Karell turns her pain and passion into help for others
Karell would like to launch a youth led, non-governmental organisation 'Fusion Youth Academy' focused purely on the individual, while helping the community
16-year-old Karell Moonsamy has a burning passion for empowering the youth. She believes that in many cases, talent alone is not enough to guarantee success. Karell is a former Estcourt High School grade 10 student, and after recurring fainting, fatigue and swollen joints she was diagnosed with Lupus.
Lupus is a chronic disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. It causes swelling (inflammation) and a wide variety of symptoms that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs). Her parents decided she should be home schooled, under their supervision after returning home from work one day to an unconscious daughter.
Since then, mid year 2014 she has completed grade 12 through an abridging course as well as a course in Early Childhood Development.
Karell is currently busy with a diploma in Education Psychology and Childhood Psychology, while working at Project Life, a school for children with disabilities as a grade R educator.
She also follows a strict diet, does lots of exercise and regularly goes for plasma infusions to manage the disease. Karell has to avoid stressful situations as it also triggers a break out of rash and swelling in the joints. “When my symptoms became visible during the last two years, I was no longer accepted socially. I have faced both physical and emotional turmoil, but with medical intervention and family support I get by just fine.”
There was a time where Karell was hopeless and felt that she will never be like other normal teenagers. She thought to herself: “If I can interact with the youth and empower them to achieve their goals no matter what life throws their way, then at least I could help others out there never to face what I had to.”
She saw the opportunity she long awaited. A chance to give her life more purpose than the chronic Lupus disease she was fighting against. She realised that if there’s not enough support involved, you will have a hard time to take your passion and talent to the next level and live your dream.
Karell would like to launch a youth led, non-governmental organisation ‘Fusion Youth Academy’ focused purely on the individual, while helping the community. She would like for it to be based in Estcourt and serve the community as a spiritual, arts and cultural, recreational, counselling, youth engagement and crime prevention incubator.
The academy will offer a platform that nourishes creative energy within the often disadvantaged youth and would like to help its participants to find their own talents and define it on their own terms in order to become successful in the professional world.
In the next five years Karell would like to have a call centre and help line to deal with all sorts of issues, which target youngsters for the Fusion Youth Academy to be internationally renowned and awarded charitable program with honours for its work and accomplishments while completing her diplomas.
Karell lives by the words of Mahatma Gandhi – “Be the change that you what to see in the world.”
She continually aims to pose the qualities she would like to see in the world. If Karell is not busy studying or teaching at Project Life, she likes to dance and model for fun.
