She introduces herself as Lethabo “Happy” Sebopa. Lethabo means happy – so happy happy.
I asked her where the happy came from: she says she is just happy. She likes laughing, she loves kids and have been able to combine these two characteristics into an internship in the community of Windsor at the Tshepo Community Development Initiative after-care.
Lethabo graduated from matric in 2018 and was looking for a job to keep her busy during her gap-year, before enrolling for a degree in Psychology.
She attended the Friday evening youth group with Raymond and was told about the opening, at the after-care in Windsor, for an aftercare teacher. Raymond encouraged her to apply, even though she felt that she didn’t have the qualifications.
Tshepo Community Development Initiative started an internship programme during 2019, Lethabo being the first of the interns to pave the way for a programme that would help matric graduates gain work experience and skills.
Lethabo explains that her job entails after-care teacher and reading centre facilitator: thus focusing on assisting learners to read and develop skills.
She also helps out at the soup kitchen on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, serving food.
Lethabo further explains that she loves working with kids, and the joy that it brings to work with them. She says that working in the same neighbourhood that she grew up in enables her to understand the issues the kids face, and deal with it from a grassroots level.
She is passionate about her new found love for teaching, gaining experience as she goes and developing different ways of teaching kids.
She loves playing outside: soccer, volleyball and encouraging team engagement.
Her dream is to open a home for young kids, whether runaways or not, a home or centre with bedrooms, a reading centre and a playground as a safe space where kids can turn to when things get rough at home.
