Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora inspires youth

Youth and adults joined to inspire each other.

May 28, 2018

Sheina Razack 1 minute read

President of the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora Lindy van Moerkerken (left) with exchange student Nokulunga Motsweni (Hoërskool Hans Moore) and Dubretha Oosthuizen (organiser of the youth evening).

The Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora hosted a youth evening at the Benoni Country Club on May 23.

“We want to involve the youth in our community through Rotaract and Interact,” said Aurora president, Lindy van Moerkerken.

“We want to encourage youth development and foster youth participation because if you foster children from young, they will hopefully grow into adults with the same attitude and mindset.”

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The evening was aimed at educating the youth about what the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora does.

“We have many activities, like speechcraft, cleanups and youth exchange programmes,” van Moerkerken said.

Under the guidance of Sonja Shear, who was the MC for the evening, those who attended, including learners from St Francis College, enjoyed a light meal and presentations by several speakers.

Neo Mahlangu (St Francis College), Ayanda Mavuso (St Francis College), Chantel Muhl (Benoni High School) and Nokulunga Motsweni (Hoërskool Hans Moore) were the learner speakers and Marco Martins was the main speaker for the night.

Leah Khumalo and her niece, Letlotlo Nzimande (6), came to support St Francis learner Ayanda Mavuso (16), who is Khumalo’s daughter.

“What was not possible then, is possible now,” Mahlangu said in her speech of encouragement.

“If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there. My point is – have goals.”

Mavuso told the youth it is nice to be important but it is also important to be nice.

Mmoledi Msingo (president of the St Francis College Interact Club), Neo Mahlangu (member of the club) and Ayanda Mavuso (vice-president).

Muhl is interested in going abroad in 2019 as a Rotary exchange learner and she encouraged fellow learners to never simply settle, but to reach for their dreams, to be more than just average and to impact those around them.

Chantel Muhl (Benoni High School) plans to go abroad as an exchange student next year.

The last learner speaker was Motsweni, who recently returned from the Czech Republic.

She spoke about the various places she visited, including Prague, the John Lennon Wall, Barcelona, Rome and Paris, to name a few, and elaborated on life with her host family, attending a new school and learning new languages.

The teen is currently completing her matric.