Unisa alumni share their journeys: Soraya Smith

Soraya Smith waves the Unisa flag high. Soraya lives with her husband, Keith, in Umkomaas on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast and has one son.  She completed her Bachelor of Arts in 1999, her Honours in Psychology in 2016, and obtained her Master’s in Psychology in 2016. She is a counsellor and registered with the HPCSA. She served as the vice-chairperson of the Registered Counsellors and Psychiatrists Division of the Psychological Society of South Africa.  She is also currently registered at Unisa for her doctorate.

Soraya is a human trafficking activist and serves on the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial HHPPB Forum (human trafficking/harmful traditional practices/pornography/prostitution and brothels). This shy ball of energy with an infectious laugh and twinkle in her eyes, loves working with the Unisa students. She is quick to tell students that they must work hard. She completed all her qualifications at Unisa and says studying at Unisa can sometimes be lonely but it is up to students to find out which other students are studying the same modules as they are and to then form a study group so they can support each other.

Soraya has been involved in creating awareness about human trafficking at Unisa (KwaZulu-Natal) since 2015. She does not like public speaking except when she has an opportunity to encourage students to pursue their studies. At the human trafficking awareness activities Soraya takes on the responsibility of the live exhibition. This is a group of student volunteers who participate in a mock setup to create visual awareness of human trafficking. The purpose of the live exhibition is to hit hard and get a reaction from other students to get them talking about human trafficking and to ask questions about it. Students dress up to play their role and makeup is applied to make each character look real.

Soraya (left) with Durban students she prepared for a live exhibition

Soraya meticulously spends time before the awareness campaign to speak to each student and do a group therapy session to prepare the students mentally for their roles in the campaign. During the campaign, she is hands-on and keeps a close watch on the participating students. She is very strict about the debriefing session after the campaign and again does group therapy and individual counselling to make sure the students are alright.

This may seem extreme to people who have not witnessed the live exhibitions and where necessary she also continues to do individual counselling. Soraya is involved in many other human trafficking awareness programmes in Durban. She is very reluctant to speak about herself, so I asked the chairperson of the HHPPB, Senior State Advocate, Dawn Malinga (who also completed all her qualifications with Unisa) to tell us more about Soraya. Malinga says Soraya graciously contributes her skills and knowledge to the Task Team. She is committed to the cause and actively participates in the meeting and all activities arranged by the Task Team. She said Soraya is a stalwart comrade who jumped into the trenches and was prepared to do the hard work. Since her illness, she has left a huge gap in the Task Team. Dawn said they missed her critical thinking and guidance that came from her experience and maturity. She said from one alumna to another she can confirm wholeheartedly that Soraya is a great asset to Unisa.

Dr Monique Emser, who mentored Soraya during her master's degree, said Soraya has as counselling psychologist dedicated her life to helping heal those who have faced traumatic life experiences. It was during this time as a counsellor that she came across young women who had been groomed, brutalised and controlled (often through a combination of physical violence and substance dependence) by predatory men and women to work as prostitutes.

Dealing with individuals who had been subjected to complex trauma, many of whom had been trafficked, inspired Soraya to focus much of her spare time on raising awareness and educating stakeholders about the realities of human trafficking, and the enduring psychological trauma that accompanied such a crime. A great passion of hers, which led to her master's research, is the symbiotic relationship between trauma and addiction, which in turn creates a self-reinforcing circuit between the two phenomena, and why there is a high recidivism rate with former addicts or heightened vulnerability to further traumatic life experiences. In her master's dissertation, 'The circulatory of trauma-addiction-trauma', she examines how childhood trauma influences addiction and offers insight into how trauma and addiction may be treated in the South African context, as well as specific training for addiction counsellors.

Soraya produced an exceptional piece of research. There are few people like Soraya around, and we should treasure people like her. It is their passion, dedication and service that make a true difference in helping others and this makes a significant contribution to our body of knowledge. Soraya has touched so many lives in her counselling and anti-trafficking over the years.

* By Jo Cossavella, Communications Officer, KwaZulu-Natal Region