My name is Mamokete Mkhehlane Mqedlane. I grew up in a small township called Tikwana in Hopestat.
In 2003 my life was very painful. I was torn apart between life and death, so I needed someone to talk to or something to keep me busy to give me peace of mind. Then that’s when I decided to open a theatre group in 2004, and I named it “Remogo traditional theatre”, which means we are together.
I started this theatre group with 44 members, and we had nothing, and there was a time when male leaders discriminated against me because I am a woman, but even though I proved them wrong and told myself that I will register with this group no matter what.
I wanted to show them that I can do it despite my gender. We had events like competitions, talent show festivals, etc. I struggled a lot with this group, but I did not give up until I give back to my community. Now I have a few members from my community that get some stipend so that they can be able to put food on their tables; even though the stipend is not that much, at least the poverty rate is decreasing by doing so because many members of this group are orphans and in this group, we live to share.
Early this year, I managed to buy school uniforms for a few learners, which are tracksuits for winter and school shoes through this group of Remogo and then in 2009, I was appointed as a groundbreaker at LoveLife, teaching children how to live a healthy lifestyle, to be body-wise, to take control of their life, to dream big, to have visions, to know what they want and where they are going, to make healthy informed choices, to be optimistic about future, how to build good self-esteem and to have values like Love, dignity, respect and responsibility.
That’s where I started being a mentor and a role model for many youth and parents in my community. In 2012, I worked again with children because children are where my love is.
I also worked as an art facilitator at the Department of sports, arts, culture and Recreation where I was teaching dance, drama poetry, etc., to the children in different schools. So, last year, I think last year around September, I devoted a significant amount of my time to the Tsireletso victim empowerment – a nonprofit organisation dedicated to empowering victims of substance abuse and bullying in our schools.
I am a God’s child with ambition and a born free generation. I have the power to decide, I am a woman who serves the community. Ke mosadi ke mmaSechaba.
