Tekawa on education

Last Friday a group of us went to talk to learners in a highschool in Guguletu (Guguletu is a township for those classified “black” under apartheid). We went to discuss the importance of education and how to make an education past high school a possibility. I went prepared to say all these wonderful things about education and how to make it happen and honestly didn’t end up saying most of them. The reality is that we as students don’t have any answers or any plan to make things work- we’re all just figuring it out as we go along. The obstacles that these learners are facing are also very different to the obstacles I’ve faced. We talked a lot about there being VERY limited access to resources (even at the library) and the only library with adequate resources is in town which is difficult to get to because a lot of the learners cant afford the transportation costs. The only advice I felt equipped to give was:

1. Be determined (know what opportunities education gives you and understand what that means for you long term and never let go of that goal, never stop trying)
2. Be creative (even if you have to sing in the street to get enough money to make it into town it’s worth it)
3. Education is often about sacrifice (making sure that your actions align with your goals is not easy and often means you have to forgo things that will are appealing in the short term. For example when I’m on campus I work 2 jobs while taking a full course load which often means that I can’t do other things that seem more appealing at the time but I sacrifice because I’m committed to my education.)

After our talk I walked away feeling so embraced by their class and feeling very blessed for the way things have happened to work out for me. So much of my good fortune is luck. Luck that I was born in the right place at the right time to the right people.  Yes, I have also had to work hard and take advantage of opportunities but so much of my life has been luck and I just feel incredibly blessed to be in the position that I am in.