‘I can be whatever I want to’ Kgadi Mmanakana
Mmanakana, the founder of the See Beyond the Clouds Foundation (SBCF), aims to better society by empowering, equipping and inspiring women and youths to be a positive force of social and economic change.
Ntsako Mabunda
LIMPOPO “I am a possibilitarian – I can be whatever I want to be.” These are the youthful wisdom of Kgadi Mmanakana (19) from Ramalapa, Ga Matlala village.
She hopes that her attitude will inspire other people who cross her path. Mmanakana is the founder of the See Beyond the Clouds Foundation (SBCF), a non-profit organisation which aims to better society by empowering, equipping and inspiring women and youths to be a positive force of social and economic change.
SBCF was founded in December 2014 and officially launched in June 2015. The foundation recently held a mentorship workshop at Ramalapa Primary School, as part of its objective to introduce mentorship to the youth of Ramalapa village.
Young local professionals were invited to serve as an one-day mentor to high school learners with the objective to induct them on the concept of mentorship. Mmanakana herself can still strongly identify with high school learners as she only completed her matric at Mahoai High School in 2013.
A self-motivator, she obtained four distinctions and was the top performer in grade 12 at her school. The last-born in a family of five children, Mmanakana was the first in her family to continue her studies after high school, and is currently in her second year in metallurgical engineering at Vaal University of Technology (VUT).
Determined to fight her way through what she refers to as “a discouraging background”, Mmanakana is also a “women in engineering” ambassador – an organisation founded with the objective to increase the number of women taking up engineering as a career, and improving their chances of success within the field. Furthermore, she was one of 60 emerging women leaders taking part in a mentoring walk hosted by the organisation The Passionate Professional for International Women’s Day. By being a leader at such a young age, Mmanakana is passionate about youth and women empowerment, science and technology and education.
She supports the notion that more young people should study maths and science at school as a means to develop their community and eradicate poverty.
