Paris Makaringe – “As long as I’m alive I will touch lives.”

A pioneer, founder, community leader, father, and activist for the success of young people are some of the ways in which Paris Nyiko Makaringe describes himself.

Paris is a 27-year-old visionary born and raised in Freedom Park, South of Johannesburg. He is one of nine siblings and strongly believes that family is a crucial part of life. Paris attributes his character to his late mother and the teachings she passed down to him.’’ The best memories of my childhood are actually limited and quite sad, every time I think of my childhood my late mom comes to mind, she taught me respect, compassion, love, discipline, and most importantly God,’’ he stated. 

Paris has always been passionate about assisting and creating opportunities for the youth his community ’’ Freedom Park is a community that’s rich with so many opportunities and talent; we’ve got so many unrecognised young people who want to step up and make it in this community,’’ he said. After he completed his matric in 2010, Paris struggled to get employment. As a result, he volunteered and trained as a peer educator for the South African National Council on Alcoholism (SANCA). Paris went to different schools in his community to educate young people on drug abuse. ‘’ I wanted to drive change in the schools and fight drug abuse because I could see what it did in my community,’’ he uttered. Paris considers his work as a peer educator as a milestone because he realised how impactful his work has been. ‘’ I regard myself as an activist because I’ve been very vocal and I’ve been fighting the core of substance abuse in my area,’’ Paris mentioned.

He regards spirituality as an essential part of his life.’’ I am a spiritual person, I talk to my God at my spiritual place which is at home,’’ Paris said. As a result of his dedication to God, he decided to be born again in 2008. ‘’ My go-to person when I’m sad is God because help does not come from people, help comes from the one above,’’ Paris said. Due to his vision of what he believed the church should be like, Paris started a movement called Young Minds For Christ a few years ago.’’ I saw a lot of division in the church of Christ, we call ourselves Christians yet we are divided,’’ he said. Consequently, Paris started this movement to unite young people of various talents in one setting. Paris stated ‘’ We wanted time as young people to express our talent,’’. However, Paris’s idea to change the status quo was met with a lot of criticism.

As a result, he then decided to launch an independent project called a Thousand Kids a Thousand Smiles. This was his first independent project so he asked his friends to assist him accomplished it.’’ We hosted an event where we gave a thousand party packs to a thousand kids,’’ Paris stated. However, very few of the people that assisted him were spiritual, so Paris felt that placing the project under Young Minds for Christ would be unfair. This led to the establishment of a non-profit organisation founded by Paris and his associates called Lonwabo Lwesizwe. He is the leader and director of this five-year-old project. He regards Lonwabo Lwesizwe as a baby that is very close to his heart.’’ We wanted to change the core status of the country, that’s why we called it Lonwabo Lwesizwe,’’ Paris said.

He states that doing community work is a challenging task Paris has been mocked and ridiculed for assisting his community as opposed to looking out for himself. As a result, the time he spends with his daughter and his friends is how he relaxes and reboots.’’ One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that you’ve got to do what you do without expecting a thank you,’’ he said.

Though Paris does not get paid for the work he does, Paris has received some recognition for his efforts. He was selected as one of the Mail &Guardian’s Top 200 South Africans for the year 2017. Paris received an award for his civil society work at the Gauteng Youth Excellence Awards in 2018. He was also selected as one of the 100 Young Mandelas of the future in 2020 amongst other awards.’’ These awards humble me as a person,’’ he said.

One of Paris’s big goals is to ensure the growth of Lonwabo Lwesizwe. He aspires to be a politician in the future. He then stated ‘’ you can touch more lives when you are politically affiliated and when you are in a political position because you can tap into resources that aren’t easy to tap into,’’. Furthermore, Paris wants to join a political party that aligns with his values, but he aims to keep the organisation away from his political career. ‘’ I’m ready to serve my people in a greater role and not just feeding them,’’ Paris said.

He dedicated his success to everyone who helped him grow especially his late mother and father. Paris hopes to continue influencing and changing the lives of young people.’’ As long as I’m alive I will touch lives,’’ he concluded.

SUPPLIED