by Kona Brown, Mrs United Nation SA 2012.
I’d love to share with you what Lead SA has meant to me. I am really just a mom, a woman who loves South Africa and who wanted to find a way to share and show that love to my kids, 2 boys of 3 and 5. I wanted to “walk the talk” in terms of active citizenship and also model that to my kids so they can grow up to be active citizens. With these things on my heart, I too wanted to “Lead SA”.
That is why I started volunteering at a Non-Profit organisation called Rays of Hope (www.raysofhope.co.za) and I got involved in a project that serves orphaned and vulnerable children in the Alexandra Township. Since starting to volunteer I have become the project director for their Child Headed Households initiative, and we 30 families in the project, assisting over 100 vulnerable children who have been orphaned by AIDS and who now have to take care of themselves and their siblings – basically children raising and caring for children. Through a variety of initiatives we to move the children out of the victim cycle and assist them in finding a more hopeful and better future. Along with my kids, who regularly accompany me, we distribute monthly food parcels, we started a Toy and book library for disadvantaged kids, a contraceptive clinic, a skills development programme, a soccer team and various other initiatives that provide sustainable impact. Since starting to volunteer we have also become involved in another initiative in the Zandspruit community (www.ebmusicacademy.co.za) , giving us more opportunities to serve those less fortunate and also giving me as a mom an opportunity to expand the horizons of my own children to include more than just their own privileged life.
Through being active in the betterment of our city, I believe my children are learning that we are all responsible to make South Africa the kind of country we want it to be, not just looking to others to do that for us. By “walking the talk” of the Lead SA values in our home, I believe my kids are learning that every person can foster hope through their acts of kindness. If I change the way I see what I do, not just as a small drop in a vast ocean of need but instead as the sowing of a tiny seed of hope into the soil of my country, then I start living with the hope that my children and theirs will reap a harvest as a result and possibly live in a South Africa that is just a little bit better. That is an attitude of the heart that can foster hope, in my life and in the lives of others.
Thanks to Lead SA for being a continued inspiration and support.
For more information about this initiatives contact Kona Brown konabrown@iburst.co.za
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