From the township to flying into space......
Meet Mandla Maseko, a future astronaut and the first black South African to go into space. The young South African was selected along with 23 other members from across the globe, who beat one million other people to the prize.
The competition was led by Axe and Mandla is one of the hopefuls to attend the Axe Apollo Space Academy (AASA) and eventually the grand opportunity to go to space.
The 25 year old is among an international team of AASA space travelers, a team made up of men and women from different countries across the world. The future astronaut will spend an hour in space on the Lynx Mark II Shuttle in 2015.
Born in Soshanguve, Pretoria to a toolmaker and a cleaning supervisor, Maseko is also a part-time DJ and Civil Engineering student. I can't imagine how proud his parents are of this achievement.
Lupita said it all! No matter where you're from, your dreams are valid.
Dear African child, never give up on your dreams.
Go Mandla Maseko :)