Marsha is a journalist for the Plainsman community newspaper, a social media influencer and a youth activist. She is a graduate of Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
She uses her work as a journalist to create awareness on stories that can make a difference in communities and mainly in the Mitchell’s Plain community that continues to face various socio-economic challenges.
Her articles have become a trusted voice for the community. Marsha also produces videos based on her experiences and challenges; and posts these on social media to encourage other young people to find solutions to resolve their challenges. She says social media has become any young person’s greatest tool to create change and has been using her influence on social media to do just that.
She is involved in community development work which she did through her church and worked with the youth at her church and other communities in Cape Town, to interact on an academic level, spiritual level and on a personal level.
Through her community work, she was part of Holiday Club programmes, together with a group of other young people from the church, where they teach underprivileged children about God. The programme also includes feeding the children daily. Food is provided to them to make sure that they have at least two meals per day at the programme.
Through the Holiday Club programme, they feed over 300 children per Holiday Club every year, during school holidays in June, in her community of Beacon Valley.
At the age of 16, her life changed. She was molested, and at 9, her parents divorced and she grew up without a father. All these unfortunate events changed her mind-set and she became more focused on her life and future.
Her vision is to showcase more of her articles and her work on social media to expose young people to the realities of other young people and ways in which to rise above circumstances.
She shares that her experiences have taught her a lot about what young people have to go through; and says that young people must gain the confidence they need to address the issues that bother them, especially young people from communities within the Cape Flats.
Looking ahead, she would like to see the government getting more involved and addressing the issues that affect underprivileged communities. In the past, the government only got involved when something bad has happened or when a successful story from the community gets a lot of media attention and publicity.
The government should be more involved in programmes for youth and keep their ears to the ground so that they stay informed all the time.
She says, her experiences have taught her the importance of staying positive and the need to remain passionate about something in order to succeed.
