“As a 20-year-old, I believe that the change we want to see is in our hands…”

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, these are some of the words from a quote by the late former President Nelson Mandela who was passionate about his country and its youth.

Following in his footsteps is 20-year-old Helen Moseri who is a semi-finalist at this year’s Miss Tembisa Beauty Pageant. The beauty with brains was given a task to collect stationery that will help the Trendsetter Youth Art Foundation in Tembisa to get back up after it burnt down a few months ago. Helen mentions that the aim is to collect as much stationery as possible such as pens, pencils, writing books, textbooks and reading books for all grades.

The Trendsetter Youth Art Foundation played a huge role in the community because children of all ages used the centre to do extra mural activities such as homework, reading and writing programmes, tutorials for grade 12 pupils and also held youth empowerment programmes.

Moseri who is the founder of an events company called Kreative Projects is passionate about youth empowerment and believes that the future is in the hands of young people. “As a 20-year-old, I believe that the change we want to see is in our hands, we have to pave the way for the generations that come after us”, she said.

This is more of an opportunity and a stepping stone for Moseri because she sees beyond the given task and wishes to continue the stationery collection drive even after the pageant. “I want to continue to collect and donate textbooks to schools as a form of encouragement, especially in disadvantaged schools”, said Moseri.

Due to the global pandemic Covid-19, there will be drop-off points for people who wish to donate. The aim is to have collected at least a minimum of 200 textbooks by the 18th of July 2020.

Moreover, after the pandemic has died down, Moseri would like to hold roundtable discussions with young boys about how to treat girls. She wants to raise awareness about Gender Based Violence (GBV) and stress the importance of normalising talks among young man. “Having talks and discussions with boys while they are still young might help curb the increasing numbers of GVB in the years to come”, mentioned Moseri.

The Miss Tembisa beauty pageant was due to take place at end of October but due to Covid-19, it will be moved to November 2020. Exact dates will be confirmed later in the year.

For more information about the drop off points if you wish to donate new and second hand stationery, you can contact Helen Moseri on all social media platforms:

Instagram: @Hayleigh_ray01
Facebook: Hayleigh Ray
Email: Mmadibilo@gmail.com

By Nonzwakazi Ramaube

#SAPNEducation