Despite coming from a poor background, the 17-year-old Jetro Nkuna has been elected as the new head prefect of the boarding school at Meridian Karino. His leadership skills and discipline has earned him this position at the school.  Jetro was one of the learners awarded the Innibos bursary in 2019, supported by TRACN4.

Raised by his great-grandmother after the death of his mother and never having met his father, the young man said, “I was excited that I will be attending a better school, but never thought that I would end up being elected a leader of the hostel, because I only joined the school a year ago. This has shown me that it doesn’t matter where you are from. This is the start of new things for me.”

Jetro was born and raised in Ngondini, where his former school principal, Bongani Nkambule, saw his potential. Nkambule assisted Jetro to apply for the Innibos bursary, and Jetro looks up to him as a father figure. After being screened for his outstanding performance at his previous school, Jetro was eligible for this bursary, which took care of his school and hostel fees.

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“I am working very hard so that after matric I will be able to get a university bursary and change the situation I grew up in. I want to be an entrepreneur after matric, but my second option is to be an educator, because I believe in quality education,” he said.

Sandra Jacobs of Innibos said they are very proud of Jetro being recognised as a leader at a young age, and the fact that one of the bursary beneficiaries is excelling, proves they made the right choice selecting him.

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“We are very happy for him that he was elected, and we believe his leadership skills will bring change to the hostel. We are proud of him and we are aware that he is currently doing well with his studies, and we will continue supporting him where we can,” she said.

His adoptive mother, Melody Tomlinson, said she is super proud of Jetro. “His kind heart and caring nature, his love of people, respect and helpfulness set him apart. Thank you to everyone who has and are contributing to his development, especially Sandra Jacobs for the Innibos bursary that has provided him with quality education, and Bongani Nkambule, his former principal. Thank you to all the educators who have guided him, and most of all to his great-granny, Maureen Nkuna, who has raised him,” Tomlinson said.