Two of South Africa’s most successful stars recently teamed up for a special visit to local NPO Salesian Life Choices and Oaklands High school in Capetown South Africa.
Charlize Theron and comedian Trevor Noah arrived at the destination accompanied by a group of visitors including Charlizeâs friends Hollywood stars Chelsea Handler and Mary McCormack, as well as Charlizeâs mom Gerda. Charlize has been a funder of Salesian Life Choices for a number of years through her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) and she was full of praise for the work that Life Choices do with youth from the Cape Flats.
The visit started in the newly renovated office in Landsdowne where they were introduced to the team and some students attending a coding course. The group then moved on to Oaklands for a highly entertaining âStraight Talksâ session with Grade 9 learners as well as a visit to a mobile clinic in Langa that provides youth friendly HIV counselling and testing as part of the Health4Life programme.
The visitors were introduced to the different initiatives of the youth organisation that reach more than 9 000 young people every year with a holistic approach to promote healthy living; to assist parents and families; to encourage excellence through leadership and to empower young entrepreneurs to create jobs.
Salesian Life Choices director Sofia Neves explained her organisation’s belief in choices, not charity. âWe believe that once off interventions are not enough to transform a young personâs life. We partner with vulnerable youth in the Cape Flats on a journey of growth and development, delivering lasting change in the lives we touch.â
Furthermore Charlize gave learners career advice before she turned to more serious topics.
“South Africans are a resilient people. That is an advantage we should use. Iâm proud of that. As soon as I moved to America, I realised an advantage I had. I have a thick skin and I can bounce back.â She learnt that not having equal opportunities don’t have to limit your success. âThe dream of what you want to achieve is within you and you have to go after it. Dream it, wake up and go after it. And be grateful for the people that help you along the way.â
Charlize said she felt proud to be able to invest in South African youth. âMy love for the people of this country is immense. I donât see any reason why the people of South Africa should be suffering unnecessarily in the way that they are, especially when it comes to the AIDS epidemic.â People shouldnât be dying of a disease that is preventable, Charlize continued. âIâll do whatever I can to help, especially with teenagers like you, because youâre the ones that are going to change this country. Not just stopping this epidemic â because I do believe AIDS can be ended â but youâre the new leaders of this country, youâre the ones that are going to change everything on every level. Iâm honoured to be part of that.â
Charlize acknowledged the struggles of young people growing up surrounded by poverty and violence.
“Your lives arenât easy. Our circumstances may differ, but as South Africans, we know where the struggle is. My own struggle made me aware of the struggles we all face. Own your own truth. I used that in a way to drive myself, to push myself. That was my engine.”
Trevor added to Charlizeâs powerful message when responding to a question about his confidence on stage.
âI genuinely donât have the confidence you think I have. What I do have is confidence in my work ethic. When I get onto the stage Iâm terrified and all I can do is rely on the work Iâve put into myself before I got onto the stage. That is when work pays off.â
His message to South African youth was to work as hard as they can. âYou may not be the best at a thing or the most talented, but what you can do is work the hardest. So when youâre in your coding class you can just work harder, spend more time on problems, read more. What you achieve is the reward for the work you put in.â
Trevor also spoke about how South Africans donât value themselves enough. âWhen I started travelling, I learnt South Africans, for the most part, are part of a nation that has grown up with a low self-esteem. Weâve been told for a long time that we cannot do and achieve certain things and we sometimes revel in that too much. What we need to do is value ourselves and what we have. We have to be in a place where we donât wait for someone from the outside to tell us what is good, we have to make it good ourselves.â
Being proud of your own achievements is how you start transforming yourself, Trevor said. The success he achieved in his own community inspired him to embrace bigger challenges.
âBecause it starts from there â at home. People often think they have to leave the township to become successful. I say why not bring the success to the township? Start drawing from the inside. Take what you have, find the value in it, encourage other South Africans to see the value in it as well. If we keep on doing that, we can create in a microcosm of something amazing that can change the world.â
Visit Salesian Life Choicesâ website for more information.