Laelo Mahlo
What’s your cause/area of focus? Children’s Rights
Tell us about yourself. What's your background?
I am Laelo Mahlo, a child parliamentarian. I participate in the yearly Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament. I was further elected by my peers as a Provincial Child Ambassador for the Limpopo Province, and I am the Junior Premier of Limpopo, responsible for a voice for children and youth in the province.
I am the founder of L Making A Real Mark Foundation, as well as a member of Ditsala Le Dinaletsana, which are both community-serving organizations. I volunteer as a peer counsellor/educator for the community of Moletjie and the province at large. My responsibilities as a Child Ambassador include to motivate learners in schools and to provide the necessary assistance during exams. I am also an Ambassador for the John Lekgetho Morapama Foundation.
Through Childline Polokwane where I started working when I was 12 years old, I have been fighting for the rights of a child. This is what motivated me to partake in the Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament so I can further be the voice of children. It’s been five years as their ambassador and I continue to be a children’s rights activist.
How did you become involved in your cause? What inspired you to begin living for change?
I grew up in the deep rural of Polokwane in Moletjie Makgodu, Ramongwana. Kids in my area were abused day in and day out. I used to encounter a lot of them at school who would be bruised, raped by uncles but told to keep quiet about it. After I joined Childline, I made the community more aware of children’s rights and helped those who needed help.
What have you been doing to spread the word and/or to help your cause so far?
Myself together with my team have been doing house visits, school visits in different communities. We have had campaigns and marches alongside our provincial government. We have events yearly to talk about issues affecting the children amongst which our panelists are always leaders in the community, province and country sometimes.
How and when will you judge success? What’s your endpoint?
There is no endpoint in this field because children are still being raped and abused. Only when the stats say 0.0% child abuse rate will I say I have succeeded.
Complete this sentence: "I am #LivingForChange because..."
I understand the importance of children, that they will be our leaders in the future, and thus, I fight for them and advocate for their rights.
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