NELISWA UP TO THE CHALLENGE
Ex-domestic studies to be social worker
STARTING your first university degree in your 40s is no child’s play, especially if your last qualification is a matric certificate, which you obtained more than 20 years ago.
But all these challenges are not stopping former domestic worker Neliswa Mkungwana, who is determined to be a social worker.
The 41-year-old is doing a foundation phase, a requirement for her to be admitted to study for a degree in social work at the University of South Africa.
Mkungwana, who has been doing odd jobs since she matriculated in 1992 and has been a domestic worker for six years, says she will not let her circumstances prevent her from pursuing her dreams.
Mkungwana, who now works for Relate, an NGO in Cape Town, had to find work after matriculating when her mother, who was a widow, died.
With three siblings to support, Mkungwana had to forget her dreams of becoming a teacher.
She moved from Centane, a small town near Mthatha in Eastern Cape to Gugulethu, Cape Town, where piece jobs were available.
“My father passed away when we were very young and my mother soon followed him,” she said.
Things became even tougher when her sister also died in 2003, leaving her with her three children.
“So now I have four children, including my biological child,” she said.
While she was employed as a domestic worker, her employer of six years started an NGO that makes bracelets with beads to help povertystricken women around Cape Town to earn an income.
“I did domestic work during the day and made bracelets at night to earn an extra income,” she said.
Because of Mkungwana ’ s exceptional beadwork, her employer hired her to work for Relate and found another domestic worker to replace her.
Her lack of formal education fuels her drive to study more. With funding from Relate, Mkungwana has been able to obtain a driver ’ s licence and a basic computer skills certificate. She is now employed as a quality controller.
“I get to work at 7am, two hours before I begin work and study. It is challenging to work, be a parent and study at the same time, but I will succeed, ” Mkungwana says.
“I want to be a professional and earn more money. I believe education will take me where I want to be and provide a better life for me and my family. ”
She says this is the gospel she preaches even to her children education changes lives.
“I wish my children would take up the opportunities they have. They have to study hard and be independent.”
Mkungwana says people in situations similar to hers should not give up their dreams.
Mkungwana is now writing her final exams for her bridging course. She still has four more years to go before she graduates, but she is not fazed. “I will not lose sight of my goals,” she says.
“I developed the love for social work after realising that by helping others, I am also helping myself.”
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