A former Miss South Africa and Miss World finalist, Amy Kleinhans-Curd continues to captivate and enthral both audiences and fashion photographers. Since winning the Miss South Africa title a little over ten years ago, Amy has become one of the most recognizable and loved personalities in South Africa. She has matured into a woman even more beautiful than the young Amy Kleinhans, whose dazzling beauty mesmerized the world of beauty and fashion, and whose radiant personality made her an instant celebrity.
In 2004, Amy came out tops in the Rapport/City Press Prestige Awards, an award dedicated to celebrating South Africa’s inspiring female achievers; an award that reaffirms the depth of character of this many faceted woman who fully embraces her roles as wife, mother, and nowadays, the driving force behind Dial-a-Teacher.
Amy met her husband Leighton, a New Zealander and very successful businessman at a hydro in Stellenbosch, at the end of her Miss South Africa tenure. The fact that the handsome New Zealander had no clue that she was the reigning Miss South Africa, allowed Amy to drop her guard a little, and the two quickly got into a conversation.
The next time the two encountered each other was at a charity function. As a guest of honour, Amy had arrived without a cent on her, and with only a cash bar from which to order something cold and wet. “When my thirst got the better of me, I started to look around for help,” she tells with a look of mischief in her eyes. “I caught a glimpse of Leighton and thought ‘Hey, there’s that guy from the hydro! I know him, sort of!’ So I shifted a little closer and in great embarrassment asked him if I could borrow some money from him to buy a cold drink.” Like a real gentleman, Leighton saved the young woman with a hundred rand note, and so paved the way for romance and love.
More than a decade later the two are happily married, with two beautiful children of their own and a precious foster child.
As if a husband and three children are not enough to keep her busy, this qualified teacher also founded Dial-a-Teacher. “I have always dreamed about every child in South Africa having access to private tuition. One evening, when Leighton and I were at his call centre, I noticed that all the computer equipment and telephones were not being utilized after hours, and immediately I realized that it is exactly the time of day when children need help with their homework.” Amy wasted no time, and with the help of Leighton, South Africa’s only educational call centre was established.
The trial run was extremely successful, and soon a host of commercial companies made contact with Amy to provide the service of Dial-a-Teacher to the children of their employees and even their clients. Amy also linked up with SABC’s School TV. “It is a win-win situation,” she explains. “The children get help from a professional person who actually understands the schoolwork; the parents no longer have the pressure of trying to help their children with subjects that require in-depth knowledge; and the teachers get the chance to work with children on a more personal basis.”
As if this is not enough, Amy is also the patron for Life Line Childline in the Western Cape, as well as the national spokesperson for a beauty product range with more than two hundred salons and hydros.
She also works closely with former President Nelson Mandela on several causes, and the two of them have forged a very special friendship. “He is my role model and mentor,” she says. “He is such a dignified gentleman, always standing up when another person walks into a room, and never taking anything for granted. I have learnt many valuable lessons, but most importantly, he once told me, ‘Your background is your backbone. Never forget where you come from’.”
When Amy wants to escape from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, she turns to her children. “My children switch the world off for me,” she says. “It feels like a holiday when I am with my children. Sometimes we lie outside on the trampoline and stare at the Jacaranda leaves and give free reins to our imagination.”
With an abundance of imagination and an excellent sense of humour, Amy is a master storyteller, and the life of any party. “I probably inherited my story telling talent from my father,” she explains, “And like any good storyteller he also exaggerated every now and then, but o boy, his stories were something else!”
Perhaps the secret to Amy’s contentment with her own life lies in the passion with which she throws herself into each project, heart and soul every day. “Everything I have worked for is now beginning to bear the fruits of my labour,” she says. “And I like the person I have become in the process. Life is about choices. We choose to be happy or unhappy. We choose where we want to go with our lives. I am satisfied with the choices I have made. I think I find fulfilment in the knowledge that I have made the best of every situation in which I have found myself. You know, my parents would have been happy if I only made matric. I was a hyper active child and suffered from attention deficit disorder. But intentionally I decided to go to university. And now, as I look back on how everything turned out… if I can make it work, then anyone can!”