YWOW: Young Women of Worth Education, South Africa

“The more girl children that are educated in an environment as conducive to success and personal development as Epworth, the more we're likely to see more positive and substantive changes in the world. I think access to quality education is one of the few determinants that have the ability to truly transform lives and immensely benefit the community those lives reach. This is why the bursary fund is so important,” says Shaniaé Maharaj, class of 2017 and a former bursary student.

We define Young Women of Worth as people who, given the opportunity, have the potential to drive lasting change the world around them, in whatever field their passion lies. Our bursaries ensure that these young women with remarkable potential are able to receive the same opportunities for excellence as those who are born into lives of privilege.

Shaniaé Maharaj is just one of the many Young Women of Worth who have attended Epworth School through the bursary fund.

Currently in her penultimate year, Shaniaé is studying towards a BAccLLB (double degree in Accounting and Law) at the University of Stellenbosch, after which she may pursue a career path in law or as a chartered accountant. She has also spent three years coaching the South African and KwaZulu Natal debating teams. In her third year, she was the Head Coach of the South African Debating Team that ranked second in the world after preliminary rounds. She also was the Head Coach of the KwaZulu Natal Debating Squad for two years, one of which included the year the team was ranked first in the national championships.

A champion for social justice and an advocate for quality education and empowering girls, Shaniaé was recently placed second in the prestigious 30^th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition. This is why she believes supporting bursaries like ours plays a vital role in empowering young womxn* and girls.

THIS IS HER STORY:

My years at Epworth were some of my best yet. I was exposed to a range of perspectives, activities, and opportunities to which I ordinarily wouldn't have been exposed. Epworth places a lot of emphasis on independence and empowerment, which is so important for womxn.

Epworth fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life and helped me to step into my own identity. It's incredibly unfortunate to think that this kind of experience is limited to such a small demographic of children.

When I was at Epworth High, I was one of five Indian students. This meant my experience of school and extra-curricular activities were wildly different to that of my cousins, family friends, and other relatives.

It was this culture of excellence, growth, and support that Epworth provided that really shaped my development. More importantly, because of the consistent encouragement and support I received, I had a strong sense of confidence instilled in me. Leaving school, I felt like I was ready to take on the challenges of the real world.

WHY DO YOU SUPPORT THIS PROGRAMME?

The way that people achieve success isn’t just through hard work but it’s definitely through opportunity as well. It’s not fair if we only let privileged people, people who can actually and do have the resources to come here, come here.

As a teenaged schoolgirl, being selected to receive a bursary makes you feel important when you know that someone believes in you; it forces you to be the best you that you can be!

That’s where a lot of talent that doesn’t have the capacity to come to places like this get lost. That’s it’s incredibly sad. Learning how to grow as an individual prepares you so much more for the real world and it’s important that this opportunity is provided to all individuals.

WOULD YOU SHARE WITH US HIGHLIGHTS FROM YOUR LIFE SINCE EPWORTH?

I have been active in my university space as the Head of Womxn Empowerment at my residence and I’ve spoken at various campus events on the topic of social justice. I have completed a term as the Vice-Chairperson of the Palestinian Solidarity Forum (Stellenbosch Chapter) and I am about to start my term as the Chairperson of the PSF, which has been such a worthwhile experience.

I’ve also had the honour of having a paper published in the Pretoria Student Law Review as to why we need stronger labour laws to protect women engaged in informal work and how that will prepare us for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

I'm also involved in social justice and empowerment at university. My activism is involved with on anti-gender-based violence, queer rights, anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-classist work. I often facilitate and lead critical discussions on these.

South Africans have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many families have experienced a severe reduction in household income but fortunately, during this time, funds raised by our foundation have helped a number of our families bridge the painful shortfall on essential costs such as uniforms, transport, extra-murals, boarding and/or tuition.
2020 saw the launch of our Young Women of Worth bursary programme on the GlobalGiving platform, administered by The Epworth Foundation. This programme aims to afford talented young girls in Africa access to a world-class education. Nearly US $6000 of our $15 000 goal has been raised in just 9 months.

Our vision
Our (five-year) goal is to enable 30 talented and deserving Young Women of Worth the opportunity to attend Epworth with the necessary financial assistance. Girls’ schools are still relatively new, and often resistant, to the concept of advancement through fundraising. The idea seems to sit less comfortably with girls’ schools than it does with boys’ schools and other educational institutions around the world. Since 2016, the Epworth Foundation has chosen to challenge this.

What we do
We RAISE funds to INVEST in the lives of talented and deserving but financially disadvantaged young pupils, through our school’s bursary programme.

Why we do this
We are passionate about offering girls the chance to distinguish themselves in life irrespective of their social or economic standing.

Why we are a worthy investment
Since much of state education in South Africa rates poorly against global educational standards and deliverables, this means that for girls in South Africa, accessing quality education is much more necessary. Unfortunately, this comes at a huge financial cost.
We do not believe that access to quality, real-world education should be limited by the financial position of a family. As such, we continuously strive to RAISE FUNDS to offer a life-changing Epworth education, grounded in the values of faith, compassion and courage, to talented young girl-child leaders.
2020 lowlight: The COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 highlights: Notable funds raised in spite of COVID-19 thanks to our compliance, trustworthiness and transparency; significant financial assistance offered and extended to a significant number of pupils and a donor-base growth of over 40% against economic odds.