Valancia spent 12 years as a home-based carer at Khothatsong Association in Soshanguve, Pretoria. Caring was not just a job for her. It was a calling she had answered since her early twenties. Over those years, she often encountered people who were blind, and she often wished there was more she could do for them.
When SA Guide Dogs came to Khothatsong to run a workshop on supporting blind people, Valancia paid close attention. An invitation followed for carers to apply for a student O&M position. Valancia did not hesitate. She was accepted and left Khothatsong after 12 years with the blessing of its leaders.
Valancia joined SAMBT in early 2026. The transition from O&M theory and supervised training to independent practice has been one of Valancia’s richest learning experiences. Finding out-of-the-box solutions for each client, with our M&E Team as her sounding board, has given her a deeper understanding of her training than she expected. “Every client teaches you something new,” she says.
