The Lwazikazi Foundation recently hosted its inaugural “Face of Motherwell” event at the Raymond Mhlaba Sport Centre in Motherwell. The brainchild of founder, Lwazikazi Johannes (15), the event aims at empowering and grooming young children, showcasing the love and care they receive from their community.
The event brought together local youth, providing a platform for them to engage in positive activities and connect with their peers. Johannes explained why these events are so important to the foundation,
“The initiative seeks to minimise the occurrence of negative activities in the community, by offering a supportive environment where young people can thrive.
“Through the ‘Face of Motherwell’ event, we hope to show our commitment to nurturing the next generation of leaders and promoting community development. By empowering young individuals, the foundation hopes to create a ripple effect of positivity, inspiring others to make a difference in our community of Motherwell.”
The children and young people who participated in the event all felt celebrated, thrilled to be made to feel part of the community, as they often feel overlooked.
“Most events are for older people, so it’s nice for a change to take part in something that’s for us, and by us. So many young people fall into the trap of dangerous activities in our community, but to see so many having clean fun is really cool.”
Reflecting on why she started the foundation, Johannes said, “It was to better my community and empower young children and the youth of my community.
“Imagine living in a community where you see many young people smoking and doing drugs; this makes me sad. That’s why I decided to do something by starting a foundation to do activities and charity work so that youngsters can know that they are worthy, loved and cared for, and have the ability to make a difference.
“Planning an event is not easy, especially a pageantry event, but the support I got from my community and parents made it easy for me.
“Not forgetting our biggest sponsor, WB Integrated Project, and Park Drive Village that supported and sponsored us with gifts for the winners. Our ward councillor also made the Motherwell Sport Centre Hall in NU 4 B available to us for the whole day.
“The support made everything easy for us as Lwazikazi foundation,” she concluded.
