Songelwa is an inspirational woman, she went from an orphaned young girl to a powerful leader within her community all by following her love of sport.
Valcare, an Impact Funding Platform activating social change in the Cape Winelands, has launched a new web video series shining the spotlight on the #RealHeroes in the Cape Winelands communities.
They decided to highlight the people who despite their past and difficult start to life, stood up against the odds to not only survive but thrive. These are ordinary people from the Cape Winelands who make a significant difference in some or other way.
The video series kicks off by telling the incredible story of Songelwa Sicuku-Mkita who decided early on in her life that her past would not determine her future.
Before she was born, her father walked out on the family and the only thing she knew of him, were the rumours that floated throughout her community. When she was seven years old tragedy struck, Songelwa lost her mother and baby brother too. Her mom was crossing a busy road when a motorbike struck and killed her and Songelwa’s baby brother whom she was carrying on her back.
Songelwa’s brother was unemployed and disabled when he became the head of their household. He was just 18-year-old at the time. He took on the responsibility of taking care of his siblings and raising them by himself. According to Songelwa, he is a remarkable human and although he taught them to be content and joyful no matter what your circumstances are, Songelwa felt lonely.
The only thing she liked was sports. She always had a ball in her bag and would run outside whenever it was time to play. She stuck with her love of sports throughout her life and when she got older, she became involved with SCORE (Changing lives through sport), a partner of Valcare. First as a participant, then as a community volunteer and later on even travelling to Norway with them.
Today, Songelwa is the Centre Manager at the Mbekweni Community Sport Centre with SCORE and Hope Through Action where she affects thousands of kids with their programmes.
She turned her hard times into something that drove her to succeed and work towards making a difference in other kids lives. She is a true inspiration and the hope is that her story will show those in the same circumstances, that anything is possible! Take a look at the video feature below.
by 