Young woman beautifies young lives

A young woman from Makwarela outside Sibasa, Ms Tondani Sikhwari, has initiated a project of adding value to the lives of those less fortunate around her, and she is doing this out of the goodness of her heart.

Her project is called The Refresh Campaign, and she stated that the campaign was aimed at promoting cleanliness, neatness and “staying fresh”.

“It was inspired by love of giving out to those who do not have,” she said. “The seed of caring for other people was planted in me at the Back to Creator Worship Centre where I am a member under the leadership of Mrs Murunwa Tshigomana. We normally handed out food parcels annually during the festive season, and I was so inspired to continue with the giving spirit on my own time and level.”

Tondani said that it had taken her some time before she could find something unique to give back to the community. “This was until I realised that I love staying fresh,” she said. “And as a plus-size person, I sweat a lot and I no longer feel fresh. I then thought to myself that someone out there really wants to smell fresh and clean but has no resources to do so.”

She then started The Refresh Campaign early this year to encourage her peers and other younger ones to enjoy mornings at school every day.

“It is at the foundation phase where we embed such daily activities, so they can grow up knowing how important doing these things is and they can be fun at the same time,” she said.

She frequently distributes toiletry packages, which include a toothbrush, toothpaste, facecloth, soap bar, body lotion, roll on, and sanitary towels for girls.

“My team consists of Mpho Matodzi (Miss Venda Plus-Size Queen 2020) and Thendo Nemudzivhadi (Miss Venda Plus-Size entrepreneur), and we'll be continuing with the campaign for the rest of the year, going around disadvantaged primary schools in Limpopo and distributing toiletries,” she said.

“We currently don't have any sponsors and we only get occasional support from close friends and our families for us to carry out our first projects,” she said. “Therefore, I would love to express my gratitude to our close friends and families.

She called upon all people who are interested in supporting her project to contact her on 071 553 6336.

News - Date: 30 March 2020

Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Email: [email protected]