Books before boys

The ambitious Brotty Mthombeni stated that the ‘Seven bs’ is her principle as she hated teenage pregnancies and would like see a stop in this trend. Mthombeni said, “There must be change in the way the girls think, they need to be focused about their future.” Mthombeini, a matriculant, said her determination got her to where she is now. She said the bursary came as a blessing because she had no money to further her studies because her family was struggling financially. She said she was depending on her aunt and her father who was a street vendor. “I am really excited about this bursary, it will help me realise my dreams of studying towards journalism and BA in communications. “I am self-disciplined and my belief in God helped me a lot,” Mthombeni said.

She was chosen by her business subject teacher to be the recipient of the Boston City Campus bursary after the school was picked up in a lucky draw for each district at the annual Boston City Campus Teachers Forum. The school’s head of department for Life Orientation Science, Marthie Brits said, “After our school was picked up in the draw, we as the school had to choose the deserving pupil. I consulted with the business teachers at the school and it was easy for them to pick Mthombeni as she is a very focused pupil who always performs very well in her studies.”

Brits added that they also looked at her socio-economical background. “Her father is a single parent with no formal job as he survives as a street vendor and Mthombeni’s mother is deceased. Mthombeni, against all odds, has managed to pull herself together. She is a very wonderful child. Her determination should be a lesson to other children who are in similar socio-economic challenges. This bursary came as a blessing to her as she was desperate for financial assistance,” Brits said. Mthombeni’s business teacher, William Mmola said, “We chose her using different criteria such as school work and socio-economic backgrounds and she came tops in all of them. She is a very committed pupil, we know that she will make our school proud.”