‘Afrika Tikkun programmes toughen you up for life’
ALEXANDRA – Thandeka Sibiya sings the praise of the Afrika Tikkun programmes at the launch of the alumni project.
Thandeka Sibiya is a 27-year-old Afrika Tikkun alumnus from Alex who has a burning ambition to become an actress.
Sibiya is one of the many graduates of the Tikkun programme who graced the launch of their alumni project at the FNB Conference Centre in Grayston Drive in Sandton.
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The project brings together all former Tikkun beneficiaries from various programmes to form a ‘think tank’ of the organisation and allow them to network among themselves. Also, it is a platform to map out the way forward for the vision of Tikkun which is to fight the scourge of poverty afflicting poor African communities not just in SA but the continent as a whole.
A 2011 matriculant of Minerva Secondary School who’s done numerous odd jobs, Sibiya said before doing matric she had wanted to be a lawyer though she had also harboured the ambitions of being an actress.
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When her matric results did not qualify her for admission into university for a law degree, she turned to her other ambition of being an actress. “I have done all these odd jobs but at the back of my mind I still wanted to become an actress but did not know what to do,” she said.
A born and bred Alexandrian who started her primary school education at Zenzeleni before moving to Ithute, Sibiya connected with the Tikkun community in February this year and has just graduated from a computer skills and work readiness course.
Having met seasoned actress Hlubi Mboya Arnold, who was one of the motivational speakers at the launch, Sibiya said she would use that contact to map her way to the world of acting.
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“I have collected her details and would like to connect with her and see whether she can hook me up with some potential people in the industry so I can realise my dream,” she said.
Sibiya was also full of praise for the life skills programme of Afrika Tikkun and described it as ‘an eye-opener and empowerment programme that every young person needs to go through in order to toughen up’.
