There are days that stay with you. Not because of the décor or the guest list, but because of what was in the room. The honesty. The tears that nobody apologised for. The sense that something important had just begun.
Last week was one of those days.
Keep Hope Alive, our registered non-profit organisation founded by award-winning South African entrepreneur and philanthropist Snoekie Mabena-Saleh, was officially launched at a powerful and emotional event attended by supporters, community members, media personalities, industry guests, and families who knew, firsthand, exactly why this organisation needs to exist.
This was not a corporate launch. It was not a ribbon-cutting exercise or a PR moment. It was a room full of people who have lived through loss. People who have sat in the silence that follows a funeral when everyone else has gone home. Who have wondered how to keep going when the person they built their life around is no longer there. And for the first time, many of them felt seen.
Keep Hope Alive was born from Snoekie’s own journey as a widow. From the gap she found between the grief she was carrying and the support that was actually available to her. From the conversations she kept having with other widows and widowers who were navigating the same invisible weight, often alone, often in silence, often while holding everyone else together. She built this organisation because she understood, not theoretically but personally, that healing is harder without community. That hope, in its most honest form, is not something you manufacture on your own. It is something you find in the presence of people who understand where you have been.
Our registered non-profit officially opens its doors offering healing circles, grief conversations, wellness walks, storytelling programmes, and community support specifically designed for widows and widowers across South Africa. These are not once-off events or tick-box interventions. They are sustained, community-rooted spaces where people can show up exactly as they are, without pressure to be further along in their healing than they actually are. Where grief is not treated as a problem to be solved, but as a journey to be walked, together.
The day also celebrated the launch of Snoekie’s debut book, When Heaven Chose Us, a deeply personal and uplifting work that moves through themes of overcoming adversity, self-belief, emotional healing, and the quiet courage it takes to keep going during the most painful seasons of life. The book is not separate from the mission of Keep Hope Alive. It is an extension of it. A resource for the people the organisation exists to serve. A hand reaching through the page to say: you are not alone, and you are not finished.
Speaking at the launch, Snoekie reflected on what drove her to build both: “This book was written to remind people that no matter how painful life becomes, hope should never die. We all go through storms, disappointments, and heartbreak, but there is always light ahead. I want someone who feels broken, lost, or discouraged to read it and realise they still have a reason to fight for a better tomorrow.”
That is not a motivational slogan. That is a testimony from someone who has lived every word of it.
Guests described the atmosphere as inspiring, powerful, and necessary. Testimonies were shared. Conversations happened throughout the day that would not have happened anywhere else. And as the day drew to a close, one message remained unmistakably clear throughout the room: no matter the circumstances, hope must always remain alive.
This is the beginning of something real. Something rooted. Something that this country has needed for a long time.
If you would like to know more about Keep Hope Alive or get involved as a partner, donor, or community member, follow us at or reach out directly. Our community is open. No referral required.