Today is the anniversary of the passing of our dear friend, Thenjie Sibanda. It was a year ago today that she died sadly and suddenly, and left a huge hole in her family and at Avo that has been very hard to fill.

Thenjie taught me a very valuable lesson about determination and achieving goals. She had spent 15 years as a domestic worker that was determined to move out of her circumstances and better herself in the world. Besides supporting a large family back home, she managed to put herself through computer courses so that she would have some rudimentary skills to offer beyond what she could already do. When she came to Avo for work, she had little to offer except the most incredible determination to learn and build her skills! By the time she died, she had become an indespensible member of the Avo family, and the whole company nearly fell over when she was suddenly no there to fulfill her role.

I’m so sad that she ran out of time to realise her own dreams, but I also know that the legacy she has left will enable many other women like her. We employed Evelyn in her place, who started in a very similar way. We wanted to be true to Thenjie’s legacy by employing another woman with no office skills but a fierce ambition to grow and succeed.

Evelyn, you are doing the Thenjie legacy proud. Even though you did not know her, I’m sure she would be watching you work and learn with pride. You are both an inspiration to me: an example of what people can achieve, even though life doesn’t hand out resources equally. I promise you, I am still going to tell your stories to thousands of South African women, so that you can become an inspiration to many more people than just the Avo family!