World Kidney Day is a global campaign that takes place every year to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys. In 2024, World Kidney Day will be celebrated on March 14. The theme for World Kidney Day 2024 is “Kidney Health for All”. The campaign aims to raise awareness about kidney diseases and the major causes of kidney diseases. It further creates an opportunity for people living with this disease to share their experiences to create awareness and disqualify all myths and misinformation perpetuated.
In South Africa, there has been a consistent rise in people being diagnosed and in desperate need of Renal Replacement Therapies such as kidney transplants and mostly, dialysis. Due to the increasing demand, limited resources and minimal investment in the provision of dialysis by the State, the government has created a rationing policy which denies large numbers of South Africans desperately in need of this treatment. South Africans who can fund or raise support to acquire this resource-intensive treatment do so privately – the majority poor end up dying!
Sizwe Lungelo Hadebe is one of the very lucky few who managed to get alternative assistance and he lives to tell the story
He aids his journey of sickness, confusion, and desperation to sensitise South Africans about the hidden qualitative experiences of those living with kidney disease. Of course, his story mainly seeks to create awareness of the various causes of kidney disease as he strongly believes that preventative health is the greatest tool in our hands – especially for the poor and marginalised.
For Sizwe Lungelo, this disease was caused by diabetes and he did not anticipate that it could degenerate in such an undesirable state. For three years, he was struggling with the intersectionality of change and acquired disability as a result of the disease. As much as he had support from family and friends, the change was very personal and required him to navigate the change with a compelling vision to naturalise the changes in his body, dialysis schedule and general mental well-being. The goal was to ensure that he was not consumed by the change but emerging with a new story and new energy to impact the world.
This harsh and devastating change encouraged Sizwe Lungelo to reflect more on his journey and to clearly understand his experiences. His life journey and experiences contributed immensely to his career as a Business Consultant. While Lungelo is passionate about creating awareness about Chronic Kidney Disease and preventative measures, he further used his story of pain and suffering to create a Change Management conceptual framework to help individuals and organisations navigate any form of change in a way that produces beneficial results. He consults to many private and public sector clients as a Change Management Consultant and uses his story to assist individuals in understanding complex Change Management challenges and concepts.
Sizwe Lungelo has committed his time to this work and has a keen interest in engaging with those marginalized in society and those without access to information resources such as the internet to acquire knowledge and awareness about the impact of mismanaged chronic diseases. This is motivated by his informed observation of how people from rural areas are affected by this kidney disease. Moreover, the careless and unguarded use of herbal enemas on both children and adults is mostly prevalent in rural settings and this has been one of the noted causes of kidney disease and related complications.
It is through teaching, unlearning and learning that we can together reduce the many deaths as a result of kidney disease. It is therefore important that the various stakeholders, who have access to the broader society, forge a conscious partnership to ensure that no one is disadvantaged because of lack of information.
Lungelo is available for an interview to take you through his journey.