By Paul McKibbin | Project Leader
An opportunity of a lifetime presented itself to Mina (13) when she was awarded a full bursary to attend Dainfern College, an independent day school in Dainfern, Johannesburg, next year. It is an opportunity that this young girl who came from an impoverished background is planning to seize with both hands.
“I am so excited about this opportunity. This could change my life forever and I am going to take it very seriously. I know I can’t snap my fingers and expect to live the life I want. I will have to work for it and going to Dainfern College is the beginning. I was awarded this bursary because the average of all my subjects is above 70%, so I will have to study hard to keep it up,” says Mina seriously and adds that Natural Science, English and Geography are her favourite subjects.
Mina was born to a single mom whose boyfriend disappeared after her birth never to be seen again. Mina lived with her mother and half-sister, Esther, until her mother died unexpectedly. She was only five years old then and her sister eight. After her mother’s death, her aunt took them in for a short while before a social worker arranged for them to be taken into Thandanani House of Refuge in Zandspruit, an informal settlement just outside Johannesburg.
“To live at Thandanani is the closest thing to home as you can get. Our caregivers love us, take care of us and correct us when necessary. When it’s our birthdays they take us out on the weekend after our birthdays. And people from organizations outside Thandanani sometimes take us to movies or I-Jump. It is fun, I like it,”
Mina loves reading, meditating, playing and working in the garden in her free time.
“I love nature and would love to have a career one day where I can connect with people and nature. I’m thinking of becoming a doctor and be part of Doctors Without Borders or maybe a nutritionist where I can work with plants and help people,” she adds.
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