By Mpheni Tshivhase
- Kelebogile Mngomezulu and Dr Pretty Zeldah Mazibuko have spent ten years giving toiletry packs to learners in need across the Vaal.
- On Wednesday, they visited Letsemeng Primary School, giving Grade 7 learners toiletries alongside health talks and words of encouragement.
Some of the children Kelebogile Mngomezulu and Dr Pretty Zeldah Mazibuko meet have used ash to brush their teeth, or bicarbonate of soda in place of roll-on. For the past ten years, the two women have worked to change that, one school visit at a time.
On Wednesday, the pair visited Letsemeng Primary School in the Vaal, distributing toiletry packs, sanitary products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, roll-on and soap, to Grade 7 learners, alongside health talks and words of encouragement.
Mngomezulu, an accountant, first started volunteering at Kahleho-Impumelelo Secondary School, tutoring learners in maths, science and accounting. That work grew into something bigger once she noticed young girls at the schools she visited struggling to access basic sanitary products, some resorting to cloth or tissue instead. The initiative has since grown to support both girls and boys. Dr Mazibuko, a GP with a private practice in the Vaal, brings her medical expertise to the visits, running health talks for learners at each school.
Many of the learners they meet come from child-headed households or families with little to no income. Mngomezulu says the packs are about more than hygiene, they help restore a sense of dignity and being cared for. She says some of the most rewarding moments come from watching learners open up and ask questions during Dr Mazibuko’s health talks.
Mngomezulu’s message to the learners is simple. “Where you start is not where you end.” She wants them to understand that their circumstances now don’t have to decide what they can achieve later.
The pair, who have funded the initiative themselves along with support from private donors, are now working to register it as a non-profit organisation, hoping to access further funding and reach more schools. Their hope is that the children they help today will one day do the same for someone else.
Pictured above: Kelebogile Mngomezulu and Dr Pretty Zeldah Mazibuko r visited Letsemeng Primary School in the Vaal, distributing toiletry packs, sanitary products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, roll-on and soap, to Grade 7 learners, alongside health talks and words of encouragement.
Image source: Supplied
