I
was born in South Africa and spent the first eight years of my childhood there.
I also went back for a visit when I was fourteen.
Despite being fortunate to have had a 22 acre farm out in Centurion, during the apartheid my mother decided to take my sister and I home to England where we were so grateful for our safety.
Despite being fortunate to have had a 22 acre farm out in Centurion, during the apartheid my mother decided to take my sister and I home to England where we were so grateful for our safety.
So Sentebale holds a personal place in my heart. It
was founded by Prince Harry (in memory of his mother) and Prince Seeiso of
Lesotho. It is for children in Lesotho who’ve had to live with extreme poverty
and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
After
moving to England when I was eight, I did a lot of bake sales with a
group of school friends to try and raise money and awareness for the Diana,
Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The aim of the charity is to create a lasting legacy to the Princess' humanitarian work.
We specifically had our money given to the children’s wards, where one of my dearest childhood friends spent some time in her childhood.
We specifically had our money given to the children’s wards, where one of my dearest childhood friends spent some time in her childhood.
When I was eighteen, just about to turn nineteen
I moved to the US. I had been in college studying interior design when during
my thesis year of 2009 my maternal Granddad and my maternal Nana died.
After graduating in the summer of 2010, I moved
home with my dad and later that year, just weeks before Christmas my paternal
Granny passed away. My paternal Grandpa had passed away eleven years earlier,
so within a year of so, all my
grandparents were gone.
My dad had turned a yellow, jaundiced color and had
noticed discoloration in his eyes, so he went to see a Doctor who diagnosed him
with pancreatic cancer eight short weeks after his mother’s passing. He
passed away this past May, at just fifty-four.
I volunteered for around two years with a
children's group called Kids Konnection, which helps children understand and
get comfort when their loved one has cancer. It reassured me that there are kind, humanitarian people who really care to take their time to be there for someone else, and their children. If you ever feel a glimmer of loneliness, then volunteering will give you purpose, to serve your community and God.
Since graduating college, the girls I used to
nanny while I was studying started a darling group called the Lavender Girls.
They are now in their fifth year and sell lavender products to make wishes come true for the
children of Children's Cancer Association.
So there you have it, charities that have made an impression on me, or that
have come into my life over these near three decades. There's so many more, but these are my favorite few.
No comments:
Post a Comment