Reigning Miss Soweto donates to vulnerable children at the Rena Le Lona Centre
Thobile Steyn says her mother struggled with finances to make sure she went to school with the proper shoes and stationery and this is why she is thriving to ensure that learners won’t have to experience what she went through growing up.
Reigning Miss Soweto Thobile Steyn knows first-hand what it feels like to not be able to start the school year on the right foot because you don’t have shoes or stationery, hence the School Shoes Collection Drive Initiative. Steyn says her mother Thabile, would often struggle with finances to make sure her daughter went to school with the proper shoes and stationery and this is why she is thriving to ensure that learners won’t have to experience what she went through growing up.
On Saturday, April 17 Steyn donated 120 pairs of school shoes and stationery packs to the Rena Le Lona Creative Centre for Children located in Diepkloof Zone 6. The Centre offers orphans and vulnerable children in the area a safe place to spend their afternoons with coaches harnessing the medium of art to allow them to deal with loss and allow them the chance to lead meaningful and fulfilled lives.
Speaking at the event, Steyn addressed the young children at the centre narrating some of the challenges she faced as a teenager and how it encouraged her to strive for a better future.
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“Back in 2012, my mom lost her job, and we had nowhere to go, we were homeless. We stayed in a very small room, sharing a single bed with my mom. Most of the time I had to use my phone or a candle to study because we did not have electricity or lights,” Steyn said.
“Throughout high school, I had to go back to that small room every day after school and also experienced what it was like to go to school with worn-out shoes, or shoes that couldn’t fit me well because the size was too small for my growing feet”, she added.
However, the 21-year-old Politics and International Relations graduate from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) didn’t allow her circumstances to dictate her future. For her reign in 2021, Miss Soweto plans to ensure that more young people continue to go to school and she aims to help decrease the number of school dropouts this year.
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