Ntombizodwa Gift Mangane
Age 26
Nkomazi, Mpumalanga
Ekuphumuleni Primary School
The Global Teachers Institute is enormously proud of Ntombizodwa, currently a fourth-year teacher intern in the Future Leaders Programme.
In September 2020, she started an organisation called “Shelter Me Foundation” with its main focus on helping young children who urgently needed food and clothing. Soon thereafter, she initiated a programme called PNP in response to seeing how many young girls were struggling to cope when they were menstruating. This programme was launched in 2021 at Ekuphumuleni Primary School. Once that project was up and running, she saw a need to get young boys off the street through an initiative called “A Boy Child Matters!” She explained that “this programme is to help young boys develop self-love and better define who they are and who they want to be in the future”.
“What I learned this past year is that I have two hands. One is to help myself, and the other is to help people in desperate need of my help.”
Ntombizodwa also shared that, during her spare time she is “involved in after-school activities in different parts of Nkomazi, where both boys and girls participate and teach each other how to read and behave better as young people.
Pictured above: A Boy Child Matters afternoon class and dignity packs consisting of sanitary towels and a few treats for girl learners in the PNP Project as well as the early stage of the food garden.
In 2021, she ventured into opening her own business as her goal was to create job opportunities for young people. “We had access to some land which we decided to use as a food garden. Currently, I have three employees who work on the project. This enables me to give back to the community by helping create opportunities for other young people to generate an income for their families who depend on them,” said Ntombizodwa.
The work is seasonal depending on what fruit or vegetables are in-demand at the time. Young boys from the community come together and learn how to grow fresh produce. They are provided with a small piece of land to grow vegetables which are sold and the money they generate from selling the fresh produce, is used to assist their families.
Her Regional Schools Coordinator, Mrs Mkhatshwa and her mentor, Mr Mhlongo, have both played a significant role in influencing her to participate in these various activities and initiatives to assist her community. The Global Teachers Institute (GTI) domains include Social Responsibility and this has encouraged many other young teachers to extend their contribution and influence beyond the classroom.
“We need to embrace the idea that humans cannot exist in isolation. As we know from uBuntu, “We depend on connection, community and caring. We cannot be without each other. I am because you are.”
Personal and Professional Reflection
Love, care and Empathy
Social Justice and Responsibility
