Kekana family seeing me off as Peace Corps vehicle pulls away, taking me to my permanent work site. A
caravan of family accompanied to my departure location; literally everyone and their cousin, blowing
whistles and singing praises as I rode away to begin my new chapter.
8. The Youth
The glow in their eyes when you reveal to them that they meet all of the requirements for
greatness. The spark you can literally see catch fire when they feel inspired!
During my first school visit in South Africa, secondary school youths were told they could ask
questions about me as an American. Their immediate response to this welcome was:
“What is your deepest fear?”
“What can you not live without?”
At that same school, I noticed a carving in a student’s desk which read:
“There are many challenges in life. Being happy is not one of them.”
The youth are like old souls that have been here before. They work harder
than most adults I know as they care for younger siblings, fetch water from rivers, haul wood in
wheel barrows, wash their laundry by hand, plant their food, and boil water for their bucket baths.
Meet Promise, one of the shining lights happily planting seeds in the organic food garden at Ekurhuleni
Orphan Center, a Seeds of Light project. http://www.seedsoflight.org-orphancenter
In the US, I would sometimes hear the complaint, “Look at all this work I do without a thank you
or show of appreciation!”
Folks, I am talking about 10 year olds who don’t have a choice but to work this hard for survival,
and many of them are not even hugged-even if they do have parents at home. In the US, kids
are often put on a pedestal; the source of pride and center of adoration. In rural South Africa,