Being orphaned at the tender age of 12 compelled Nontsetselelo to take risks and move out of her comfort zone. The young woman became orphaned back in 2015 when she lost her mother, just three weeks after helping her to give birth to twins.
Nhlangano: She has fought back from serious childhood difficulties, like raising her four siblings after seeing off her mother whom she helped to give birth to twins, to win her place in a career that has always fascinated her.From a tender age Nontsetselelo Matsebula, now 21, had always dreamt about following a career in the health care related profession.
Her first encounter with her career passion was during the year 2015 when she jumped to the rescue when her sickly mother went into labour and delivered twins while she was taking care of her at home.Sadly, her mother never lived long to see Nontsetselelo’s siblings grow. She died a few months afterwards.
Being orphaned at the tender age of 12 compelled Nontsetselelo to take risks and move out of her comfort zone. The young woman became orphaned back in 2015 when she lost her mother, just three weeks after helping her to give birth to twins.
From then on, the then teenager was forced to look after her twin siblings and two others, with the assistance of her younger aunt who was also not in gainful employment.She still has memories of begging for handouts from neighbours who were touched by her plight and then remembers that it was her difficult circumstances that gave her the courage to dream of becoming successful one day.
In addition to her early memories was her encounter with a medical practitioner who inspired the then teenager to work hard in order to follow a career dream similar to his.
The medical doctor had come forward to give hope and positive energy upon reading about the story of the girl who faced the enormous challenge of taking care of her four orphaned siblings, following the death of their mother. At the time Nontsetselelo was attending Grade VI at a primary school situated around KaMzizi area, which is located under Maseyisini Constituency.
During an interview with the Independent News the now grown-up woman recalled that she resolved to become a doctor herself when she started taking care of her sick mother who was expecting her twin brothers. Indeed, while nurturing that dream, she went on to help her mother deliver the twins.
She had no alternative but to assume the role of midwife, as the family had neither the financial resources nor the means to ferry her mother to hospital. To reach her incredible dream of becoming a doctor one day, Nontsikelelo was advised by the practicing medical practitioner to work hard and take care of every educational opportunity to shine in her studies.
It was a case of giving hope where death and difficult circumstances had cast a dark shadow, as the doctor assured the then teenager that God had a plan for every soul on earth. This was prior to giving her money to purchase her school uniform, groceries and a pair of shoes.
She was later taken in by an orphanage outside Nhlangano town, which also helped to mould her character, and nurture her towards attaining her career goal. This is where she continued to get the pleasure of going to school and enjoy the company of her peers.
However, along the way she was faced with further challenges – the road was hard and long, mentally and physically exhausting for her to the extent that at some point she was tempted to give up on her goal. She was lucky to have people around her who kept motivating her to push through.
All the girl wanted was to become a medical doctor. But circumstances beyond her control made that dream nearly impossible to achieve. She never gave up though. From the hardships and numerous obstacles that she went through she persevered and took small steps towards improving her life circumstances.
Along the way and as reality eventually struck in, it eventually dawned on Nontsetselelo that her dream of becoming a medical practitioner would be a pie-in-the-sky. But she remained determined.
The years of hardship which she had gone through forced her to continue seeking for an escape route. She remembered that in life when one door is locked, there are many others that will open.
With that in mind, Nontsetselelo decided to have a try at other options. It was her love for the medical profession which compelled her to look for something close to it. So, she confined her job search around related career disciplines.
As luck would have it, Nontsetselelo ended up finding a job at a pharmacy located around Nhlangano town during the year 2020, as an Assistant. Accidentally this was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the country needed a lot of health care workers. “This is a very rewarding career for me. I’ve always been passionate about caring for people. What fascinates me here is seeing the sick leaving the pharmacy in an improved condition,” she said.
It has never ended there for plucky Nontsetselelo. The young woman is still keeping her dreams alive, and through persistence Nontsetselelo continues to take gradual steps to take her destiny into her own hands.
She knows that education remains the key to her success. This aptly explains why she decided to enroll for a basic computer studies course at a vocational college attached to a medical facility located outside Nhlangano, where she managed to bag her first academic certificate. She juggled this with her part-time manicure and pedicure business, which assisted to partly finance her studies.
Nontsetselelo was among students at the college who were awarded certificates at a graduation ceremony which was held a week ago. She was very excited about her achievement. The cherry on top was meeting her former primary school principal at the same occasion.
Her former principal was equally excited about the courageous steps which the girl has taken to improve her life despite trying circumstances.
Discussion about this post