UWC Bursary
Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists, amongst others, are needed daily at the Wilge Special Care Day Care Centre in Atlantis, but funding is not always available and therefore there is not always constant support for the children.
In attempting to alleviate this problem, The Solstice Foundation proposed offering a bursary for a promising Grade 12 student from a school in the surrounding area who would like to pursue a career in the Human Sciences. The Foundation would sponsor the student through his or her studies at a relevant University in Cape Town, and the student would have to commit to return to Atlantis and to work at Wilge as a therapist, in a part-time or full-time capacity, during his or her studies, i.e. practicals, and after completion of the degree. We undertook a costs analysis for the relevant degrees at Universities in and around Cape Town, and Lizelle van Wyk, CEO of Wilge, approached the Principals of the schools in Atlantis, Darling, and surrounding areas, to identify the potential students.
Once the matric results were received and acceptance to University confirmed and following an interview process, Laura de Wet, from Atlantis Secondary High School, was offered the bursary. She registered at the University of the Western Cape in 2010 for her first year of Physiotherapy and proved to be a star student. She worked hard that year and was rewarded by achieving results in the top 15% of her faculty and she was selected to be part of the prestigious Golden Key Honour Society.
Laura continued to be successful in her studies and in her 2nd year in 2011 she attained four distinctions. In 2012 she moved into the residence Kovacs Student Village, which was a positive move as it afforded her more time to concentrate on her studies as she spent less time travelling.
Laura has shown great dedication to Wilge, as each holiday she has worked at the Special Care Day Care Centre, helping to feed the children, and with massage and the hydrobaths as well as assessing the children. She has also job-shadowed the local Atlantis Physiotherapist, during her holidays.
We are very proud to say that Laura passed her final BSc Physiotherapy exams in 2013. She said, ‘I have received my results and I have officially completed my course! I can only express my joy and gratitude toward Solstice for their help in achieving this.’
After her Community Service year in 2014, she returned to Atlantis to work at the Wilge Special Care Day Care Centre, where she stayed until 2017, contributing tremendously to the centre in her role as physiotherapist. She has since moved to Emmanuel, also in Atlantis, where she continues to serve her community.
