Moving to a new country and having to learn Afrikaans from scratch has not stopped two bright Ugandan sisters from reaching academic excellence.

Shukra (15) and her sister Esther (14) Mabaso are currently in grade 9 at HTS Potchefstroom where they are the top academic performers.

See the video of Shukra and Esther speaking Afrikaans here:

They relocated to South Africa from Uganda at the end of 2021 after missing two years of school due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Both sisters were born in South Africa, but moved to Uganda at the age of 4 to live with their grandmother, Nastanzia Nabukenya, whilst their mother, Annet Adyambo, worked in Potch to put bread on the table. Adyambo has her own bead business in the MooiRivier Mall.

After an extensive process of trying to enrol two daughters into a school, with the help of God and a miracle she managed to enrol them at HTS Potchefstroom in early 2022.

“I decided that my daughters should join me in Potch, because they just sat at home in Uganda due to the pandemic. It was a miracle that they managed to get enrolled after acceptance closed for 2022. I was persistent and knew that God would come through for us,” says Annet, who credits God for giving her daughters a chance.

“I went to HTS Potch and the principal at that time, mr. Dries de Beer, told us that there was a waiting list of 70 students. I got into contact with Samuel Louw (former Member of Parliament) who helped me to enroll my two daughters. I am forever grateful for my faith in God,” added Annet.

Shukra and Esther did not understand a word of Afrikaans or Setswana, but their Afrikaans tutor, Jessica Mothofo, did brilliant work in getting the basics right in the first few months.

“She is amazing. She worked tooth and nail to help us. In the first term, we did well in all the subjects at school, except Afrikaans. Ms. Marieta Basson, out Afrikaans First Additional Language teacher at HTS, helped us tremendously as well and encouraged us to work hard,” states Shukra.

They received Afrikaans tutoring everyday after school for an hour from Monday to Thursday, which really helped them not only to improve their marks, but also to integrate into the school and predominantly Afrikaans community of Potch.

“It was hard at first, but we put the effort in. We also have each other and that makes it much easier as we can help one another,” explains Esther.

In the second, third and fourth quarter they excelled in Afrikaans in such a way that they became the standout learners in their grade. Shukra was named the dux learner in grade 8 in 2023. Esther was third in the top 10.

“Ek is baie dankbaar vir my ouer en onderwysers,” exclaims Shukra to show how her proficiency in Afrikaans has grown in only a year.

Back in Uganda, the sisters spoke English and also Luganda, a native language.

“We want to continue performing in our academics so that we don’t disappoint our mom. She is an amazing mother and the most wonderful parent we can ask for,” adds Shukra.

The future is bright for these two Ugandan sisters who wants to pursue the medical field at tertiary level. Both she and her sister love mathematics with Shukra (98%) and Esther (95%) achieving excellent marks in the subject.

In Afrikaans First Additional Language, Esther has achieved an average of 72% with Shukra on 77%. Esther is 15th in her grade in the subject with Shukra in fifth spot, which is a tremendous achievement.

“We both want to become doctors one day. That is our dream.”

HTS Potchefstroom has provided the stage – and the Mabaso sisters love to perform on it.