By Nontokozo Gemani
- Ciliciah Chagane uses pageants, mentoring and education projects to help young people in Greenside build confidence and find opportunities beyond their village.
- After dropping out of university while struggling with her studies and mental health, C6hagane returned, qualified as a nurse and now helps others find direction.
A young nurse who once struggled to find her own path is determined to make sure children in her rural Limpopo village do not face the same journey alone.
At just 26, Ciliciah Chagane is a qualified nurse, poet, pageant queen and mentor.
But the title closest to her heart may be the one she has given herself: a woman determined to heal her village.
“I want to heal my village,” she said.
Chagane, also known as CeeThePoet, grew up in Greenside village in Ga-Sekhukhune, Limpopo.
She knows how difficult it can be for young people in rural communities to find information, resources and opportunities.
After discovering a bigger world beyond her village, she decided to bring some of @those opportunities home.
Today, Chagane is an award-nominated poet, co-author of poetry anthologies, pageant titleholder and Miss Limpopo finalist.
But she is using those achievements to open doors for others.
Through mentorship and community projects, she helps girls and boys build confidence, discover their talents and believe they can achieve more.
One of those projects is Mr and Mrs Greenside, which she runs with Greenside Helping Hands Crew and CeeThePoet Projects.
The pageant gives local young people a platform to show their talent while building confidence and learning more about themselves.
Sefadi Mangke, founder of Greenside Helping Hands Crew and Chagane’s childhood friend, said her contribution has become important to their work.
“She is a very valuable member of the organisation and without her we wouldn’t be able to achieve what we have achieved and want for the organisation,” he said.
Mangke said he has watched young girls change after taking part.
“A lot of them found healing through the Mr and Mrs Greenside pageant,” he said.
One of those young people is Chagane’s mentee, Lethabo Leseilane.
They met in 2023 when Chagane was a judge at Miss Spring.
Leseilane said Chagane encouraged her to pursue modelling and pageantry and became much more than a mentor.
“She takes all her mentees as her daughters and sons and does it with so much passion,” she said.
Leseilane said Chagane has supported her emotionally and financially without expecting anything in return.
Chagane’s determination to help others comes partly from her own difficult journey.
After matriculating from Moreko High School, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Medical Science at the University of Limpopo in 2018.
It was not the course she wanted, but she did not want to remain at home.
Things did not go according to plan.
Chagane struggled with her studies and mental health and eventually dropped out.
But dropping out did not become the end of her story.
In 2022, she was accepted at the University of the Free State to study nursing.
She graduated last year with a Bachelor of Nursing Honours degree and is now a qualified nurse.
Growing up in a community where healthcare, information and other resources were limited helped shape her career choice.
“I want to be the change I want to see in the village,” she said.
Her first university experience also opened another unexpected door.
While at the University of Limpopo, former high school classmate John Morudu introduced her to Torry Dion of Neoleem M Music Record.
Dion gave her the name CeeThePoet and introduced her to the arts and modelling industry.
Pageantry followed.
Chagane became Miss Campus University of the Free State runner-up in 2022.
In 2023, she became Miss Steller World South Africa Queen and Humanitarian Icon.
She is now a Miss Limpopo finalist.
Her university years were also about creating spaces for other students.
At the University of the Free State, Chagane and a friend helped establish the Bapedi Students Association, which has since expanded to universities across South Africa.
She was also among those who helped start a Student Christian Organisation.
Back home, her work stretches far beyond pageants.
Chagane started the Take Me to Varsity programme to expose high school learners to information about universities and opportunities available after matric.
She has also run a Back to School campaign providing sanitary pads and school uniforms to learners in need.
Her focus on career guidance reflects a bigger struggle facing rural children.
Research published in 2025 found that rural learners can struggle to access career information, assessments and professional guidance. Financial difficulties and limited access to universities can create further barriers.
For Chagane, young people need to see opportunities early, before their circumstances make them believe those opportunities are not meant for them.
“My advocacy in pageants is self-discovery and healing,” she said.
But helping others comes with its own struggles.
Mr and Mrs Greenside operates without sponsors or reliable financial support.
Community members contribute what they can after seeing the difference the programme is making. Some provide tents and equipment.
The village also does not have a community hall, meaning the annual event has to be hosted at a local high school.
Still, Chagane keeps going.
She says the mission of Mr and Mrs Greenside is to help villagers see beyond what surrounds them.
Every mentee who lands a modelling opportunity or gets accepted into university becomes another reason for her to continue.
Their success has also brought healing to her own life.
Chagane once struggled to find the right path for herself.
Now she is making sure the next child from Greenside has someone showing them that there may be another path waiting just beyond what they can see.
Pictured above: Ciliciah Chagane, a nurse, poet and Miss Limpopo finalist who mentors young people in Greenside village.
Image source: Supplied.
