In mid-May 2022 Salem’s Round Square service had the honour of welcoming Lesego Serolong as a guest speaker. In South Africa, she herself was a pupil at Tiger Kloof, which is also a member of the world-wide Round Square school network. As an entrepreneur, Serolong is now CEO of Bokamoso Foods, co-founder of “Raise the Children International”, and founder of the global Round Square bee project which was initiated at the end of 2021. Ms Serolong was also a Keynote Speaker at last year’s online RSIC (Round Square International Conference) where she first presented her ideas about bees.

The One Million Beehives project is a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of bees to our food chain and aims to fund new beehives throughout South Africa. Through this organization she not only addresses the issue of dwindling honeybee populations, but also assures the livelihoods of over 450 smallholder farms and farmers in South Africa.

In the course of her visit, Ms Serolong presented her bee project to pupils during our school assembly. This was followed by a Q&A session and a visit to Rentamt with honey-tasting for the younger pupils. She also received a welcome dinner and a tour of the school by members of the Round Square service. We had the opportunity to ask her questions about the Round Square IDEALS, as well as her inspirations and initiatives for the future.

Lesego Serolong made a lasting impression on us, and her inspiring story shows how helping others through Round Square can give you strength, hope and success. She managed to build her empire driven by passion to make a real change in South Africa and in the world. The only thing we need to do is to plant seeds into young people's minds and motivate them to become active. With creativity and passion, she succeeded with her unique business model, even if the start was rocky. It was truly an honour and inspiration to have met her and we hope to see her again at the next Round Square Conference in Oxford, England later this year.