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Cape Town – Duchess Meghan wrapped up the Cape Town leg of the Sussex Royal Tour when she visited mothers2mothers for what turned out to be the most inspiring and uplifting afternoon yet in none other than the Foreshore, Cape Town on a bright and sunny Wednesday afternoon.
Her Royal Highness was greeted by Frank Beadle De Paloma, president and a CEO of mothers2mothers, an African not-for-profit organisation with the vision of a healthy, HIV-free Africa.
The organisation trains and employs women living with HIV as frontline health workers across eight African nations. The "mentor mothers" work both in health facilities and door-to-door in local communities to deliver health services while educating other women and their families.
(INSPIRED AND FULL OF JOY: Duchess Meghan chats to a group of women at mothers2mothers. Photo: African News Agency/Henk Kruger)
"I wanted to shut down," Limpho Nteko, a mothers2mothers spokeswoman and regional manager with a story of her own told Meghan.
Limpho was 19 years old when she married a man seven years older than her and fell pregnant. She lost her child just three weeks after she was born.
She tearfully told of how she couldn't deal with the diagnoses, felt ashamed and wanted to take her own life, but then she fell pregnant again and met a mentor mother.
"They made me believe again. Being HIV positive is not a death sentence," she said.
She has two children now – both are HIV-free.
(ADORABLE: Duchess Meghan plays with children at mothers2mothers. Photo: African News Agency/Henk Kruger)
Her Royal Highness chatted to some of the women, and played with some of their babies, before donating some of the baby clothes Archie's grown out of. "My friends and I just brought some little things. It's so important to be able to share from our families to yours," she said, before making her way out where she was greeted once more by adoring fans.
One of them was eight-year-old Amara Nenguke.
(A DREAM COME TRUE: Amara Nenguke is overwhelmed meeting Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. Photo: Getty Images)
In tears when she saw Duchess Meghan, the royal gave her a tight squeeze before kneeling down to console the little girl.
"I've never met such an amazing person," Amara gushed in an interview.
And when asked what it was she spoke to Her Royal Highness about in that magical moment she said, "She asked me how old I am, I answered, and she asked me what I wanted to do one day, and she asked me my name. I said, 'I want to be a paediatrician'," Amara said.
And Her Royal Highness told her, "'You can be anything you want'."
