Chasing my dreams in USIU-Africa

My name is Thabiso Mkhaliphi from Eswatini. I am a young assiduous

man who has battled terribly throughout my academic journey, often
against financial hindrances. My upbringing has been the toughest since
I was neglected by my father when I was just 2 weeks old; to make
matters worse he left me with an 18 years old mother who had just
dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy.

Since from then she has been earning me a living through working in
people’s kitchens. That struggle has lingered up to this far. She is my
motive to keep striving academically because I want to build us a strong
foundation that even my siblings, my kids and my community can rely
on. The reason I chose USIU-Africa is because it has offered me the
boat to sail through storms like lack of financial support. As a matter of
fact; her brains were good too, only money couldn’t offer her the
second chance to continue with her studies as she is also a victim of
negligence. So it’s an opportunity for me to break this curse of being
bred by single parents or strangers (just like it was for her case)
because of parents who eschewed their financial burdens of raising
their children.

After graduation I see myself at the helm of human welfare movements

mainly because I nearly saw my precious potential engraved by my
destitute background and also the non-recognition experienced by
those less privileged in whatever manner in our prejudiced money-
oriented societies. Thus MasterCard Foundation has offered me a
chance worth dying for.