Hannah Lenka McKay, a sixth year DUT Chiropractic Master’s student is all set to leave for London in November 2017, after being awarded the prestigious Abe Bailey Travel Scholarship.
The Abe Bailey Travel Scholarship was established in terms of the Will of Sir Abe Bailey who died in 1940. The trustees of the Abe Bailey Trust make funds available for travel bursaries known as the Abe Bailey bursaries. These bursaries give selected University students and University staff of lecturer status an opportunity to visit the United Kingdom, participating in educational tours according to an approved programme. This is a prestigious award which has been given to young South Africans, many of whom have gone on to make notable contributions both here and abroad.
For the 24-year-old McKay, winning such an accolade came as a big surprise. “I was totally flabbergasted. I am so incredibly thankful and taken aback by this once in a lifetime opportunity to receive the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary. Actually, it took about a week before the magnitude of this award sunk in,” she said excitedly.
The dynamic young lass is currently completing her Master’s thesis in the field of neurophysiology as well as completing her chiropractic internship.
“My passion for chiropractic is centered around the truth that the human body is fearfully and wonderfully made and that the healing and functional capabilities of our physiology and anatomy far outweigh any understanding that man has reached at this point in time in the 21st century,” she said.
One of the objectives of the scholarship is to broaden the views of young South Africans by enabling outstanding South African students who show exceptional leadership qualities and a strong service ethic to effect greater understanding and co-operation among those with various language and cultural backgrounds as well as to promote South African unity.
In essence, McKay exudes those qualities and did not think that her marks were heavily weighted in the decision. “Since the Abe Bailey bursary is a leadership award, there seemed to be a lot more interest in our leadership and extra-mural involvements over the course of our studies, rather than our academic achievements. The leadership roles and extra-mural activities that seemed to spark an interest in the DUT interview included leading a Bible study at a Durban boarding establishment with girls between the ages of 13 to 19 years old; representing DUT at the USSA hockey tournament; representing the DUT Chiropractic students in the process of motivating to apply for renewal of our course’s international accreditation; representing DUT at the World Congress of Chiropractic Students (WCCS) at the AGM in 2013 and 2015 and serving as a DUT chapter member from 2012 to 2017,” she said proudly.
Besides her making time for her studies, McKay also enjoys travelling, surfing, music and sports. She thoroughly enjoys CrossFit, trail-running and triathlons. “I grew up in the small town of Ladysmith so my childhood is filled with fond memories of Drakensberg hikes, horse-riding and family camping trips,” she said. McKay has stressed that she loves the hustle and bustle that the Durban city-life offers, however, next year she plans to take quite a big step, spread her wings and move to Canada so that I can further her chiropractic studies in the field of Paediatric chiropractic. Her fiancée, Dr Joshua Korten, is a Canadian chiropractor and they plan to eventually run a family practice together.
The bursary covers the costs of an all-expenses paid three week educational tour of England and Scotland and a stop-over in Addis Ababa to visit the African Union. The host in the United Kingdom is the Goodenough College in London. The selected bursars from various South African universities will gather in Cape Town on 21 November 2017, spend two days together for orientation and depart for London by air on 23 November 2017. The tour will officially end in London on 16 December 2017.
Pictured: Hannah Lenka McKay is the winner of the Prestigious Abe Bailey Travel Scholarship.
Waheeda Peters
