People saw a mother determined to see her children have a better life and future than she had and were stirred to action, not of charity but of helping and being empathetic. That is what will break the chains of inequality and poverty in our country. Helping hands and not charity.
Today, Moeletsi Sebokolodi has a degree and is ready to empower others with what he has achieved. His story is one of sheer determination and love from a mother who did everything in her power to help him achieve greatness.
Moeletsi wrote the most beautiful open letter to his hero. One that will inspire us all.
Moeletsi grew up in a village in the North West called Taung. He vividly remembers taking care of his grandparents’ goats while young and when he became of age went to the village primary school.
“The debate about opportunity and privilege has been prevalent in our society and it is a debate I have both lived and walked. I believe for a person like me to make something of themselves with the history of our country a great sacrifice has to be made one which when reflecting on the life my mother has lived she has done and done so greatly.”
His mother barely had a childhood, she just managed to go as far as grade three in school and due to the poverty that ravished her family, she started working on farms. Though in the community she grew up there was no value for education, as she grew up she came to the realisation of the importance of education. Wanting a better life for her siblings, she worked to the bone to see them through school and attaining their qualifications.
“My one aunt went on to attain her teaching degree and my other aunt went for Nursing.
With a heart of self-sacrifice and love my mother continued to give of her best. As a domestic worker not earning much her dream was to have her children, my sister and I get a better education.”
Though to Moeletsi the education he was receiving seemed to suffice, it was short of being good enough.
“My mother’s dream was realized when her employers moved to Pretoria and she asked if she could have her children come to stay with her in her living quarters and attend school. Her employers gave her unwavering support and had us moved to the city. They even went to the extent of fixing the living quarters that it could be more conducive for us to live with her.
Arriving in the city it was a time of so much excitement as we would get to see our mother everyday than twice a year and if lucky three times. My sister being a teenager the move was a bit daunting but she integrated easier as she could comprehend the English language where on the other hand all I could say in English was ‘Hello’.
Today we still laugh at how when the teacher introduced me to the class and wrote my name as “Moletsie’ on the board I thought that is how my name was spelt in English instead of ‘Moeletsi”.”
This brought the reality that though Moeletsi was in grade three prior to moving to the city, the kids in grade one in the city were much better off as they could read and comprehend elementary mathematics and he did not. The young South African was therefore taken all the way back to grade one.
When you have people that believe in you and are dedicated to see you achieve your potential, mountains cease and possibilities arise. My mother with her grade three education, the dedicated support of my grade one teach and her employers managed to push me to complete two grades in one year leaving me a year behind my peers.
All this came at a great cost and my beloved mother had to sacrifice her pension. Today my mother lives in a shack when she could have gotten herself a beautiful house and living a comfortable life. I sat with her and asked if she regrets any of it but with a heart filled with contentment, she has no regret.
The true reality is, it is impossible without my single domestic worker mother who now is retired having had to pay the great price there being a possibility of my sister and I amounting to anything. High school came and my mother’s pension was out due to the extra lessons and other help we needed to adjust to the city life.
With a heart of compassion and Ubuntu many joined hands, both individuals and companies to see Moeletsi completing my matric and varsity degree.
To raise a child truly takes a village.
“People saw a mother determined to see her children have a better life and future than she had and were stirred to action, not of charity but of helping and being empathetic. These people chose to walk the journey with us and that is what will break the chains of inequality and poverty in our country. Helping hands and not charity.
Mother you gave greatly and inspired greatly. You displayed the beautiful heart of a mother and not only changed the lives of your children but also touched lives in a powerful way. You gave too much to achieve greater things. You are more than a mother, you are a heroine.”
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