Local heroes honoured at fashion show

With the aim of creating awareness for the Amanzimtoti Trauma Unit – Turning Point hosted a glitzy Victorious Strong and Valuable Fashion Show, recently.  The fashion show proved to be a resounding success and also saw several community hero awards presented to a selected group of people who make a difference in their communities.

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Up and coming fashion designers from the area, Gracy Pillay from Layla Designs and Sanine Pieterse from Saltwater fashion as well as, established designer Madelain Clark were given the opportunity to showcase their stunning designs.  The recipients of the prestigious community hero awards were nominated by others in the community.  Twenty awardees were lauded for making significant contributions to their communities through volunteering their time, actions, talents and dedication.

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The deserving awardees were:

•  Rev. Andrew Manning who serves society through the priesthood and through the Kingsburgh Child and Family Welfare, the Scouting movement, the Toti Conservancy, and the Toti Isipingo Catchment Management Forum.
•  Merlene Matthew who runs a successful business with her husband, while volunteering for Scripture Union and distribute Bibles/Literacy books  for Bible society to the local schools from Isipingo to Doonside.  She conducts  leadership training and life skill programmes for learners of disadvantaged schools.  She is also the Community Policing Forum chairperson for Athlone Park and is a Life Group Leader for Athlone Park under Sweetwaters Church.
• Caroline Ntombizakithi Mkize has a certificate in Early Childhood Development and in Foster Care.  In Adams Mission community, she works as a foster care parent for orphans and neglected children.  She has also voluntarily  opened her home as a safe haven for children who are homeless until they are adopted or placed somewhere else.
• Thulani Daniel Shange is the principal at Platt Drive Primary School and founded a psychology centre at the school dealing with counselling of  parents, learners, educators and the community.  They help unemployed community members with matric by offering them ECD courses.
• Joanne Herbst who is the founder of the The Elders Voice – KZN, runs a shared living sustainability project looking after 118 SASSA pensioners in 11 shared living homes within the Amanzimtoti area.
• Margaret Peters ran the Nobamba Centre outreach programme that was done by Amanzimtoti Methodist Church.  Although this project is closed I still help people in the community.
• Peaceland Mthembu during a major storm he was brave enough to investigate why water pooled in the road every time when it rained.  During one of  his investigations he saw water running into properties, the ground under the garage and side of the house was breaking up.  He started screaming to the people in the houses to get out and ran to his manager to report the situation to authorities.  He was scared but he still managed to save people’s lives.
• Candice  Anne Harding is a wife, a mother and a former teacher.  She joined the Clean Surf Project and is passionate about children, nature and the environment of which her greatest love is the ocean and marine life.
• Ankia Kennedy offers  craft classes for  groups of  women.  She is always prepared to help with fund raising events for schools, churches and organisations in the community.
• Jennifer Samson works part time at Isipingo Hospital and has been working in the health industry for 34 years and then went into full time ministry with Care Network International, an organisation that she co founded.  They also arrange Easter, Winter, Spring and Christmas drives where they distribute food, gifts, blankets, clothes and a lot more basic items to the needy.
• Clive Chetty is a socialite who has deep passion for community upliftment. He has also received many accolades over the years in the field of community service, entertainment and the medical field.
• Sibonisile Mildred Ngcobo takes care of orphaned children in the community and is registered as a foster parent.  On a voluntary basis she takes care of these children, supply in their basic needs and makes sure they attend school and or university.  She works very close with  other social workers and she assists victims in the victim friendly rooms of different police stations.
• Cathy Keegan she is the secretary at Sweetwaters Church and is a volunteer at Toti Spca 5 years ago as a dog walker on Saturdays. She started a structured educational programme for the township children on a Saturday Morning, known as the Edu Paw programme where she has touched many lives.
• Denzil van der Westhuizen is a volunteer for Clean Surf  Projects, he helps with providing information regarding pollution, organise clean ups and he is proactive within the community to create a more environmentally conscious society that strives for a cleaner, healthier and more comfortable environment in and around the ocean.  He helps out with educational programs for young and old and gets schools and community groups involved with beach clean ups.  He also continuously helps to look for solutions on how to minimise the damages caused by the 8 million tons of plastic being dumped into the sea each year.
• Romy Wenzel who was born and raised in Germany and moved to South Africa in 2004. I joined Sapphire Coast Tourism, CTO – Community Tourism Organisation, in August 2015, with the aim to promote local tourism within the greater Amanzimtoti area. With the passion for the beach he decided to assist Clean Surf Project, to clean local beaches and support educational programmes with regards to marine plastic pollution.
• Mavis Dlamini is a qualified nurse and midwife and he has experience in occupational health and primary health care and has been nursing for 36 years in various ranks.  She took early retirement in 2014 to pursue a call and passion for serving humanity.  She founded an organisation called uThando Restoration Centre in Umbumbulu and they specialise in assisting abused women and children in that area.  She also assists young adults by helping them find jobs or further training opportunities.
•  Errol Theron is a member of the South African Association of Retired Persons and Probus Amanzimtoti where she was president for six years.  Until 2015 she was also with Amanzimtoti Lions and honorary Rotarians and has run the Kingsway hospital cancer group for the past 8 years.
•  Sharon-Ann Theron launched a free printed monthly colour booklet for senior citizens in September 2018 with an initial circulation of  500 copies through her Pensioners Friend initiative.  This month nearly 4000 copies will be printed and distributed in Amanzimtoti, Durban and inland as far as Pietermaritzburg and Howick.
•  Kubashnie Pillay a branch manager for Capitec bank has a B.com HRM degree.  In 2013 she entered Mrs Chatsworth and won the title.  Through this platform, she started giving back to the community and empowering youth.  She gets involved wherever and whenever she can for example collecting and distributing clothes, perishables and toys.  She is currently trying to get basic sport equipment to keep the children of Welbedacht off the streets.
• Vanessa Chetty has overcome being raped as a child, overcome terminal illness, a violent hijacking and many more challenges.  She is the co-founder of the Hope Foundation, a radio presenter for three radio shows, a member of  KZN task team for Human Trafficking, contributor to UNISA Pretoria and UKZN University in their research projects on Child exploitation and pornography, Addiction workshop facilitator and the visionary of a national program called broken crayons still colour.  She has dedicated her life at a young age to working in the community and has been doing so for the past 31 years.

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