Mother turns past struggles into hope for vulnerable youth
After losing 63kg and navigating emotional abuse and Hashimoto’s disease, Anli-Zet van der Walt is using her experiences to raise awareness about abuse and support vulnerable children through community initiatives.
After losing 63kg, Anli-Zet van der Walt has turned her focus to helping vulnerable children through local charity initiatives.
The mother of two uses the lessons from her own struggles to support vulnerable children and raise awareness about domestic violence, emotional abuse and invisible illness.
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Van der Walt helps the Lighthouse Baby Shelter and Children’s Home by delivering food, baby milk, clothing, and other items donated by community members. She plans to get involved with a feeding scheme in Alexandra and previously supported the Parkie Project in Pretoria, which provides food and clothing to homeless people every Sunday.
She is working on a ‘Bag of Hope’ initiative for Christmas, aimed at bringing some hope to children at Lighthouse. “Most of the kids from Lighthouse come from domestic violence and abuse, and some were left on the streets as babies,” she said.
Her desire to help children affected by abuse comes from her own childhood. Van der Walt says she experienced emotional abuse and spent years hiding what was happening behind the appearance that everything was fine. “From the outside, everything looked fine, but behind closed doors, my world was falling apart,” she said.
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She says her experiences have shaped the message she wants to give women facing abuse: they need to be supported and believed, rather than questioned about why they have not left.
Van der Walt also lives with Hashimoto’s disease, a chronic autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks and damages the butterfly-shaped thyroid gland in the neck. She was diagnosed with the disorder eight years ago. Her weight-loss journey began after reaching about 98kg following her first pregnancy. She lost about 30kg in six months before gaining another 30kg during her second pregnancy and having to start again.
Over six years, she has learned to approach fitness through weight training, nutrition, cardio and recovery rather than extreme dieting. “My transformation has happened in chapters, and there is no shame in that,” she said.
Her experience with an invisible illness has also encouraged her to speak publicly about Hashimoto’s disease through social media and TikTok live sessions. “Just because you can’t see an illness, doesn’t mean someone isn’t struggling,” she said.
Her fitness journey eventually took her onto the IFBB Bikini and Fit Model stage, while her advocacy has now become part of her Mrs Universe South Africa journey, where she is a top 5 finalist.
For Van der Walt, the platform is ultimately about reaching people who may feel voiceless. “Your past may shape your story, but it will never determine your destiny,” she said.
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