GlobalGrind was paid a visit by Australian model Cheyenne Tozzi the other day. Looking fresh and sporty, the brown belt karate national champ and surfer excitedly told us about Safe Haven Children’s Trust, an organization that helps orphaned children in Cambodia.
The charity was founded by Benedicta Bywater in 2009 followed by the opening Mlop Children’s Home in 2010, an actual caring environment providing a home for orphaned and homeless children.
Cheyenne is proud to help Safe Haven’s Children’s Trust as much as she can, getting others to provide food, clothing and donations towards the Mlop Children’s Home.
She understands positive actions such as this unfortunately do not last on good will alone and supports the foundation as much as possible. Safe Haven’s Children Trust is a wonderful charity relieving poverty in Cambodia, advancing education for the young, and protecting good health.
If busy models can take time out of their busy schedules to help, so can we. Go to safehavencambodia.org/donate and justgiving.com/safehavenchildrenstrust/donate to contribute.
Check out Cheyenne Tozzi’s amazing interview plus cool pics on the following pages.
[pagebreak]
Global Grind: What part of Australia are you from and how long have you been modeling?
Cheyenne Tozzi: Sydney and I’ve been modeling for 10 years.
Did you start in Sydney?
My mom was a model and all my aunts were models, so I grew up in the gang. I’ve been in New York for five years doing my piece here.
Who are you signed with in New York?
Elite.
How do you like it here?
New York, I feel like it runs on a mission for only God knows what! Everyone’s running around, but I’m a lot more laid back, if you haven’t noticed.
Do you go back home often?
Yeah, my mom and my family live in Bali, in Indonesia, so I try to see them wherever they are.
[pagebreak]
You’re involved with your friend’s charity, Safe Haven Children’s Trust, in Cambodia. How did you and Benedicta Bywater meet and become involved?
We’ve actually been friends for a couple of years now. She was tired of trying to get the job and trying to please everyone else but herself and so she took a trip. Right away she met someone there and she saw the devastation in Cambodia. She saw broken families and built this really wonderful sanctuary, which is so necessary for kids now, because they have so little in terms of food and goals for the future. Benedicta is really building this incredible thing, but she needs some force behind her. In this case, six degrees of separation is all about trying to get someone who knows that person who can help with clothes and food for children. I am just trying to help anyway I can. The people who run Safe Haven Children’s Trust are really good people.
[pagebreak]
What does the organization do and how long has it been around?
They take care of kids while the parents are at work because the parents, they can’t. They try to nurture and care for homeless children, too. The families are torn between trying to making ends meet and taking care of their children. There aren’t any resources so Benedicta provides a stable foundation for the children. In this type of environment, kids can get along with other kids, they can play games, learn, be safe, see doctors. Benedicta needs money to keep that stuff going. Goodwill is great, but she needs more than Goodwill, she needs funds.
Safe Haven is new; it’s a fresh idea. It was founded and registered as a charity in the UK in 2009.
[FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SAFE HAVEN CHILDREN’S TRUST, CLICK HERE]
[pagebreak]
Have you always been exposed to philanthropy growing up with members of your family?
Yeah, my whole family! My mother is a hippie! Basically, she’s like a flower child. Every time I came home from school it was 28 people in the house and there were always the homeless kids at Christmas time. Mom was always into socializing and organizing things for those who were in unfortunate situations.
Do you have siblings?
Yes, I have a sister. She’s older, she’s an actress in Los Angeles.
So you have a family of entertainers. Did you guys get along growing up?
We did actually. I was always working, we were always working. We weren’t really the type to stay at home and play games. I was traveling, she was working at a pretty young age.
Yeah, basically I’m the clown and my sister, Tahyna Valentina, is the nicest person in the world!
[pagebreak]
What do you see for yourself? Do you see yourself continuing in the industry, or leaving and doing something else, or maybe doing more philanthropy work?
I’m finishing my album at the moment.
What kind of music do you make?
It’s acoustic and R&B. I have basically finished the album and then I’m doing some more dance related stuff.
What’s your creative process like?
I write everything myself and I’m working with a new kid now. So we’re going to do an album because he’s incredible.
I would travel for myself, was in airports for years, so I use that and write it down. It helps a lot too, just to get everything down from your mind to paper. I mean I scuffle it around when I hear music, then I can pick that and use that you know, it’s all fun. Russell put some songs on the website when it wasn’t finished (laughs).
[pagebreak]
We know you played tennis growing up, what other sports did you play?
I’m a brown belt in karate and was an Australia national champion. I surf a little bit, I play volleyball. It’s Australia so we’re always on the beach running down sand hills and all that jazz. I also use to box and do karate with my father.
It seems Australians, especially Australian women, are more active than your typical American or Brit. Is it because you guys are so far away from everything?
We don’t see it as if we grew up far away from everything because that’s where we’re from. I grew up in Sydney surfing and playing sports. I was in Fiji for a shoot once and the kids in Fiji, literally, their smiles were from ear to ear. They had two rocks and stick, laughing their f*cking heads off. I thought that’s awesome because that’s how simple their lives were. You only know what you know and where you are from, I think. The other model I was with thought how bored they must be. I asked her, are you nuts? They’ve got one lighter between the whole crew and they just have this beautiful time because they don’t know any better. I came here and I thought, oh my God, they are awesome! They were surfing and all that stuff; it was their culture. I think here, the culture is music and fashion. In Australia I’m always hoping I’ll catch the biggest wave. I think it’s all about perspective.
It was a pleasure chatting with you and hearing about all of your latest projects. We are looking forward to hearing your album and learning more about Safe Haven’s Children Trust.
Thank you!
[pagebreak]
Cheyenne Tozzi
[pagebreak]
Cheyenne Tozzi
[pagebreak]
Cheyenne Tozzi
[pagebreak]
Cheyenne Tozzi with Safe Haven Children’s Trust founder Benedicta Bywater.
