Priscilla Brandt is a 24- year old Law graduate from Kimberley. She did her high school education in an under resourced public school in Galeshwe. For Priscilla, this was not a deterrent, she saw it as an opportunity to reverse the trajectory African children reliant on the public education system face.
Priscilla was diligent in her studies and gained entry into the University of the Free State, where she pursued a Bachelor of Law, she graduated in December 2018. According to Priscilla, the quality of education she received in University was worlds apart from what she had received in high school. According to Priscilla âobtaining a tertiary qualification was an immersive appraisal for a first-generation graduate.â She plans to leverage on this opportunity to rebuild and reform the face of our blighted African communities.
Priscilla is selflessly using her LLB qualification to contribute to society by championing female reproductive rights through STAY WOKE. She founded STAY WOKE to raise awareness about the lack of adequate female reproductive apparatuses, resources and facilities in poverty-stricken communities. The organisation is a forward-thinking social enterprise which looks at human development as a means to achieving sustainable economic growth in South Africa.
What inspires her
Priscilla describes being raised by her grandmother as the bedrock of her existence that anchored her in the virtues of love, compassion, kindness, and fortitude. This enabled her to charter her own path through a life of adversity, a reality that continued to motivate her to take advantage of opportunities that she came across. She realised that education was the only tool that could drive her towards promoting social change and economic mobility, especially for the socio-economically marginalised.
âI come from a place which is plagued by a lot of socio-economic ills and my journey has been fraught with incalculable odds. I was primarily raised by my grandmother as both my parents did not finish school,â she said.
Some success registered to date
Her passion for social justice has seen her travel the world, from conducting market analysis in India for her social enterprise to her abstract being selected by the South American Business Forum as part of the Top 100 Global entries in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has been part of a large collective of international programmes, projects and conferences that allowed her to work extensively on youth policies and projects. These accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals as set out by the United Nations. They also elevate and promote youth participation in policy-making for youth within the Commonwealth nations.
She was the first female chairperson of the Black Lawyers Association Student Chapter at the university and the F1 Leadership for Change programme, and represented the University of the Free State in Japan.
Apart from this, Priscilla has also been chosen to attend other youth leadership conferences in the Czech Republic, Singapore and Thailand.
âI would not say that I am self-made because there have been people who took time to really invest in me and make sure that I could tell a different story. Through this I could change the black childâs narrative in all that I have done and achieved,â said Brandt.
In furthering her advocacy for women and childrenâs rights, Priscilla currently works as a Legal and Governance Intern at the Graça Machel Trust and is using her skills to contribute towards using empirically researched concepts to elevate the rights of women and children in Africa.
Read more on our Womenâs Economic and Social Advancement Programme here
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.