This Valentine’s Day we celebrate five powerful couples who are spreading the love by using their influence and resources to make the world a better place. These couples illustrate the power of love in more ways than we could imagine!
1. Desmond and Leah Tutu
Having been married for over 60 years, Desmond and Leah Tutu are the epitome of love. Despite their celebrated role in ending apartheid in South Africa, the two have also gone beyond in post apartheid South Africa by establishing the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation, which aims to promote peace, foster reconciliation, respect and tolerance as well as enhance health and well-being.
2. Mo and Haina Ibrahim
Mo and Haina are a Sudanese born philanthropic couple. Mo established the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to put governance at the centre of any conversation on African development. He believes that governance is at the heart of any tangible and shared improvement in the quality of life of African citizens, and he also sits on the ONE board helping us to develop our organisation. The foundation awards African presidents who at the end of their term have demonstrated a commitment to improving the lives of their citizens. His wife Haina, a retired radiologist consultant was reported in The Guardian in 2009 as working on setting up a breast cancer hospital in Khartoum.
3. Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa
Strive Masiyiwa is the chairman and founder of Econet, a diversified global telecommunications group. He and his wife Tsitsi founded the Higherlife Foundation. Philanthropists Strive and Tsitsi, dedicated to investing in advancing development in Africa, have through the foundation been instrumental in setting up of trusts that have played a pivotal role in education and health-care reform. In 2010 Strive and Tsitsi joined The Giving Pledge, started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage wealthy families worldwide to give at least half of their wealth to charity.
4. Patrice and Precious Motsepe
Patrice Motsepe is a South African mining magnate who is married to businesswoman Precious Moloi-Motsepe. The Motsepes established the Motsepe Foundation in 1999 with a primary aim to end poverty and uplift the lives of the marginalised in South Africa, Africa, and the world. The Motsepe family is also part of The Giving Pledge.
5. Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel
This list would be incomplete without mentioning the dedication to end extreme poverty shown by the late great statesman, Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel. These two founded the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Graca Machel Trust respectively and worked together to address poverty, inequality and some of the health challenges the world faces. They were more than just politicians, but have greater goodness at heart!
There you have it folks, five great love birds who are have made a mark in history for their great work to improve people’s lives
