Making a positive impact in the lives of their community members has always been close to Ashleigh Nyiki-du Plessis’ and Raynaldo Bredenkamp’s hearts, so when entries for the Mrs Nelson Mandela Bay and Sir Eastern Cape pageants opened, the two entered and eventually won the titles.
For Du Plessis, who is a registered nurse by profession, winning the title was another opportunity to help the underprivileged of the Kariega community.
“I’ve always been quite passionate about helping people, especially people who don’t have access to basic needs,” she explained.
“Growing up I was bullied and called all sorts of names by my female peers in school. The bullying was really bad and resulted in my not having many female friends even into adulthood,” Du Plessis added.
Over the years however, through her career and self awareness, Du Plessis has purposely placed herself in the company of other strong, determined women.
The Mrs Nelson Mandela Bay pageant is one such example. “I wanted to not only heal from my traumatic experience as a young girl, but also to change people’s lives and help build the confidence of young girls and women,” she said.
“I don’t have daughters, I have two sons, but I have nieces who mean the world to me – who even look like me. But even though they look like me, they are having a completely y different experience in school. They even see themselves participating in pageants too one day, and that’s the whole point,” said the pageant first-timer.
Bredenkamp had a similar negative experience in school, but he was not about to let the trauma deter him from fulfilling his purpose.
One of Bredenkamp’s life purposes is to teach, “And not to teach in a classroom, but to do skills development projects for the youth. Because the way our economy is moving now requires lots of upskilling.”
Through his own model management and agency, Bredenkamp helps the youth get into charity work and helping the community with basic needs.
A common goal that the pair has is to build the highest Power Tower of non-perishable goods. “We’re encouraging anyone who would like to help to please donate these goods. We’re preparing for the festive season and beyond, so that when everyone is having a feast with their families, other people with less than we have are also able to enjoy this time,” Du Plessis said.
“And to everyone who might be in doubt about following their passion, I say just do it. Follow your passion and fulfil your purpose, don’t let anyone stand in your way, they will understand later, but it’s not for them, it’s for you,” Bredenkamp concluded.
