Bitterness arose from Ms Nonsikeloe Mhlongo, she remembered the pain she went through in a love relationship she saw when she was studying – graduating from the Diploma in Business and Information Management at Durban University of Technology (DUT).
Ms Mhlongo from Mthunzini, in the north of KwaZulu-Natal, described her educational journey as not easy due to many challenges, mainly caused by abuse by the father of her two children.
He said that he was studying and enduring the trauma of a romantic relationship that lasted for four years, which disturbed him emotionally and mentally as there were times when he was forced to be hospitalized and was busy at school, so much so that he missed some of his studies.
However, even though it was difficult in that way, Ms. Mhlongo did not allow it to hinder her on her way to success, as she continued to work hard with her education with the aim of achieving her dream of being successful in education.
“My parents helped me a lot to get to where I am now by not giving up on me, but they supported me in all the challenges I was facing and took care of my children while I was still facing the difficulties of education and the events of my life,” he said.
Ms. Mhlongo’s educational journey at DUT began in 2021 when she was going to do a Higher Certificate in Public Relations, which was the basis for her to continue in this field and finally graduated with her degree, which she is looking to use to help the community.
Her mother Mrs. Ntombenhle Mhlongo said that seeing her daughter fulfill her dream like this brought tears of joy to her, and gave her hope that she will be able to use her education to be independent and earn a living.
“She has gone through a lot of bad things in her life, so I am proud of her for not giving up on life. It makes me happy to see her fulfilling her dreams like this and continuing to show that she has the strength to take care of her children,” said Mrs Mhlongo.
Ms Mhlongo encouraged others who are dealing with sexual trauma not to die inside, but to look for the disease and not to allow those conditions to stop their lives and prevent the realization of their dreams.