Young scientist recalls cow herding days
INSPIRING stories of ordinary students doing extraordinary things to realise their academic dreams have emerged during graduation at Rhodes University.
With the odds seemingly stacked against them, several of this year’s 2 191 graduates have climbed their own personal Everest of poverty, gender apartheid, rural isolation and language and cultural differences to emerge top of the class.
From far flung places like Cameroon to the Matatiele outback and rural Kwazulu-natal farmlands, three of Rhodes’s top achievers all agreed that without caring parents and mentors – and lots of hard work – their dreams would never have come true.
As a young boy tending his father’s cattle in Nqutu in the Natal Midlands, Philani Mashazi never dreamed he would one day make his parents proud by becoming the first person from his family to ever go to university.
“Up until the end of matric, I used to wake up early and take the cattle to the veld before school and bring them home after class. “Every Wednesday I would miss school to take the cattle to the dip,” he recalled. Encouraged by teachers to realise his dreams, Mashazi was the only matric student the year he finished at the rural school he attended to go to university. “I now try to inspire others to follow their dreams,” he explained.
Considered one of South Africa’s top young scientists, Mashazi was not content to rest on his laurels after getting his MSC in 2007 – with distinction.
Although he went off to find work to support his parents, he also studied part time for the next six years at Rhodes. On the verge of patenting some groundbreaking research he has been doing in the corporate world, Mashazi finally got his PHD this week.
“I have a stop order on my bank account and send money home every month . . . all three of my siblings have followed in my footsteps by also going to university.”
From Cameroon to Grahamstown, Aaron Jöel Lontsi Sob had to overcome cultural and language differences when he arrived in 2010.
“In the beginning it was difficult to understand the English accents of my lecturers.”
Fortunately, Sob arrived in Grahamstown on the eve of the Soccer World Cup and got caught up in the melting pot of world cultures that attended the football extravaganza.
After completing his honours degree in physics, the hardworking student is now reading towards a master’s degree in science in the field of solid-state physics.
This week he got his bachelor of science honours with distinction in physics.“After my master’s degree I will be happy to continue with a PHD,” he said. “My aim is to help the community through education and research.”
Explaining the importance of mentors and role models, Sob said he was inspired by Cameroonian Dr Ernest Simo – one of the first black African scientists to work at Nasa. “I had to overcome a lot of difficulties . . . financial difficulties and a changing environment.”
Another success story is Mthatha born scientist Nolwazi Nombona, 26, who said most women she grew up with in Matatiele did not study past high school. Trapped in a cycle of poverty, many fell pregnant to access child grants instead of realising their true potential.
“It is the norm for girls back home to fall pregnant and get married.
“I do not consider myself lucky . . . my parents played a pivotal role in my education career.
“I was not pressurised to go and work, I was encouraged to further my education.”
A top achiever at Grahamstown’s Victoria Girls’ High School, Nombona was given a first year bursary to Rhodes and never looked back.
After studying for a BSC in chemistry and bio chemistry, she did honours in chemistry and graduated this week with her PHD. She now works with Mashazi at Mintek doing nanotechnology.
“I am motivated by knowledge and excellence. I go by the saying ‘the biggest deterrent to racism, sexism, etc, is excellence.
“I also have a passion for people, when younger students come up to me and say ‘I want to do what you do’ it gets me extremely motivated.”
Daily Dispatch
BY DAVID MACGREGOR
Port Alfred Bureau