Reaching New Heights with Lethabo Hatang

While most people her age are concerned with the next trending social media challenge, Lethabo Hatang challenged herself to reach the apex of the highest mountain in Africa for a worthy cause. To speak of making a difference in other people’s lives is great, climbing to the top of the highest mountain to make a difference takes it to a whole new level. Just shy of 21 years old ,she was attempting Mount Kilimanjaro as part of the Trek4Mandela fundraiser that works closely with the Imbumba foundation to raise funds for purchasing sanitary pads and donate to young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. The goal of this initiative is to prevent young girls from missing school due to something as natural as menstruation. Lethabo Hatang is already an inspiration who is proudly following in her family’s’ footsteps who have already taken on the challenge themselves, including her younger brother. The Uhuru Peak, Tanzania is 5895m high, so it’s safe to say that not even the sky is the limit for this young queen. We got to know Lethabo better and spoke to her about her motivations and challenges during her summit as well as her aspirations because when the future speaks, we listen.

Getting Up-close and Personal

1.Who is Lethabo Hatang? Where were you born & raised?
I am a 20-year-old, BA with Law student, and I was born in Mafikeng, Northwest Province. I lived in Itsoseng (NW) with my Grandparents for few years and moved to Joburg when I was 3 years old to live with my parents.

2.How has your upbringing contributed towards the person you are today?
I have been privileged and blessed to experience love firsthand. My parents and family as a whole have been supportive
throughout my upbringing and have created a safe space where I know I can always count on them. I am who I am today because of them and their teachings. Being the oldest grandchild has also contributed a lot towards the person I am today. As much as it put a lot of pressure on me, it also motivated me to always strive to do my best and lead by example.

3.What is the fondest memory from your childhood?
One of the many fondest memories of my childhood has been when my grandmother taught me how to bake and I have carried it with me till this day.

4.What are your future aspirations?
My aspirations in life are to complete my studies, become a Lawyer and start a children’s foundation as I’m very passionate about children and their well-being.

5.Who do you look up to and why?
I look up to my parents because they are so generous, loving, compassionate and selfless. They have always believed in touching and changing lives of many. The values and principles that they’ve instilled in me, I carry them every day of my life.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can
use to change the world”. So, it is important for young girls to stay in school
to make sure that they have a better and brighter future as tomorrow’s
leaders.
-Lethabo Hatang

6.What social issues affecting young people are you most passionate about and why?
Poverty and unemployment because they are serious problems that my generation is facing. Because of South Africa’s history,
the cycle of poverty remains amongst black communities. This means that a black child continues to be disadvantaged and live a more difficult life than what they are supposed to at a young age. unemployment rate has risen since 2010 which is a one of the contributory factors towards the cycle of poverty.

7.If you had unlimited power, what is the one thing you would change about the world we are living in today?

The world we live in today has two types of people, the rich and the poor. If I had unlimited power, I
would end the cycle of poverty and make sure that the world’s wealth is divided equally.

8.What inspired you to take on the daunting challenge of hiking Mount Kilimanjaro?
Initially I wanted to attempt Mt. Kilimanjaro because I was the only one in my family who hasn’t climbed and summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro. However, as time went on, I realized that my true reason for embarking on this journey was to ensure that girl children do not miss school due to lack of sanitary pads and to give them hope that there are people who are willing to make the
journey easier for them

9.How did you prepare yourself physically and mentally?
It takes a lot of training to prepare for a six-day Mt. Kilimanjaro hike. I had to train for at least 5 months. Physically the training consisted of 3 hikes in Drakensburg Mountain and a lot of hiking trails around Gauteng Province including the grueling Westcliff stairs. My younger brother, Tshego, who submitted Mt Kilimanjaro in 2018, became my personal trainer and made sure that I’m physically ready. Mentally, because my family has climbed Kilimanjaro before they were able to tell me what to expect and the
importance of digging deeper on your mental reserves especially on summit night. I had to think about why I wanted to climb, and I turned to yoga to practice how to keep my body and mind calm.

10.For someone who doesn’t know, please explain what Trek4mandela is and why is it close to your heart?
Trek4Mandela is a fundraiser which works closely with the Imbumba foundation. The idea came into play when Mr. Richard Mabaso came up with the unconventional idea of raising funds to buy sanitary towels for young girls so that they do not have to miss a quarter of their school year due to something as natural as menstruation. This course is very close to my heart because I believe that having access to sanitary towels will restore the dignity of a girl child and create an opportunity for girls to focus on their future and unlock their full potential.

11.How was that experience for you, what have you learned?Please explain in detail.
The experience was overwhelming, exciting and surreal. Overwhelming in the sense that you do not understand the extent to which you will have to train physically and mentally in order to attempt to summit because at the end of the day Mt. Kilimanjaro is still a mountain and it needs to be respected in every sense. It was an exciting experience since I would be traveling out of South Africa. But it was also exciting because I was doing something out of my comfort zone, at the same time doing something I enjoy doing which is helping others. In terms of being surreal, Mt. Kili is a beautiful place, on some of the days of ascending we were above the clouds which was an amazing feeling. It was also so peaceful, and it became easy to block out the world, not only because there’s no network but also because you want to be in the moment, interact with the people around but also be one with nature. I have learned to be passionate; I’ve learnt to understand that we always need people around us and that even when we want to give up and it becomes tough, we should keep going.

12.Was there ever a point where you felt like giving up? What kept you going?
Yes, the summit night was the most challenging as we didn’t sleep. We had to walk throughout the night with the temperature
below 0 degrees. There was a point where I felt like giving up, it was a few hours before we start our summit trek when I fell sick
due to mountain sickness. What kept me going was the love and support I got from the group of people I was with and remembering my WHY.

13.Why do you think it is important to help young girls stay in school?
As Nelson Mandela said, Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. So, it is important for young girls to stay in school to make sure that they have a better and brighter future as tomorrow’s leaders.

14.Are there any other projects that you are working on?
I have recently raised funds for an Orphanage in Roodepoort and donated a month’s groceries and books for children. I will be distributing sanitary towels to the schools that I have chosen and have raised funds for.

15.Gen Z is often described as the most technologically savvy generation; how do you think the youth can use technology and social media to make a difference?
We as the youth can use social media in a positive way to spread the word about great initiatives, such as Trek4Mandela and Caring4Girls, and also encourage and inspire each other. Nowadays it is so easy to make things trend as long as people have the same vision, goal, and come together to make the change they want to see in the world.