I was first introduced to the then known Kopano Matlwa at age 17, when my aunt gifted me with her award winning novel Coconut which changed my life, the timing could have not been any perfect because of the relevance of the novel at that specific point in my life wherein I was a black girl in a predominantly white Private School if we need to get factual about things and she just conceptualized the entire experience in the novel and help me get through my daily life as a "Coconut", one of my best and favorite reads (I read it twice).I am overjoyed with how far she has come and how prosperous she has become.
More about Kopano:
Dr. Kopano Matlwa Mabaso is one of our Youth Month RSL Woman Crush Hero's! This 29-year old is a South African medical doctor currently reading for a DPhil (PhD) in Population Health at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She has a MBChB degree from the University of Cape Town and a Masters in Global Health Science from the University of Oxford. She is also a published author and winner of the European Union Literary award, 2007 and Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, 2010. Her novels Coconut and Spilt Milk are social commentaries on post-apartheid South Africa and between them, have been translated into 4 languages and are used as teaching aids in a number of schools and universities both locally and abroad.
On a much lighter note: @kopanomabaso (twitter handle),is also a wife and a mother and is busy writing her third novel all whilst working to complete her PHD. She is also involved in her NGO, which she co-founded in 2011 called Transitions Foundation working to address inequalities in education in South Africa and assists talented youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is also a WEF global shaper; an Aspen Voice Fellow, Associate to the Tutu Fellowship and much more! That is why she is our RSL Woman Crush Hero!! We Salute You!!
#RSLWomanCrushHero #RSLInspiration #RSLWomanEmpowerment
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