UWC Student Secures 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship
Ferah Aysel Güles, a social worker from Cape Town and a University of the Western Cape (UWC) student, has been selected for the prestigious 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship. This fellowship, part of the Young African Leaders Initiative, will take Güles and 39 other South Africans to the United States for six weeks of intensive academic coursework and leadership training. Güles will join other young African leaders at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, where she will focus on public management.
Güles, who resides in Pinelands, expressed her excitement and gratitude for being chosen for the fellowship. “As much as I had hoped that I would make it, I could not believe it when I got the news,” she told News24. “This fellowship will provide me with a lot of knowledge and skills to own my social sciences alongside the public management aspect of what is required in social services.”
According to the Mandela Washington Fellowship website, the fellowship is in its tenth year. Over this period, it has brought almost 6,500 young fellows—“accomplished innovators and leaders in their communities”—from Sub-Saharan Africa to the United States for “academic and leadership training.”
Güles is dedicated to her expertise but said social work can be trying. “It pains my heart every day to see children who have been sexually abused and have no one else because their parents are drug addicts. However, once in a while, we have a success story where children are placed in safe houses, and their parents go to rehab,” said the 33-year-old.
Güles holds an honours degree in social work from UWC and is currently completing her master’s degree, which focuses on medication misuse. Shortly after landing in the US on Thursday, the passionate social worker took time to express her gratitude to UWC for helping her mould her craft. “My experience at UWC taught me to become empowered and to realise that everyone has strengths and can add great value to desired outcomes and objectives in various programmatic ways. Since my first encounter with pre-registration, the Social Work Department has supported my development. It allowed me to harness my strengths through the wonderful lecturers who pushed me to become resilient in various ways that prepared me for professional continuous development.”
In the News24 article, Güles shared a story that underscored the impact of her work. Through motivational interviews and support, she helped a mother addicted to Tik transform her life. After undergoing rehabilitation, she completed a qualification, became a manager, and is now actively involved in her children’s lives. “She is extremely proud of her sobriety, as she managed to change positively over more than three years for her children,” said Güles, who has nine years of experience in social work.
When she returns from the US, Güles aims to implement best practices and new methodologies learned during her fellowship to address these social issues more effectively. Her story is a testament to the power of dedication, resilience, and the pursuit of knowledge in overcoming social challenges.