Philanthropist, journalist and author
Kagiso Madibana is the founder of Nayang Association, a charity that aims to reform the lives of under-privileged youth in remote areas of Botswana. Its goal is to donate, support and eventually have programs to help youth transition from poverty to self-sufficiency.The association empowers children through a drive for school shoes, clothing, food and sanitary pads. Under the theme ‘Soles for Souls’, more than 600 pairs of school shoes were donated to pupils in remote areas. Through a number of partnerships, Nayang also reached more than 1 000 children in rural communities.
A Chevening Scholar, Madibana holds an MA Degree in media and communications from Cardiff University, and was profiled by the United Nations Population Fund Botswana as one of the young leaders making a change in their communities.
Madibana is the only Motswana who was a Trek4Mandela ambassador. Trek4Mandela raises funds for under-privileged girls to receive sanitary pads and school shoes to help keep them in school. She also joined a group of South Africans who climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in July.
With more than nine years of experience in social entrepreneurship, academia, journalism, research and creative writing, she now dedicates all her time to philanthropic work and writing.
Madibana’s passion for philanthropy started at university when she met Girish Ramakrishna, the chief executive of the Botswana Cricket Association. At the time, he had just begun a grassroots project to introduce cricket to under-privileged primary school students in government schools. Madibana says Ramakrishna’s father happened to be the founder and chief executive of the India Development Foundation, one of the largest in India. Madibana saved up to buy her first aeroplane ticket out of the continent for a three-month social responsibility internship in Chennai and Mumbai. Based at cancer, leprosy and HIV/Aids hospitals in the slums of Chennai, Madibana learnt the importance of communication and volunteerism, and decided to use these skills to empower communities in Botswana.
This passionate philanthropist has recently published a book, Tales from the Heart of Botswana: Baareng’s Journey. The book touches on subjects like adoption, poverty, self-dependence, hard work, interracial relations and marriage, and Madibana says although they are fiction, the stories will motivate people who are going through a rough time in their life, and also inspire those who are working hard to fulfil their dreams.
Madibana says she wrote the book to make a change in society because she believes people are inspired by real-life stories.
Contact: [email protected]