PLEASE HELP FINANCE MY STUDIES

Please help me finance my studies as I cannot afford to do it myself. I cannot afford even the registration fee. I believe once I'm in, my dedication, hard work and passion for social work will get me good results that are going to enable me to get bursaries.

My name is Amanda Nene. I'm 23 years old. When I was 18 years old doing grade 12 my mother died in a car accident. I ran away from home before she was even buried because my stepfather's brother had raped me 3 times within 5 days of my mother's death. Running away was my only option as I had no one to fight for me. My defender, my mother was gone. After I left I never had a place I could call home. I had no one to support me financially, I couldn't find a stable job. I would live with the people who would abuse me and I was reminded everyday that I didn't belong to them. I was an outsider.

When I was 20 I started selling my body so I could get some money to survive. I thought it wasn't going to be that hard because I had been raped several times. But I was wrong, it was. And what I think made it worse is that I don't drink alcohol so I was always sober when I was doing it. I lost hope and thought I would never amount to anything.

Then last year January something happened. I went to do an HIV test for the first time in my life. Actually I just wanted to confirm that I was HIV positive. I couldn't believe when my results came back negative. I did two more tests the same day at different clinics. They all came back with the same results, negative. I felt like I was given another chance and since then I've been very careful with what I do. I wanted to do something positive with my life. I opted to find a school that was going to allow me to write my matric examinations and I did.

I applied to study Bachelor of Social Work at the University of KwaZulu Natal and I have been accepted to study this year. The problem is I can't afford to pay even my registration fee. I'm supposed to be registered now but I'm not yet because I cannot afford it.

I want to leave the life I've been living and start a new, normal life like other normal people.

I urge you to help me by donating anything you can be able to donate. Even if it's a dollar. I want to make a difference to other people's lives when I finish my Social Work studies.

Thank you for your time.