Last year in
January, Gloria Sekwena was trying to register her son Kabelo for his first
year in university. A nurse who lived in London, she had made the journey home
to ensure that her son’s education would be taken care of. But in a tragic turn
of events, a stampede
that occurred outside the Bunting Road campus of the University of Johannesburg
tragically took her life and left Kabelo without a mother.
In a swift response to the tragedy, the University of Johannesburg gave Kabelo a bursary
for his tuition, and Eduloan assisted with his accommodation, textbook and food
costs.
Eduloan caught
up with Kabelo recently to see how he is getting along, and also to commemorate
the positive contribution his mother made to his life.
As part of our
Women’s Month blog posts, we couldn’t think of a more fitting woman to place in
the spotlight than this selfless mother.
Eduloan: It’s been less than a year
since you lost your mum – so the most important thing we want to ask you is how
you are coping with her loss?
Kabelo: It
hasn’t been easy, but I’m trying my best to cope. My father came back from
overseas and is staying nearby so I see him every day, and my brother is in
Pretoria, so I do have my family here to support me.
Eduloan: The fact that your mother
travelled all the way back home just to make sure that you were enrolled in
university shows what a high importance she placed on your education – as a
role model, what other important values did she teach you?
Kabelo: Honesty
was a big part of her life and what she tried to teach us. Her faith,
determination and a good work ethic were also the values that she taught me.
She did believe very much in education; she said education was important to
open doors and find opportunities in life. She was a strong believer that
studying would broaden our horizons.
Eduloan: We believe that you are
studying Biomedical Technology – why did you choose this field of study and
what are your plans for your career after you have finished studying?
Kabelo: Yes,
I’ve always been interested in the medical sciences. My studies form part of a
broad spectrum of medical sciences, such as genetics and haematology, which are
the aspects of the course that I most enjoy partaking of. Ultimately, my dream
is to work for an organisation like the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) in
Atlanta, USA.
Eduloan: How are the studies going? How
did you find your first year at UJ?
Kabelo: It’s
been difficult, but I hope I’m doing ok! My finals are coming up soon and I
think that I will get good results.
Eduloan: What do you believe could be
done better in future to prevent problems arising from the large numbers of
people trying to register for university?
Kabelo: I heard
that next year they are planning to have a centralised application process,
which I think will be better.
Eduloan: Do you have any words of wisdom
for how the youth could appreciate their elders, and especially their mothers,
more?
Kabelo: I’ve
learnt that when you lose someone, you don’t notice how much of an impact they
have on your life and how important they are until they are gone, and it becomes
too late. So I would say respect your elders and appreciate them while you have
the chance.
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