Andile Rasmeni: A teenager with a difference

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Instead of wasting his teenage years with izikhothane and chasing trivial pursuits, Alexandra resident Andile Rasmeni opted to get involved with the community.

Rasmeni (19), a matriculant of Minerva Secondary School and former footballer of the Malandela Mighty Heroes opted to forgo his soccer career when it started impacting negatively on his school work. He instead started voluntary work in his spare time.

“A newspaper article ignited the fire of community work and when I heard that the charity side of the Lutheran Evangelical Church was in need of volunteers. I wasted no time,” said Rasmeni.

Rasmeni has consistently worked as a volunteer for the church’s charity arm, Alex Aftercare Project which was co-founded in 2012 by the women’s organisation, Badiredi and the Union of Jewish Women.

Since joining the project last year, Rasmeni has never missed a single afternoon of the daily after-school homework and feeding scheme. But the project is worried it may soon lose this exceptional volunteer to his varsity studies.

Rasmeni said he had always dreamt of studying biomedicine when he finished school, but due to his financial situation he has to downgrade his ambitions to a teaching degree with the University of South Africa. “It’s a cheaper course that I can afford but I am not giving up yet on my ambition. It’s still early in life for me to give up. I am determined to do it one day,” he said.

Rasmeni has urged other youngsters to take a leaf out of his book and volunteer at charity institutions.

Details: 011 648 1053 or projects@ujw.co.za

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