Mpho Ragophala

Sports, Arts and Culture

Nominee's Province:
Limpopo

Project Name/Description:
Educator through filmmaking

More info:

Gauteng-based filmmaker Mpho Ragophala, 37, has made it her life’s mission to educate society about a rare health condition called tetra amelia. She does this through the story of Tinyiko, who was born without arms and legs. “When I was growing up people would hide their disabled family members from the world,” she explains. “Also, black parents tend to blame themselves for having a disabled child and think that maybe God is punishing them for something they may have done wrong, or that the child is bewitched or cursed.” After seeing Tinyiko on Facebook, Ragophala decided to reach out to her, and was dumbfounded to discover that she was a very ambitious young woman who is determined to live her life to the fullest, despite not having all four limbs. “I want the audience to understand that disabled people can be employed, they are also ambitious and have goals. They also want to start their own families and have children of their own. They do not want the world to feel sorry for them,” she says. Ragophala, who is from Polokwane, Limpopo, studied film and television production at City Varsity in Cape Town, where she obtained an Advanced Diploma in film and television production.