Overview
Charlize Theron launched the Mpilonhle Mobile Health and Computer Unit in uMkhanyakude, a region heavily impacted by poverty and HIV/AIDS, as part of a joint initiative with Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network. The project aims to provide crucial health and social support to local communities. Theron’s heartfelt involvement and dedication to her homeland were evident as she engaged with the community and celebrated the opening of the unit.
Article
Every bit as beautiful, talented, versatile and sincere as she appeared in her many and varied roles as a movie star, it was hardly surprising that all eyes were on South Africa’s home-grown Oscar-winner Charlize Theron throughout the launch of a health and social development initiative for the young in Northern Zululand’s uMkhanyakude district last Thursday.
Her audience at Nhliziyo High School hung on to her every word from the lectern at an open-air assembly as she spelled out the reason for her surprise visit, which was to celebrate the opening of the Mpilonhle Mobile Health and Computer Unit in uMkhanyakude, where poverty and the impact of HIV/Aids has been particularly bad.
The Mtubatuba-based unit, which means a good life, is a joint programme of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network.
Theron thrilled her audience at the launch by joining in song and dance after having donned traditional Zulu attire, which she was helped into by Zulu Princess Nandi.
Dressed earlier in jeans and a dark shawl to ward off the chilly wind that howled across the valley between Mtubatuba and Hlabisa, Theron shared the platform with the school management and other dignitaries, including US Ambassador Eric Bost, uMkhanyakude Mayor Lawrence Mthombeni, who is also the chairman of the Mpilonhle board, and Michael Bennish, Mpilonhle’s founder and executive director.
Bennish, who comes from Detroit, Michigan, was the founding director of the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies in Zululand.
Introducing Theron, he quipped that after having lived in Mtubatuba for the past eight years, the chances of viewing first-run movies and their stars were “pretty slim”. His challenge at the function, he said, was not to introduce a movie star but “another human being who cares for you and an individual who is committed and, like all of us, shares her human passion and puts it into action”.
“It’s not enough to simply care or empathise. It is important to do something. We are all here today because Charlize and Oprah, and her team, had inspiration and acted on it and brought others on board.”
The US government has donated R8.5 million to support the project through the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief.
“With a lot of hard work from a lot of people we are here today, Theron said.
“I had a moment in my life when I realised I wanted to do something, I wanted to give something back to the country I was from.
“There were certain things about this area that grabbed me. I knew I wanted to go into rural communities and it made sense to come here.”
Speaking after the colourful event, Bennish said the launch had involved government representatives and that what Theron, Oprah and others had inspired and created could be replicated and adapted by other organisations to make schools centres of care and support for the HIV-infected.
“Even though Charlize lives in the United States, her heart is still back in South Africa and it is very much where Oprah’s heart is too,” said Winfrey’s Angel Network programme officer Gregg Sherkin.
Bennish said uMkhanyakude was one of the most underdeveloped areas in KZN, which had the highest HIV rate in South Africa.
“This certainly is an area where the need is great. The toughest challenge is to start in places like this,” he said.
