A Mitchells Plain philanthropist has been nominated for the DearSA Young Leader Award 2024 in the Sports, Culture and Environment category for her work in her community and impoverished areas.
The DearSA Young Leaders Awards are designed to encourage, acknowledge and reward the valuable contributions young people are making in South Africa.
Zeenat Isaacs, 36, from Lentegeur is the founder of S.M-ART (Supporting Mentorship Through Art), and started many sports, yoga and arts after-school programmes in Cape Town and rural areas.
Zeenat says: “It feels good to be recognised after working for years doing what I do. I have been doing this for many years since school. My first memory is creating a dance group to form unity at school.
“We target mostly impoverished areas and no-fees schools who can’t afford after-school curriculum activities. So we find out what the children are into and incorporate that whether it is soccer, different forms of art or dance.
“We train the teachers so that they can carry on with the programmes after we leave.”
Zeenat has written and facilitated many of the S.M-ART waste-wise programmes, won the Global Climate Change Upcycling Challenge and teaches schools how to save, filter and clean water for reuse and drinking purposes.
She also works as a production manager on films and documentaries, both local and international, and worked on a production called Mlungu Wam, which focuses on the effects of apartheid on South Africa.
As an activist for children’s rights, Zeenat campaigns against gender-based violence, feeds the needy daily, shelters abused women and children, and serves as a coach to aspiring artists in dance, film, theatre and poetry.
Voting lines are open till 30 April, to vote for Zeenat please visit https://dears.africa/young-leaders-awards-2024/
marsha.dean@inl.co.za