Four to proudly represent province in US

FOUR young professionals from the Eastern Cape will be flying the provincial flag high in the United States where they have been accepted as Mandela Washington Fellows.

The quartet were selected from a pool of more than 64 000 applicants on the continent, 37 000 from South Africa. The team, dominated by women, were selected under the theme of civil leadership.

Legal adviser at the commission for gender equality Kerry Oosthuysen, orientation and mobility practitioner at Nkosinathi foundation Queen Molefe, Books for Children founder Dolly Siwundla and rural land rights attorney Khaya Tshiki were all selected.

The fellowship programme was launched in 2010 by former US president Barack Obama in Soweto and consists of six weeks of training.

Port Elizabeth-based Molefe is passionate about raising awareness about the rights of the blind or partially sighted. “As an advocate for better working conditions for the blind or partially sighted, I aim to ensure that appropriate legislation is improved and effectively enforced to benefit not only the affected individual, but also the organisation and country as a whole.”

East London gender activist Oosthuysen said she aimed to forge networks and upskill women in South Africa. “Allocation of finances to the gender agenda is significantly constrained as a patriarchy is still prevalent within the decision-making sphere.”

Fort Beaufort-born Tshiki said she emancipates communities to hold government institutions accountable on their mandates to promote good governance.

“My vision is to alleviate both perceived and actual injustices facing the people of Africa.”

Siwundla said she aimed to highlight the importance of foundational literacy and reading. “Every child must be able to read by the time they get to Grade 3. It’s shocking to realise how many at school are still struggling to read.” —