Graduation

2010 Ambassadors and Mentors

At the end of March we had a very special evening celebrating the graduation of K and J for their year as Ambassadors at the Chaeli Campaign. It was wonderful to hear each of the Ambassadors stand up and talk to a crowd of people about their year of service. I have added their speeches to this post for you to enjoy.

J: "I have enjoyed being an ambassador for the Chaeli Campaign over the last year or so. Being a part of the program has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, which is exactly the kind of opportunity I was looking for when I joined.

For the fundraiser that we each had to do as part of being ambassadors, my sister and I decided to work together to raise funds for The Pink Ladies. The Pink Ladies are a non-profit organization that is partnered with SAPS in order to help find missing or abducted children and provide emotional support for the rest of the family.

After much chopping and changing we decided to do a car rally. At first I wasn’t very excited about the project and thought that it wouldn’t work, but we carried on working and things began to come together. This taught me a valuable lesson: that when you do something that you don’t want to and push through to the end you might find that it actually becomes exciting.

For anybody who would like to take part in the rally, it is this Saturday, the 2^nd. We are starting from Meadowridge Park and Shop and the entry fee is R50 per car (doesn’t matter how many people are in the car). The support we have had from local businesses has been amazing, and we have some really great prizes that have been sponsored.

Lastly I would like to thank Zelda for the opportunity that she gave us to be a part of the Chaeli Campaign for this year. I would also like to say that I am very excited about the next year and the opportunity to achieve the President’s Award. Again, thanks Zelda for putting me forward for the President’s Award and giving me such a great opportunity."

K: " Being a Chaeli Campaign ambassador has inspired me to do greater things with my life and to grow as a person. I learnt that event though I’m so young, I can still make a difference in my community and help other people.

Organizing our car rally has not been easy! And we have been really blessed by my Mom’s friend Tanya. Tanya has done this sort of thing before, and she knows what to do and who to talk to. There have been so many things that have needed to be done in order to make this event a success. First of all the route, we have spent hours working on it and coming up with cryptic clue and questions for along the way, sometimes staying up past 11 working, laughing, falling asleep and brainstorming. My Mom has been amazing; she has been the cook for us and the babysitter for Tanya’s kids and grandchild. The response for prizes, as J said, has been amazing! We went around this morning asking for prizes and got some amazing vouchers! The only thing that has been a bit discouraging has been the response for entries, so if any of you are interested in entering, please let us know tonight! Or support us by buying a raffle ticket from me or J for a wine hamper or a delicious lee hamper.

My most memorable moments so far have been the hours we have spent working on the questions, one in particular. We were sitting trying to think of an anagram for “the Chaeli Campaign”, when J came up with a website where you type in your words and it comes up with loads of anagrams for you. So we typed in “the Chaeli Campaign” and it came up with get a mechanical hip! We were in hysterics the rest of the week!"

Zelda congratulated the Ambassadors for being exemplary social entrepreneurs and competent youth leaders. We look forward to another year ahead working with the Chaeli Campaign, as K is a mentor to the 2011 Ambassadors and Z has been accepted as an Ambassador.

PS: I will be doing a post on their event, the car rally soonest!