'Helping others puts a smile on my face'

THE spirit of giving started long before Christmas for 10 ordinary South Africans who are taking part in the Vodacom Change the World initiative.

For the past eight months they have transformed the lives of more than 8000 South Africans, of all ages, and helped care for many abandoned animals.

The Vodacom Change the World campaign, now in its second year, is run in conjunction with Times Media Group, owner of the Sunday Times.

Vodacom executive head CSI programmes and campaigns Suzette van der Merwe said the initiative had had such an impact that the company had decided to double the number of volunteers and charities next year.

For 10 child-headed households in Mpumalanga, this Christmas may just be the merriest they have had in a long time.

This is thanks to Jackina Mello, 34, a child protection expert who is volunteering at the Ndlovu Care Group in Elandsdoorn, Mpumalanga.

Mello helped provide houses for 10 children, aged 13 to 17, who care for about 38 siblings.

The two-bedroom homes were built through funding from international donors. Mello also secured monthly child grants.

"For the first time in their lives they will spend a Christmas in a proper house," she said.

Having a secure home will go a long way towards helping 13-year-old Tapelo , who takes care of his younger siblings after their mother died two years ago. T he children had been living in a shack and begging neighbours for food.

Nurse Nicolien Joubert, 56, is spending time with the Algoa Bay Council for the Aged in Port Elizabeth, which caters for around 700 pensioners. She said she had found healing in her work after her husband's death.

Joubert has used the monthly stipend paid to each volunteer to buy a golf cart, which she now uses as a mobile clinic .

"Before I came, people used the services of public hospitals. At times they would queue the whole day without getting help," she said.

Gerhard Greyling, 38, a college lecturer volunteering at the Free State Residential Care Centre, started a holiday programme to enable the mentally challenged residents to visit a zoo, a museum and a game reserve . They will also get a proper Christmas dinner.

"We try to create a homely environment for everyone who will be here during that time," said Greyling. He also teaches woodwork, with the residents' work sold to make money for the organisation.

Mpolokeng Kambule, 44, cannot wait for the new year as that is when her projects with the New Beginningz organisation will come to fruition. These include a new library and a play-park for the children of the Itereleng township in Pretoria.

She said that, when she arrived in the area, she saw many children wandering the streets alone . "After a serious talk with the community, you now hardly see a child on the street without any parental supervision," she said proudly.

Although just eight months into a year-long volunteering stint, Linda Brash, 31, has achieved all six of her goals at the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) in Cape Town. Her brief includes selling the TSiBA brand and persuading donors to fund the private, non-profit business school.

"Being part of the programme has opened my eyes to some of the challenges faced by our youth, academically. I will continue growing the TSiBA until my time is up," she said.

Sindile Rubushe, 39, is spending his year with the Association for Persons with Disabilities' centre in Polokwane, Limpopo, as a project coordinator and fundraiser. He has succeeded in securing funding for training in project management, administration and agriculture.

Rubushe also runs workshops on disability awareness. "I'm learning every day how to deal with people with disabilities at work. It is also fulfilling to see changes made through funding coming in the centre through my efforts," he said.

Nelia van Deventer's stint with the Family and Marriage Society of SA (Famsa) in Upington in the Northern Cape, has resulted in the opening of a 24-hour trauma centre. Now the 35-year-old is working to gain accreditation for the organisation as a Further Education and Training college.

The college will offer courses in child and youth care, victim empowerment and home-based care - all of which tie in with Famsa's range of services to support families and rape and abuse victims, as well as those suffering the effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

Former lecturer Rachel Tembo, 34, has spent the past eight months working as a community development coordinator at Joburg Child Welfare (JCW). So fulfilling has her time been that Tembo said that, given another opportunity, she would do it all over again.

She researches the needs of orphaned children, which helps the JCW plan its initiatives.

Clinical psychologist Sarah Barnes, 29, said she didn't realise that putting a smile on the faces of others would put one on her own. Barnes, from Durban, has been working at the Smile Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers plastic and reconstructive surgery to children with facial anomalies.

She said the highlight of her year was when Kutlwano Motswai, 12, met his hero, athlete Oscar Pistorius.

"The double-amputee boy never believed he could walk again after gangrene caused by a heart condition. After meeting [Oscar], he asked for legs like his," said Barnes.