The Lusito Association was established in 1979 by a group of Portuguese parents who found a need for a school for the differently abled within the Portuguese community. The Lusito Association started the first Lusito School under the auspices of the Mental Health Society of the Witwatersrand and has subsequently grown with the school. The Lusito Association is a non-profit organisation whose function is to manage and fundraise, to build and maintain, the Lusito School. The best known fundraising event is the Lusito Land Festival, winning Leisure Options Reader’s Choice Award for Johannesburg’s best festival. 100% of all funds raised from these fundraising events go directly to the school.