DEF Scholar: Maputi (Puti) Botlhole
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Home country: Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Activities: Dance, community service
Maputi hopes to study bioinformatics to help Africa through the application of information technology to the field of molecular biology.
Maputi’s Dream:
My name is Maputi Elizabeth Botlhole, an eighteen year old girl from the township of New Brighton – a place that pulsates with the vivacious spirit of ‘ubuntu’; where the architecture of households is characterized by a series of corrugated iron roofs that symbolize the vicissitudes of life and which inject hopelessness into the minds of those hemorrhaged by the cycle of poverty. But it is also the place where I was nurtured by my family and where I was imprinted with indelible moral values which have molded me in to a ‘significant individual’. This is how the philosophical Nigerian writer, Wole Soyinka, describes a leader.
These moral values act as my guiding principles and have shaped my participation in projects which contribute towards the betterment of society. Furthermore, I have been able to fortify these values by being part of the African Leadership Academy community. I am currently working on a proposal which is aimed at curbing the spread of Tuberculosis in South African communities with a particular focus on townships and informal settlements. I was able to undertake this project with the help of Mr. Scudder, my Biology teacher who tirelessly injects life and philanthropic significance into the science. I have been equipped with a platform to realize my human capabilities and have been encouraged to believe that I will implement my work in townships and informal settlements, once I accumulate the necessary resources and establish myself as a skilled Bioinformatician.
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I’ve been in the beautiful city of Hong Kong for almost a week now. I am here to raise money for the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), my non-profit organization which is dedicated to supporting the empowerment of African youth.
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