MBOMBELA – These two drop-dead gorgeous celebrities recently came together for a noble cause and adopted Mataffin-based Cyril Clarke High School in a bid to address some of the many social ills faced by learners at this public school.

Even though Mataffin is home to the R1-billion Soccer World Cup Mbombela Stadium, and just a stone’s throw away from the capital of Mpumalanga, the reality is that the majority of residents there live in abject poverty. Learners, especially the girls, struggle with basic necessities such as sanitary pads, toiletries such as roll-on, bath soap and toothpaste.

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“This is one of the reasons why we decided to get involved and adopted the school so that we can help wherever we can. “I have teamed up with Mrs Globe Canada, Lorelei Higgins, because she is also passionate about peace, nation building and education. Our objective is to firstly inspire these children to love education and then meet them halfway by providing basic needs such as the dignitary packs so that they don’t have to stress about these, but rather stay focused on their education,” said Simelane-Ochan.

The Canadian beauty queen flew all the way to this part of the country to cement her partnership with Simelane-Ochan and the school.

Just like Mrs Globe Africa, Higgins is also a known crosscultural advocate and a Women in Need Foundation ambassador, leading the efforts to increase female leadership globally.

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“It’s always an honour for me to be involved in life-changing programmes such as this one and to be involved with the school. It may seem very little, but I am sure that to these learners this is a huge help and will make a significant impact on their lives,” said Higgins. During their visit to the school, they teamed up with Absa that donated much-needed sanitary packs to the learners.