Tutu Foundation recognition for city’s selfless giver
SHE has helped provide shelter for thousands of destitute people, fed entire villages, and clothed many shivering women and children.
Gawa Sayed has been a significant member of Gift of the Givers, the largest disaster relief group in Africa, and will be honoured by the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation this month.
The foundation yesterday announced Sayed as the recipient for its Unsung Heroes Award, which recognises individuals who, through voluntary work‚ provide extraordinary services.
“Gawa believes in serving through action, often outside the public eye and media spotlight. It is therefore appropriate to highlight and acknowledge her long history of selfless service to the most vulnerable communities,” the foundation said.
Her work includes leading relief efforts during the 2008 xenophobia crisis by providing shelter and daily meals in various camps around Gauteng.
Sayed, 62, was also instrumental in assisting at the Athlone School for the Blind with new beds, cupboards, linen, towels, curtains, kitchen utensils and equipment; helping to establish the CPUT emergency medical services projects in Lwandle, Strand; and building 103 houses after the 2013 New Year shack fire in Khayelitsha.
Sayed said she was humbled by the award and thanked the foundation for the recognition.
She was introduced to Gift of the Givers when her daughter Rabia, who at 10 years old could recite the whole Qur’an, was invited by the organisation’s founder, Imtiaz Sooliman, to his house.
Sayed and Sooliman started a friendship, and in 2006 she managed the organisation’s Johannesburg office.
“When you do what you love, it’s not a job, and you can never find enough ways to make a difference,” Sayed said after spending the day handing out food parcels to children in Khayelitsha.