Duma Gadaffi Pule is a young man, with a big heart. Born and raised in Bloemfontein, Duma grew up in the Bochabela area raised by his parents and his grandmother who he says taught him a lot about life.
When asked to describe himself he replied “I am an outspoken person and fun to be around, caring and loving”. He loves being around people and vice-versa, and has a very bubbly and welcoming personality.
Duma works as a post basic pharmacist assistant at Gabriel Dichabe Clinic, and is also an Events Coordinator at Maplankeng Lounge. His signature event/brand “Singles Braai” is very popular and takes place three times a year. People wear specific colours based on their relationship status e.g white represents “taken”. It brings people together for various activities like bicycle rides, PlayStation tournaments and other fun activities. He does not have one event under his name but three. He also has another event called the “One School Item Party” which takes place in June, in commemoration of June 16.
He has a Charity event named “Feed A Child Save A Life” which takes place in winter. The main purpose of this charity event is to gather toiletries, food and blankets which are distributed to various homes. Duma has been hosting the charity event for the past two years and says it has grown tremendously “from strength-to-strength”. It started last year in September and he was able to gather food and toiletries worth the value of R10 000. “I saw a lot of growth this year because the toiletries, food, clothes and blankets value was close to R40 000” he said.
Currently Duma does not have any sponsors and has been working from Maplankeng Lounge. “The owner has been the one helping me grow my brand”. Duma is actively looking for sponsors .“I would like to have more sponsors one day so that I can donate these items twice a year”. He is currently assisting four homes namely Iphahamiseng Youth Centre, Shannon Nursing Home, Reahometswe Care Centre and Katlehong Cancer Association.
As Duma works at a Clinic, he bares witness to how people suffer and apart from that, he always meets children on the street and he felt a need to help them with food and clothes. His interest to help the less fortunate came from his one visit to a home where he spent time with the kids and since then, he always thinks of them and that is how the love for them grew and sparked his passion of helping others.
Asked what challenges he faces regarding his charity work, he explained that having to convince people to contribute to this initiative is one of the biggest challenges .“I know that not everyone will be able to help but so far I can say, God has opened the hearts of those who could help and I will forever be grateful for their contributions towards the charity event”.
At events he hosts, he gives local artists platform and invites entrepreneurs to set up stalls free of charge. His main goal is to assist as many people as he can and give back in any way possible. We appluad Duma for being selfess and making giving back fun!
