SA teen scores with water essay
Thandee N'wa Mhangwana
17 August 2004
A Mpumalanga schoolgirl has won a sub-continental competition and an all-expenses paid trip to Mauritius for her essay on being water wise.
Samukelisiwe Dlamini (17), a Grade 11 pupil at Valencia Combined School in Nelspruit, says she entered the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secondary Schools Essay Competition for "fun".
"I just wrote it for the hell of it, and to improve my writing skills," she said.
Her "fun" has earned her the trip of a lifetime - on Monday she jetted out of the country for Mauritius, where she will read her essay in front of thousands of delegates at the SADC summit and receive a R3 000 cash prize.
Premier Thabang Makwetla and Education MEC Siphosezwe Masango wished Samukelisiwe luck at a function held in her honour at her school.
"We are proud that the Valencia Combined School has produced the best essay writer in the southern hemisphere. We know you will be a good ambassador for our
country and our province," said Makwetla.
Makwetla also encouraged other scholars to take full advantage of educational privileges.
"Access to education is a precious privilege," he said. "Most people who grew up before 1994 never had such privileges, so take full advantage of these opportunities."
Samukelisiwe spent many hours conducting research in the Nelspruit public library, and her essay details how communities develop around available water resources.
"Water is the lifeblood and heartbeat of all human activity," reads one of her lines.
She then explains the need for water, the problem of water-borne diseases and how water supply or shortages can be directly connected to economic development and building a better nation.
She also writes that properly managed water can boost the economy and build bridges across countries, like the Maguga dam, a joint venture between South Africa and Swaziland.
The essay competition was run by SADC
together with South Africa's departments of water affairs and forestry and education.
The competition was open for pupils between grades 10 and 12 from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The essay had to discuss the importance of water, health, sanitation, hygiene, economic development, hydroelectric power, peace and prosperity.
Of the 18 entries from South Africa, only three made it to the final round of judging in Gaborone, Botswana.
Samukelisiwe's English teacher Marylyn Varda said the teenager had worked for a long, hard week on her essay.
She spent days at the library, at provincial offices of the department of water affairs and forestry, and on the Internet.
It took her two days to pen the six-page essay.
"It was really fun, because I learnt a lot from that essay, though I never thought I would win, " Samukelisiwe
says.
Her older sister, Lindelwa, who is studying for a BSc in Water Sciences, was one of her references.
"She is so happy for me. It's as if she is the one who is going."
Varda will accompany Samukelisiwe to the opening of the SADC summit in Mauritius on 16 August.
"I am really happy and now believe that I can do anything," a beaming Samukelisiwe says.
Varda said the competition was a good way to encourage the region's children to discover new things.
"When this competition was given to us not many children were keen to enter, but now that they realise what they can get from it, they are keen on entering it next year," she said.
Samukelisiwe has also received a clothing voucher from Edgars and a cash prize from Buscor.
Source: BuaNews
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