The insight of Pontsho Ya Lesedi Deo and Sanitary Towel Donation
How it all started.
It’s quite amazing how Pontsho Ya Lesedi came to life. “I’ve always loved giving and attending to the less fortunate” says the founder Mr Radifadi Bethuel “Pontsho” Mamabolo.
It was back in 2015, when he had a dream of himself managing an orphanage home, in the very same dream he heard a voice whispering to him “God wants to use you. However, he thought it was just a dream, he ignored the voice, until he had the same dream again a couple of weeks later in his sleep, only now with a bolder voice whispering “Pontsho Ya Lesedi!” and that’s how the name came about.
He shared this dream with his friends, that’s when he they encouraged him to make that step and follow the calling. Today as we speak, PYL is a registered NGO which is almost two years now.
Brief profile about PYL:
Pontsho Ya Lesedi is a Non-Profit Organization which mainly focuses on landing a hand and transforming youth by trying to keep them in school.
PYL has currently teamed up with two other NGOs: Teboho Thokolo the Albino Trust and Real Talk with Nthabi. Sharing the same vision, they are running the Sanitary and Deodorant Campaign together, named “Chance for Change Seminar”. Whereby they invite a variety of qualified professionals, to visit high schools around the country and provide motivational talks to instill positivity into the youngsters’ minds and to handout sanitary pads and deodorants to the scholars. Their next plan is to have an infrastructure for the less fortunate in the near future.
Motive behind the project:
The motive is to mainly give back to the community, because we grew up in rough conditions, we relate to their stories.
Situations whereby one has to bunk school because she is on her periods and she doesn’t have the suitable material to use, Through research that Pontsho and his friend Teboho Thokolo of Teboho Thokolo the albino trust they found out that some less fortunate girls go as far as using newspapers, Cement bags, tree leaves and old cloths as sanitary towels, thus we are combating absenteeism that can be solved Says Pontsho with a sad face .
I believe that every learner deserves the right to have someone who they will look up to and motivates them. “Black child it’s possible”, proclaims Pontsho, whom they now call “babes wa di pads” he giggles.
They have already donated in three provinces: North West, Free State, Mpumalanga and they finished of in Limpopo on the 24th February 2017 which is Pontsho’s home province.
Because the project involves Professionals with day to day jobs, what they do is they have planned dates to do the hand outs, so they take leave in time so that it does not affect productivity at their work places.
Pontsho says that with more donation we can change more lives and keep our future leaders focused. They are now revisiting the mentioned province to check the progress of their beneficiaries as well as the impact the motivational talks had on the learners.
They have started with Rusternburg on the 29th of September and Free is to follow on the 29th October 2017, dates for the other two remaining provinces will be announced shortly.
So far they have donated over 1500 sanitary towels and deodorants and they are happy with the progress of the project, because the beneficiaries have shown so much progress and appreciation. The Organization has also grown as the focus was now broadened, Pontsho Ya Lesedi and other Charity organization have now spotted a family in Phalaborwa (Mbhetheni family) that was staying in a tent, and the tent was not in a good state for the family especially because they were staying with kids, that’s when they introduced “the buy a cement campaign”. They pleaded for donations from the communities to donate bags of cement.
People responded positively and they were able to raise enough bags and bricks to build the family a house succesfully.
The Organization also managed to spot a student at the University of Limpopo who is on a wheelchair, they started a movement called “Hope restoration campaign” whereby they are raising funds to get Mpho Ranape who is doing her 3rd year in the law faculty an electric wheelchair, because she struggles to push herself on the wheelchair, she sometimes misses classes due to nobody being available to assist.
The electric wheel chair will help her to move aound independently thus avoiding absenteeism regarding her studies. “TOGETHER WE CAN VANQUISH THE INDIGENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES” ` RADIFADI MAMABOLO
