Nkhensani Mathebula

Nominee's Province:
Mpumalanga

Age:
34

Project Name/Description:
Makhensi Mathebula Education Foundation

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/nkhensaninancym1

Nkhensani Mathebula is committed to using education as a tool to overcome poverty in disadvantaged communities. In 2019, she founded Makhensi Mathebula Education Foundation (MMEF), a non-profit organisation that supports grade 12 learners who battle with academic performance and social issues in her community of Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, and surrounding areas. She is the managing director of the foundation, which is self-funded. The foundation provides mentorship, study guides, and career expos to learners. So far, the foundation has helped 50 students with uniforms and the provision of study guides. It also helped learners from four different high schools get tertiary funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. The high schools they have worked with are Thembeka High in Lekazi, Cyril High in Mathafeni, as well as Nyamande and Mafemani schools, both in Bushbuckridge. Mathebula says she started working with grade 12 learners upon realising the value of having someone who believes in you as a young person at high school. “Having an encouraging hand changes everything for teenagers in high school because at that stage in your life there are a lot of things that question your capacity and self-esteem,” she explains.