Thuli nurses her dismal life back into harmony

NOKUTHULA MNGOMEZU

Behind the doe-eyed beauty lurks an intense ambition to do well in the medical field and to get married to her loving boyfriend. But the journey thus far for NOKUTHULA MNGOMEZULU has been fraught with prejudice, self-doubt, apathetic parents, dysfunctional relationships and a loathing for school and education. Nokuthula has just graduated as a care giver and her immediate consideration is to gather the youth together and hone them to be the best.  She is now more determined to create her footprints in the world and help others succeed where she failed to make an impact. So, in this article, she speaks to Thembi Masser about her fears and insecurities as a teenager, and of her imminent ambitions and, of course, about her fiancé.  

Thuli, as she is so affectionately called by her close friends, is a 28 year-old graduate at the John Wesley Community Centre (JWCC) in Etwatwa, Daveyton.  She studied home-based care, a course that includes care for the invalid, the terminally ill, the infirm; orphans and critical homes that generally need a medical work over. It is not a nursing course, but home-based care givers nurse the sick.

The course is offered by Dream Wise Trainings, and the principal, Trevor Lubisi and his assistants, Charmain Phungwayo and Phindile Mtsali, are the enthusiastic and popular facilitators, Thuli says.

She, Thuli, aims high. As high as the medical field, she points out. And it is for this reason that she was at the JWCC to do the course. “It is my ultimate dream to see myself as a nurse,” she enthuses. She thinks caring for the community which still carries the stigma of poverty and a low socio-economic outlook is the first priority for her. “For instance, I want to teach children about medicines. Many people ignore kids and that disadvantages the kids. We should give them attention.” She intends to change the kids’ mindset towards their sicknesses. They should not be ashamed of their sicknesses, she cautions, and they should be positive when they are sick and not feel different from other kids. Or be insecure, she adds. “Kids must understand that taking medicines is not the end of the world. And they must stop thinking that diseases are a curse.”      

She is also interested in the activities in the maternity ward. “I want to be there too, “she laughs coyly. “That is where life starts and that is where life is saved. I want to be a life saver,” she asserts.  She says she cries terribly at every funeral she attends because the dead should have been saved from their death. “I am proud that I once saved the life of a policeman who was gunned in the gut and whose bowels were spilling all over. His bullet proof did not stop the bullet and so his gut was pierced and his intestines were all over the place. But he is still alive today. I am proud that I was there to save a life.” The self proclaimed dynamic, passionate lady with the benevolent heart also plans to work with old people. “I plan to work in a home or a hospital and later qualify as a nurse.” She says she has acquired enough experience so far to enable her to be the best in the field.

She says it is fun to be at the JWCC and her wish is that many people could do the home-based care course and when they do it, take it seriously. “The people there are fun. Trevor is experienced in these matters and he is so well-versed in what he is doing. What a beauty.”

After her dismal, miserable schooling career, where she passed matric ‘by the grace of the Lord’, Thuli worked as a cashier at Jamaica Wholesalers in Dunnswart, Boksburg. That lasted only four forgettable months. Thereafter she took part in a periodic municipal project cleaning streets in Etwatwa before going to rural Delmas to become a domestic worker. “For five months I gave my all and forgot about my pride; I put food on the table as I looked after my siblings, three younger boys. Just imagine me, a very young, sassy and sexy girl like me was a domestic worker. Just imagine.”  She then moved west to Roodepoort where she volunteered as a paramedic at the BC Medical Emergency Services where she saved the life of a policeman. She has also had a stint at 2^nd Generation EMS as an emergency care worker.

She has a few certificates under her belt this Thuli.  She attended the Impact Fire Tech and the De Vier Ambulance Academy.  And, now, she is a graduate at the JWCC.

“I have done so much research about this field that I feel I know what I am doing. I have the passion and the will to do something here, to help people to stand on their feet.  I want them to win.”

She attended Kgolagano and Rolihlahla Primary Schools and later went on to Dr Harry Gwala and Rivoni High Schools.

NOW, she beckons, LISTEN TO THIS…

I did not like school at all. In fact, I always asked myself what in the world was I doing there. To me it was a total waste of my time and that of those who were entrusted with my education. I always passed because Christ felt sorry for me, not that I knew what was going on. His grace was always there for me to see me through. I used to have a very short memory. I would forget something as easy as the result of two plus two. It is only years after I left school that a miracle happened; I can now understand and remember what I have learned. Now I enjoy school and thanks to Trevor, this is a whole new world. I wish I could turn back the clock and return to elementary school. I ask myself why at school I had so much short memory, never understanding anything of what was happening in the class room. What exactly was happening to me at the time and what is happening to me now is still a mystery to unfold.

At both Dr Gwala and at Rivoni I had a weird mixture of subjects and I am surprised my teachers allowed the situation to sink to that level of incompetency. But I suppose they wanted, so helplessly, to guide me through a maze and crazy world of insanity. For an example, from grade 10 to 11 I had subjects like maths, physical science, biology and consumer studies. Zulu and English were my language subjects. But going into grade 12 the line up was allowed to change, something unheard of here in South Africa.    The new list now boasted consumer studies, life sciences, economics, maths literature and, of course, English and Zulu. I was messed up. My subjects were messed up and my life was an unattended pot of potiekos. In the process, I failed grade 10.

It came as a shock to realize that school was not my thing-I was being pushed the walls. I was anonymous at school, absent while I was there on the premises. No one spoke to me and I spoke to no one. I was not recognised. I wanted to pass so dearly; the passion that I could be something in the future was always there in my heart. I wanted to be recognized. I wanted to be the best in whatever I did. But because I possessed a heavy dose of low-esteem and naiveté which I carried wherever I went, that proved to be the death-knell to all my ambitions. I was deadly shy, very quite.

Now everything has changed and my learning skills, which have now improved, have changed my life style for the better. And my mind is alive and alert.

At school I was pathetic, afraid of my physics teacher, a Mr. Tshabalala.   Every time when I looked at him I wanted to cry. I would cry even before he went into his tirade of beating us, molesting us, sometimes for hours on end. Ironically, Mr. Tsabalala was my favourite teacher. I admit I was not intelligent, but, however, I enjoyed his teaching. I wanted to be his perfect student. But I failed.

I did not have favourite subjects. The subjects were all miserable. All I knew was that I wanted to be a doctor. I did not care what doctor in which discipline. I just want to be a doctor. But to me school was simply the wrong place to help me fulfill my dream. I was mocked and taunted and I hated even my fellow school mates. I was so futile that even mediocre learners used me as their yardstick. They used to taunt me, saying ‘If she passed then I have passed too’.

And during the terrible grade 11 I started dating. The affair, on hind sight, was a mismatch.  The guy was already at tertiary and I was just a dead woman walking, as they say. But, by the grace of the Lord, the affair went on for six solid years. And during that time I managed to hide my insecurities from him. To tell the truth, I don’t know how he lasted that long with me. Maybe he truly loved me. In the end he left for Cape Town and he has never been heard of since. 

Okay, alright. Maybe you need to know this too. I am Francina Mngomezulu and Mr Stimela’s daughter. I was born in Tsakani in Ekurhuleni in 1989, in January. But at age three I had a new dad, a Mr. Alfred Vuma. Both my parents are still alive and I love them to bits. But my upbringing was chaotic and misguided. My mother was beautiful, caring and very emotional. She was always angry and depressed and was abusive to her children. But now there has been a dramatic change. She is all loving and supportive. On the other hand my step father was chillingly quiet. I did not have a relationship with him at all. All he did was to give us pocket money and buy us Christmas clothes and groceries. That is all. But he too has had a dramatic make-over. It is all love and hugs lately.

Last year, in 2016, I gave birth to a lovely boy with the beautiful eyes like mine. His father has given his lobola to my parents and while we are traditionally married, we still have to sign some papers at home affairs. I prefer it that way, there must be a signature somewhere on a paper. My heart pumps so hard when I think of my fiancé; I want him to marry me quickly and immediately.

With her husband-to-be and their son

Her parents

With Trevor Lubisi with Kedibine Koto in the foreground

Her beautiful baby boy

Destination Psychology:Logan Pharo wants to read your mind

Logan Pharo with classmates

Logan is a vibrant young lady who looks up to God to fulfill her purpose on earth. She is a 15 year old who is now in grade 11 at Elma college,and her subjects include life science, accounting, pure math. Her favourite subject is accounting because she enjoys working with finances and, her preferred career is to become a psychologist because she is passionate about working with people. For her it won’t be just a job, but  a calling. I will make her content to wake up in the morning knowing that she is going to put smiles on the faces of embattled, distressed and people who are just looking for advice.

Mrs. Struafs, who offers accounting at the college, is her favourite teacher and also her role model. She also studied educational psychology which gives her an inside idea as to how to conduct her studies.

Logan was born and raised in the west of Pretoria (West Park).

She is currently reading a lot about psychology and studying hard to get good grades in order for her be admitted at a university to pursue her career. As a psychologist she will be conducting scientific studies of behaviour and brain functions, collecting information through observations, interviews, surveys and other methods. Her most favourite part of her job would be research and identify behavioural or emotional pattern and test for pattern to help people and patients better understanding and predict behaviour and use their knowledge to increase understanding among individuals and groups.

"The most amazing thing about physiology," Logan points out, "is that it is broad, and you can basically anywhere."This type of a career can be practiced in hospitals, schools and SACAP." 

Apart from being a psychologist her plan B career would be getting involved in the military to serve the country. "I am not a sport person," she laughs, "however I do modelling as a hobby with Glam Light agency." She has taken part in numerous pageants at the Centurion Lake Hotel.

She participates in the fundraising at heartfelt family Church for the youth to help those who are needy.

Youth Fundraising

She does not have children yet "As I consider myself as child as well and look, my opinion about having a child at a young age is that is wrong and well, a western of time. I believe we all make mistakes, however we need to learn to be responsible individuals, a child is a huge responsibility and one needs to be ready for that mentally and physically." She adds that, however,  people do make mistakes therefore one needs to be accountable for their mistakes and learn from them. "And I also believe that having a child at an early age is not the end of one’s life, you just have to pick yourself up and do your best.

"I am not dating at present  my focus is still on my studies and finding myself."

Logan doesn't see individuals from other countries any different, "We are all human beings at the end of the day," she says. She believes anyone can live wherever they want as long as they are are not a bad influence and do not peddle drugs and do crime.

I can only encourage my peers out there to believe that it is possible to achieve their goals and

dreams, "as long as you set your mind to it. Always remember to be yourself, embrace your uniqueness and strive to unleash and utilize your potential for the better good to influence people around you."

Here is Logan with family members

With mother Sharon

With her father Gerald

Article prepared and written by Suzen Senyolo from

Phelisa Matyolo and Ziyanda Mtshali off to China

Nondumiso Mngadi (centre) with Phelisa Matyolo(left) and Ziyanda Mtshali

Two tourism practitioners from aha Lesedi, Phelisa Matyolo and Ziyanda Mtshali, are among a group of twenty trainees who were selected to partake in the Tourism Department’s Mandarin programme.

The trainees were selected from establishments frequented by the growing number of Chinese tourists visiting South Africa, an estimated 58 000 tourists in the first half of 2016, according to the Chinese Embassy.

The programmes original inception was in 2013 when the South African government and the Nondumiso Mngadi People's Republic of China signed an agreement to cooperate within the tourism sector, three years on the programme has produced the first 20 tourism practitioners who are now fluent in Mandarin, achieving an impressive pass rate of 88%. The aha Lesedi tourism practitioners; Ziyanda Mtshali and Phelisa Matyolo and were the top two in their class, with respective results of 96.35% and 96.3%.

Neil Bald, aha Hotels & Lodges CEO lauded the Department of Tourism, the Chinese Culture and International Education Exchange Centre including all stakeholders involved for the successful implementation of this programme, hailing it as a milestone for the sector. aha Hotels & Lodges Group HR Manager, Nondumiso Mngadi elaborates that the company continuously seeks out opportunities to develop and empower its employees and is extremely proud of the trainees’ accomplishment.

Phelisa began her career at aha Lesedi in November 2008 as a dancer and through hard work and determination over the years, she is now an Assistant Cultural Manager, tour guide and is still an active dancer. Ziyanda started as a dancer in 2012 and is currently a tour guide and dancer, with ambitions of being in charge of marketing for aha Lesedi in the near future. They beam with pride as they relate their experiences, explaining how daunting the programme was at first and how they doubted they would make it through the training, being introduced to a new language that seemed so difficult to grasp. The grueling three months programme entailed reading, writing and speaking with situational role playing sessions. The Mandarin language is spoken by an estimated 100 million people, mainly in the People’s Republic of China; one of South Africa’s largest trading partners.

The trainees were presented with their certificates by Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom at a ceremony held on 29 November 2016, attended by the Deputy Ambassador of China; Hon. Li Song, Dr. Zhilei Lu, Director of the Chinese Culture and International Education Exchange Centre;  Lloyd Moeng the General Manager of aha Lesedi; and aha Hotels & Lodges, Group HR Manager,  Nondumiso Mngadi, as well as various industry representatives and stakeholders. “The simple language exchanges will go a long way in making sure that we receive more Chinese tourists in this country” says Hanekom. He added that the ability to communicate in the language of our visitors reduces their levels of anxiety when they arrive her and try to find their way around a place they are not familiar with. "It makes them more confident and they can relax and enjoy their stay".

Ambassador Song said the relationship with South Africa was growing and at its best levels ever. Congratulating the trainees on their journey, Song said it would have value in their lives going into the future, "You will not regret all the time and energy that you put in the learning of the Chinese language. Your language skills will pave a way for a lot of opportunities in the future."

The trainees will head to China on the 24^th February 2017 to learn and experience more about the culture. They are hailed as the first group of pioneers in this field, opening a pathway for many to follow.

The Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom at the ceremony

 

Ziyanda Mtshali

As a flight attendant, MBUSO NGCANGA sees the world from above the clouds

MBUSO NGCANGA in New York

He says flying is not such a glamorous occupation, but surely for MBUSO NGCANGA seeing all these beautiful cities and beautiful people every time he is on duty must be an adrenalin boost. He is a flight attendant and at only 25 he has seen all of the world and its pretty species. Mbuso, a confirmed three pieces suit man,  is grounded for a while and, in a relaxed, jovial mood, talks to Suzen Senyolo about his work, his future plans as a business man and about his mother.

Where do you work?
South African Airways.

What do you do there?
I am a flight attendant and double as a safety officer on-board an aircraft.
I was a ill nervous but totally looking forward to my first time I flew and reall excited about it.

What subjects did/do you study for this type of a career at school and at tertiary institution?

Subjects have nothing to do with this line of work. However,  I did English, which is a vital subject for this kind of job. I also did, accounting, history, business studies, Afrikaans and mathematical literacy.

What is your job description? Take us though your day sir?

Firstly, I ensure that I am medically fit to perform my duties as a safety officer.
Secondly, I go through my travel documents and other work documents to check their validity and that they are up-to-date.
Then it’s over to a briefing with my crew and the captain. Here we discuss flight details and so on; then we discuss how we would respond to a fire situation on-board the aircraft, or a medical scenario of either a pregnant passenger or a passenger who succumbs to a heart attack. I then check the validity of medical and emergency equipment (halon, oxygen bottles, crash axe, firefighting gloves, PBE (portable breathing equipment), doctor’s bag, grab bag, first aid kit, life jackets).

When these have been checked as ok then I welcome passengers on board and assist them with their baggage. When this has been done I then perform what mainly excites first time flyers, the safety demonstration. Then I arm the doors and physically cross check.  Once the aircraft is airborne I offer passengers food and other amenities.

However, I have not given  medical attention to anyone famous so far. However, I have served quite a number of famous people on flight. I have served the then minister Paul Mashatile, Health minister Dr. Aaron Motoaledi, King Kotini Riky Rick, Nomzamo Mbatha,Benjamin Dube and his sons, Dj Cleo, Dj Dimplez, Dj Vigilante, Dj Switch, Terry Pheto, Mampho Brescia
There have been scary moments. A passenger once fainted and literally fell to the floor and he looked pale with his tongue out and I feared him to have passed away only for crew to use their brilliant av-med skills and help him recover. That whole scene for me was a little scary.

What skills and subjects and courses are required in this career?
One must be sober and sound minded and needs to think of out the ordinary. Must also have an attentive ear. There is no specific subject one needs and one can study anything at school level. However, a course in psychology or in customer relations is an advantage and one must be customer focused and generally be of a warm character.

It is not all glamorous as people make it out to be. We experience culture shock with at certain destinations where we fly to and find it hard to accept how other people live or conduct themselves culturally.

I will never forget an about something which happened in Hong Kong. At a market in Mong Kok a street vendor was selling snake soup. It did not look appetising at all. For me it was quite bizzare.

On-board we also experience shock from seeing passengers with rare medical conditions or disorders. Language barrier becomes an issue in European destinations and South America, which makes it hard to move around their cities and to socialise.

What countries have you flown to until now as we speak
Angola, Australia, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, China(Hong Kong) , Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia , Rwanda, Uganda, Senegal, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

And I have been to Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, 911 Memorial, White House, Pentagon, Victoria Peak, Victoria Habour

I find African countries to be more beautiful because of their scenic views, the lakes and mountain views. I find Uganda to be beautiful. Lake Victoria is wonderful to behold. I also love the beaches of Dakar in Senegal.

Where in the world are the beautiful women?

That is easy, Ghana and Zambia 

Have you ever dined with anyone famous?

No, not yet. I have never dined with anyone famous

How where your teachers involved with your aspirations?
I would say my mother was more involved whereas my teachers were not. It was something I wanted to do because my mother as did it too. I wanted to experience how other people live in the world and to learn about their cultures and customs. I wanted to expose my palate and taste different flavours from all over the world.
My family knew I wanted to travel for living and they supported my passion.

What did you do at school level to contact role-models and other experts regarding your chosen career?

My role model was right at home and it was my mother. She used to tell me the ins and outs of job and told me how the application process goes like and all other essential details.

Are you a member of an organisation in the area of your occupation?

I am a member of a trade union called SACCA which stands for South African Cabin Crew Association.

What are the growth prospects in this line of work?
One can start their own cabin crew training school or even get an opportunity of training to become a pilot.

What is the industry like?

The industry is fast paced and moves rapidly. Competition among airlines is stiff and airlines constantly need to improve their aircraft equipment and on-board products in order to succeed.

 What are related fields? 

There are a few. For an example, air traffic control services, air navigational services, catering services, medical services, travel agencies, immigration and border control.

What were your primary and high schools?

Crystal Park Primary and B.E.C (Benoni Educational College).

What subjects did you do at school? What were your favourite subjects?
My favourite subjects were business studies and history.
These subjects have given me the understanding of how an airline business is run and what it takes, financially, for an aircraft to take-off and fly passengers to far-away destinations. They have also given me insight about the histories of different ethnic groups of people around the world about cities, historic buildings and statues.

Who were your favourite teachers? 

Mrs Bensley, Mrs Moema, Miss Sithole, Mr Pheme.

What community organisations are you involved with?

No as yet, not keen.

What sport do you play?

No sport for me. But I rather swim.

Are you married and are there any children?
I am still single thank you and I don’t have any children. Still want to enjoy and learn.

Is aviation the only career you focused on?

Aviation is not the only career I am focused on. I am business-minded and have established a business of which I am not at liberty to disclose for reasons of still being employed by an airline. (Laughs).

Are you fashion conscious?
I do love fashion. However, I am more into formal business wear and three piece suits.

Who is your favourite fashionista?

Riky Rick.

Mbuso with uncle and brother

A man of fashion in New York's Time Square