Once upon a time, Rhyme Setshedi, the new head of education at the MTN Sciencentre, was a struggling first-year student at the University of Mafikeng.
Up in the NorthWest province, he was living in the residence in a dormitory room meant for one. Of course, students being students, the original occupant had sub-let part of the room for extra cash. A little crowded for a village boy from Montsana, outside Rustenburg, but Rhyme didn't have the cash to afford a private room. He was the first-born, the eldest of three boys, and he was also the first in his family to go to university.
A physics lecturer took pity on him, took him in, fed and housed him. That person was Dan Kgwadi, now a professor and rector at the university, and the two would sit around the table at night and discuss science.
''He really inspired me and I hope I inspire others in turn,'' Rhyme says. ''He made science simple. Science is my hobby. I don't honestly feel like I'm working. I feel like I'm playing with a bg toy, a gadget.''
Perhaps that sense of play, of curiosity, is also the influence of Rhyme's late father, Abson ''Master'' Setshedi. ''My father was not educated but he could fix things like cars and generators and lawnmowers. He was partially paralysed for the last decade of his life from a road accident and was in a wheelchair. We made a good team, I was his hands, before he passed away in 2002.''
And the ability to fix things has already come in useful. The van der Graaf generator used in the static electricity experiments at lucky's Lab was not being co-operative this week. So Rhyme peeked inside, ensured that the rubber belt was rubbing up against the cathode the way it was meant to, and was able to have a training session on Tuesday morning with facilitators Sam Moore, Nadine Samuel, Shahied van Nelson and Fikiswa Majola.
Now it's time for the next generation. At the family level, Rhyme's youngest brother is doing physics and science at matric level, while his middle brother has graduated with a commerce degree.
After seven years teaching at the University of Mafikeng, Rhyme has spent the last three years at the Cape University of Technology here in the Western Cape.
Rhyme teaches in a bridging programme, offering classes in physics and computer skills for matric graduates whose understanding of the subjects is not yet good enough for a first year of an engineering degree. ''I know the MTN Sciencentre because I have brought groups of students here,'' he points out.
He will continue to offer the classes, and stay in touch with the students via the internet, after joining the MTN Sciencentre team.
Up in the NorthWest province, he was living in the residence in a dormitory room meant for one. Of course, students being students, the original occupant had sub-let part of the room for extra cash. A little crowded for a village boy from Montsana, outside Rustenburg, but Rhyme didn't have the cash to afford a private room. He was the first-born, the eldest of three boys, and he was also the first in his family to go to university.
A physics lecturer took pity on him, took him in, fed and housed him. That person was Dan Kgwadi, now a professor and rector at the university, and the two would sit around the table at night and discuss science.
''He really inspired me and I hope I inspire others in turn,'' Rhyme says. ''He made science simple. Science is my hobby. I don't honestly feel like I'm working. I feel like I'm playing with a bg toy, a gadget.''
Perhaps that sense of play, of curiosity, is also the influence of Rhyme's late father, Abson ''Master'' Setshedi. ''My father was not educated but he could fix things like cars and generators and lawnmowers. He was partially paralysed for the last decade of his life from a road accident and was in a wheelchair. We made a good team, I was his hands, before he passed away in 2002.''
And the ability to fix things has already come in useful. The van der Graaf generator used in the static electricity experiments at lucky's Lab was not being co-operative this week. So Rhyme peeked inside, ensured that the rubber belt was rubbing up against the cathode the way it was meant to, and was able to have a training session on Tuesday morning with facilitators Sam Moore, Nadine Samuel, Shahied van Nelson and Fikiswa Majola.
Now it's time for the next generation. At the family level, Rhyme's youngest brother is doing physics and science at matric level, while his middle brother has graduated with a commerce degree.
After seven years teaching at the University of Mafikeng, Rhyme has spent the last three years at the Cape University of Technology here in the Western Cape.
Rhyme teaches in a bridging programme, offering classes in physics and computer skills for matric graduates whose understanding of the subjects is not yet good enough for a first year of an engineering degree. ''I know the MTN Sciencentre because I have brought groups of students here,'' he points out.
He will continue to offer the classes, and stay in touch with the students via the internet, after joining the MTN Sciencentre team.
