I must say that there is not a day that passes that I am not extremely proud of my daughter, and she gives me every single right to be!

One of the reasons must be the fact that she accomplishes so much through her self driven amazing personality despite her all but perfect circumstances. Look as a single mother I have always put her first and as much as I would love to give her the world on a silver platter, it is just not always possible especially if you are barely scraping by through the basics.

Just this week, she received an invitation to go on a tour to the USA based on her academic achievements of the year as a Gr 9 learner at Highschool Merensky situated in Limpopo Tzaneen, this tour hosted by: Travel & Sport – School Tour Specialists.

One of the set criteria is that the student has to have a set grade average of at least 80% each term for an entire year, and only a hand-full of students from the entire S-A gets selected for these invitations. This is such a great opportunity and it would be an honor for her to represent not only her school but also her country on this academic tour.

However the costs of this tour is completely and utterly beyond my budget.

The total cost of the tour is R 55990.00 (excluding her spending money)

That is about +/- 4200 USD

The aim of the tour is to expose learners to world class universities as well as other academic institutions on an international level in the company of academically prestigious peers from around South Africa.
(Please see the Academic Achievers Tour to the USA 2018 Leaflet and entry forms below for more details)

Here are a few of her recent academic and cultural achievements that has made this invitation possible:

I have maintained a school rapport average over 80% for the year,

As well as participating in various other academic and cultural activities such as:

Tritech National science and technology fair:

Where her team made it through to the Nationals and attained Silver, whilst also placing second in the activity division.

I participated in the: Afrikaanse Radikaale Redenaars:

Here her team attained Gold, and was acknowledged as second in the global Gr 9 group of entrants.

During the National Computer talent search:

This is a yearly test that is done on national level, and is aimed at recognizing prestigious computer literacy that she partook in, and she received Gold.

ATKV Debate:

During this years ATKV debate, Meggan and her team placed first in the Semi Finals.
With the debate topic:
“Should cultural values be taken into account when school rules are put in place?"

Tzaneen Eistedfodd:

Meggan participated in the annual Eistedfodd under various categories and her results were more than impressive:

Here she was appointed general winner in 4 different categories, and received, Gold, Double Gould and Diamond certificates in respect.

The Presidents Award: Bronze Medal

This year she also received Honors for cultural achievements

On the cultural side:

Duvet Blues:

A musical production where Meggan played one of the lead roles, as well as a solo song.

And she also participated in the annual SER:

She was a member of the winning team of the annual low-veld SER competition. (SER is short for Serenade and is a combination of song dance and drama combined into a group performance on provincial level)

And these are but to name a few.

So, as you can see this past year has been a very productive one for her, and I feel that she has earned the right to go!

So as her mother I will try my UTMOST BEST, to make this tour possible for her.

Please support this post if you would like to help me make her dream a reality!!