Last week Masicorp held its first ever alumni event for the graduates of our bursary scheme at the Kelvin Grove Club in Newlands. Since its inception the scheme has produced 17 graduates and we were pleased that the majority of them could join us on the evening. With graduates in disciplines ranging from biotechnology to accountancy and town planning we certainly had a lot of academic knowledge shared with us.

Many thanks to our patron Dame Linda Dobbs, who was our speaker for the evening and congratulated the graduates on their success. She also took the time to remind everyone that as well as becoming graduates they have also become role models for the community of Masiphumelele. Their success has shown everyone what can be achieved through hard work and study and that education really is the route out of poverty.

Events such as this are also great networking opportunities and Dame Linda informed the graduates of the benefits of networking by recalling some examples from her own career as a high court judge in the UK. Last week’s event was an opportunity for graduates to network with each other and with Masicorp staff. We are already very grateful for the contacts provided by our graduates working in the local government that may be able to assist us with funding in the future.

With a further 25 students currently studying at university and the programme having grown in size in recent years this is a group that is sure to expand in size. We are already looking forward to the next event and to welcome the next batch of graduates to the group.

The final word on this year’s event comes from BA Psychology graduate, Thulisa Mayekiso, who left us this message the following day:

Yesterday I was reminded that I am special, educated, innovative and caring. That I am a role model to others.
And that I should be motivating others, modelling and encouraging.
In all that, I learned that I am blessed to be where I am today and I look forward to blessing others and help them find themselves as well as getting out of the situations they are facing.
I just want to say if I made it you can make it too, we all grew up in Masi, went to the same school facing the same challenges. All you need to do is to get up and find meaning for your life.