SAKHELO: DEFYING ODDS

Known as a landlocked country, Swaziland is fast growing to be a threat to the rest of the well developed countries as it is grooming young African leaders who are set to shake up the world in a positive manner.

Today, Gcwala got a chance to catch up with Sakhelo Nkambule, a 21-year-old motivator, model, Aviation Engineering student studying in Kazan Aviation University, who tells of a story of how he worked to get to where he is today.

Growing up, Sakhelo says he survived through his father’s salary that also had to take care of seven other children. He says things were hard as they would struggle with food, clothing and other basic needs.
In the years that he attended school at Gundvwini High School, he describes a scenario where he had to walk two kilometres to get to school due to the financial struggle.

“It wasn’t easy, imagine the days when it rained and having to walk that kind of a distance just to get an education. It was really challenging because at times I felt like I should give up, but I had to think of my dreams and the fact that I wanted to provide for my family,” Nkambule narrates.

When he was in Form III, that is when Sakhelo discovered the love for flying, flying aircrafts that is. Since then he joined local organisations like ‘Young Climbers’ which helped motivate his dreams. “I saw that everything was attainable, so long as one opens up their mind and think out of the box, then they are in the right path towards success.”

Scholarship

Joining Aviation school was not a walk in the park, he had to get a scholarship and visa to go study in Russia. It started when he would read newspapers and listen to the national radio for possible opportunities of a scholarship.
First, Nkambule applied for a Taiwanese scholarship which was not successful, but that did not hold him back as he continued trying his luck and applied for a scholarship to study in Cuba, of which he failed too.

When they say everything happens for a reason, they talk about the fact where one has a planned destiny and Sakhelo’s was the one to study in Russia. “In life what matters is never the number of fails you face, rather the number of times you rise and persist on that what you want. If you want it so bad you can acquire it,” he says.

Sakhelo has a dream, a dream where he sees himself giving back to his community through investing in the youth’s education. He says that he wouldn’t want anyone else to go through the hardships that he went through trying to follow his dreams, reason why the first thing he is set to do is to inspire the youth.

He looks up to Lesley Brown, Peter Danials, Jim Rohm, Oprah Winfrey, Pastor Bakhe, Mr Sdumo Dlamini, Bonkhe Shabangu and Mbongiseni Msibi. All of these people are hard workers and they have changed the world in an amicable way as he says. 

Just like any other student studying abroad would tell you that life away from home is not easy, Nkambule says the only difference there is to him from the rest is that he is engaged in a number of projects, one being a success group where they meet with other students from different countries to look at ways to develop Africa.

He is also involved in motivational speaking in the career guidance part, does part-time modelling and currently he is indulging his focus on his motivational speaking as he believes in changing lives of other fellow students and peers.

Experience

“A new behaviour creates new experience, thus new reality is formed and, there will be new perspective and cycle goes on. I am into modelling as it has been something I always dreamt of. I am also engaged in a small business that keeps a little finance coming in and lastly, I’m in an organisation run by a friend based in the UK that helps unaffording children buy uniforms and few basic needs.
 My last words would make the right choices as the choices will make you right person tomorrow. And don’t be afraid to go big, don’t let the pain of your past, punish your presence and paralyze your progress. And lastly, be careful with the timing, it’s good to be a soccer player, a model and rapper, but it’s very wrong when it’s not the the right time for it,” concludes Nkambule.

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