Mavis Mathabatha is an entrepreneur and humanitarian.
After being here [in South Africa] two days, I got to drive to meet with Mavis about her incredible vision and mission. She lives in Tooseng, Limpopo, South Africa. In her village, there are more than two hundred orphans. How can there be so many? Because their parents have died of AIDS.
What Mavis has decided to do about it is grow Moringa. It is a tree from India that can grow year round, and 15 feet a year. It’s leaves, flowers, bark, and roots are all edible and highly nutritious. The leaves can be harvested twice a year, and contain more vitamin C than oranges, more Fe than spinach, more Ca than milk, and lots of protein (gram per gram).
With her one hectare plot of organicly-raised Moringa, she creates Moringa teas, crushed leaves and powders that can be added to any meal. She has seen miraculous things happen to people when they incorporate Moringa into their diet. She sells these products in stores under her brand Lammangata Moringa, and all the proceeds go to her non-profit, and goes back to educating and feeding her village’s orphans. She even gave every household in the Village a Moringa tree for their yard. Everyone in town knows her as the “Moringa lady.”
But this self-less and inspiring woman isn’t stopping there. She has just received 15 ha from the tribe to up-scale her operation. She hopes to sell internationally soon after. She will start intercropping Amaranth and other crops too which will go to feed the village. She will then be able to employ about 30 year-round workers too.
This is the first story of local-activism and selfless love that I’ve seen in South Africa. I can’t wait to see more.
