Shekhinah and ProVerb share inspiring stories with orphaned and vulnerable children

Cadbury Dairy Milk partnered with two award-winning SA stars — singer and songwriter Shekhinah, and hip-hop artist and TV presenter ProVerb, to share their inspirational stories with orphaned and vulnerable children across SA. 

Together they are calling on South Africans to do the same to encourage and inspire these children to dream big and imagine a world of possibilities far beyond their reality.

On being part of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Glass & a Half Project presents: There’s a Story in Everyone initiative, Shekhinah said: “I spent two weeks as an orphan before my family adopted me. Though it wasn’t a long time, I feel connected to these children and believe every child deserves a chance to live and dream. It’s an honour to be part of sharing this gift of learning and I hope my story inspires children to always persevere.” 

Watch Shekhinah’s video below:

“I hope children learn that I’m no different from them: I faced challenges as a child but was able to turn it around,” said Proverb. “I hope they’re inspired to do the same, particularly youngsters who are more creative than academic, just to let them know you can be a success too.”

Watch ProVerb’s video below:

“Cadbury Dairy Milk believes there’s a story in everyone, whether fictional or based on true life events,” says Lara Sidersky, Mondelez SA category lead for chocolate.

“Through the Cadbury Dairy Milk Glass & a Half Project presents: There’s a Story in Everyone, we encourage South Africans to tap into their innate spirit of generosity and share a piece of themselves in the form of a story, with the children who need it the most. Whether it’s a video or written word, simply upload your story via the Cadbury Dairy Milk whatsapp bot. Our hope is that your story empowers and inspires these children.”

Why your story matters

Stories can have a huge impact on children as storytelling gives children confidence — children’s author Lebohang Masango

Children connect deeply with others who have had similar life experiences as them. For orphaned and vulnerable children in care, it is difficult as many of them have experienced things that most of their peers have not had to deal with. Stories of others who have experienced and overcome hardship is incredibly freeing for a child — telling them that they are not alone, and things can and do get better — Mandy Daniels, SOS Children’s Village programme development co-ordinator 

Shekhinah says: “I believe it’s important for us to acknowledge the orphaned and vulnerable children — they are our brothers, sisters, our children and our family. They need to know that we care about them, their wellbeing and their education. My childhood experience with stories and books was absolutely magical. In my twenties, I’ve realised that many lessons I’m learning today are experiences I’ve read about as a child.” 

Cadbury Dairy Milk included wordless books sourced through the Mikhulu Trust, which promotes evidence-based early childhood development in SA, as part of the project’s R1m donation of toys, books and games to orphaned and vulnerable children.  

Mikhulu Trust CEO Kaathima Ebrahim encourages the idea that storytelling goes beyond words. “Wordless books help caregivers have more interactive engagements with their young children. Through the narrative use of images, children are encouraged to share their thoughts about what they see and what they think is happening in the pictures. In this way we encourage imagination, and help children to problem-solve, evaluate and make conclusions — developing their ability to think critically.”

HOW TO SHARE YOUR STORY

Cadbury Dairy Milk is calling on ordinary South Africans to share original stories told from the heart. Stories do not need to be written by professional writers, rather create an authentic story from your imagination or based on your real-world experiences, and we’ll do the rest.  

Here's a tip from Lebogang Masango to get you started: “Share a memory from your own life. Tap into your childhood experiences. You feel more confident to tell a story about something you know.”

Submit your story of 500 to 1,000 words via the Cadbury Dairy Milk whatsapp bot as a video, text copy or upload a word or PDF doc, in any of SA’s official languages.

A selection of the most inspirational and appropriate stories will be collated into an audio e-book for download from the Cadbury Dairy Milk website and shared with the many orphaned and vulnerable children across the country.

Join the conversation using #GlassAndAHalf #TheresAStoryInEveryone, follow Cadbury Dairy Milk SA on Facebook or Twitter and Instagram and visit cadbury.co.za/storytime.

* Ts & Cs apply — please visit www.cadbury.co.za/storytime for further details.

This article was paid for by Cadbury Dairy Milk.