KZN student wins Commonwealth essay grand prize

Inessa Rajah, 17, from Durban won the 2016 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition, beating about 13 500 entrants from around the world.

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Durban - A Durban schoolgirl has scooped the grand prize for the 2016 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition.

Seventeen-year-old Inessa Rajah, of Durban Girls’ College (DGC), was named overall winner in the senior category, beating about 13 500 entrants from around the world.

She told The Mercury on Tuesday that her victory came as a shock.

“I had no idea,” she said.

Out of the list of four topics, Inessa chose “The Wealth We Have In Common”, and wrote a short story inspired by last year’s xenophobic violence in the country.

“I wrote about a car guard who is a refugee and how this girl and her brother interact with him on a daily basis but never take the time to think about his story and who he is,” she said.

“Last year, when there was the trouble with xenophobia in Durban. It made us realise the wealth people have in common, and that we’re all human and have universally human qualities,” she said.

The essay, titled Dr Congo-man, reflects on the trauma experienced when being forced to live in another country.

“My mom was telling me about how many of the refugees that come here may be qualified professionals, but because they lack the paperwork to prove it, they might work menial jobs.

“And because my mother's a doctor, I was wondering, what if that happened to us’.”

Every year, pupils at DGC are assigned the Commonwealth competition’s topics to write an essay for English.

Inessa’s teacher submitted the essay to the competition on her behalf. It is the first time she had entered a writing competition.

The thousands of submissions are evaluated by over 130 individuals, who whittle them down.

The best essays are then looked at by a team of judges, all themselves professionals or academics in the areas of writing and media.

She will receive a certificate from Queen Elizabeth II, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at a formal awards ceremony in London next year.

She will also be treated to a week of cultural and educational events.

Inessa plans to study mechatronic engineering because of her love for maths and science.

But she will continue with her writing on the side.

“I write for fun all the time,” she said.

The Mercury