African Success Story

A Special Place

I was ten, my brother was seven, and my little sister was five when the judge decided that we must go to live in an orphanage. I had a broken soul.

Looking back at my life, I shed tears, thinking of the pain that I endured as a girl. However, as I look at the challenges I’ve overcome, those initial tears become tears of joy.  There is hope where there was once despair. That is why mine is an African Success Story.

As a little girl, my family went through turbulent times. My parents fought incessantly. Their fights were horrible: no-one was spared. As the violence at home escalated, we were sent to SOS Children’s Village for our own safety, and to salvage what little of our souls we had left.

There was a overwhelming loneliness in my life. I had no sense of identity, no self-esteem, no hope.  I longed to be loved. I longed to belong. I wanted to be a child. I wanted to stop crying every time I went to bed. I wanted to be happy. Then I had the biggest break of my life... Maru-a-Pula School offered me a bursary.

My Big Break

Even though I didn’t know it at the time, the experiences and education that I would receive at MaP were to become a formidable foundation for a better life, for me and my family. How do people have hope in someone that does not have hope in herself? How does one trust in another, believing that she will use the resources to empower herself, and not waste them? Even now, I am still not sure of the answer. But I am sure that MaP believed in me at the time of my life when I did not have clarity about who I was and who I could be.

During my teenage years, my temper became so bad that I fought physically with my family.  After my father passed away, I did not know how to mourn him. I became emotionally numb. I had a great fear that he would come back to haunt me. For a whole year, I was consumed by this fear. I had anxiety attacks. The school reached out and offered me counselling. Each of my teachers at MaP believed in me and constantly encouraged me to excel. I became confident in my school work as well as in myself as a young woman. My social skills improved. With the school being supportive of me, I was able to love and support myself by accepting who I was. I learned how to turn my weaknesses into strengths.

On the Road to Success

MaP was loyal to me for six years by providing a bursary. The vision of who I wanted to become was born during my time at MaP. I became obsessed with achieving my dreams. At the end of my school career, I knew I wanted to be a Real Estate mogul… like a Donald Trump of Africa. I got a BSc (Property Studies) from Africa’s most prestigious university, University of Cape Town (UCT), and I have just completed my post graduate in Property at UCT.  I am happy. Because of MaP’s commitment, I have had no choice but to be loyal to my dreams, 100%.

If Maru-a-Pula had not fully committed to me, this story would have a different ending. I do not want to entertain what sort of ending it could have been; I just know it wouldn’t have been positive. In the future I hope to be in a position whereby I can tell a little girl or boy in a desperate situation that,

“Yours is an African story. Yours can and will be an African success story, like mine.  This is how… Education is the only way out. It is the beginning of a better life, it is the door to limitless opportunities and here it is, yours.”

Maru-a-Pula is the place where success stops being an illusion and starts being a reality. I have told my story because the generosity of Maru-a-Pula has helped forge a life where all that is good is possible. After seeing what Maru-a-Pula has done for me, I hope that others will join me in supporting MaP. To help others, please follow the link to www.marupula.org

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