Muks has earned her IB Diploma and is now studying in the United States.
Wamukelwe Dlamini (Muks) has been out of school since the start of 2020, because there was not enough money to pay for her fees. She had completed her first year with flying colours when her single mother of four, found that she could not scrape her consistently near empty bowl of money any further. She had tried for so many years to make ends meet. She wanted nothing more than to see her children live their dreams.
Muks had become accustomed to fund scarcity interrupted school — but this time the duration was longer. Then COVID 19 came offering yet another reason to just give up but Muks is not a quitter. She made do with free online courses from the little money she could coddle together for data — trying to keep learning going even whilst being out of school, as a stop gap measure. Muks believed that a solution would present itself for her educational aspirations if she just kept hope alive. She applied for scholarships every chance she got to be online. Her dream of becoming an epidemiologist felt even more urgent and important during the COVID 19 pandemic, wherein the best disease detectives struggled to find answers.
Then one day it happened — the miracle. Muks checked her email and found great news. The Givat HaViva International School (GHIS) in the Middle East had written to indicate she had been accepted on a full tuition scholarship to do her International Baccalaureate (IB)in Israel starting 1 September 2020. GHIS is not just an IB school. It is a leadership academy for the future we all want — a future that prosperous, peaceful and hosted by a sustainable planet. The GHIS teaching model has received a UN prize for Peace education. Muks had heard about GHIS from her head of school, Barbara Braun at Lilima Montessori High School who watched one of their star pupils drop out dismay. Ms. Braun had been approached by Educational Aspirations which was scouting for talent in Africa on behalf of GHIS which actively pursues diversity and Muks had immediately come to Ms. Braun's mind.
This is how Muks describes the day she got the good news from GHIS:
"When the opportunity to apply at GHIS came I grabbed it with both my hands and feet. I had almost given up and wondered when God would answer my prayers. I prepared day and night for the GHIF interviews, essays and tests. I promised myself to try this school thing one more time and put my all into it. While I was waiting for the email that would tell me if I got accepted into GHIS or not, a lot of emotions ran through my mind as I have been in situations of waiting for an acceptance letter and getting no response. The day I got the email and saw I had been accepted, I could not even speak, so many tears ran from my eyes. I cannot properly explain the feeling. I was in shock for about a week, I could not believe that I had gotten in and with a full tuition scholarship. I remember the day like it was yesterday."
Muk's has made the following commitment to all who those who help her:
"I am so grateful and appreciative to everyone that made this possible. No words can express my gratitude. I promised myself to do my best in everything I do at GHIS and make everyone that has helped me proud. I aspire to be an epidemiologist. I love research science (specialising in biology) and medicine, and I found epidemiology as the link between my two fields of interest. After completing my Diploma program at GHIS, I hope to go to university and study courses in Epidemiology and Public Health.
From all this I have learnt that giving up is not an option and that everything truly happens for a reason. When I am working and successful I will be sure to sponsor children who need the help as I have been in their shoes, and I know the great impact it can have on their lives. Getting sponsored and being given the opportunity to finish school at a prestigious high school is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me."