Alex community worker honoured
ALEXANDRA - A locally born and bred community worker, Candice Sehoma, is among three other Community Heroes that have been honoured by global beauty company Elizabeth Arden, Inc.
Alexandra’s own born and bred community worker, Candice Sehoma is among three other Community Heroes who have been honoured by global beauty company Elizabeth Arden, Inc.
Sehoma and the three other community workers from other parts of the country – namely Scheldon Gerstner, Refiloe Seseane and Andisiwe Kawa – are the recipients of a prize package valued at R65 000 each, including a R40 000 cash contribution from Elizabeth Arden to their respective designated BEE certified non-profit charitable organisation.
One of these four outstanding community workers stands a chance of becoming the overall Community Hero grand prize winner, who will be chosen at a glittering luncheon in Johannesburg on 18 July at the Elizabeth Arden Make A Visible Difference Award Ceremony, and will receive an additional R40 000 cash contribution to further their personal educational and skills development.
The Elizabeth Arden Make A Visible Difference campaign is a South African social responsibility campaign launched on 14 April this year to honour, connect and empower extraordinary South Africans striving to build a better future within their communities.
Sehoma is a 21-one-year-old psychology student and founder of Building Blocks Foundation, an organisation which aims to bring sanitary, flushing toilets to Alexandra. The organisation’s main objective is to uplift the community by improving the sanitary conditions in the area through eradicating the bucket toilet system, which also helps prevent diseases associated with poor sanitation.
Sehoma, who grew up using the bucket toilet system herself, was motivated to take action and improve the poor sanitary conditions in her area. The concept of founding the Building Blocks Foundation started when she went knocking on her neighbours’ doors, inviting them for a communal meeting where she proposed the idea of building a flushing toilet to replace the bucket toilet in their communal yard.
She then realised she could turn this idea into a movement for the eradication of bucket toilets in her community and she, together with her community, made a success of the project by building two flushing toilets in steady brick walls.
As the project expanded, Sehoma recruited three of her friends as well as university students, and officially founded the Building Blocks Foundation in 2013. The initiative also runs community workshops for adults and children in the area to raise awareness on sanitation and general environmental cleanliness.
Details: www.buildingblocksfoundation.co.za
