Dear Sir or Madam,

I write to express my burning interest and desire to study for a

Masters degree in Public Health, with specialisation in eye care
management, under scholarship, in your University.
About two years ago, I worked with a Non-Governmental
Organisation, (NGO), Empower Ghana, whose main focus was on
maternal health. The area of operations was rural Ghana and, in
the course of my work with the NGO, we came across an
inordinate number of mothers and children who were afflicted
with varied eye care challenges. Even though the main remit of
the NGO was in maternal health, because of the lack of medical
attention in the area, these mothers and children were given
some first aid and then transferred to appropriate medical
facilities for more specialised attention.
My interest in rural health care, with bias in childrens eye care,
has grown over the months, and I have always been looking for
an opportunity to upgrade and make myself useful to the folks in
poor rural areas in eye care management. Recently, a friend who
knows of my interest in rural eye health care, showed me an
advertisement on the Masters Programme in Public Health, with
specialisation in Eye Care, in your University. I cannot describe my
excitement at seeing the advertisement, especially so as the
Programme in the University of Cape Town can be undertaken
under financial sponsorship. The advertisement was like a
response to my fervent supplication to God for an opportunity to
realise my dream of becoming a rural health personnel so that I
can give back to Society some of the care that it has over the
years given me by way of good and free education.
My family background is not financially strong and the chance
offered by this Programme, in the University of Cape Town, is a

God-sent opportunity not to be missed, and I look forward

expecting that my application will be successful to permit me to
join the Programme in Year 2016, on scholarship.
The Masters Programme offers many experiences which I am
looking forward to benefitting from. Thus, the division of the
Programme into two distinct parts will offer successful applicants
the opportunity to study full time for ten months after which the
remaining eight months would be devoted to the broader MPH
Programme covering studies and lectures in epidemiology,
statistics and research skills for clinical research.
The part of the Programme which will feature regional experts
teaching students is very important to me as I would be able to
tap into the knowledge of some of the regions best brains in the
field, directly, and learn from their personal and professional
experiences. I am also looking forward to meeting these experts
because I am hoping that their confidence as practioners in the
field would rob off me, and instil in me the professional confidence
and expertise that any ambitious student should crave for.
Another reason why I am looking forward to coming on the
Programme is that, as a graduate in psychology and political
science, it will enable me to build interdisciplinary connections for
the future, study at what is, without doubt, the most
demographically-diverse University on the planet and be a
beneficiary of some of the best teaching and research curricula
any tertiary institution has to offer.
I envision a career in Public Health, as a culmination of my varied
interests and experiences, and I would appreciate the opportunity
to pursue this in the University of Cape Town. The Masters
Programme appears to have been designed to provide students
with knowledge and skills relevant to understanding both

traditional and emerging challenges that communities encounter

in relation to eye care management, and I know that I will enjoy
my participation in the Programme if given the opportunity.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,