Lulu Ralehoko, a mother from South Africa, is being applauded for starting a business to help raise the needed funds so that her 23-year old daughter, Tshepang, can become an airline pilot. Both her mom and her aunt are reportedly baking and selling hundreds of buckets of fresh biscuits and scones to raise 100,000 South African Rand - the equivalent of almost $6,800 U.S. dollars.
Tshepang is already taking flight lessons at Blue Chip Flight School in Pretoria, but needs to raise more money to get her private pilot's license, and then her commercial pilot's license.
Family, friends and complete strangers from all around the world have been very supportive of their fundraising efforts. The campaign has gone viral via her aunt's personal Facebook page, and the orders have been coming in non-stop via WhatsApp.
Tshepang says her ultimate goal is to see more African and female pilots in the cockpit, and she knows that her story will inspire millions around the world. "I'm not doing this just for myself. I'm trying to create the drive to fund other people in the future that are also black and female," she told News 24.
"She is so passionate. You should see her eyes when she talks about aviation; She just changes," her aunt Doris Temba said.