Student SleepOut ambassadors make Johannesburg proud

2016 Student SleepOut ambassadors, Ruby Chikwiri and Michael Constantinides have continued to make Johannesburg proud.

Chikwiri was voted into the Johannesburg Junior Council in 2013 and this gave her the platform to advocate for youth issues. The 19-year-old is studying BCom Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Cape Town and is currently in her second year.

“Being voted into the Johannesburg Junior Council led to the most significant moment in my life so far, which was when I held my first successful sanitary drive initiative for underprivileged students in South African townships,” said Chikwiri.

Realising the disparities in education, gender equality and health drove her to devote herself to sanitary drives. “Pads are just as important as pens and paper when it comes to education” is the sentence she has lived by since starting the campaigns for sanitary towels at the age of 16. She has to date donated 53 000 sanitary towels to underprivileged girls in South Africa.

She was also awarded the Lead SA Youth Hero in November 2013 and the Leading South Africa award by the Johannesburg Junior Council in 2013

Watch her interview with Anele Mdoda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VorBS_rT8k

Constantinides, is a Masters in Architecture student at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, doing an investigation into the physical realm of online media.

Over the past three years he has been creating online video content on YouTube to create a positive message about South Africa as well as showcasing the country and its people to the local and global community.

“During my first year of studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011, I founded the first Generation Earth University Council, which is a youth empowerment programme that educates individuals about the environment, the eco-economy and how to green your institution,” said Constantinides.

After three years of being president of the council, he graduated Bachelors of Architectural Studies (the youngest in his class), and passed on the Generation Earth Wits Council to his successor. Six years later the council is still running.

Both successful ambassadors have spoken on CliffCentral.com about their journeys. You can find Constantinides’ story about being a video creator here: https://cliffcentral.com/kellman-podcasts/kellman-i-am-michael-constantinides-social-edition/

More about School SleepOut:

School SleepOut aims to gain empathy for vulnerable communities or schools. The call for schools to participate is encouraging. To date, 12 schools have signed up on the CEO SleepOut website. The event is now in its second year, and schools across the country can rise to the challenge and demonstrate their commitment by sleeping out on July 28.

The 2016 School SleepOut challenges more learners, teachers and parents at public and private schools to sleep out to support a worthy cause of their own. As part of the initiative, participants in the Schools SleepOut must identify an outreach school in need, learn about the items they need most, from food and books to clothes and stationery, and commit to gathering and delivering those items, making a difference to those in need.

Liberty embraces the opportunity to support the Sun International School SleepOut because it raises awareness of the thousands of children who are homeless and vulnerable, compelled to sleep on the streets of South Africa. Everything loaned to the pupils and teachers sleeping out on the grounds of Kingsmead on the night will be donated, after the event, to a beneficiary that supports homeless South Africans.

For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.

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