On-Route (Njia): Stepping out of the BOX

On-Route (Njia): Stepping out of the BOX: "Many years into a democracy we still have students struggling to reach their full potential, we still have a government that fails the very ..."

Stepping out of the BOX

Many years into a democracy we still have students struggling to reach their full potential, we still have a government that fails the very people that put them into power in the first place.  

We still have a system of oppression, just silenced by the 21st Century. The lack of options for young people being evident everywhere you go.

Walking the streets you see so many begging, borrowing or joining a gang for that sense of belonging and achievement. It is sad that the great men and woman of our time fought tediously for freedom, a freedom that we should be enjoying and relishing in however many cannot due to poverty and lack of education.

With the world emerging from a global economic crisis, the demand for University education is higher than ever before. Unfortunately the rates of young people finishing high school is staggeringly low, only 36% of students that get to grade 12 from grade 11 manage to pass and unfortunately for many their grades cannot get them into a Tertiary Institution of their choice. (Source: The Municipal Outreach Project, January 2009)

The main reason learners give for not completing their matric is the inability to pay fees, bringing us the reality that poverty even 16 years into a democracy is very real. With over 10 million South Africans living on less than R250 per month and more than 60% of young people being unemployed.

Developing a nation of educated leaders is hard, however it is not impossible. In South Africa the problem is not the amount of money spent on our education system but rather the outcome of our education system.

Students just do not understand the curriculum, many of them are getting placed from one grade to the next without the ability to read or write. This is an injustice to them and their development, they are being deprived valuable skills and if by any luck they reach university they will suffer because you either make the grade or you don’t.

We all need to step out of these comfortable boxes of ours and realize that the future of this country lies in the emerging young people. As Africans we are beyond the handout phase of our development, therefore we should be making sure that our youth are competent enough to study anywhere, confident enough to know that they can do anything with hard work and compassionate enough to know that they not on this journey alone.

Life is too short to live it dictated by what you may or may not have

I could write a biography on my life and all the moments that don’t make much sense as I am sure so can you. In thinking about some of my travesties I have come to realize that it is those moments of weakness, fear, misunderstanding and the few of wisdom in between that have made me who I am.
Without these events in my life to draw strength, inspiration and understanding from I don’t know where I may have ended up. It is crazy how Gods plan for our lives work out in the end, how the misfortunes leads to blessing and weaknesses over time and years of practice become perfected.

I am amazed at the power of the human spirit in the midst of adversity and how it never takes what the world deals out lying down. How it keeps us fighting and the fire of possibility burning. As Rosa Parks all those many years ago refused to give up her seat on that bus as an indication of all the seas of our world uncertainty, we too continue the strive to find our place and make our mark. Our battles may have altered over time but we still fight the good for peace, justice and a world that caters for all and not an elite few.

We are powerful beyond means and need to start being this change that we so wish to see in this world and constantly speak of. It is time that we put into action our words and do something about them as the possibilities of this life is in the now. The foundation of our tomorrow is in our today.

Rekindling my citizenship

As I walk the many miles to individuality and discovering who I am in a world so filled with possession and plastic, am I an object, a subject or a citizen is the question niggling in the back of my head.
The world has made us immune to certain forms of suffering and even though I hate to admit it, sometimes this most horrific news only gets frowned upon with little or no action. As humans we go chasing possibilities of what could have been every opportunity we get. Our complex natures have us questioning everything, from the color of the sky to the amount of stars our galaxy possesses.

We often neglect to ask the really import question and find ourselves at the whims of others more often than we like to admit.

As I find myself in a very new environment, I have realized that my worth is not to be seen or accepted by others because their approval is not what will soothe my conscious. My worth does not deter theirs; it is not the beginning and end of who I am. My worth is my own, it is my journey and I am responsible for what I think of myself because it is that projection of my own thoughts and acts that will get me into the future I want.

So I muster up the courage and stamina to be at the helm of my own ship, with God directing the path and clearing the waters in His own unique way. I know that in essence His sites for me may not be my own but I am calmed by the realization that I am a citizen of the world and a vessel for some plan even greater than that I can imagine. That I am an individual comprised of my past, proud of my heritage and humbled by the men and woman that came before me and fought so vigorously so that I may live their dreams and create my own.

Latte in Colesberg

So this morning we pull into Colesberg at 6:45 and i am reminded of the divide between those who have and those who do not. You can still feel  sense of racial tendency in the air and feel in the looks from those passing by.

I am reminded of an Apartheid that i am way to young to even remember, but sitting here in a shop filled with white people looking at me as if i am "mad" makes it very real to me.

A few feet away a couple just got seated; his white but his wife is clearly not. The looks they get is even worse than the ones i get.

Isn't it crazy so far into a New South Africa and still the same

First Pit-Stop

So today i started a brand new part of my "life" journey, packed my bags in a car and headed on-route to Johannesburg. The excitement is still a buzz and as we pulled into our first pit-stop along the way i realised that even though it will not always be easy, it will definitely be worth it.

This move is not just about the different place or people, it is about coming into our own as individual, it is about taking the hard knocks and learning from each of it so that we can be the people we are intended to be.

I am excited by the possibilities, the optimist in me see's this as an opportunity to learn more and do better. I know the city will not always be great, nor will it be anything like Cape Town but i believe home is where i make it. It is where i get to be me every single day and not just on the off days.

The great thing about this life and this journey is that nothing is written in stone, when the paths change so does the learning!