Higher honours for a humble dreamer?

Miss Commonwealth South Africa is looking for its next title holder.

A humble, dedicated lady and a dreamer, who believes in putting dreams into action, Avhatendi Musandiwa from the Vhembe district has been selected as one of the finalist for this year's title. The name of the 26-year-old Musandiwa was announced last month as one of the Top 30 finalists in this year’s event.

She is currently working as an occupational therapist at St Ritas hospital in the Sekhukhune district.

Miss Commonwealth SA is a national pageant that strives to empower young women to change the face of their communities by being ambassadors of change. "I am currently involved with UPower AFRICA, an NGO that empowers learners based in rural schools," Musandiwa said.

She emphasised that Miss Commonwealth should be a humble, yet strong-willed person.  "One should understand that the title is for the people and therefore should be used to benefit the people by bringing about a positive change in the lives of young South African women."

She was very excited after she heard that she is one of this year's finalists. "I was overwhelmed that I was now being given a platform to motivate young ladies and inspire them to become the best that they can be."

She further said that the announcement was more of an eye-opener, due to the fact that the sash was not only about the glitz and glamour, but more of being a social responsibility that was now being laid on her shoulders.

She has many role models that are an inspiration to her. "I draw inspiration from different people from different walks of life. I believe there is always an element of inspiration and a lesson to learn from each and every individual journey. But most of all I draw inspiration from my mother. She has made it against all odds. She is my biggest cheerleader and has instilled in me the spirit of compassion and hard work with the motto 'as long as you still breathing, there is no reason for you to give up'".

She further said that she strongly desired to see young people, especially women, getting an education and contributing and being responsible members of society. "I believe education is the one weapon we can use to get rid of many social ills we have in our country every day."

The voting lines are not yet open, but she is encouraging the people to follow her on the social media. "I will let the people know through my Facebook page, AvhaMusandiwa-Miss Commonwealth SA 2016/2017 finalist. Like and share my page," she asked.

Date:17 October 2016

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

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