Twenty pairs of school shoes, sanitary towels and over one hundred books were handed over to learners at Emshukantambo Secondary school in Pimville on Friday. The initiative was spearheaded by a law student, Thando Tshabalala.
“I am passionate and understand the importance of education,” she said. “A school uniform is meant to ensure that all learners appear as equals, regardless of their financially background or situation at home. Now, what happens when even the uniform itself starts to show that a learner is struggling financially? You can’t hide torn school shoes. So with this school shoes drive we are trying to make sure that the intention of the school uniform is maintained.”
Tshabalala is an RSA Inspirational model from Zola, a Miss Soweto 2020 finalist and the face of a non-profit organisation, Pearls Amahle. Chairperson of Amahle, Palesa Selepe said her team was proud of the work Thando had done.
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“We are here to support Thando, who has served very well as the face of Pearls Amahle. We are very proud of her. We all know the challenges learners face, especially here in Soweto. We know parents have lost jobs so this is will help ease the burden on families,” she said.
The shoes, sanitary towels and books were brought through donations from friends of Tshabalala, family and the general public. One of those who donated was Thabo Buthelezi.
“I am Sowetan and grew up attending a school in Soweto so this was a project close to me. School shoes are something very important to a child. We grew up walking long distances, shoes get easily damaged and that can take away your confidence as a learner. That is what we are trying to restore with this project,” Buthelezi explained.
With the success of the project, Tshabalala said she wanted to continue and launch a consistent school shoes drive.
“My long term goal is that no child in Soweto should lack a pair of school shoes. I want to have an official school shoes drive where we know we are able to continuously hand over school shoes to learners,” she said.
Get in touch with Thando on social media: Twitter: @model_thando Instagram: brand_thando.tshabalala Facebook: Thando Mpho Tshabalala
