Hlubikazi Sanqela

Eastern Cape Sunday Heroes

Nominee's Province:
Eastern Cape

Age:
32

Project Name/Description:
Born2Shine Youth Development Agency

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/b2shineyd

Hlubikazi Sanqela, 32, of Middledrift outside East London in the Eastern Cape, worked as a volunteer for Indyebo Community Development where she conducted youth programmes through sports. While at Indyebo, there was no programme for career development, and when she moved to Alice, 104km from East London, she swore to make this right. Sanqela, a student liaison officer at Gradesmatch Foundation, founded the Born to Shine Development Agency in 2016 to assist the youth with their education, career guidance and personal development. The organisation, which was registered in 2019 and collaborates with the University of Fort Hare’s Nkosi Johnson Youth Hub, runs youth empowerment and personal development programmes. The non-profit organisation also hosts career guidance sessions and helps pupils with university admission and bursary applications with the help of Gradesmatch, a career guidance technology. “You’re the light in the world. You were born to shine, so go on and shine,” Sangela reminds the youth.