Clover Mama Afrika continues to grow from strength to strength as their team of strong and hardworking mamas expands. Their 47th appointed mama, Mama Engelina Molete from Dobsonville recently joined the team and is ready to bring positive change to her community.
Mama Engelina of Lejwe la Thuso Foundation, has always wanted to be a Clover Mama Afrika and finally, her dream has come true! Mama Engelina never stopped improving across all aspects of her centre over the years. A qualified Project Manager, Mama Engelina gave up her high-profile job as she realised that her passion lies within community development. Her motto is “Help me do it on my own”, which is the essence of the Clover Mama Afrika project, as the team uplifts and encourages women to upskill themselves and their communities.
Since November 2010, Mama Engelina has done a lot for her community which includes nurturing 153 children before and after school and caring for 65 members in an outreach programme. At the centre, she provides an internet café facility and has rolled out various skills development programmes which include cooking and baking courses.
“We are proud to have Mama Engelina join the Clover Mama Afrika sisterhood. Her centre is squeaky clean and you can clearly see with the strong infra-structure she has implemented, that she is very hands-on with all her projects. We are excited to help her with a bakery and a food plot,” says Prof Elain Vlok, Manager of Corporate Services at Clover.
Clover Mama Afrika, Clover’s corporate sustainability initiative, aims to empower women in communities across the nation with various vital skills such as cooking, baking, sewing, quilting, business management, and food gardening. Over and above the training sessions, these “Mamas” are all supplied with the necessary tools, equipment and infrastructure to create an income for themselves in order for them to give back to their communities.
The Clover Mama Afrika ethos is “Ukwakha Isizwe”, which means “building and nurturing our nation” and sets out to alleviate poverty by facilitating self-sufficiency initiatives. Through teaching the mama’s skills, they are able to pass them on to the youth and underprivileged in their communities, helping them become role models in their community and becoming more self-sufficient in the long run. This means the project doesn’t stop with the “mama” they train, but rather continues with her staff and community members.
Mama Engelina will continue to amplify her centre and her efforts with the help of the Clover Mama Afrika team, Prof Vlok notes that ‘We are excited to help her with a bakery and a food plot as she joins our family.”
