Green beauty educates the youth

The environment and finding a way forward with regard to sustainable development are two issues the gorgeous Paballo Makupu (22) is extremely passionate about.

And the Castleview resident has her mind firmly set on making a difference.

To this end she entered the Miss Earth South Africa competition and was recently named as a regional finalist.

Paballo hails from Kroonstad in the Free State and moved to Germiston at the beginning of the year.

“I grew up in a small town, so when I came to Gauteng I chose Germiston as I feel it is a more family-orientated area.

“I work in Parktown and everywhere you look there you see skyscrapers and lights so Germiston appealed to me and gave me the feeling of a homely environment.

“So far I am really enjoying living here and I see myself raising children here in the future.”

Paballo works as an actuarial analyst having completed her BSc actuarial science degree at the University of the Free State cum laude and then going on to complete her honours degree in 2015.

“We were so lucky to have small classes – the biggest class was 15 students – and this allowed us to really connect with one another and assist one another to get the best out of our studies,” Paballo said.

Currently she is studying towards becoming an actuary through the Actuarial Society of South Africa.

“I am also part of the Association for SA Black Actuaries which is a school outreach programme where we chat to pupils about becoming actuaries and help them qualify for bursaries.

“There are only about 1 000 actuaries in South Africa,” she said.

Now the young woman has set her sights on winning the Miss Earth South Africa 2016 title and making a difference in the environment.

“The main issue is creating sustainable development through education,” Paballo said.

“People are not aware of how drought, climate change and global warming affect them and the environment and we need to do something about this now.”

As a regional finalist, Paballo (who was second princess in the Miss Free State competition, last year) must complete various projects with her main focus being on educating children at primary school level.

“I will be visiting schools in the community and teaching the children about recycling and greening the environment by planting trees.

“This year’s Miss Earth SA theme is ‘Waste stops with me’ and I want to teach children that they can make a difference in saving the planet.”

Paballo also has to organise a clean-up project in conjunction with the community and raise R5 700 which will go towards greening projects.

She has already partnered with Colin Mann School and visited the children on World Environment Day to educate them.

She has now challenged the children to make a difference by taking part in Plastic Free July – where the use of plastic products needs to be avoided as much as possible.

“Ideally I want to get government involved in projects like this as the issue is far bigger than what I alone can do.

“With government’s help more children can be educated.”

When Paballo is not working hard at her job or out campaigning for the environment she enjoys studying, hiking and recently scuba diving.

Although she is far from home she has the support and excitement for her achievements from her family, mom Sefora, dad David, and sisters Palesa (24) and Pontsho (17).

Pontsho is currently completing her matric in Kroonstad and lives with the sisters’ parents while Palesa stays in Delmas.

“I am especially close to Palesa and she gives me lots of support,” Paballo said.

“We are the last generation to be able to do anything about climate change and global warming and we should act now before it is too late.”

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