Every campaign eventually ends. The billboards come down, the adverts stop and the social media posts disappear beneath the next news cycle, but campaigns alone don’t change behaviour. People do.
Across South Africa, women carry important conversations forward every day. In families, classrooms, clinics, workplaces and communities, they share knowledge, challenge harmful norms and help make healthier choices easier for the people around them.
She Carries It Forward recognises this everyday influence. It celebrates the teacher, mother, grandmother, healthcare worker, mentor, colleague or friend whose guidance continues through the lives of others.
This isn’t a call for women to carry the responsibility alone. It is a reminder that lasting change is created when all of us continue the conversations that matter.
Through #NOtoU18, Don’t Drink and Drive and Sober Pregnancies, AWARE.org starts conversations that encourage healthier choices. These women show us what happens next.
Youth Sport Leader, Altus Sport
AWARE.org #NOtoU18 Programme
Dimakatso credits her aunt for teaching her the power of belief and reminding her that she can reach her full potential. She carries that belief forward through sports, mentoring young people, building their confidence and helping them choose opportunities that can shape a brighter future.
Watch her story#NOtoU18 Programme Educator at Kibler Park Secondary School
AWARE.org #NOtoU18 Programme Educator
Lorato was inspired by her late mother, also a teacher, who taught her that the children deserve to feel valued and confident in their futures. She carries inspiration forward for the next generation, teaching beyond the classroom.
Watch her storyMatric Student, RCL President, Kibler Park Secondary School
AWARE.org #NOtoU18 Programme
Tinyiko is inspired by her teacher, whose confidence and belief in her motivated her to become a leader. She carries that encouragement forward, by leading with empathy, encouraging fellow learners, and creating opportunities for others to believe in their own potential.
Watch her storyFacilitator, NextGen Mothers, SOHK
Sober Pregnancies
Keitumetsi was shaped by her mother and grandmother, whose lives of service became her blueprint. She carries their legacy forward, helping young mothers find hope, dignity and confidence that can shape the future of their families.
Watch her storySocial Work Therapist, SANCA
AWARE.org #NOtoU18 Programme
Sober Pregnancies
Manilla was inspired by her mother, whose compassion, acceptance and respect for others shaped the way she sees people. She carries those values forward in her work, helping individuals and families heal through empathy, understanding and support, creating stronger connections and a greater sense of belonging.
Watch her storyIt becomes the confidence she gives a learner, the compassion she brings to a family, the opportunity she creates for another woman or the healthier choice she helps someone make. One conversation can travel through a family, a school, a workplace and an entire community.
That is how change moves forward.
“Because of the women in my life I want to become someone in others’ lives, just as they are in mine.”
– Tinyiko Matlala
