“Be who you needed when you were younger,” is the inspiration behind the Sesi Lomkhulu Foundation.
This NGO was founded by Anthea Samuels-Ngubane, who said she saw the challenges that rural girls face on a daily basis and she wanted to bring change to their lives.

The vision of this foundation is to provide a platform for girls to realise their full potential and seize opportunities, allowing them to become sesi lomkhulu (big sisters) in their communities and the country.

This facility assists with toiletries, stationery, school uniforms, mentorship and guidance. They currently have about 50 young women who are part of this initiative.

Samuels-Ngubane said after leaving her corporate job, she kept hearing how girls in rural communities and townships end up missing school due to them not being able to afford sanitary towels.
In 2015, she started doing her research to find out if there are girls in the community that she could mentor and assist with toiletries.

“Amon Ngwaba of Woodhouse introduced me to about eight girls whom I started supplying with monthly toiletries and meeting them on a weekly basis. He also provided us with a space at his drop-in centre. In 2016, I officially registered the NGO and found like-minded females to assist with the running of the organisation.”
After this, the journey of this foundation started and with the support she receives from the community and local businesses, she has managed to help less fortunate young women and girls.

Any girl aged 12 and upwards is welcome to join. “We do not have specific criteria in choosing our participants. We actually encourage our current girls to invite their family members, friends or anyone in the community who might benefit from being a part of our programme. Once the girls do join, they are expected to observe our code of conduct, which is merely about respecting one another and looking out for one another within their community.”

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They meet every second week, mostly on Friday afternoons.
“The juniors meet at 14:00 and the seniors at 15:30. In addition to the scheduled meetings, we also have gatherings when we are running workshops, holiday programmes or when we have a guest speaker to address the girls.”

They have various programmes that include learning to crochet, computer literacy, baking, learning to prepare CVs, etiquette and many more.

“Every month we generally have an awareness theme. In the month of May it was mental health awareness, June was Youth Month. We run topics of discussions around these themes. We sometimes get an expert on these topics to empower the girls with knowledge on the specific issue. We also try to equip them with how to deal with the many challenges that teenage girls face daily.”
The girls benefit hugely from this exposure. They are able to ask questions and gain knowledge on topics that are not normally discussed at home or at school.

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Her future plans include owning her own building that will house different structures.

“We would then provide the girls with boarding facilities as well as daily mentoring and be able to protect them from some of the challenges they are faced with daily.”
Samuels-Ngubane said the community can get involved by sharing their skills or knowledge with the young women, assisting with holiday programmes/excursions and donating toiletries.

The foundation is located the Woodhouse Centre. Those who would like to assist, may contact the founder on anthea@sesilomkhulufoundation.org or 073 830 9608. Alternatively, they are also available on Facebook and Instagram – @Sesi Lomkhulu Foundation.