Nhlanhla Tshabalala has taken it upon himself to help groom children to be the future of tomorrow
Passion brings hope to the children.
Children are the leaders of tomorrow, teach them well and watch them lead the way. Nhlanhla Tshabalala has shown that children are indeed the leaders of tomorrow when he established the Nhlanhla Tshabalala foundation in 2016. It is a children’s foundation that deals with children from early childhood until post matric.
The main aim of the foundation is to groom children to be their better selves going forward and helping them with whatever it is that they need. It was established with the vision of empowering disadvantaged children who have limited access to certain resources. It is to make sure that children have nothing to worry about.
Tshabalala explained that he started the foundation out of passion for children and education. “I have a passion for children and education. That passion drives me and keeps me going. Children are our future and if you get them at a tender age, you can groom them to be the future leaders.”
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“It is better to be able to teach a child new tricks because for them it is experimental unlike with adults.”
Tshabalala stated that he was motivated to start his foundation because he could not continue to pay for his university fees,and he saw the kind of problems that are encountered by a lot of people in the community.
“I could not pay my fees anymore so I could not finish my studies, so I thought to myself that if it is happening to me while I am working then what is going to happen to the children.”
He continued to mention that children do not think about the difficulties that come with life, they think that they will go to school and then find a job. “it is people like me that have to stand up and help them, especially with the passion that I have for children.”
Like any other business, organizations and successful persons, there are always challenges that are encountered prior to the success. Tshabalala had mishaps of his own when he started with his foundation but was able to overcome them.
“I was not informed about the industry itself; I did not know that I had to register. I found out when I had to get a sponsor that I had to register. I finally registered my foundation and took it from there.”
“rental and transportation to and from our campaigns were also a huge problem when I first started.”
Some of the achievements that they have had include their back to school campaigns. They have been able to get influential people to motivate learners especially the matriculants about the life after matric.
He explained that they are in partnership with Nailthatbeauty and BlackDot Property Consultants. Other partnerships and sponsorships depend on the campaign that they are doing and the kind of events they deal with. He also mentioned that they depend on donations and funding.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the number of infections increased rapidly, the country was put under a national lockdown and a lot of things were put o hold. Tshabalala stated that the national lockdown has affected his work as he works with children and schools are not operating.
“our work is limited, our day to day running’s are also limited because schools are now closed, and our focus is on children and education. We had to postpone initiatives because of the national lockdown and that has affected us dearly.”
“it is much better now during level 3 because the grade 7 and twelves are back at school and we can do something for them just so they get help with their education and their well-being.”
During this hard time, NTF has a support services programme in which they provide food parcels on a needs and availability basis. They provide these food parcels to mainly child headed homes, people with disabilities and families with pensioners.
Going forward, Tshabalala mentioned that he would like to collaborate with other organizations that deal with children and would also like to expand his horizon. “My short-term goal is to open the home of NTF that will house learners and make sure that our campaigns gain support.”
“we currently have a warm for winter campaign whereby we make sure that identified learners are warm this winter and we are about to launch the Happytite after care food programme where we identify schools that are in need.”
He explained that his long-term goals include building an NTF grooming academy that will house at least 100 learners and will focus on the creative side of things. They want to expand into a global foundation that will reach a lot of children worldwide. Also helping to curb the high unemployment rate among the youth is at the top of their list.
“Blessed is the hand that gives than the one that receives.” This is the bible scripture that Tshabalala uses to motivate himself and continue to teach himself that there is joy in giving when it is done with pure intentions.
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