La Lucia resident and Mrs SA finalist, Nadia Aboud, has set sail on her mission to add a little more love and hope in the world by packing the first batch of baby food that will nourish the deserving children at The Domino Baby Home as well as two other baby homes at iThemba-Lethu.
Aboud, together with her team of sponsors and volunteers, handmade and packed the first 100 jars of baby puree at Hirsch’s in uMhlanga on Friday, 9 September. The jars were then distributed to the projects beneficiary homes. The empty jars will be collected and refilled over the next two months. Aboud said: “With the RSA Group (Fresh Produce Market) as my gold sponsor for the Mrs South Africa pageant, and my personal interest in the wellbeing of babies and children, it just made sense to start an initiative to support the baby homes with feeding the children food that will provide them with the necessary nutrients to support their growth and keep them as healthy as possible.” The Mrs SA finalist said with the food already being prepared and ready to serve, it will save time in the kitchen which will mean more time with the children at the home. “When Consol came on board, supplying the containers, I knew that this project was meant to be. In 2017 there were 2.8 million orphans in South Africa, this includes children without a living biological mother, father or both parents, and is equivalent to 14% of all children in South Africa that need our help,” said Aboud.
She said: “Babies did not ask to be here, they are innocent beings that unfortunately sometimes suffer due to the decisions made by their parents. It is our responsibility, as adults, to care for them as they are unable to care for themselves. Every child deserves a fair chance in life with unconditional love and hope for the future.” Originally hailing from a small Free State town, where caring for each other is second nature for the community, Aboud’s relationship with Domino, especially their baby home, flourished when she experienced a culture shock after moving to the big city in 2017. “Big city life came as somewhat of a culture shock. I was swept up into the pressured demands of corporate life and lost track of myself. In my search for the Nadia of Koffiefontein, of my youth, I met Nicky Walton, a fellow La Lucia resident who introduced me to The Domino Foundation. There I found ample scope for my innate capacity for hope to overflow to beneficiaries on the foundation’s programmes,” said Aboud.
Initially, the Mrs SA Finalist volunteered during the mammoth relief effort Domino coordinated in the aftermath of the floods and was stirred by the effort of so many for the good of those in need. “My name, traces back to the Slavic languages and beyond to the ancient Middle East, means ‘Filled with Hope’. I feel that my name describes my inner self perfectly,” said Aboud. After completing her fashion designing studies, Aboud’s creative and artistic skills found expression with the survivors of human-trafficking in the Red Light programme, where she is teaching them skills with the aim at developing them into entrepreneurs. “I have also stepped forward to volunteer at Domino’s Babies Home and I am keen to bring my special brand of hope to the little ones there. Apart from the baby purée project, I am also creating photo albums for the babies at the home. I feel that this is a big part of one’s identity. Knowing what you looked like as a baby, reading about your milestones. This is also a special gift to the future adoptive parents,” she said.
Commenting on her journey with Mrs SA, Aboud said it was always a dream of hers to enter the pageant as the experience is often described as an ‘MBA for life’. “I have always dreamt of entering Mrs South Africa, but I envisioned entering as soon as I reached a certain stage in my life where my business is thriving, I have a beautiful family with at least two children, but God had other plans. After a very intense and traumatic season of miscarriages, failed IVF and developing PTSD and Depression, I decided to take a step back and just fill my own cup again with what made Nadia, Nadia, in the first place. When I saw the call for entries to Mrs SA, I knew that this is the time to enter and that my journey of infertility was preparing me for the work that I still have to do and the purpose I still had to walk in,” she said.
