A local foundation has reached out to the Stellenbosch community for support in its endeavours to protect and uplift Kayamandi’s child-headed households.
The Likhwezi Foundation is driven by students who are passionate about “helping their community as [their] every day duty,” said the foundation’s chairperson, Abongile Quthu.
The organisation relies solely on volunteerism and the donations of essential goods and financial contributions from the public, in addition to what the students who run the organisation are able to donate from their own pockets, according to Quthu. Quthu is currently a student at Stellenbosch University (SU).
Chairperson of the Likhwezi Foundation, Abongile Quthu, is ardent about supporting child-headed families in Kayamandi. “The foundation is fully led by young people who have the heart of humanity, and who are still in the process of uplifting their own families and community,” said Quthu. “The foundation is one of its kind in our country, as it focuses on families that are led by children, and we realise that the burden of having to provide for your own family and still be a child is challenging, thus we are here to lend a helping hand.” PHOTO: Jessica Hillier
Support from campus
The foundation recently identified ways in which it can work alongside SU, according to one of the foundation’s ambassadors, Phila Xhegwana. As such, the foundation has approached SU student committees and communities for help, with the aim of growing the organisation.
Phila Xhegwana (pictured) is an ambassador for the Likhwezi Foundation and is passionate about his role within the organisation. It was Xhegwana’s initiative to involve the greater Stellenbosch community in assisting the foundation. PHOTO: Jessica Hillier
In 2021, after fires broke out in Kayamandi, the Likhwezi Foundation collaborated with SU’s BA Student Committee (BASC) to assist more than 20 families in the community, stated Quthu. The two organisations ran a drive whereby they collected clothing and other essential goods in the emergency aid of Kayamandi households.
More recently, Pieter Conradie, social impact house committee member of SU’s Wilgenhof residence, collaborated with Xhegwana to initiate a donation drive for items such as toiletries, second-hand clothing, non-perishable foods and stationery in support of the Likhwezi Foundation. According to Conradie, the initiative started in early March and will continue throughout the year.
Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Wilgenhof residence’s social impact house committee member, Pieter Conradie (pictured), has welcomed the Likhwezi Foundation’s approach to get SU campus communities involved in assisting the foundation. Conradie started a “social impact box drop-off system” for Wilgenhof residents to donate what they are able to to Kayamandi’s child-headed families, including clothing, toiletries, non-perishable foods and stationery. “We’re just trying to get out of our own little box here at Wilgenhof, and out into the community and offer what resources, help and time we can,” Conradie said. PHOTO: Jessica Hillier
Likhwezi’s mission
“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected [Kayamandi] drastically,” said Quthu. In addition to job losses brought about by the pandemic, Quthu stated that many families lost their sole providers.
“We approached the social services department in Kayamandi to provide us with the relevant information to help us identify the families that are in need of our support,” said Quthu. This allowed the organisation to identify the most vulnerable group as child-headed households, according to Quthu.
“We have made it our mandate to bring hope to these families,” stated Quthu.
“A colleague of mine was touched when randomly speaking with a young girl who shared the sad story of heading a house of five children, and they must always live of give-offs from those that are kind-hearted,” stated Phila Xhegwana, ambassador for the Likhwezi Foundation, on the organisation’s origin. AUDIO: Phila Xhegwana
The organisation was established at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic by Aviwe Qwaka, a student at the University of the Western Cape. It is in its second year of operation and strives to become a registered non-profit organisation (NPO) in the near future, according to Quthu.
“I see them having a big impact in terms of inspiring other youngsters in the township. I literally feel how they will be making a greater impact in the future,” said Zenani Mithi, founder of the Ukukhanya Project, another NPO from Kayamandi. Ukukhanya has worked closely with Likhwezi, allowing them a table at their annual heritage festival for the first time in 2021.
“It’s a big role that they are playing, a big role that for many years we have outsourced from the township. To have them as the youngsters leading it, brings us a lot of hope,” Mithi added.