Her mother Thabile, who convinced her to enter the White Star-sponsored beauty pageant, would often struggle to find enough money to make sure her daughter went to school with the proper shoes and stationery. That’s why the BA in politics and international relations graduate is hosting a School Shoes Collection Drive to ensure that learners won’t suffer the embarrassment she faced growing up.
“Young people deserve to be given the opportunity to be able to do their very best at school, and that starts with making sure that they can step into the classroom with pride and the dignity they deserve,” explains the Diepkloof-born beauty queen.
Children from the Rena Le Lona Community Centre located in Diepkloof Zone 6 in Soweto are set to be the first beneficiaries of the School Shoes Collection Drive. Meaning 'We are with you', Rena Le Lona is a healing centre for orphans and vulnerable children. The centre offers 117 children in the area a safe place for them to spend their afternoons with coaches harnessing the medium of art to allow them to deal with loss and allow them the chance to lead meaningful and fulfilled lives.
For her reign in 2021, Miss Soweto plans to ensure that more young people continue to go to school. Her goal is to decrease the number of school dropouts this year, and has already began work on this by starting a shoe and stationery drive, with plans to conduct several talks in her community schools to motivate, and empower scholars to stay in school, get an education and create opportunities for themselves to get a better life. Thobile continues to be an advocate for education and states that “it is the only way to help create generational wealth, and triumph over generational curses that hinder black youth from success.”
Here are two ways you can help support the school drive:
- You can donate new or previously used but still wearable school shoes and stationery directly at the Rena Le Lona Children’s Centre, located at the below address between Monday-Friday from 08h30-15h30.
24479 Myeza street
Diepkloof Zone 6
Soweto
1862
- You can also deposit money into the following Standard Bank account:
Branch Code - 6105
Account Type - Savings
Acc No – 10 12 906 5828
More information:
For further information about the school drive please follow Thobile Steyn on Instagram @thobilesteyn, and on Twitter @ThobileSteyn@_beeleigh.
Editorial contact:
Lungile Nyembe
OnPoint PR
011 482 6155
az.oc.rptniopno@elignul
