There is no greater joy than giving

MSHOLOZI – Author Elizabeth Peale Allen, in a letter she wrote to the Positive Thinkers Club said, “A prerequisite to living abundantly is giving abundantly. These are two concepts that are woven tightly together. If you don’t know how to give you don’t know how to live”.

 
With Allen’s words, Mpumalanga News expresses words of gratitude to all sponsors and individuals who contributed to making Mandela Day a meaningful one for the life of 14-year-old Thabang Mashego who suffers from arthritis, and his needy family of four members.

 
“May the Lord of the universe richly bless all of you who heeded and positively acted on requests of making this year’s Mandela Day a meaningful one to this family,” said project coordinator and journalist Thobile Mlangeni.

 
Indeed, life will never be the same for this family. The rains of the summer and winds of the winter months will never be a thorn in the flesh as they now at least have a decent two-roomed house and an indoor toilet, all courtesy of the caring and loving staff of Mpumalanga News, in conjunction with the management of White River Technical College, Triponza Tradings from Khumbula Trust, White Hazy Construction, God’s Chosen, Together Funerals, Lafarge Cement and individuals from Msholozi and White Hazy.

 
This comes after Mpumalanga News published a story about the young lad who was deprived of his rights to education early this year when his school, Boschrand Primary, told his mum, Ms Nokuthula Ngwenya, that Thabang could not be admitted to school because he used crutches and the school was not disabled friendly. After the publication of that story early this year, and with the involvement of the Department of Education, Thabang was readmitted to school and measures were put in place to make life easier for him there.

 
This newspaper learnt that Thabang had a problem with his bones and had since been diagnosed with arthritis. His conditions might have been worsened by the cold as he and his family lived in a dilapidated shack made of cardboard and black plastic bags without a floor.

 
Through the mighty power of the pen and paper, this newspaper requested donations from various local companies and individuals to make Madiba Day worthwhile for this family.
The newly-built brick house was handed over to the delight of the family last Friday.

 
The local ward councillor, Cllr Kenneth Mkhonto, also attended the handover and congratulated the newspaper on the initiative.

 
“Working together we can build a better society. Government cannot get rid of all the poverty or cannot help all the needy people of the country, hence the media house and other private stakeholders must join hands and work together to fight poverty and unemployment.”We thank you that you’re not only interested in writing stories about us, but also help in building a better society. We hope you will do this in other places too,” he added.

 
“Thank you very much for your valuable support indeed. Wherever Madiba is, he is surely smiling when he looks at all the good done to improve the conditions of the poor in the country.

 
“If everyday can be a Mandela Day with people being generous as they are in this month, surely poverty levels will drastically decrease,” he concluded.