A fundraising campaign on Indiegogo has raised over R50 000 to help get disabled activist Eddie Ndopu to the University of Oxford this September.
However, he will need R500 000 in total to cover his needs, which include specialised accommodation, voice recognition software, a personal nurse and an automatic wheelchair.
The campaign is prioritising raising R200 000 to make sure his private nurse, Tinno Nene, will be able to accompany him. He will not be able to go without a care-giver, and he has to prove he will be able to pay Nene in the UK by mid-August, for visa application requirements.
Ndopu was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at the age of two and given until the age of five to live. Now 25, he was recently named one of the World's 30 Top Thinkers Under 30 by Pacific Standard Magazine.
He received his undergrad degree at Carleton University in Canada, and has spoken at the World Economic Forum three times.
Ndopu hopes to become a global thought leader on policy and disability justice after his postgrad studies at the Blavatnik School of Government, at Oxford.
He received a full scholarship to do a Masters degree and was the first African with a disability to be accepted at the university. However, the scholarship does not cover his specialised needs.
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