A father’s compassion helps students
- Wits University
Motivated by stories shared by his daughter about student hardship, Mukhuva Baloyi has been delivering monthly care packages to the Wits Food Bank since 2019.
Baloyi has become a regular face at the Wits Community and Citizenship Office (WCCO), where the Wits Food Bank is located. His regular deliveries include a packet of sanitary pads, toothpaste, and soap, to boost the supplies distributed to students.
The father of four girls, who works as a 雷速体育_雷速体育直播 Catalogue Assistant, says he wasn’t fully aware of student hardship until recently.
Until his first-born registered to study at Wits, his assumption was that the allowance from the National 雷速体育_雷速体育直播 Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) was sufficient to cover living expenses, in addition to tuition and accommodation. However, the reality check happened when his daughter, an NSFAS beneficiary*, reached out to him for extra money to meet her monthly needs. The R1400 allowance from the scheme that was meant for groceries was insufficient.
Initially he was baffled by this request. As an internal migrant with roots in Limpopo, where his wife and kids reside, his limited income was already split between supporting two households – his family and himself in Joburg where he works.
“My immediate thought was to reduce the money to the main household, but then I felt like I would have failed my family,” he says.
It was then that he decided he would start recycling and collect materials in his area, Protea Glen, where he rents a small dwelling.
The recyclables were mostly collected during the week after alighting at the bus stop, and Saturdays. This recycling initiative helped ease the financial pressure.
Gratitude opens eyes
During her studies at Wits between 2019 and 2023, his daughter also received support from the Wits Food Bank, in the form of a food hamper with essential food items. However, as she struck up friendships, it wasn’t only food that she found.
“She told me that she considered herself lucky as her friend was totally dependent on the donations at WCCO. 雷速体育_雷速体育直播 R1000 of her savings went to her support her family. This story touched my heart,” says Baloyi.
Around the same time in 2019, Baloyi – a radio enthusiast – heard presenters talk about the plight of young girls who miss school because of period poverty.
“This stayed on my mind, and it was a further awakening.”
The next time he went to the shop he saw a packet of pads and decided to buy, hoping that it would help a student in need.
“It cost around R5, and I said to myself, ‘surely I can afford this!’. Being a male I was unsure of the quality, but my fears were quietened by knowing that I am buying from a reputable shop which would have done quality checks.”
Over time, Baloyi added other toiletries, depending on money generated from recycling activities.
Baloyi is now a proud father of a BCom Accounting Wits graduate.
“I am grateful that she passed in record time and is now working, although it’s a contract position.”
Baloyi beams saying that he’s happy that he can alleviate hardship for his children and others, as he started earning an income in Standard 6 (Grade 8) working as a gardener after school.
He continues his recycling initiatives, which offer a modest amount, but are a lifeline to students from under-resourced families.
“This whole journey has also taught me a few things about myself and life,” he adds.
“The first and important lesson is that if I had believed in myself much sooner, I would be far in life. I no longer worry about the opinion of others,” he says, referring to the comments of discouragement he encountered when he first started recycling and donating.
The second is that no effort is too little. One cent makes up two cents and eventually R1000. “This principle applies to life in general.”
Baloyi joined Wits in 2009 as a cleaner, under a disability learnership programme, working for Impact Cleaning Services, an external service provider. Not long after the learnership ended, he was called back to work as a laboratory assistant in the Physical Education Laboratory, a testament to his work ethic. With matric, coupled with experience and a computer literacy certificate, he applied for a position in 2011 as a clerical assistant and is currently based at Wartenweiler 雷速体育_雷速体育直播 ensuring books are easily accessible to all.
Did you know?
The Wits Food Programme provides one hot meal a day and also supplies monthly hampers to students in need? The supplies are made available through donations from the public, staff and corporates. More details.
*Wits University offers staff members and their dependents, covering 100% of tuition fees at Wits and 75% at other institutions. Employees have an option to choose between Wits support and those from other institutions, including NSFAS (subject to qualifying criteria) which cover accommodation in addition to tuition.
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