I was given life on 28 July 2026 at Ford’s Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria.

I did not begin with a name or a colourful outfit. I was simply a soft brown bear waiting on a table, surrounded by Ford employees who had stepped away from their usual work to dedicate 67 minutes in honour of Nelson Mandela’s 67 years of public service.

There were many of us. Three hundred bears were brought to life at Silverton that day, while another 50 were being created by Ford employees at the Struandale Engine Plant in Gqeberha.

But the person making me did not treat me as one of hundreds. Every detail was chosen with care.

Before I was completed, a small red heart was placed inside me. My person held me close, gave me a hug and quietly said a prayer for the journey ahead. I did not yet know where I was going or who would eventually hold me, but that moment gave my journey meaning.

Then came my clothes. I was given a Ford t-shirt and a colourful skirt that made me look ready for somewhere special.

My birth certificate gave me a name: Thando, which means love. My nickname is Blue. It also asked what I would like to be when I grow up. I chose engineer at the Ford Silverton Assembly Plant. After all, it was the place where my own story began.

A handwritten message was added for the child who would receive me. It carried words of hope and encouragement from someone they had never met, but who had spent time thinking about them.

Once we were ready, the bears from Silverton and Struandale began the next part of our journey. We left the places where we had been created and travelled to Johannesburg, bound for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.

Until then, I had only been able to imagine the child waiting for me.

Would they like my bright skirt? Would they give me a new nickname? Would I sit beside them while they read or watched television? Perhaps I would be held tightly on a difficult day or become a quiet companion when the hospital felt unfamiliar.

When we arrived, there were people waiting to welcome us. They spoke about the care that had gone into creating each bear and about the comfort a familiar companion can bring to a child receiving treatment.

I heard Neale Hill, Ford Motor Company Africa Operations president, describe each of us as an individual act of kindness from an employee at Silverton or Struandale.

That felt right.

We may have arrived together, but each bear carried something personal. Inside every one of us was a heart, a special wish and the care of the employee who had created us. Each of us also carried a message intended for one child.

Then it was time to enter the wards.

Some bears were positioned beside hospital beds, close to monitors and folded blankets. Others were carried through the passages in the arms of Ford representatives and hospital staff. One by one, we were introduced to the children who would become our people.

And then I was placed into a child’s hands.

The journey that began with a small red heart at Silverton ended in an embrace at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital. The employee who made me may never meet the child holding me, and the child may never know the person who chose my clothes and whispered a prayer for my journey.

But I carry something of them both.

I began as a bear waiting to be brought to life. Now I have a name, a heart and a purpose: to be hugged, loved and kept close whenever my new person needs a friend.

Thando is one of 350 bears created by workers from Ford South Africa's Silverton and Straundale plants for the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital.