Three Super-Cute, Super-Fierce African Girls Get Once In A lifetime Opportunity As Powerpuff Girl Award Winners Announced

Judges have had a tough time going through more than 3 000 entries for The PPG Awards which were launched in August with the aim to celebrate and empower young African girls between the ages of nine and 14, wanting to make a difference in their community.

Winners were chosen from finalists in each of the categories, and voted in by representatives from Turner, MultiChoice and international NGO, Save the Children. Not only were the standards very high, but the selection panel was tremendously impressed to witness the work done by so many young girls to change and improve their respective communities. Three little girls from South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia were selected as overall winners in the Social Helper, Science and Tech Inventor, and Artistic Creator categories respectively.

The three winners received their award at the Turner Upfront Event held on Tuesday, 13 November in Johannesburg. Each winner, from each of the three categories, received a cash prize to help bring their award-winning entry to life with the help of a dedicated mentor.

Social Helper (The Blossom Award)

10-year-old super-cute and super-fierce Uviwe Bubu from South Africa started her Mini Sparkles sanitary care project in collaboration with her mother and aunt. Motivated by the knowledge that millions of girls in South Africa miss up to a week of school because of the lack of proper sanitary care, and the desire to decrease absenteeism, Uviwe enlisted the help of friends and family to donate funds and sanitary products. The first month alone, she donated products to disadvantaged girls in grade five to seven at Dunoon Primary School, as well as the grade 10s at Inkwenkezi High School in Cape Town. Uviwe was thrilled when she discovered she had won the competition: “I feel so happy about it. Now I can expand the sanitary towels drive to more schools around my community and hopefully supply enough sanitary products for a full year!”

Science and Tech Inventor (The Buttercup Award)

Inspired by the prevalence of waterborne diseases that exist in most African countries, 12-year-old Mwangala Maunga from Zambia created a solar water purifier to provide clean water to both rural and urban areas. “I am very excited to have been chosen as the winner in this category. This is something I have worked on for a while now and I’m happy that the PPG Awards are allowing me to be able to perfect my prototype and begin sharing my invention with the world!” says Mwangala. She hopes to see her water purifiers available in other African countries.

Artistic Creator (The Bubbles Award)

Award winning 11-year-old Daniella Soje from Nigeria has championed the conversion of turning every day trash into beautiful works of art through her project, Trash to Art. She is set to empower over 100 kids and teenagers in Lagos Mainland by equipping them with the skills that will enable them to become financially independent, while motivating them to care for their environment. “I am so appreciative of the judges for selecting my Trash to Art project,” says Daniella. “I applaud the work of Cartoon Network’s PPG Awards for their time and effort they put into this award process which promotes awareness and recognition for African children with creativity and talent; this will definitely encourage other children in Africa.”

“The PPG Awards is an excellent example of how we can help celebrate and empower young girls through such innovative projects. The winners in each category demonstrated a positive impact in people’s lives in their communities and it is awe-inspiring to see the difference they’ve made,” says Jaime Ondarza, Senior Vice President for Turner Southern Europe & Africa and Chief Executive Officer of Boing SpA.