My Full Circle Moment
- Ruth First Trust
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
by Humayra Akhalwaya (RF2014)
My journey is one that has come full circle in the most unexpected and meaningful way.
It began in 2013, at the end of my Grade 7 year, when I was awarded the Ruth First Memorial Scholarship. At the time, I understood it as an incredible opportunity, one that would support me through high school, but I could not yet grasp the depth of its impact. What I did know, even then, was that I was no longer walking the path ahead alone. There was a network of people who believed in me, who were willing to invest in my future, and who would walk alongside me in the years to come.
When I started high school in 2014, that support became more tangible. Through mentorship, guidance, and consistent encouragement, I was not only supported academically, but personally. The Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, together with the Adopt-a-School Foundation, sponsored my scholarship with the Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust and allowed me to partake in the ‘Take a Girl Child to Work’ initiative. This exposed me to professional industries through talks about empowering women in the corporate world. At the time, it all felt like a series of meaningful moments. Only later would I realise that they were, in fact, building the foundation for everything that followed.
After matriculating, I pursued my studies in architecture, completing my undergraduate degree at Wits before continuing with my Master’s at the University of Pretoria. Architecture, for me, was never just about buildings, it was about people, about space, about the ways in which design can shape everyday life. Alongside my studies, I returned to the scholarship programme, this time as a mentor to new Ruthies.
Becoming a mentor for the Ruth First Mentorship Programme was a turning point. I found myself in a space that once held me, now holding others. In guiding young Ruthies through their own journeys, I witnessed their strength, their resilience, and their potential. At the same time, I was learning about responsibility, about empathy, and about what it truly means to give back. It was in this role that I began to understand the lasting impact of the support I had received.
Then, another unexpected moment shifted my path.
I was approached by CDG Architecture and Interior Design. It was only during my interview that I discovered how they had come across my work, through the very Ruthie network that had supported me for so many years. What felt like coincidence was, in reality, connection. I was stepping into a professional space that not only recognised my journey, but was intrinsically linked to it.
Today, my work at CDG focuses on infrastructure projects across South Africa, particularly in the development of schools and clinics. These are not just buildings, they are spaces of opportunity, care, and growth. And in what feels like a deeply personal and almost surreal moment, I now find myself contributing to projects that echo the very environments that shaped me.
Even more significantly, I am now working alongside the Adopt-a-School Foundation, the same foundation that played such a pivotal role in my life as a learner.
What was once a space of receiving has become a space of giving. What once shaped me is now something I help shape for others.
This full circle moment has been both humbling and affirming. It has shown me that the impact of investing in a young woman extends far beyond the present. It moves through time, through people, through opportunities, quietly shaping futures in ways we may not always immediately see.
Looking back, I realise that none of these moments were isolated. Each one was connected, building toward something larger than I could have imagined at the time. I will forever be thankful to the Ruth First Memorial Scholarship for shaping me into the person I am today.
Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust
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