A heart of gold

Get It! (Pretoria) December 2011 p11-13

By Ann Baker. Photo: Ilani Vonk

To some people, she will always
be Karin Edwards, the on-screen
wife of Egoli’s Stephen Edwards.It’s not surprising as she played
the role for 12 years, but these days she
can be found hard at work at Solidariteit
Helpende Hand or sharing her faith as a
Christian motivational speaker.
After spending her final school year
telling all and sundry she was going to
play Stephen Edwards’ wife in Egoli one
day, she landed her dream role straight
out of matric. After many happy years
on set she and her husband Johann
decided that it was time for her to move
on. ‘With three young children, the
irregular schedule was getting to be
too disruptive,’ she explains. It was a
radical move as, after living
her childhood dream, she had
no idea what would happen
next. ‘It took five months for
my storyline to play out, but I never
regretted my decision. I was happy to
leave because things had come to their
natural end, and I was excited about the
possibilities I knew were out there.’
As it happened, she was offered a
job at Solidariteit Helpende Hand as
the public relations officer. She says
‘It’s a small team, so we all get the
opportunity to be creative and come
up with new ideas. We all have our
contacts and it’s a nice environment for
brainstorming. Charity can be a heavy
subject, but for us it’s fun as well. I enjoy
raising funds and helping find solutions
to problems.’
At Solidariteit, their solution to
poverty is education. They have
managed to source around 50
independent bursary funds and a lot
of their support comes from within the
community. This kind of response is
what keeps Lindie going on the days

when everything becomes just a little
too much to handle. She’s passionate
about education and is adamant when
she says, ‘If someone has potential, they
need to be given the help they need
to achieve it. A lot of that help comes
in the form of having access to good
schooling. We also offer career guidance
from an early age. There are jobs out
there, but often children and young
adults need guidance to find the right
place to study and the right job.
A degree no longer guarantees a job;
it must be the right degree.
‘We also encourage entrepreneurship.

Ours is a positive and proactive
organisation. You hear so many people
moaning about South Africa and I say
no, we have a future here! We don’t do
handouts though. You have to be tough,
not just a conscience ease, to make a
lasting difference. We give people the
means to help themselves.’
Lindie’s always had an active mind
and she loves that her job gives her
the freedom to explore other things.
She feels that everyone has more than
one talent and works hard to keep all
of hers active. ‘I’m a ‘what if’ kind of
person,’ she admits. ‘You should always
have something to fall back on. At
the moment I’m also a presenter for a
gospel programme, DKNT on kykNET, so
I’ve still got one toe in the industry.’
She’s also a Christian motivational
speaker, although it’s only recentlythat

she’s become comfortable calling
herself one. As most of her speaking
has been at church functions and often
comes about from word of mouth, she’s
seen it as more of a passion than a job.
She laughs as she says, ‘Up until now
I’ve always been just an actress. I’m just
a girl from PE who had a dream that
came true. I’m a normal person who
took a chance, and I want to share that
with others.’
She passionate about her faith and
enjoys sharing it with others. It also
means that this mom of three loves
Christmas, and not because of the
presents under the tree! ‘I love advent,
the four week build up to Christmas
Day,’ she explains. ‘Every December
we go to other people. This
year we’re staying at home!
We want to start our own
traditions, but we’re quite
simple in our tastes so it won’t revolve
around food or gifts.’
She’s teaching her three children,
Paul (6), Hugo (4) and Nina (4), the
importance of giving. There won’t be
piles of expensive and extravagant gifts
awaiting this family … they’re more into
realistic giving. ‘If you need it, you’ll
get it, but why buy yet another pricey
perfume if you’ve already got one’, asks
Lindie. Instead, they’ll be spending
their time putting together care
packages and gifts for those in need.
‘I want them to be more excited about
giving than receiving.’ And what better
way to celebrate Christmas? It seems
Lindie Strydom is making her mark, and
only in a good way.
If you’d like to invite Lindie to talk
at a function, visit her website at
www.lindiestrydom.co.za or, if you’d
like to lend a hand at Solidariteit, visit
www.helpendehand.co.za