Sanelisiwe Nketyana (aka Sane – pronounced ‘Sunny’) is the bravest, most humble 13 year old girl I know, who has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She recently underwent sessions of chemo at The Red Cross in Cape Town. Sane’s dream was to go clothes shopping and eat at a fancy restaurant, something many of us take for granted. Esna Reineck and Kerry Vercueil, both volunteers from Reach For A Dream, took Sane shopping around Canal Walk, and the afternoon was followed by lunch, a make-over and a really fun photoshoot at the Protea Colosseum Hotel. General Manager, Stuart Twine of the hotel, very generously offered us the penthouse to do the fashion shoot in, provided a five star lunch and gave Sane first class treatment. Make-up artist Gabi Hough did Sane’s make-up and lovingly fussed over her, and the afternoon was spent photographing her blowing large bubblegum bubbles, jumping on the bed and having fun modelling all her funky clothes. She was stunning to photograph and was a real natural in front of the camera. Reach For A Dream and Mr Price co-sponsored all her outfits and Sane ended up with an entirely new wardrobe. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Reach For A Dream, this incredible charity started with sponsoring their 1st dream to a child in 1988. The organisation has defined their core purpose as “fulfilling the dreams of children of any race, colour and creed between the ages of 3 and 18 faced with a life-threatening illness.”
WOW moni
truly stunning.
Sunny deserves her nickname, she definitely doesn’t look like a girl suffering a life threatning ilness.
WELL DONE
moni,
lovely photos, the one with the bubble gum is brillant, sunny looked like she had the best day ever, i wish her well and a speedy recovery xxx big hugs to my special friend.
I love the idea of “reach for a dream!” What a wonderful thing to do moni! The make-up shot is my absolute favourite!
Beautiful photographs, beautiful project, beautiful girl!
Out of interest – how did u get involved in this project Monica?
She looks gorgeous. I love her smile. You really bring out the best in people. Keep up the good work!
So happy! These pictures really capture her spirit so beautifully, I love the bubblegum one
What a wonderful thing to do for her, she must’ve felt like a princess! Love it!! Such stunning shots
These are simply spectacular – High 5 Moni! Sane is so happy
What an awesome feeling to make someone smile!!! You,re the best!
“Don’t frown, ‘cos you never know who is falling in love with your smile!”
Dear Monica,
I’m the doctor in East London looking after Sane-she gave me the website and we both looked at her pics together-they are stunning!!She was so thrilled to see them and I will be asking Margie Coutts,who is our RFAD person in East London ,if she could get some of them printed-it will certainly be difficult to choose !
Thank you for taking such beautiful pictures of her… her spirit just shines through them.She is doing well at the moment,receiving chemotherapy.She hasn’t had a bone marrow transplant yet…hopefully she won’t need one but we will be prepared in case she does.
Thank all your friends for their good wishes.
warm regards,
Rema(Dr.Rema Mathew)
Very moving!.
I’m very happy and glad she had this wonderful chance to be ‘a model’ and see her dream become true.
Big hugs from Barcelona!
Lydia
AMAZING! gave me goosebumps. I love the fact that us as photographers can use our talents to help others! I think more people should do what you have done Monica, thanks for reminding us of these things!