Not many first-year undergraduate students start their academic journey with a continental award in the bag and a track record of fundraising, outreach, and networking, but Katleho Mojakisane is no ordinary student.

The 22-year-old from Lesotho is currently completing her first year of the Bachelor of Business Administration programme at the UWC Economic and Management Sciences Faculty.

Katleho is passionate about uplifting marganilised communities and in doing so empowering the youth.

This passion started in Lesotho and is now spreading across Africa.

At the end of 2023, a few weeks before she started her undergraduate studies, Katleho became a Future Africa Leaders Foundation Ambassador.

It was the culmination of her empowerment programmes that she initiated in high school.

“The work that I did in Lesotho was about raising awareness about HIV and AIDS by doing radio interviews, organising blood donation drives and other activities in the school that I was attending at that time. I then started focusing on girl empowerment outreaches, donating of sanitary towels and mentorship sessions for girls from less privileged backgrounds,” said Katleho.

There was no stopping her, and Katleho wanted to expand on her outreach. It was then that she decided to focus on the boy child.

This led her to the juvenile section at Lesotho Correctional Services, where she spotted a need for young men leaving the prison and struggling to reintegrate into society.

“I started mentorship sessions that were given by professionals or people in the field, like men who are successful in various academic contexts or entrepreneurial businesses, including CEOs of businesses.”

This project continues right now, while Katleho is more than 1200 km away in Cape Town.

But distance has never been an obstacle for Katleho, which is why she spent her term break in September in Ghana.

Through her connection with another ambassador from Ghana, Ambassador Clinton Arko Agyemang, whom she met at the Future African Leaders Award event, Katleho collaborated on a project called the Ghana Central Expo.

They raised funds and organised the event, which aimed to empower local entrepreneurs by providing a platform for them to exhibit their products and network with potential customers.

Medical science students from the University of Central Ghana provided health screenings to the locals.

Katleho said: “We represented the Future African Leaders Foundation as its ambassadors, but this was something we initiated, raised funds for and organised by ourselves in our own capacity. We mobilised a group of students, and there were about 300 exhibitors, many of whom were local entrepreneurs.

Katleho also raised awareness about the impact of Ghana's national debt crisis on local entrepreneurs and the economy.

She said: “We raised 10 000 Ghana Cedis (more than R10 000) and were major sponsors of this event, amongst other sponsors.”

She is determined to continue her advocacy work and hopes her studies will complement her outreach efforts.

Katleho added: “I am working on a leadership camp that will take place in Lesotho in 2025. I am also working on creating a system that would easily allow us to take boys from the juvenile centre to school or get them employed.”