Contiki Holidays has announced its nominees for the annual 35 Under 35 awards program, with five South Africans making the final cut.
Now it's your turn to vote for your favourite nominee before 11 June — the winner will be crowned the new Sustainability Ambassador for Contiki, and receive mentorship and travel prizes.
The awards aim to uncover, reward and celebrate incredible young people who are working to make a positive difference in the world.
"The major prize awarded to the Sustainability Ambassador includes mentorship by a leader in the sustainability industry; promotion of the cause to Contiki’s audiences, and 1 x ‘Storyteller mission’, to tell a sustainability story in an incredible travel destination. In keeping with the theme of sustainability, the prize is not just an award but an incredible opportunity for the winner — designed to nurture and further develop and support their initiative," according to a media release from Contiki.
Christian Kayembe’s mission is to make a difference to the kids living in inner city Johannesburg, South Africa. He founded an organization called Classroom Buddies which assists students from disadvantaged areas with life mentorship, free academic tutoring and more. Christian's goal is to break the cycle of poverty once and for all.
Ondela Mlandu is driven by a love for our home continent and a desire to celebrate and share African history with the world. She is also a multimedia journalist who has written for several publications on travel and a radio host and content producer. Her show, on 2Oceans Vibe, aims to educate South African's on what is happening around the world as well as in our country.
Florence founded the Florence Masetla Foundation in 2013 and pioneered an initiative called CLIMB against sexual abuse in May 2015. CLIMB is committed to breaking the silence on sexual violence and creating a powerful movement of change. The organisation is continuously expanding with a presence in more than 17 countries across 5 continents and with a team which serves a world without borders, spreading awareness, undoing the stigma, and challenging societal mind sets.
Letitia Rambally Greener is a researcher, striving to better understand the drivers and the impact of HIV among the most vulnerable within our society. She would like to drive evidence-based policy-making that helps bring about positive change and meaningfully contributes to sustainable social transformation in society.
Sibusiso Hlolweni is a human rights activist based in Secunda. He made national headlines after walking 300km from Secunda to Nelspruit, advocating for the rights of elderly person's in Mpumalanga. Since January this year, he and his team have donated more than 300 food parcels to struggling families and vegetable seed to the beneficiaries of the food parcels, teaching them how to grow small gardens.
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This is the second annual 35 Under 35 Changemakers award by Contiki, following the inaugural awards in 2018. Nominees were crowd sourced through public nominations, while the finalists for this year’s awards were vetted by Seth Maxwell, CEO of thirst. The winner will be decided by public vote.
The awards program is hosted by six-two, the travel & lifestyle magazine powered by Contiki. The theme of sustainability is aligned with Contiki’s mission through their social responsibility partner the TreadRight Foundation, which pledges to make a positive impact along their three key pillars: People, Planet and Wildlife.
For more information, or to vote, visit Contiki's website. Voting closes at 12pm GMT on 11 June 2019.