Life is a blessing and celebrating another year of birth is a privilege. Often people celebrate their birthdays by throwing parties for the people closest to them, such as immediate friends and family. However, for Taylor Naika turning 23 was an opportunity to make a difference and touch the lives of young children and teenage girls from the townships. Her birthday bash was real proof that you do not need to be old to be a philanthropist and make a special impact on peoples lives.
On the 13th of May 2017, Taylor celebrated her birthday with the children of Africa Unite’s Singamakhalipha programme at the Gugulethu sports complex. 90 children attended the celebration from Gugulethu, Nyanga, Kanana and the township of Europe. The afternoon was filled with fun, games, singing and dance.
The children received party packets and toiletries from The Power To The Gurlz, partners whom Taylor collected donations from. These gifts brought much joy and smiles to the children’s faces. The toiletries given to the teenage girls at the event made them feel very special and will be very useful to the girls, as such toiletries can be expensive and thus challenging to access. 
Taylor was accompanied by her family and friends who shared encouraging words with the children. The children also shared with the birthday girl: the guests marvelled as one of the programme youth read a poem that touched the hearts of all from the “Brave Warriors” poetry book.
Bags of clothing were also part of the donations for the children who may otherwise lack warm clothing for winter. These clothes will be distributed to the children identified as most in need based on our staff members who work with the children on a weekly basis.
A big, special THANK YOU to Taylor, her family and friends, and last but not least to the Power To The Gurlz partners. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. Happy Birthday Taylor!
To check out more pictures from the amazing day, here.
Africa Unite Blog 