They’re young, open minded and want to be the best at what they do.

Wandile Ngcamphalala and Nqobile Njoko are two of the 250 determined scholars supported by the Moshal Scholarship Programme. By the time Ngcamphalala, 22, was finished with his matric, his father and two of his siblings had passed on. His mother was left with five children to support. "I couldn't afford to go to university any more and had to drop out of Wits, where I was studying aeronautical engineering."

The hope for a better future came when he received a congratulatory e-mail from the Moshal programme, after having applied for many bursaries. Ngcamphalala is now completing his honours degree in a completely different field. "I'm doing a BSc in Agricultural Science at UKZN. It's challenging but I'm loving it."

The programme supports students academically and teaches skills, knowledge and attitudes that will help them in their professional and personal lives. They are chosen from the accounting and commerce, engineering, science, health sciences, law and IT fields. At the weekend they had the opportunity to learn from industry greats like JSE chief executive Nicky Newton-King and Black Like Me founder Herman Mashaba at a networking and training session.

Ngcamphalala said that being part of the scholarship programme was a fantastic journey "It's not just about academics. It's about becoming a full individual." He was also grateful that being part of the programme had allowed him to send money back to his mother in Swaziland. "The stress has been taken away from her."

Rhodes University student Nqobile Njoko, 22, is doing her honours in chemistry Before getting to varsity she didn't have a plan. She applied for state aid to study "When I was accepted into the Moshal programme it just showed how working hard produces the best results."

Njoko lives with her mother, uncles and grandmother. "My mom had me at a very young age and after seeing me get educated she told me I had inspired her to study I'm excited to see her graduate with her psychology degree," she said.

Guest speaker Newton King said it was important to move beyond looking at scholarships as just corporate social investment work. "To be competitive we have to back education, it is a critical business issue."

She urged the students to do things they were excited about. "If you can go somewhere, do that with people whose values you respect." Programme founder Martin Moshal urged company executives to be mentors to the students. Scholarship is about becoming a full individual

Caption: ACHIEVER Lizwe Ntshweza joined the Moshal Scholarship Programme in 2010 and completed her BCom last year. She spoke at an event in Sandton.

Picture by: SHARON SERETLO

By: MPILETSO MOTUMI

Article Source: The Star