Durban - Only you can keep your dreams alive; it’s up to you to fight for them.
This, said Regina Mlobeli, was her motivation to persevere in the face of severe financial struggles - which have seen her remarkable rise from working as a petrol attendant to having a Master’s degree in psychology.
Mlobeli, now the study co-ordinator at the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), said there was no “secret” to her success.
She spoke to The Mercury ahead of World Aids Day, which is on December 1.
“Working hard and trying hard. That’s all you can do to get what you want.”
Mlobeli grew up in Gugulethu, and from 1976 moved between the Western Cape and Eastern Cape trying to finish high school.
“Unfortunately this did not work as political violence (under apartheid) was spreading. I failed matric in 1982 and did not bother much as having children and getting married was an important thing for women. In 1984 I had a child and in 1989, a second child.”
After getting married, she worked as a petrol attendant in 1990.
“I did it to assist maintaining the family. My husband was not earning a good salary. Life at the garage was not easy and sometimes we lived on tips,” she said.
The financial burden eventually became too much to bear and she decided to further her studies in 1994.
“I registered at Lagunya finishing school while working at the garage. I worked a 13-hour night shift at the garage and then studied full-time at the University of the Western Cape in 1995 doing my BA degree full-time. In 1998 I did my Honours in psychology and was nominated as a research assistant on a national study and resigned from the garage.”
Mlobeli said she had not been sure what to study, and sought the advice of guidance counsellors at the university.
“The counsellor told me to try all these ‘ologies’ to try to find a direction. I took anthropology, sociology and philosophy, but psychology was what spoke to me. It healed me and that’s when I realised how powerful it was,” she said.
Mlobeli’s participation in a national HIV prevalence study also motivated her.
“I became more involved in programmes dealing with HIV/Aids and joined the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) as a volunteer. I worked with pastors on matters related to HIV/Aids and assisting in community support groups.”
She noticed that the sufferers of the disease were stigmatised. “While doing this work, my husband was transferred to KwaZulu-Natal and people labelled me. They warned others not to come to my house because they would be infected and that was why the husband left me.”
Later she too made her way to KZN and was reunited with her husband. Today they live in Umgababa on the South Coast.
The research for her Master’s drew on those experiences.
“My thesis is about the HIV/Aids stigma perceived and experienced by people living with the disease in Khayelitsha. I graduated in 2007. Since, I have co-ordinated studies and worked with researchers who invented HIV risk-reduction instruments used in HIV risk-reduction projects in three clinics.”
Mlobeli said she came from humble beginnings - her mother was a domestic worker and her father a gardener.
“But things are different now: my first-born, Sharon Dlakhulu, works as an administrator in the Department of Health in Cape Town, while my younger daughter, Nokutula Mlobeli, works in IT at Transnet. I am hugely proud of my children,” she said.
“While I was forced to drop out at Grade 12, I did not give up on myself and instead sought to discover other talents and passions.
“I worked during the day and studied at night to complete my undergraduate degree and then went on to do postgraduate studies. It is possible.”
The Mercury
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