What started as a personal act of gratitude to his grandmother has grown into a beacon of hope for underprivileged children in Imizamo Yethu and beyond.
Raymond Twalick knows what it means to struggle, and now he’s channeling that experience into changing lives.
Born in Malawi and raised by his grandmother, Twalick grew up in a household where opportunities were few and far between. “I come from a poor family,” he shared. “I didn’t have much and dropped out of school early due to financial struggles. I became independent at a young age. But through it all my grandmother was there, and I took it upon myself to look after her to this day, to show my appreciation.”
That deep sense of compassion and resilience has inspired Kids with Hope, a community-based organisation (CBO) he started in Imizamo Yethu, where he’s lived for the past decade. “I know first-hand what it feels like to have nothing. That’s why I use what little I have from my own pocket to help children who are growing up in the same circumstances.”
Twalick now works as manager of the DysArt Boutique Hotel in Green Point.
But Kids with Hope is not just a local dream, but an international vision. “I met a friend who shared the same passion, and together we started building this organisation in hopes of reaching children in both South Africa and Malawi.”
Despite limited resources Twalick and his team have already supported several pupils with school essentials and recently launched a girl-empowerment programme to provide school shoes and stationery. Their next goal? Launching a sanitary-towel drive, starting a soup kitchen and eventually building a school in Malawi for 50 to 60 children.
“Our mission is to support underprivileged kids who can’t attend school because of poverty,” said Twalick. “We follow-up with these children and their parents really to hear them out. The community here is very happy with what we’re doing.”
Twalick dreams of opening a centre that can teach basic computer literacy and life skills. But funding remains a critical challenge. “There’s so much work to be done, but our funds are limited. We need volunteers, donors and resources even to address things such as substance abuse in our communities.”
He remains undeterred; “we want to go further with this and won’t stop now.”
Twalick hopes his story would inspire others to do the same. “It is a miracle that I became a hotel manager. Being born poor doesn’t define one. Just keep learning and don’t stop dreaming.”
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