Johannesburg - Reigning Miss Soweto Tsakane Sono, a resident of the township, says she is grateful to be able to use her voice to teach people about mental health and physical disability.
She says that as an occupational health therapist, it is her duty to help those struggling with mental and physical challenges.
Sono, who was crowned Miss Soweto late last year, says it is important to give those struggling with physical and mental issues a chance to lead a positive and fulfilling life.
The 25-year-old beauty is a qualified occupational health therapist and a Master’s degree candidate.
“As an occupational therapist my job involves using meaningful activities to treat disability and impairment. When a person ends up with a physical disability or a mental illness that changes their life forever, they still need to be able to dress themselves, feed themselves, work and do everything else they were doing before they ended up with a disability. Occupational therapists come in to help people live their lives to the fullest and still do everything they need to do, even with an injury or life-changing illness,” she said.
She said her passion for life and love for people led her to pursue occupational health. She said young people are struggling with substance abuse, which is why getting involved means a lot to her.
“In high school I was struggling to figure out what career path to follow. I was torn between speech therapy, because I love to speak, and occupational therapy, because I am passionate about helping people. My high school teacher connected me with her daughter’s OT so I could shadow her. I shadowed the paediatric OT, and I knew that OT was for me,” she said.
“The greatest challenge facing young people currently is substance use. There are a lot of misconceptions about substances, including those that society may think are safe, and I see how the misinformation in our society causes young people to experiment and end up with poor memory, poor attention, and significant cognitive decline, all because of experimenting or trying to escape reality.
“It’s important to teach young people the true dangers of substances and to also encourage them to find healthy outlets for life’s challenges so that substance use ceases to be an option to escape reality. The long-term effects of substances override the short-term high or escape,” Sono said.
“I use my knowledge as an OT to empower other models to take care of their mental health and build self-love and resilience, especially because the modelling industry can be tough on you if your mind is not strong.”
Sono says becoming part of Miss Soweto has been a life-changing experience, which is why it is important to use her voice for social good.
“Although it came with a lot of new experiences and challenges, being Miss Soweto has taught me that I am more resilient than I thought.
“My work both as an OT and Miss Soweto involves a lot of inspirational talks aimed at educating young people about the issues that we face as young South Africans.
“I use my work to help young people access facilities near them that can help them deal with issues around mental health, substance use, and employment opportunities such as learnerships.
“I hope to be able to do more for the young people around me. With the support of organisations that are passionate about young people, I hope to have a greater impact on society,” she said.
The Star