Determined to be a living example that teen moms can succeed academically after having their babies, a former New Woodlands resident graduated top of her class with a Master’s degree in chemical engineering.
Yasheemah Williams, 26, gave birth to Farah, 8, a year after she matriculated, from Rylands High School in 2009.
“My daughter was my biggest motivation. It was very difficult but I kept going and pushing. I wanted a better future for my daughter,” she said.
In 2011 she enrolled at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and in December last year she graduated summa cum laude.
She is now a lecturer at her alma mater where she teaches numeracy in design, as part of CPUT’s design foundation extended programme.
Ms Williams was led to her current occupation by her passion to contribute to the education of the less fortunate.
Between 2012 and 2015 she tutored Grade 10 to 12 pupils in maths and science at the Mustadafin Foundation, which at the time was based in Belgravia.
The non-profit organisation, which since 1986 has worked across the Western Cape to uplift destitute communities, has since moved to Lansdowne and also has an office in Tafelsig.
“Volunteering is very important. When you teach you affirm what you know and you realise how fortunate you are to impart knowledge.
“I had to work hard but my passion to help others helped me,” she said.
She said children could easily get side-tracked without someone to help.
Working with them on weekends, she said, allowed her to check in with them and motivate them to stay in school. “I could not tell them to do things differently and to overcome hurdles if I wasn’t that example,” she said.
During her first year of university, Ms Williams had postnatal depression, for which she sought help from a student counsellor.
She said seeking help when necessary, was vital to staying on course.
“It is that extra support that you need to stay on track and to ensure you are doing your best,” she said.
Ms Williams said when Farah was born, she could “feel” people talking about her, when she walked into a room. She imagined they were saying about her: “Hai shame she is pregnant and now has to provide for her child or the stigma of not being married.”
She felt as if there was always someone judging or looking down on her – “like I disappointed my parents”, she said.
“I wanted to prove people wrong and with the proper mindset I showed them that I am strong-willed and that I won’t just settle,” she said.
Ms Williams said her mother Farieda Ely, a single-parent, had dreamed with her and that failure had not been an option.
“She encouraged me to go study to complete my BTech (Bachelor of Technology), then my degree, my Master’s and now she wants me to pursue my PhD (Doctor of Philosophy),” she said.
Her Master’s thesis, she added, had focused on poultry waste management, and viable solutions to prevent wasting water.
“I want to always find ways to better the environment. I look forward to inventing new ways to better the earth and environment, to find new solutions to problems,” she said.
Ms Williams got married in December and now lives in Kewtown.
“I want the youth to know that just because you come from a certain area does not mean you cannot move forward. You may not know how to go about going to study or not have the finances but you have to push through and make something of yourself,” she said.