Alex’s own astronomer begins her journey but hurdles mount
What Girly Tshabalala thought was the end of her miseries when her daughter passed matric with flying colours has turned out to even bigger nightmare for her as a single mother of Mandisa and a young boy and needs any help she can get.
Alexandra resident Mandisa Tshabalala has taken her first step to become the township’s first astronomer.
This was confirmed by the mother of the bright spark Girly Tshabalala who said her daughter had enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Girly said the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had accepted her daughter’s funding application and she had already moved into a campus residence and was settling down to her studies.
“I just bought her a few items that would make her life a bit bearable without her normal parental care and hope she adjusts soon and becomes comfortable. The only item that we have a hurdle with is buying her a laptop, which is a standard requirement for her degree, and hope a good Samaritan can come to her aid,” Girly told Alex News.
She said Mandisa seemed to be the only one from a disadvantaged background in that field of study while her counterparts from private schools have everything they needed. “She is already at a disadvantage [without a laptop] and the fact that her former school never offered advanced programme maths.
“I still have to top up her residency fees as the NSFAS cap amounts to R45 000 a year and Wits charges more than R60 000 and I still have another child of school-going age that I have to support as well.”
Girly said she believed in her daughter and her son and it was her wish to make their lives a lot easier than hers. “I had no one but they have me and only me. I will do whatever it takes and in my power to make sure they get what they need to achieve their goals, even if it means asking for help which I hardly ever do.”
To make matters worse, Mandisa accidentally dropped her cellphone and now can’t use it for study purposes and also needs new glasses.
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