Sparkle Moment launch

1. Current and potential reach and scale of the initiative

The initiative has reached more than 50 participants who attended an awards ceremony on the 22nd October 2025 at 18:00. I was invited to give an address that was based on my sharing of my life story. Through my rooted voice, I illustrated an autoethnographic life experience of my becoming. I invited healing into the space through storytelling to show people that I, too, am shaped by hardship that could have potentially prevented me from achieving what I have built in my life, but I used sorrow, pain and struggle to teach me life lessons. The same lesson I go around sharing with people, and to teach them that we all have collective traumas one way or another. What sets us apart from one another is the action we take when we face a struggle, how we respond and turn our lives around.

2. Innovativeness/element of surprise/novelty of effort

The innovativeness that comes with the rooted voices: healing through story and spirit is that after an intense labouring of emotions, once the tears have been shared and people start worrying if they might have overshared their lives, including myself, we have a celebratory moment. Just before the session concludes, I invite attendees to join in what I call a Sparkle Moment. The Sparkle Moment is a moment where I encourage attendees to celebrate themselves for all the wins, no matter how big/ small they have achieved in life. I teach them to unlearn entertaining misfortunes and allow them to become factors that determine their happiness in life.

The element of surprise is the sparkles that we ignite and a celebratory song we sing and dance to during the burning of the sparkles. During that moment, attendees are encouraged to speak to themselves about their achievements, and it gets interesting seeing their faces light up when they keep talking to themselves and realise how they have done well for themselves without realising it, because they did not take time to admire their hard work.

3. Potential for deeply meaningful impact beyond outputs

The deeply meaningful impact beyond the outputs is leaving people knowing how to celebrate themselves. They begin to realise that every action they perform contributes to the bigger picture, which is their future. They learn that their stories matter, and through the sharing of lived experiences, they gain more from learning from one another about how to navigate life. They learn that they are not necessarily alone in their struggles and that we are secretly going through something, and to never give up but face struggles with bravery.

4. Nature of the initiative (e.g., alignment with a current call, topical challenge in a community)

The project aligns with the initiative because it leaves people feeling empowered by their own involvement in their lives. They take responsibility for things that happen around them and learn how they also contribute to such. The meeting space gets filled with much healing from wounds we inflict upon ourselves by minimising our efforts in our own lives. The topical challenge the project aligns with is mental health, lack of self-affirmation and decolonial narratives. The project was timely and necessary because the address was presented to a room full of students and parents who are faced with the examination period, where students require support from their parents/ caregivers. This is a very sensitive time where students are sensitive and they should be treated with care and consideration to enable their mental states to be functional.

5. Clarity of goal, activities, numbers, and intended impact

1. Clarity of Goal

• To embed affirmation and storytelling into attendees life through Sparkle Moments and Chat Pods. To create safe, affirming spaces where attendees can share and archive their Sparkle Moments, building confidence and emotional literacy.

1. Activities

• Facilitating monthly Chat Pods, training attendees and facilitators, documenting Sparkle Moments, and sharing reflections on World Pulse.

1. Numbers

• 10 Chat Pods in 2026, reaching attendees directly, with at least 50 Sparkle Moments archived and shared publicly.

1. Intended Impact

• Attendees will feel more visible and affirmed, leading to increased confidence, stronger peer support networks, and a culture of recognition that extends beyond the pods into communities.

6. Whether the initiative is ongoing with regular, substantive initiative updates;

This initiative is ongoing, with Sparkle Moments already piloted with attendees in 2025. I will provide regular updates after each session, documenting reflections and lessons learned. These updates are substantive, capturing not only activities but also the emotional and social impact on attendees. In 2026, the initiative will expand into Chat Pods, with monthly updates planned to track participation, stories archived, and the ripple effects of affirmation in communities.