Local women with big role get recognition

The second annual Women of Purpose (WOP) awards took place this past weekend at the Lion Sunshine Crèche in Ext2.

The awards are aimed at recognising women who are doing phenomenal work in uplifting the community of Eldorado Park and they were initiated by the Giving With A Purpose Foundation.

The local NPO has for a while been at the forefront of enriching the lives of underprivileged children in Eldos and surrounding areas through feeding schemes, sanitary towel drives and other initiatives.

Through the awards, they are giving residents a chance to play their part in recognising other women from other NPOs who are helping those in need.

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A call was made early this year for residents to nominate and vote for their favourite women of purpose and over 50 nominations were received with over a thousand votes cast.

After a shortlisting process, 15 finalists made it to the last round and were all awarded with certificates at the Saturday’s glittering event.

Nazlee Alberts, the brains behind the awards and Giving With A Purpose Foundation said even though the women who run NPOs in the community are not looking for recognition, they decided it was time to thank them for the wonderful job they are doing.

“Whatever anyone of you here is doing in their organisation, you do it selflessly and for the betterment of our community.

This evening we have 15 finalists and it wasn’t because of our making but Eldordo Park nominated and voted for you.

“So the people of Eldorado Park see and recognise the work that you do,” said Alberts welcoming guests and finalists to the event.

WOP awards are not limited to people who run feeding schemes in the community but they recognise women in various fields including, youth development, health, business and many more. Even though there were many categories residents had to vote for, the top 15 finalists came from the four categories which included the Most Promising Service in NGO, Entrepreneur, Youth Empowerment/ Development and Community Volunteer.

Speaking directly to the finalists, Alberts said, “You should know that you are not alone and appreciated. A lot of us get tired of the work we do because there are many ungrateful people out there but we must continue because this is our purpose. We have all found our purpose in uplifting our community.”

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Setting up and running an NPO has many challenges and the finalists have experienced them all. They’ve had to grapple with lack of resources and having to use money from their own pockets because of lack of sponsorship.

Some NPOs were born out of the pain of losing loved ones such as parents who were not only mothers just to them but to the whole community.

After all was said and done, Stephanie Duiker won in the Most Promising Service in NGO category, Diane Peters took the Entrepreneur of the year award, the Youth Empowerment/ Development award went to Naeema Isaacs and Ruby Van Staden took the Community Volunteer award.

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Alberts thanked all the sponsors for supporting the event and making it a night to remember. Sponsors included Eldos Fm, Elliot Jewellers, Shaye’s Body shop and Spar treatments, Amy May Jewellers, Hair Beautiq, The Brow Bar, Not just Hair, In Touch Fitness, Body Mechanics, Larnie’s Massage Parlour, Dr Mary Adam and Margaret Arnolds.

The Women of Purpose Team, Chenelle George, Moenirah Daniels and Fajria Kader worked tirelessly behind the scenes putting everything together.

Yaseen Jardine got the party started with some old school tunes which got everyone dancing. Omar Snyders and Chenelle George were the MCs for the day.

Other finalists recognised:

Most Promising Service in NGO Category
Sharlene Abels
Candice Maurice
Ella Barrows

Entrepreneur
Shayne Athena Nel
Helen Hannie

Youth Empowerment/ Development
Nazli Isaacs
Tyreen Patience
Monique Lagracia Badenhorst

Community Volunteer
Dr Mary Adam
Salomey Jaffer
Thelma Redgard