The inaugural recipient of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation Unsung Heroes Award is a 101-year-old Sowetan. Ethel Selloane Ann Leisa will be given the award - at a ceremony in Cape Town which coincides with Leah Tutu’s 82nd birthday on Wednesday - in recognition of her contribution to nursing and community work.A short bio issued by the foundation listed bullet points of her life:- She was a mother who did not allow the break-up of her own family by the apartheid government (which deported her husband and forced her to send the children away to be raised by relatives) to dim her compassion for others;- She was an activist and a member of the Federation of South African Women;- She was a warden at St Augustine’s Church in Soweto (where she first met the young Desmond and Nomalizo Tutu)‚ and has remained active in her church throughout her life;- She was involved in the birth of the African Self Help Creches in the 1960s‚ served as chairperson of Khanyile Creche in Mzimhlope for 25 years‚ raisedfunds and distributed second-hand clothes to the needy; and- She ran an organisation called Palesa‚ where rural and urban women were taught to make a living through sewing.A letter informing Leisa of the award read: “Your daily work was not limited to your profession as a nurse‚ but you expanded your efforts in serving your church by assisting the rectors.“If not cleaning the church yourself‚ you were co-ordinating others in doing so. From wiping the floors to washing the linen‚ a humble‚ outstanding women.“You took care of the elders‚ visiting them regularly and‚ like Jesus did for his disciples‚ washed their feet and clipped their toe nails.”The Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu said the award recognised individuals who‚ “in their ‘ordinary lives’‚ are doing voluntary work‚ providing extraordinary service and improving our community at large”...