A pensioner is sponsoring a medical student with the R20 she has left over every month.
|||Durban - A Wentworth pensioner is sponsoring a University of the Free State medical student with the R20 she has left over every month.
Her sponsorship came after reading about the ghastly experience the young woman went through after she was raped by an uncle, told by her parents not to report him because he was a breadwinner, then later saw her father beat her mother to death.
Jonathan Jansen, the vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, speaking on Friday at Cordwalles Preparatory School, said he had put out an appeal for people to help. “Within three days, R200 000 was raised for her medical studies.”
One donor was a Wentworth grandmother, who asked him:
“Professor, you do not know me. I have R20 left (at the end of each month). Would you mind I give it to that young girl?”
“I said it would mean so much. Every month R20 comes to her.”
Jansen said he was hopeful for the future of South Africa because of people like the Wentworth woman.
He was addressing the Proudly Primary Conference of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa.
Jansen told teachers of their important role in inspiring children and adopting appropriate leadership models.
Teachers can inspire tens of thousands of children to choose careers in education, simply by being powerful role models who are prepared to make sacrifices, he said.
“In any society, there is a percentage of people for whom helping, giving and sacrificing is what makes us real.”
The political leadership, across the board, showed horrific behaviour, he said.
Jansen encouraged the more than 1 000 delegates at the conference to take up 21st century leadership, which involved becoming “in touch with the rhythm of the people you work with”.
He said that traditionally, when people think of leadership, they tended to think of masculinity, “the big man” coming into a company and taking it from deficit to profit.
“That is the 17th century model of leadership.
“To lead today means to lead in a different way, to be conscious that you lead with other people,” he said. - Independent on Saturday