A Salt River High School pupil has won an AFS scholarship to study in Egypt for a month.
Nadine Maselese, a Grade 12 pupil, from Woodstock is the recipient of this scholarship and she aims to make her high school and community proud.
AFS is a non-profit organisation that provides inter-cultural learning opportunities abroad for people to expand their knowledge, skills and understanding of other cultures. The AFS scholarship is committed to helping young people go abroad regardless of their financial situation.
Nadine applied for this scholarship with her twin sister, Yadina Maselese and was the one selected. She said she was really glad when she received the scholarship. “I started to scream, I was so excited, I started jumping around, I cried a little,” said Nadine.
She will be going to the Information Technology Institution (ITI) in Cairo, Egypt, and will be working on a maths, science, technology and engineering programme. She will also learn basic Arabic and find out more about the Egyptian culture. She will be staying with a host family in Egypt which is part of the AFS scholarship programme and she will also receive support from the organisation to help her through the time that she is there.
Nadine excels in maths, life science, physics and geography. She is one of Salt River High’s top 10 pupils. She is currently doing her June matric exams so she is studying and preparing hard.
She will embark on her journey from June 20 and will be in Egypt for a month. When she returns from her trip, she is eager to finish her schooling at Salt High School.
Fairuz Patel, the acting principal of Salt River High School, is excited for Nadine as she is the only Western Cape pupil who was selected for this scholarship.
“From all the schools, privileged or underprivileged, they chose her, so she must be very good and I am glad that she got this opportunity so that she can come back and share it with the school,” said Ms Patel.
Murendeni Maselese, Nadine’s mother, is really excited that her daughter is having an opportunity to learn and explore.
“This is a great opportunity that will help her to learn new things and also teach her how to stand on her own.
“However, a part of me feels like she is too young to travel such a distance on her own as children remain babies in their mother’s sight. But all in all, I trust God who opens the doors for her that He will lead and take care of her,” said Ms Maselese.
Nadine is part of the school’s environmental society which won bronze, silver and green awards in recent years from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) for being an environmentally- friendly.
Once Nadine finishes school she would like to study psychology at a top institution in the Western Cape.
