Born and bred in Soweto, Sihle Mooi continues his journey of upliftment.
Mooi is the current CEO and executive director of Rays of Hope Foundation based in Hurlingham.
According to Mooi, his passion for Alexandra comes from the significant role that the community plays in our country. “It is the oldest township in South Africa. It is a township with the highest recipients of urban migration so there is a massive amount of people moving in.”
He added that in many ways, Alexandra was a ‘quintessential township’ which represented all townships. “I also think that it gives a picture of South Africa because it is right next to the richest square mile in Africa. The shock people get when they actually see, when they leave Sandton and come to Alex, the massive disparity.”
Rays of Hope was started in 1991 by a group of young individuals in a church in Sandton to help bridge the gap between both areas. “I think these young people released what it really meant to love their neighbour and not just love those that look like them.”
The foundation started with a Saturday school which tutored learners of all ages in mathematics and English. This was only the beginning as the group learnt that many of those learners did not eat or were faced with a number of challenges at home.
Today Rays of Hope offers sevens programmes that reach over 2 600 community members. These programmes range from early childhood development, home-based care, food distribution, mentorship and work readiness.
Recently the foundation launched the Hope4Alex campaign in response to the 21-day national lockdown as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. “We realised that our community was paralysed by fear because people did not have food or the medical supplies that they needed to protect themselves,” Mooi said.
The campaign, in partnership with 30 other organisations, targeted a list of 1 000 families. According to Mooi, they have collected over 400 hampers of food and medical supplies thus far. “We are really encouraged by the response of individuals, cooperates, schools and people that would just like to get involved.”
Mooi noted that the future of Rays of Hope focuses on three main points:
- Ensuring that the current programmes continue to operate, remain well funded and instil life and societal changes.
- Develop a structure, a ‘learning community’, which young leaders and entrepreneurs can learn and work from.
- Create a purpose built a ‘state of the art community excellence centre’ that will maintain the organisation’s legacy in Alexandra.
“For me, it has been about getting the community to take charge of their own development. [We are] moving the most vulnerable from vulnerability to independence. Our hope is that in a few years’ time, we will not be needed in Alex,” Mooi concluded.
Interested in donating to Hope4Alex? Visit www.raysofhope.co.za/hope4alex
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