Recently, we’ve reached out to the Reach for a Dream Foundation in South Africa to support them in helping children who are dealing with life-threatening illnesses like cancer or brain tumours.
And together, we came up with an idea to choose two children each month and focus on their dreams, making their day a little brighter.
This summer, we’ve connected with two brave souls, Akhule, who’s dealing with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and Senamile, who’s living with osteosarcoma, and asked them what would make them smile.
Akhule Zondi, 4 years old
Akhule is a shy boy with the loveliest smile. He loves spending time with his parents and twin sister Aphile. Akhule enjoys playing games on his mum’s phone too. So, it wasn’t hard to figure out how we could make his day brighter.
We’ve got him a bubble-gum tablet and his eyes sparkled when he held it in his hands for the first time. The boy was playing with it the whole time; even while we went out for pizza with him and his family. Pizza is his absolute favourite food, and we could see his little heart fill with happiness while enjoying the day out.
Senamile Nosihle Luthuli, 14 years old
Senamile is a chatty young lady with a passion for fashion design, drawing, and photography. She spends her free time chatting with friends and taking pictures on her mum’s phone, so a cell phone of her own was a long-time dream of hers.
When she came to meet us, we gave her a Reach For a Dream teddy bear, blanket, notebook, and beanie. Senamile was so grateful and thought that was it, but then we surprised her with a brand-new cell phone. Senamile was so stunned she couldn’t speak for a minute. But that wasn’t the last surprise! We took her and her family out. She loves being out in the fresh air, which she missed so much after being discharged from the hospital and spending most of her time at home.
If you’d like to support more children who are dealing with health issues or know of a child who could benefit from the Reach for a Dream Foundation’s initiative, you can find more information on their website.