Thabo Kolodi is the campaign manager for AFD

Thabo Kolodi, the kind-hearted dreamer who has transformed a rubbish dump in Extension 11 to start a vegetable garden for his soup kitchen, has been nominated as campaign manager for the youth committee of Africa’s Formula for Development (AFD). This non-profit organisation is recruiting individuals, like Thabo, who are innovative, creative, self-driven and who has a heart for humanitarian efforts.

This humble man first caught the attention of the Herald in 2018, when he realised his dream of building his own double-storey house. The house consists of corrugated iron and scrap material he had collected since 2015. With its seven rooms, a verandah, balcony and garden, it is quite a landmark in Ikageng.

His house has even inspired a senior lecturer in Urban and Regional Planning at the North-West University, Karen Puren. She now takes her fourth-year students to visit Thabo’s house every year to learn about self-built housing.

Thabo and four women have started to feed hungry kids in their neighbourhood over weekends. According to Thabo, they usually benefit from the schools’ nutrition programme during the week but are neglected over the weekends.

It was his vision, hard work, and kind-heartedness that caught the attention of Ms. Rozell Raphiri, the director of AFD. She nominated him for the position of campaign manager. She recognised him as a positive influence on the youth, motivating them to act. “What interests us about Kolodi was his ability to look beyond the current social-economic situation that our communities are currently faced with. His innovative, creative, and resourceful ways of doing projects such as feeding schemes, self-sustainable garden projects, building a double story corrugated iron house that just spells innovation” says Raphiri.

For Thabo, this is a huge honour. It will also provide him with the opportunity to later travel to other African countries, which is very exciting for him.

Currently the AFD in the process of recruiting 100 Youth Ambassadors all over Africa.  These ambassadors will be the voice of their youth within their various communities and will equip them with leadership, mentorship, and entrepreneurial skills. AFD encourages the youth to apply for this position. Interested parties may send a brief profile of themselves to knyantakyi@affd.co.za or faithkarabo@affd.co.za.