Shekhinah and ProVerb Join Cadbury Dairy Milk to share their stories and inspire orphaned and vulnerable children

Cadbury Dairy Milk has partnered with two award-winning South African stars, singer and songwriter, Shekhinah, and hip-hop artist and TV presenter, ProVerb, to share their inspirational stories with orphaned and vulnerable children across South Africa.

Together they are calling on South Africans to do the same in the hope of encouraging and inspiring these children to dream big and imagine a world of possibilities far beyond their reality.

When asked what being part of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Glass & a Half Project presents: There’s a Story in Everyone initiative meant for her, Shekinah responded that she was thankful for the opportunity. “I spent two weeks as an orphan before my family adopted me. Although it wasn’t a long time, I feel connected to these children and believe every child deserves a chance to live and dream. It is an honour to be part of sharing this gift of learning and I hope my story inspires children to always persevere.”

ProVerb, added, “I hope children learn that I’m no different from them, I faced challenges as a child but was able to turn it around. I hope they’re inspired to do the same, particularly youngsters who are more creative than academic, just to let them know you can be a success too!”

‘’Stories can have a massive impact on children as storytelling gives children confidence’’, comments children’s author Lebohang Masango.

‘’Children connect deeply with others who have had similar life experiences as them. For orphaned and vulnerable children in care, it is difficult as many of them have experienced things that most of their peers have not had to deal with. Stories of others who have experienced and overcome hardship is incredibly freeing for a child – telling them that they are not alone, and things can and do get better,” says Mandy Daniels, Programme Development Co-ordinator, SOS Children’s Village.

Shekhinah agrees, “I believe it’s important for us to acknowledge the orphaned and vulnerable children - they are our brothers, sisters, our children and our family. They need to know that we care about them, their wellbeing and their education. My childhood experience with stories and books was absolutely magical. In my twenties, I’ve realised that many lessons I’m learning today are experiences I’ve read about as a child.”

Cadbury Dairy Milk included wordless books, sourced through the Mikhulu Trust, who promote evidence-based early childhood development in South Africa, as part of the recent Cadbury Dairy Milk Glass & a Half project R1-million donation of toys, books and games to orphaned and vulnerable children across the country.  Kaathima Ebrahim, CEO of the Mikhulu Trust encourages the idea that storytelling goes beyond words. “Wordless books help caregivers have more interactive engagements with their young children. Through the narrative use of images, children are encouraged to share their thoughts about what they see and what they think is happening in the pictures. In this way we encourage imagination, as well as help children to problem solve, evaluate and make conclusions - developing their ability to think critically.‘’

Cadbury Dairy Milk is calling on ordinary South Africans to share original stories told from the heart. Stories do not need to be written by professional writers, rather create an authentic story from your imagination or based on your real-world experiences, and we’ll do the rest.  

Lebohang has a tip to get you started, ‘’Share a memory from your own life. Tap into your childhood experiences. You feel more confident to tell a story about something you know.’’

Submit your story, of between 500 -1 000 words,  via the Cadbury Dairy Milk WhatsApp Bot on 087 240 6488 as a video,text copy or upload a word or PDF doc, in any of South Africa’s official languages.*  A selection of the most inspirational and appropriate stories will be collated into an audio e-book for download from the Cadbury Dairy Milk website and shared with the many orphaned and vulnerable children across the country.