Nomzamo Mzobe matriculated with eight distinctions at Sacred Heart Secondary School in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, in 2019.
Mariswe’s Nurture a Girl programme at Sacred Heart Secondary School in Verulam (from left): Kim Dlamini, project administrator at Mariswe; learners Nolwazi Nyathi, Nomzamo Mzobe, Nolwazi Mthiyane, Nombuso Mbanjwa and Nolwazi Ngcobo; Nqobile Goba, deputy principal of Sacred Heart; learner Zandiswa Nyuswa; Zandile Ndhlovu, secretary at Mariswe; and learners Sisanda Ngidi and Sindisiwe Mathenjwa.
During her matric year, Nomzamo was one of 10 learners at the school participating in Mariswe’s Nurture a Girl initiative, started in 2017 to support teenage girls with monthly personal hygiene kits, as well as career advice and counselling. Mariswe is a project management, infrastructure planning and consulting engineering practice with offices across South Africa. The company aims to support up to 70 girls at schools near its offices every year and hopes to expand the programme by getting other businesses on board.
The 20 girls supported over a two-year period at Sacred Heart is a drop in the ocean of over 500 learners at the school. But the beneficiaries, chosen by their teachers, are those in greatest need. “The relationships we have built with the schools we support have shown us how much more can be done to help learners achieve their potential and grow into strong, productive and happy adults,” says Nonkululeko Sindane, CEO of Mariswe.
“Nomzamo has focused on her dream of becoming a neurosurgeon through thick and thin and despite great challenges. Young women like her who are real role models for their peers give us the inspiration to do more.”
Nomzamo achieved distinctions in maths, physical and life sciences, geography, accounting, IsiZulu (home language) and English (first additional language), as well as life orientation. “I love maths, life sciences and geography, they challenge my way of thinking,” she explains.
Her advice to those who wish to excel, and indeed to South Africa, is simple: “A powerful nation is a nation that reads. I believe that words and books are mightier than the sword.”
Nomzamo has had the support of an extended family including her mother, grandmother, two sisters, an uncle and two aunts who live together in Ndwedwe and says her teachers were “not only great but awesome” and kept her going. She adds that good time management and extra tuition made available by the school also helped.
She says Nurture a Girl made a big difference in her life during her final school years. “I really believe the programme is helpful because it gave me the courage to go into the classroom without having to worry about things such as toiletries. My mother lost her job in 2014 and she often struggles to buy necessities.”
Nomzamo would like to see schools get more extra tuition for subjects like maths, maths literacy, physical sciences and English, as well as computer studies. The Acting Principal of Sacred Heart, Nqobile Goba, echoes this, adding that extra tuition for Grades 10 to 12 would significantly improve the results of matriculants.
Nomzamo has just started her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh) at the University of the Witwatersrand with the focus firmly on her chosen career as a neurosurgeon. She has been accepted into the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The proverb that it takes a village to raise a child is so true. Nomzamo has shown what one can do despite the odds, with family support, a school that cares, and a little help with basic necessities that mean a lot when you don’t have them. And of course, a lot of hard work!
