AFRICA | A young African lady named Tshepang Ralehoko has achieved her childhood dream of becoming a pilot, an achievement made possible through her mother’s unwavering support.
Lulu Ralehoko, a dedicated mother from South Africa, supported her daughter’s career dream by launching a biscuit business to pay her tuition for aviation school.
Tshepang's Story and How She Did It
In 2019, Tshepang’s mother, Lulu, and her sister, Doris, started a small baking business in Tshwane, South Africa. Having learnt that their daughter could not secure a bursary or scholarship, they resorted to using their talent to support her,
They come up with an idea to bake hundreds of buckets of biscuits and sell them locally. Their goal was to sell biscuts worth 100,000 South African Rand (about $6,800 USD) needed for Tshepang’s pilot training at Blue Chip Flight School, Pretoria.
”I told her I’m good at baking and Doris replied I’m good at baking too,” Lulu said. That conversation birthed the business, which opened a pathway for Tshepang’s dream.
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They designed flyers and did adverts across WhatsApp and spread them in their street. Their story was later posted on Facebook, and soon neighbors, friends, and even strangers placed orders. In the long run, orders started coming in, and they sold, getting closer to their goal.
But the biscuits only funded part of her training; they did not complete it. Tshepang still needed R60,000 for her private pilot license and an additional R250,000 for her commercial license.
She also had to move closer to the location of her school to avoid training disruptions caused by protests in her area. But she pushed through, joined her family to bake and sell cookies until she could pay the major part of the fees.
Despite financial challenges, Tshepang pressed on, supported by her mother, aunt, and a community that believed in her. “She is so passionate. You should see her eyes when she talks about aviation — she just changes,” her aunt, Doris, said.
Tshepang stated that her journey was not just about personal success but to inspire other black women like her. “I’m not doing this just for myself. I’m trying to create the drive to fund other people in the future that are also Black and female,” she said.
Eventually, she was awarded a scholarship, which assisted her in funding her studies, and she completed her training in 2021.
In 2022, Tshepang earned her badge and officially became a certified pilot. Today, she works at Eagle Air, steadily climbing the ranks and is already on her way to earning her third stripe as a pilot.
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