Noxolo Miya
Pretoria - Educator, speaker and author Thulaganyo Modisane commemorated World Kidney Day on March 9 with pupils at Dikgakologo Primary School in Winterveldt, where she taught them about kidney disease.
In 2020, Modisane was diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which was a life-changing moment for her – financially and holistically.
This motivated her to bring awareness about kidney diseases, especially among the black community.
As an advocate for World Kidney Day, Modisane started sharing information through her movement #Saveyourkidneys, in an effort to fight the silent killer: chronic kidney disease.
“As a black South African woman, I find there is still a gap to be filled when it comes to educating my community or the public on understanding the main kidney functions. This is because some believe the stigma that kidney disease is only prone to a specific ethnic race,” said Modisane.
She usually conducts school motivational talks paired with an aerobics session to remind pupils of the importance of taking care of one’s organs by maintaining an active lifestyle.
Statistics show that those affected by chronic kidney disease – more than 850 million people worldwide – are vulnerable to events like Covid-19. Modisane said this meant more people must take action by taking care of their kidneys through a balanced lifestyle.
“This can be accomplished through following the eight golden rules: keeping fit, eat a healthy diet, checking and controlling your blood sugar levels, regularly checking and controlling your blood pressure, not taking over-the-counter pain tablets regularly, not smoking, reducing salt intake and lastly, getting your kidney functions checked, especially if you are diabetic, obese, or if you have a family history of people with chronic kidney disease.”
Modisane emphasised the importance of educating children about chronic kidney disease as a steppingstone to having an informed society, as “they are our future generation”.
#Saveyourkidneys raises awareness of the importance of taking care of your kidneys. Inspired by her personal journey of dealing with chronic kidney disease, Modisane said her mandate became “being a voice for the voiceless and speaking up for chronic kidney disease patients, especially those who are from underprivileged backgrounds, and are unable to access adequate treatment, without resources to assist their diagnosis”.
“A fun fact for everyone reading this – your kidneys are located beneath your rib cage and are equivalent to the size of your fist,” she said.
“Take good care of them.”
Pretoria News