Living a dream and making a difference

Two years ago Kashmir-born Bushera Bashir left a good job in Singapore, packed up her life in a suitcase and bought a ticket to Johannesburg so that she could follow her heart.

All of this because she had a passion to fulfil her sense of purpose and meaning in life.

Bashir, 29, the head of Umuzi Photo Club's Power of 50 programme, will be one of the many powerful women who are expected to speak at Social Media Week Johannesburg from September 22 to 26. The conference will focus on the advances of women who work tirelessly to build businesses, industries, families and nations.

"I have always been keen on being engaged in meaningful work, but after completing my economic honours at Delhi University, I landed a great job opportunity in Singapore and I moved there.

"Even though consumer-consulting work provided the intellectual stimulation for five years, I was lacking a sense of purpose and meaning in my life.

"I was keen to move to an emerging economy, which was at the cusp of social innovation, social impact and entrepreneurship - South Africa perfectly fitted the bill for me."

She met Andrew Levy, the managing director of Umuzi, in June 2012. He made an immediate impact on her and she was drawn by his infectious passion and bold vision for Umuzi to become a social enterprise developing the next generation of creative professionals. Umuzi did not have a role for her then, so she worked as a volunteer.

"Andrew asked me at the end of last year if I'd be keen to launch and lead the Power of 50 programme. I didn't blink an eye and accepted this exciting challenge.

"During the Social Media Week, I will talk about Umuzi's involvement in developing the next generation of creative professionals in South Africa - focusing on how young people are harnessing the power of social media to create opportunities for themselves.

"I will also highlight the need for transformation in the creative sector: expensive private tuition is a barrier for creatives from under-resourced communities to break into the industry."

Although she may be living thousands of kilometres from her home in Kashmir, Bashir still reaches out to her community and visits home twice a year. She is launching a luxury fashion label of cashmere scarves called Trebene. She said the label combined the rich heritage of cashmere with modern, exquisite designs .

Kashmiri women make the scarves and up to 20% of the profits go into an education fund for their children, said Bashir.

Managing director of Social Media Week Johannesburg Sherry Bitting said the event was a global one and was started in New York six years ago.

"This will be a set of simultaneous conversations with various other participating countries on how social media and digital technology impacts on society, business, culture and communication," said Bitting.