And below is what I wrote some 3 days ago: My name is Chamu Muvheyo and I am a Zimbabwean who permanently resides in South Africa. I am 47 years old. I have struggled with stammering all my life and I have always desired to be connected to an association that helps stammers/stutters. When I was young I longed and cried for help but I never got it. Being a stutterer since childhood, I encountered many life-defining challenges which only myself tried to understand but could not. No one in the world could help me. I suffered terrible shame, alone, inwardly and outwardly alone whereas the world including my own family kept making fun of me. In my mother's womb, we are four children (my mother being married in a polygamous family). Out of my father's 3 wives, we are more than 15 children. Out of the more than 15 children, only myself was born a stutterer. I was given derogatory names. No one cared what I was going through everyday of my life. One day, my young sister stole sugar in the house and ate it. My mother came back home and asked who stole the sugar. While I was still struggling to utter the first world, my young sister quickly shouted that it was me who stole the sugar and ate it. Remember sugar is a very important "food asset" in many rural African homes. My mother insulted me and beat me, meanwhile I was still struggling to talk and tell the truth. My mother never bothered or cared to allow me the time to finish talking. I was so angry because I expected my mother to fully understand my situation. Why would my own mother run into conclusion that indeed I stole the sugar without hearing my own side of the story? Why would my mother not allow me to talk no matter how long I would take to tell the story? Why would my mother take the side of the fast and quicker speaker, my little sister? Then, I was about seven years old and my little sister was about 5 years old. I boiled with anger. On 4 November 2023, I am turning 48 years old, but this incident and the many sufferings which I encountered are always fresh in my mind. Not that I did not forgive all those who caused terror in my life, from family, friends, school and work places. I forgave and I still keep forgiving but I could not forget and I kept asking myself why am I not forgetting. Two answers always come to my mind, (1) You can't forget because you are still a stutterer so the struggle continues (2) You can't forget because you have to be part of the solution and a helper to the many stutterers out there in the world who continue to suffer terror and horror in silence. In another extreme case which then taught me to control my anger (ooh by the way, did I tell you that tended to be very very short tempered? We have hot anger that can cook potatoes). My big sister accused me of something which I did not do, I could not defend myself (and because of stuttering, I could not utter a simple statement that “it is not me”). Instead I boiled with hot anger. We were in the kitchen and on the stove was a pot with boiling water. I picked up the stove with boiling water and when I was about to pour it onto my sister, a voice suddenly told me to stop. I put back the pot on the stove and rushed out of the kitchen crying. I could have killed my sister or caused her some grievous bodily harm. All the while up to now as I am writing this story, I never got help or support. I always try to listen to that voice which told me to stop when I was about to burn my sister with hot water. I learnt the hard way along the way that I should just try hard to control my anger. This stuttering severely affected my whole life from primary school to secondary school to university to the many work places I have been to and in the many places I network and in the communities I engage. At one time in 2007, I could not be promoted from Assistant Product Development to Product Development Manager at work in a global fast moving consumer goods company because I could not communicate proficiently. I was shuttered. The promoted a very talkative lady with no professional cognitive content upstairs. Many horrors continue to befall me all the way everyday. So deep in my heart lies the intimate desire is to open up a Haven to assist the many stutterers in South Africa, Africa and the world, who are suffering in silence. In the whole world, I don't know if there is any organization that helps people with a disability such as this. I believe that stuttering is a disability and as such I continue to fight to confront and conquer my disability everyday. I can imagine how many students, in primary, secondary and tertiary schools who are going through the horrors I went through? I won't even talk about the plethora of trilemmas I faced in the workplaces and the challenges that I still encounter everywhere I engage daily. I can write volumes and volumes of books on my personal experiences on this subject matter I am looking for people to partner with me in this journey to free the many people caged by stuttering. Below are the general support pillars that the Stutters’ Foundation I envisage will provide to stammering students and stammering adults: 1. Speech Therapy: Speech therapy sessions can help stammering students and adults learn techniques to control their stuttering and improve their communication skills. 2. Communication Support: They should be given support to maintain good communication with family, friends, and colleagues, and feel more confident in social situations. 3. Counselling: Counselling may help stammering students and adults deal with anxiety and any other emotional issues associated with their stuttering. 4. Education and Awareness: Education and awareness campaigns should be conducted to help people understand stammering and avoid bullying or discrimination towards individuals who stutter. 5. Medication: In some cases, medication may be prescribed to treat underlying anxiety or depression that may be causing or worsening the stuttering. 6. Any other measures that will help to support the stammers. Thank you Regards Chamu Muvheyo 16 Storms Street Norkem Park Ext 4 Kempton Park Gauteng South Africa 1618 Cell: +27 83 633 3246