IMPACT MAKERS

I M P A C T M A K E R S

MITIGATING THE PANDEMIC

By Basetsana Makhalemele

the words of Desmond Tutu "do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Nosipho Fakude is not one to be limited by the drastic changes of the world, instead she dived into them to make an impact in people's lives. A young black woman living up to her name and calling - Nosipho which means mother of gifts is on a mission to render great impact to vulnerable communities.

"I am determined to create sustainable value for our current and future generations in the least, " she says.

IN Nosipho is a wife, mother of 3, a philanthropist and entrepreneur. She was raised in the heart of KwaMashu and enjoyed her early and tertiary education in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. After a stint in the corporate world, she felt it was time to leave in 2015 when she was pregnant with her second daughter. "I have always wanted to be a hands-on mother, the way my mother was to me and my siblings, " she says.

While the world was petrified by the rising peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Nosipho saw a gap to fulfill her childhood dream of adding value to the society and gave birth NS Impact Foundation.

Creating impact makers

NS Impact Foundation's mission is to create a platform that unites people to do good in the simplest of ways.

"We believe that in order to make an impact, you have to act. As Africans we know that you cannot sit alone to create prosperity and that the wealth that can empower us all, must come from us all. There should be no obstacles in doing good. Our aim is to deliver measurable impact in all we do, " she says.

According to Nosipho, their strategic intention is to focus on four pillars from the sustainable development goals by the United Nations.

These goals have the power to create a better world by 2030, by ending poverty, fighting inequality and addressing the urgency of climate change. We have pledged to focus on zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education as well as gender equality.

Their commitment to bringing care to the most vulnerable in South African society, which are; older persons, disabled persons, children, women and the homeless has changed so many lives with the projects they have done.

NS Impact Foundation projects

The foundation is mainly involved in two projects. The Add Sum Impact and Fill up The bag. Add Sum Impact is the Tristan Strike’s brainchild, a learner at Crawford. It began with his school’s tutoring programme, that saw bright children like Tristan tutor younger, but equally bright grade 8 and 9 learners from lesserprivileged schools.

The project was launched with an official handover at Inanda Newtown Comprehensive School, in Durban North, on 25 September 2020. The project then progressed to many more secondary schools in Gauteng.

With Fill up The bag they designed a backpack with the needs of the homeless in mind. We then invited partners and sponsors to bring this initiative to life.

“To make the bags, we partnered with Uzwelo, a skills development and job creation platform that focuses its energy on what can be done, instead of what can’t be done. We are aiming to make this an ongoing initiative throughout the year, producing, filling up, and distributing even more bags, ” she says.

Why Charity?

"Growing up and seeing my mother, a housewife doing so much for people in our Kwa Mashu community made me fall in love with the strong woman she was, " she says.

"Losing a job with 6 kids to feed is very stressful for me just thinking about it but her passion for family and serving her community gave her wings. Whether helping her community was her way of coping with her circumstance at the time, I’m not sure- but for me as a young girl all I could see was her strength.

Fast forward to today and Nosipho knows that patience is the key to success in this line of business.

"I have learnt so much in a short space of time, about myself, and my team. I have learnt a lot about my strengths, my weaknesses and so much more.

Nosipho Fakude

"First and foremost this thing needs to come from the heart. If it does not, you will be easily discouraged because there are plenty pitfalls along the way.

I’ve learnt so much about the communities I want to make an impact in. I’ve laughed and cried, both from happiness and sadness. I’ve learned the biggest skill in this line of work which is patience and never giving up, " she says.

Nosipho feels that there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to make an impact, however small or big.

"Our government cannot be the only source of change and support. We can each contribute a lot with small acts of kindness and giving, " she asserts.

She says the biggest challenge most donors face is accountability and measured success factors.

Family, work and juggling

With the impeccable work that she does for the vulnerable communities, Nosipho still gets it right with juggling work and family.

"I love my family and that for me just makes the juggling so much easier, " she says.

With the pandemic at its current peak, home schooling is the order of the day thus making plans very complex and difficult to maintain.

"I try my best to set goals for the week on Sundays and plan each day but with young kids by 9am the plan is out the window.

It is often said that with a great support system and great team on your side everything becomes magical. The philanthropist has a great support and an amazing team to help her make her mission become a reality.

"I have a very supportive husband who tries his utmost best to make my life so much easier, bless him. My team is also amazing and very supportive of the journey. We are so in tune with goals and our mission for NS Impact, " she says.

Highlights and challenges

Seeing the smiles, and people expressing how they feel loved and cherished has been the greatest highlight of her journey.

"The pictures and thank you notes I receive from all the good little deeds we do, even outside of the foundation are my biggest highlights, " she says.

Venturing into something new has its own challenges, with Nosipho getting support and selling her vision was a tough battle she encountered on her journey.

"Getting support is always a tough battle. Selling your vision is also not easy as most cooperates and donors have established their corporate social investment domains, " she says.

"It’s also not easy to find the right people to work with. I find that, you need to hire the people you want to spend your life with than just filling in a position that is available, " she adds.

Future plans

"We are definitely part of something bigger. I have only just begun with our journey and we have insightful research and passionate people in our team, " says Nosipho passionately. She says they are constantly connecting to very helpful sponsors and partners. "Our vision is to exceed the global goal by 2030 set by the UN, at least for our Sothern Africa region, " she concludes.

Sound advice

"Being a woman is a superpower! You just need to learn all about your power, nurture it and use it the right way. Uplift other women cause only amazing things will happen when women help other women.

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