Written by Nyeleti Chauke | Compiled by Nkosazana Ngwadla
I was not a small girl from the village with big dreams! When I was in Grade 12 (2014), a friend whom was a year older and academically ahead of me gave me my biggest blessing by applying for me to study at the University of Johannesburg. I was not interested in going to tertiary to further my studies. All I wanted after matric was to go work in a store as a sales consultant. But that acceptance SMS from UJ in January 2015 changed my life for better.
I had a sudden enthusiasm to go to University. I started being very optimistic about life as a whole. BA Psychology stole my heart for a good 3years. I wanted to be a psychologist so bad, but God had other plans for me. University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika offered me BA Honours in Social and Behavioral Studies in HIV as BA Hons in Psychology was full and I could not register early in 2018 because my granddad was still ‘hustling’ money for my registration.
I was not really keen on doing the course but because I did not want to take a gap year, I accepted their offer and registered. I fell in love with this course. After completing the degree, all I wanted was to be in the field to apply my knowledge. Then Anova Health Institute gave me an opportunity to be an HTS Coordinator. This was really God’s plan. Not only did I gain experience and more knowledge on the HIV field, but I also gained much interest to make an impact in our country’s Health System and the HIV programme.
I then applied to further my studies at the University of the Free State. I was very excited and eager to learn more, so I can make a contribution to the Department of Health through improving access of our male patients to HIV testing services. Not only did I acquire knowledge, but I conducted a life changing research in my masters study.
I am grateful on how God rewrote my life. I will say again, I was not even a small girl from the village with big dreams. I thank my academic supervisors Prof Gladys Kigozi and Prof Christo Heunis for recommending I submit an abstract to present my masters research at the 11th SA AIDS conference. I also thank the SA AIDS conference committee for accepting my abstract and giving me such a platform to showcase my research and it’s findings.
Receiving the Discovery Limited award was a blessing on it’s own… there were 100+ speakers and presenters but I was chosen among the 7 speakers to receive the “Clinical Excellence Award”. I just started believing more that these are the plans that God had for me. He made sure that I become a living testimony of the scriptures Isaiah 55:8-9, Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 43:19. Lesson learned: trust God and the process.
