A Cathcart teenager is counting the days until she jets off to London to speak at an exclusive dinner with Prince Edward and other royalty in attendance.
Although she was born into a poor family in Queenstown, this has not stopped 17-year-old Cathcart High School Grade 11 pupil Butsha Ngani from reaching for the stars since she signed up for the acclaimed President’s Award for Youth Empowerment Programme.
Ngani and a pupil involved with the President’s Award in the Czech Republic, will be the only two youngsters globally who will attend the gala dinner.
Butsha – who has been appointed head girl at Cathcart High School for next year – will tell Prince Edward, his wife, Princess Sophie, and other dignitaries how being part of the award programme has positively impacted her life.
She told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that even though the thought of addressing Prince Edward – who is chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – was nerve-wracking, she was looking forward to flying overseas for the first time in her life.
According to Butsha, growing up in a rural community faced with “extreme poverty” made achieving your dreams and being able to add value to society a daunting task.
Her life, however, changed for the better when she joined the President’s Award in 2012 and completed her bronze award that year and then her silver this year before starting the gold component.
“I understand suffering and I understand pain and that was the driving force behind my becoming involved in the award programme.
“I knew from the beginning that I would do whatever was needed to achieve my gold award.”
Ngani will be accompanied on the trip by local award leader and mentor Mary Brown.
“The most powerful component of the award programme is the service section,” Brown explained.
“I have seen participants reduced to tears by the circumstances of others poorer than themselves.
“The experience of doing the award has enabled our pupils to grow in stature and confidence.”
Explaining how Butsha cracked the nod, President’s Award chief executive Martin Scholtz said although the person selected had to come from a rural school, there was a lot more to it than that.
“Her proactive engagement with the award programme and the way she leads by example were factors that made her stand out as the right candidate to go.
“Butsha has a groundedness and a depth to her, she is able to articulate her feelings about how the award has impacted on her life.”
The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment is a licensed member of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, which operates in more than 140 countries.
In South Africa, 15000 young people from schools, community youth groups, residential youth facilities and correctional centres are involved in the programme – which encourages active citizenship among young people and is strongly aligned to the National Development Plan. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
President’s Award teen set to have ‘royal time’
Although she was born into a poor family in Queenstown, this has not stopped 17-year-old Cathcart High School Grade 11 pupil Butsha Ngani from reaching for the stars since she signed up for the acclaimed President’s Award for Youth Empowerment Programme.
Ngani and a pupil involved with the President’s Award in the Czech Republic, will be the only two youngsters globally who will attend the gala dinner.
Butsha – who has been appointed head girl at Cathcart High School for next year – will tell Prince Edward, his wife, Princess Sophie, and other dignitaries how being part of the award programme has positively impacted her life.
She told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that even though the thought of addressing Prince Edward – who is chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – was nerve-wracking, she was looking forward to flying overseas for the first time in her life.
According to Butsha, growing up in a rural community faced with “extreme poverty” made achieving your dreams and being able to add value to society a daunting task.
Her life, however, changed for the better when she joined the President’s Award in 2012 and completed her bronze award that year and then her silver this year before starting the gold component.
“I understand suffering and I understand pain and that was the driving force behind my becoming involved in the award programme.
“I knew from the beginning that I would do whatever was needed to achieve my gold award.”
Ngani will be accompanied on the trip by local award leader and mentor Mary Brown.
“The most powerful component of the award programme is the service section,” Brown explained.
“I have seen participants reduced to tears by the circumstances of others poorer than themselves.
“The experience of doing the award has enabled our pupils to grow in stature and confidence.”
Explaining how Butsha cracked the nod, President’s Award chief executive Martin Scholtz said although the person selected had to come from a rural school, there was a lot more to it than that.
“Her proactive engagement with the award programme and the way she leads by example were factors that made her stand out as the right candidate to go.
“Butsha has a groundedness and a depth to her, she is able to articulate her feelings about how the award has impacted on her life.”
The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment is a licensed member of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, which operates in more than 140 countries.
In South Africa, 15000 young people from schools, community youth groups, residential youth facilities and correctional centres are involved in the programme – which encourages active citizenship among young people and is strongly aligned to the National Development Plan. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
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