Dorah the most improved mama awards mama’s
Dorah Semenya's love for and devotion to children won her a third Clover Mama Africa award recently.
POLOKWANE – Dorah Semenya’s love for and devotion to children won her a third Clover Mama Africa award recently.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Clover Mama Africa initiative. Clover Mama Africa aims to empower community leaders and provide them with the necessary skills to make their work easier and more effective.
Dorah won the Most Improved Mama award thanks to the care she gives to vulnerable children at the drop-in centre she runs in Seshego. She said she started the Shalati Drop-in Centre to help orphaned children in her neighbourhood.
“My neighbours passed away and I noticed their children were left unattended or in the care of abusive relatives or guardians. I took it upon myself to care for those children,” she explained.
Dorah said she had big dreams for the centre.
“My vision is for the centre to become fully sustainable and to move to bigger premises where we can cater for more orphans on a full-time basis. With the skills I learn from the Mama Africa initiative, this dream can come true.”
Before she won the Most Improved Mama award, Dorah also won the Clover Mama Africa Photograph competition in 2009 and the Clover Mama Africa Hygiene and Cleanliness award in 2012.
The Mama Africa winners each received several training sessions as prizes. Dorah said thanks to Mama Africa, she learned how to bake, sew, grow a food garden, crochet and use art as a development tool.
Most recently she attended a cooking course that she won as the most improved mama.
Dorah said the skills she learned helped her earn an income and she could help the drop-in centre with the money she made.
“I feel privileged to be an ambassador for the project. Clover Mama Africa provided me with skills that I can now share with others, including the children under my care.”
Clover corporate services manager, Prof Elain Vlok, said it was wonderful to see the Clover mamas grow.
“Dorah’s commitment has always been significant. The work she does for her community is evident of this. We want to encourage her to continue her remarkable work,” Vlok said.
