After surviving rape, abuse, rejection and addiction as a teenager, Nolubabalo Mbebe, 35, turned her painful experiences into a mission to help emotionally wounded young people in Reeston through her non-profit organisation, Purpose and Identity.
Founded in 2018, the organisation provides soul-healing sessions for pupils, distributes sanitary products, runs a soup kitchen and hosts Christmas parties for elderly residents in the community.
Mbebe said the initiative was born from her own traumatic upbringing after the death of her mother.
“I didn’t have anyone I could reach out to,” she said.
“I was raised by emotionally and physically abusive relatives, and I grew up not knowing who or where my father was.”
She said the emotional trauma eventually drove her to seek comfort outside her home environment, leading to substance abuse and later prostitution as she struggled to sustain her addiction.
During that period of her life, Mbebe said she was raped, became a mother at the age of 15 and was diagnosed with HIV.
“It was after surviving all that suffering that something within me told me I needed to reach out to people who might be going through what I survived,” she said.
“That is when I decided to register the organisation.
“Though the main focus was trauma healing, I also wanted to include the sanitary drive and the soup kitchen because those are some of the needs people face in our community.”
The organisation’s main programme, Purpose and Identity, focuses on emotional healing and support for young people dealing with trauma and difficult home circumstances.
Mbebe currently facilitates daily soul-healing sessions for pupils between the ages of 14 and 18, with about 40 pupils attending each class.
She said many of the children who attended the sessions struggled with emotional wounds they often felt unable to discuss openly.
“We teach them that it is OK to speak out and ask for help,” she said.
“A lot of young people are carrying pain silently because they feel nobody understands them.”
Though the organisation is not formally funded, it relies on donations and sponsorships from businesses and community partners, including Shoprite, Boxer and the Small Project Foundation.
The initiative currently supports nearly 1,300 beneficiaries, including about 1,000 pupils from Sophathisana Senior Secondary School, recipients of the monthly sanitary drive and pensioners who benefit from annual Christmas celebrations organised by the group.
Babalwa Seyibokwe, who nominated Mbebe for the Daily Dispatch Local Heroes Awards, described her as a transformative figure who had turned personal suffering into community upliftment.
“Despite facing severe personal trauma and abuse throughout her childhood, Nolubabalo transformed her pain into purpose by establishing Purpose and Identity to support others facing similar hardships,” Seyibokwe said.
“She also authored the book, Black Sheep of Everywhere, to further her mission.
“Through her soul-healing sessions, she continues to reach out to young people and promote healing, recovery and empowerment.”
Noluvuyo, a beneficiary of the organisation’s sanitary drive, said the initiative had helped restore dignity to many young girls in the area.
“Many people here are unemployed, and sanitary products are expensive for families that are already struggling,” she said.
“Before the drive, some girls would miss school during that time of the month because they were embarrassed and could not afford proper sanitary products. We used cloths because that was all we had.”
She said the programme had become an important source of support for many households.
“Now we know that on the last weekend of every month we can collect sanitary products, and sometimes we even receive extra donations,” she said.
“It has made a huge difference for young girls in this community because it restored confidence and dignity.”
A 15-year-old pupil who attends the soul-healing sessions, said the programme had helped many young people realise they were not alone in their struggles.
“We don’t always have people we can freely confide in because some people don’t understand what we are going through,” he said.
“During the sessions, we learn that it is OK not to be OK and that it is important to speak up instead of suffering alone.”
He said he believed more young people would benefit from the programme because many were dealing with unresolved trauma.
“In most cases, even the perpetrators are people who are also carrying problems that were never addressed,” he said.
Daily Dispatch
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