Mom helps daughter study for top degree
ITASHIA Sivona Chetty is the first person from her family to graduate from college, and it’s all thanks to her mother, Ideleen, who secretly applied for bursaries to help her daughter.
When her daughter got into a course, Ideleen used the proceeds from a tuck shop she operated from home to ensure there was money to help with costs not covered by the bursary.
Chetty, 23, from Tongaat has graduated magna cum laude in software engineering, from the Commerce and Computer College of South Africa in Durban Central.
Chetty knew her family had no money to help her study after high school, so she got a job at a call centre after matriculating in 2017, from Belverton Secondary, also in Tongaat.
“I wanted to study business management but I did
not have the money to study. I decided to take a gap year. I got a job at a call centre. While working my mother began applying for bursaries on my behalf.
“I had no idea about it. Then one day she came up to me and told me one of the applications was successful. She actually found it in the POST. I was in shock but I was so grateful.”
The bursary was for IT and software engineering.
“I was a bit concerned because it was not what I wanted to study initially, however during the bursary handover, one of the people involved, told me that if God did not want me to be in this field, the bursary would not have been made available to me.
“Those words stuck with me from that day. Whenever I doubted myself, I repeated those words.
‘I trusted in my capabilities and stayed motivated.”
Chetty said the bursary covered a portion of the costs.
“My mother helped me pay the balance of my fees on a monthly basis. She bought my books, and paid my registration fees and transport fees.
“She paid these expenses by running a tuck shop from a wendy house outside our home. It was challenging because she is a single parent and the income from the tuck shop was also used to support our home.”
Chetty said she hit obstacles during Covid-19 and the July 2021 unrest.
“During Covid-19 I had to do online studying. Mum had to ensure there was at least R300 a week available for data and airtime. Then when the looting took place the tuck shop was damaged. All the stock was stolen.
“While recovering from this, mum started sewing, and making and selling samoosas to ensure my fees were paid.
“She was resilient in everything she did for me and she never let our circumstances stop me from getting an education. I am so thankful to her.”
Ideleen said: “I’m so excited and proud of my daughter. There are many parents who are facing similar challenges like me.
“My advice to them is stand by your child and try to do whatever it takes to ensure they further their education.”