My name is Sylvia Selelekela, I was born on 15 March 1984. I attended primary school in Lesotho and did my secondary education in South Africa (Orange Farm) where I stay at the moment.

At school I did my best because I knew that with education I can be something better and fulfill my dreams. I come from a family of seven where love and support play a major role.

After completing matric in 2003, I couldn’t proceed to tertiary as my parents didn’t have enough money for my education. In 2004 I attended a computer course for nine months at Orange Farm. Lack of finance didn’t stop me from making sure that my dreams becomes a reality.

I became a volunteer with Sakhisizwe, which is a community organization, where I worked as an orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) caregiver. The aim of Sakhisizwe is to serve the community, care for sick people, give emotional support to the OVC’s, empower people with necessary information.

I’ve been an OVC caregiver for four years. Working with orphans and vulnerable children is very challenging as those children need love, support and good care and guidance as well. Taking care of these children means playing with them also and this makes them laugh and trust you.

Being a caregiver is not an easy thing, because sometimes when we go for home visits, we find them starving and their shacks are in a very bad state.

MaAfrika Tikkun is playing a major role in Orange Farm, by providing needy children with food parcels every month, clothes from some donors. Mojalefa, who is a social worker, is doing a good job in our community and also arranges that needy children are exempted from paying school fees.

Because of my hardwork, dedication, determination and passion for what I do, I am now working as an administrator and OVC coordinator of Lesedi Centre (under Tjhebelopele), which is working hand in hand with other seven organizations. I really love my job and enjoy what I am doing.

Working with social workers is like a dream come true, because I get to know more about children, what they need and how to give them proper care. What I like most is the cooperation of all the team players. This makes work easy and effective.

It is good to have a dream, work smart and achieve your dream. By volunteering one learns skills and gets some education that will make you a better person. I would like to be a social worker by profession and one day be a project leader and work closely with MaAfrika Tikkun’s CEO Marc Lubner. I believe that I can learn a lot from him to help empower my community from my experiences.

I would like to thank the social worker Mojalefa, for giving me the opportunity to prove myself. MaAfrika Tikkun for offering me a job at Leseding Centre. Lastly to my mom Valencia the director of Sakhisizwe, for her love, support and guidance, because I couldn’t be where I am today. She believed in me and she told me that there is nothing impossible if you put your mind to it.

My dream is to make a positive difference in my community. To see less crime and poverty and more black children educated.