It is not often that you find a young person, man or woman, dedicating their time and resources to help others less fortunate than themselves. From our early twenties, sometimes all the way into mid-thirties we rarely become part of initiatives that will take up too much of our time. We want to help, we want to be involved but, life is tricky we have this, that and the other to take care of and so on it goes.
But, are we stretching ourselves enough? Is it even a stretch when we understand that the person we could be helping is maxed out? Millions of our people, human beings like you and me have no other option, their situations are dire and cannot wait for you or me to be unpreoccupied. No one demonstrates the need to act NOW, from wherever you are, with whatever you have like Mrs Simphiwe Dlamini. She is 28 years old, married , mother and has a full time job as a Skills Development Project Manager , yet she still makes the time to run four projects(Bright Beginnings; The Black Tie Project; Cradle to Rise & Keep a Girl in School) to help spread love and hope to the young people within the Gauteng region and has been doing this since she was 18 years old; from her own pocket and friends and family who have been keen to donate.
My first thought was why, have I not read about all she does? Surely, the labor of love she is involved in is important. She is spreading hope, “I aim to bring about change and hope in these children’s lives and to show them that their current circumstances are not a determining factor of where they CAN end up in life” she says. And then it hit me, we live in a society that needs you to have impacted more than a million lives on paper before it shows recognition, and not even as a ‘pat on the back’ but with funding and extending a hand. Each individual can do more, and should find it in their hearts to do more and engage in the most scared action of being human, showing love.
When I asked why she does all the heart work she does she quotes Albert Pine “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal”, she also adds “it makes me happy to change and touch a life; it’s what fuels my passion. It is so fulfilling to impact a life and make a difference in someone else’s world”. How great would it be to live in a world where we all understood this? To give of ourselves selflessly to our fellow human beings; walking and living the kind of love we want to experience ourselves, “I think people need to open up their hearts and minds to see what is out there, if people could take a moment to get out of their comfort zone they will want to be involved in these projects, telling people is different, people need to SEE” says Dlamini.
The truth is you can only know how truly important the work is when you participate, when you extend yourself to something bigger than you. It is only when a person sees a child’s face light up when he gets a new pair of shoes, after walking long distance to school with no shoes; it is when a person feels the flutter of their own heart when they assist a girl keep her dignity intact by supplying her with sanitary towels. I know, so many people are suffering in the world and it is not that we don’t want to help, we can sometimes feel like we are just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is made up of single droplets and in the words of Mother Teresa “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”. Never underestimate the domino effect your helping hand can bring about. Start small, start where you are and with what you have.
I hope you are as inspired as I am by this young woman and feel energized to be part of the change; one person at a time. Get involved with some or all of her projects by donating clothes, food, time, sanitary towels etc Mrs Dlamini usually posts on her Facebook page when she needs donations for a certain project, so please follow her to find out more. Also should you need her to pick up any donations, do note she is terrified of dogs, doesn’t matter how small so help her out should you have fury friends. Yes, even super heroines have that one thing they inexplicable fear, what can you do?
She urges young people to remember this, “Hebrews 11v1 “Faith is substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” that they should never stop working on their dreams and that their mouths should speak life [in]to everything that looks dead in their lives. To never lose themselves and most importantly their dignity, to work like slaves so they can live like queens [and kings]”.
Mrs Simphiwe Dlamini, we celebrate you for your ability to step out of yourself to serve others. For being the person who lives out the change they want to see in the world. We hope you continue to spread hope and inspire others to do what they can to spread the love to those who are basically not having the best time on this earth. Thank you inspirational woman, may all those lives you change pay it forward.
Cradle to Rise,African Youth Choir hard at work
- Bright Beginnings: an initiative to collect school shoes for underprivileged school children in the Gauteng region. These children often walk long distances to school and do this without any footwear, this initiative aims to keep them motivated to go to school and to give them hope.
- The Black Tie Project: the Black Tie Project is an initiative that aims to help less fortunate Matric girls and boys get the attire of their dreams in order for them to experience a night of elegance on the night of their Matric Dance. This initiative hopes to inspire and encourage them about the possibilities that despite their circumstance they too can achieve their dreams.
- Cradle to rise: I have recently adopted a young group of boys and girls who have formed a choir, they are called the African Youth Choir. My role in this initiative to mentor, guide and grow these young individuals and also keep them off the streets.
- Keep a girl in School: there are 2.1 million young girls, between the ages of 12 and 18 years that are living below the poverty line in South Africa, who have to resort to using old clothes, rags, newspapers, leaves, bark and grass because they cannot afford sanitary towels. This initiative aims to collect as many pads as possible to keep these young girls in school.
all images were taken from Dlamini’s Facebook page
girlsmattersa 
THANK YOU, you are such an inspiration Mrs. Dlamini. Blessed by your blessed heart and soul!
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