support Penelope van Maasdyk visit their BackaBuddy campaign link here
