Tamia, a young woman who tells the story of how the sound of a gunshot is nothing that scares her, because it’s a normal sound she was surrounded by all her life. Tamia lives with her single mom of four children in Hangberg. Her mother had to go work in the factory or the primary school kitchen, so she could make a little money and left Tamia with her sisters. Tamia went to school and noticed that her marks were pretty good. She jokes that she doesn’t know where she got her brains from, she wouldn’t know her dad. He left her, when she was three. Tamia grew up in a bungalow which she describes as one step above a shack that one knows from townships. She would live in there with her mom, all her siblings and their children that they had over the years. Tamia of course did not have her own room and really struggled to find some peace to study for school – something that was deeply important to her. Finding a place to concentrate. She worked as a baby or dog sitter to contribute financially to her mom. In general that is Tania’s overall goal. When she talks about her story and vision, she aspires to buy her own car and apartment one day. But mostly she wants to provide her mother with a better life. 

Tamia is very reflected and does not want to have children anytime soon. She is aware of the responsibility financially. An unusual mindset from where she comes from. The checklist of a South African mother for her children, looks very different to a western mother’s checklist. 1. Make it to 21 without a baby, 2. finish school with distinctions and 3. finish college. Tamia managed to tick off all three. But that wouldn’t have been the case if it wasn’t for ‘Kids Kapstadt’. 

When she met Marlies and Gregor, she immediately understood the opportunity that presented itself to her. 

From there on she graduated from Sea Point High School in 2019, went to the College of Cape Town after and got her business management degree in 2022. Lastly she enrolled in Roseman College and finished her studies in public administration in 2024. 

She is one of the most appreciative people and acknowledges that she would have never made it to earn a university degree if it wasn’t for the financial and emotional support of Marlies and Gregor. Tamia is concerned how she could ever pay back. Her gratitude overwhelms her sometimes when she thinks of the circumstances she grew up in. How it was unimaginable to ever be someone. Here’s a young woman who had very little hope that she could thrive or excel ever. Who wouldn’t allow herself to dream.

“Now you have a colored girl, from Hangberg, who won’t be a merchant like everyone else, but one who has a degree” – the first one in her family.