Thuso Mbedu takes on Spain in #LaLiga experience!

Things seem to have started well for Thuso Mbedu in 2019.

Supersport made sure that she kick starts her year in a more boosted and energetic way. She was presented with an opportunity to fly all the way to Sevilla, Spain where she watched a La Liga game and got to be a presenter for the Channel. 

She posted pictures of the events as they unfolded on her Social media platforms and we liked the ones she posted on her Instagram specifically.

Check the pictures and the warm captions she wrote on each and every post…

A mood… Plaza pics captured by @miriamfdezf 💖💖💖 #LaLigaExperience

I do not have the words to describe this feeling. From first stepping on the different ground to this magical night… I am completely in awe of every single second.
The game was great. I wish all the football lovers would get a chance to experience this because… Wow.

Thank you @laliga and @supersporttv for sharing this #LaLigaExperience I'm eternally grateful 💖 Thank you @realbetisbalompie for a beautiful game. 🇿🇦🇪🇸

The weather might be cooooold but ythe warmth and the energy of the players can be felt from miles away. Thank you @andresgua18 for your time. The interview was fun and insightful. All the best for Sunday. #LaLigaExperience #Chapter27

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Guardian Angels To Benefit From OBiKWA's Annual May Day Meander

OBiKWA’s annual May Day Meander takes place on Sunday, 17 May at the Lowveld Botanical Garden in Riverside Park, Nelspruit.

In the past two years this event has raised R30 000 in aid of local charities. The 2015 beneficiary is Guardian Angels, a local non-profit organisation that assists the elderly.

The Guardian Angels are a registered non profit organization that started in Nelspruit in January 2010.  This group of volunteers focus exclusively on elderly living in their respective communities and mainly in their own homes.

Their focus is to offer companionship to senior citizens as many live on their own or with their children and would just like a visit.

"We have fundraisers to be able to have functions and gifts for our elderly. Nelspruit branch has 3 big functions for their elderly a year which is - a joint Mothers/Fathers Day breakfast in May or June, In October for Older Persons Month normally a morning party, and Christmas a lunch or breakfast in November, before schools break up. At each of these functions our Grannies and Grandpas get a gift as well, which we call a spoil, something for them that they would not buy themselves on the pensions they get," said the groups cordinator, Fiona Collins in a communique.

"The thing we need more than anything is more volunteers to visit the elderly. I have a list of elderly waiting for an Angel. Currently we have Angels that have between 1 and 6 grannies each. We need to transport to Doctors, Shopping, Hairdressers on a weekly basis and are really short of volunteers," she added.

There are also games morning once a week.  Elderly attend and enjoy a morning with those their own age while the volunteers have a great opportunity to help and get to know each other as well.

May Day Meander tickets cost R180 per person, which includes an OBiKWA goody bag and a wine glass. Children under 18 years enter for free. Tickets are limited and can be purchased from www.quicket.co.za.

Fancy Doing Business In China? Here Is A Tech Fellowship For African Women

She Leads Africa and Chinese mobile giant Huawei have announced an innovation fellowship program for African women tech entrepreneurs where they’ll jet off to the Huawei headquarters to learn from one of the world’s biggest tech company’s.

Applications are now open for the Huawei She Leads Africa Fellowship, taking place in August and coinciding with South Africa’s women’s month. From the 2nd to 7th August, fellows will visit the Huawei headquarters at Shenzen and then move on to the research and development centre in Shanghai to get a behind-the-scene’s look at the kind of innovation that goes into making Huawei products.

During this time, fellows also get to meet up with eastern investors, corporates and entrepreneurs with interests in doing business in Africa.

The program is open to women between the ages of 18 and 40 building tech-focused businesses on the continent. Applications close on the 30th April must be submitted on the She Leads Africa website.

In the meantime, She Leads Africa is also building up to its yet-to-be-announced second  pitching competition for women entrepreneurs where ten startups from African countries will compete for a grand cash prize.

1st For Women Gets Behind Women Entrepreneurs

According to the South African Women Entrepreneurs’ Network, approximately 70% of informal businesses in South Africa are owned or controlled by women. Good news, right?

Well, not if you consider that just 8% of SMEs in South Africa are owned by women according to the 2014 SME Survey.

This extreme informal-formal business divide is puzzling. What’s stopping women entrepreneurs from taking a step in the formal direction? Robyn Farrell, executive head of 1st for Women cites barriers including lack of financial resources, lack of networking opportunities and gender stereotypes.

"Our economy needs more women entrepreneurs to take the plunge. To break down these age-old barriers, women entrepreneurs need all the encouragement and support they can get," says Farrell.

One such event that does just that is Kamers vol Geskenke , a colourful celebration of local creativity, innovation and talent.

Kamers was established in 2003 and showcases over 200 traders, 95% of which are women, selling an array of handcrafted wares. This year, Kamers is proudly sponsored by 1st for Women Insurance.

1st for Women Insurance offers the following advice for women wanting to start their own business: Don’t be afraid to take risks. As author Erica Jong once said, "If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more."

Don’t underestimate one's entrepreneurial spirit. Any entrepreneur will say that if one doesn't believe in oneself, who will? 1st For Women recommends trusting one's instincts to bring one's business vision to life.

It’s not what one knows, but who one knows. Network, network and then network some more. When one is done, find a mentor – someone who has had success as an entrepreneur, someone inspiration and with who one can share ideas, get advice, learn and grow.

Rally a support network. One will have some bad days, and some good days, but at the end of the day, it’s good to know that one has supportive friends and family members that one can turn to for some much-needed encouragement. Think of them as one's own personal cheerleading squad.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. No one ever said that starting up a new business is easy. It requires determination, a change in lifestyle and stamina. What one puts in, is what one gets out though and by applying oneself, one will no doubt reap the rewards of success.

For more information about 1st for Women Insurance or to book tickets to Kamers vol Geskenke, visit the 1st for Women website .

Kamers vol Geskenke will take place in Johannesburg from Thursday, 23 to Monday, 27 April and in Cape Town from Thursday, 7 to Sunday, 10 May.

Diepsloot's Tech Hub Ignites New Hope

On the outskirts of Johannesburg North, close to the leafy suburb of Fourways lies the poverty stricken township of Diepsloot. This township mostly houses migrant workers and job seekers from neighbouring countries.

Diepsloot has constantly suffered from the perils of negative media publicity with developmental projects often going unnoticed.

One such amazing story is that of Britehouse Group, who in partnership with social entrepreneur enterprise Got-Game, have transformed Sunrise Secondary School into a digital hub.

The R1.5 million Britehouse Got-Game digital hub boasts of a state of the art seating and tablets for 14 people, along with a supervisor station, servers and a smartboard. On the roof lies a satellite broadband dish.

The hub itself is also immune to the woes of loadshedding, thanks to a solar generator donated by Samsung housed next door. The electronics giant also supplied the tablets being used by the learners, while educational material has been provided by local non-governmental organisation, the Mentec Foundation .

“For me training these kids to be project managers was just something I felt we had to do to help them grow micro-businesses inside the hub,” said Arthur Anderson, CEO of Got-Game.

Anderson sees the hubs his organisation gives to communities like Diepsloot as seeds for something bigger, and something which should be self-sustaining in a short time.

“These youngsters can derive value from running this themselves. They grow the hub and move on to train other youths to run the next hub. It becomes like a franchise for all of them,” he professed.

The exquisite facility that can make any 'A' school drool with jealousy, prides itself in more ways than one.The hub has also doubled up as an employment creation conveyor belt.

According to Anderson, having learned a few online skills in the hub, learners can create and upload profiles via the Got-Game jobs platform and start doing small online jobs such as capturing data, creating documents, and other projects for various companies.

“We want to try connect people to digital work spaces. You shouldn’t leave school, have nowhere to go, nothing to do and find that all you have learnt and done was for nothing,” Anderson eluded.

A total of four managers have been trained to help local entrepreneurs use the facilities to expand their businesses – and by charging a fee for the use of the space and internet access time it will provide a revenue stream for the school too.

With a large number of Spaza shops and taverns sprouted throughout Diepsloot, it will be interesting to see them enhancing technological advancements for their businesses through the use of Britehouse Got-Game digital hub.