[caption id="attachment_860" align="alignleft" width="604" caption="Amanda Dlamini posts her first Students for Humanity blogpost about HIV testing"][/caption] Wednesday, 1st day of the month of December, in the year 2010; I went for an HIV test, something which I never had in mind, because I am a virgin.  They say if you are a virgin why bother testing but you know what they say; never say never. Here  I was in a clinic in line to get  tested, I was so happy and proud that am doing this; and on the other  hand I was asking myself what it is that am actually doing.  One thing came in my mind: that HIV does not only infect a person by having unprotected sex, you can get it in many different ways. For an example when you are staying with a person who is a victim of this disease and they never open with you about their status then it‘s so easy for you to become its victim too, if blood was transferred somehow. I was then called into the room, well I was scared, it felt like I was in a room where  people are killed – everyone came out looking scared. I felt like I ...

In small high schools and big high schools We came together as matriculants, students, and hardworkers To stand up and say we are leaders And we want to fullfil our dreams And our time for change has come! When the studying seems too hard And you don't have the courage nor the strength to continue But you still keep on studying though you can not see your success And the stress is all over you You can no longer concerntrate But you keep on going straight ahead Somehow you will make it through When it feels like you are weak And can not study no more, And you feel like you are going to run out breathe Stand up and say,"I believe!" When your future is on your shoulders And the walls are on way You leap and make it over Through all this you keep the faith Now is the time to look ahead And think of the future you can have And walk your way towards it And when pressure tries to keep you down You keep up head And never lose sight And when your hope is dying Stand up and say,"I believe!" Written by: Sbuja

[caption id="attachment_839" align="alignleft" width="340" caption="Umthombo kids with Razia Dawjee (Umthombo facilitator)"][/caption] Sbuja tells us about his experience at the Umthombo Wesizwe Children's Project graduation event.... Saturday, 23 October 2010 was a great day of learning. I learnt the power of unity does exist but it is only strong between children. It is very easy for children to work together and ignore their difference and focus on their similarities. There were children from different backgrounds, and I promise you that you could not be able to tell that the children were so different because they had the innocent spirit of having fun. I have learnt from this day that when you really want to fit into a group of people, you will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. For example: there was an German-English boy, called Luca; he was trying to do gum-boots dance. The other guys gave him a hard time by excluding him from the group initially but he kept on trying and trying. Finally he was accepted and at the end of the day he got most of the moves and it was a big success for him. This taught me that at first we may not like each other ...

They thought I was blind For a short while I had closed my eyes I relaxed for a while I was in deeper thoughts They saw an opportunity and they took it They thought I was blind. They took my personality They took my hope and left me to despair They took my strength and left me helpless and powerless They took everything and left me with nothing They thought I was blind. I went from hero to zero without my power I really despaired I was in the dark for a long time I almost believed that I was blind but something kept me going Although they that I was blind. God, my almighty Lord, brought light in my life He raised me high above all odd When the time is right I will take my revenge I will bring back what is mine It was then when I started to believe that Life is a journey to the bright future Life is a surprise and to live life like the is no tomorrow I can forgive them all but it will take my life to forget what they did They thought I was blind to their surprise, I was actually blinking. by Mfundo Nomnabo

...we've been neglecting our wonderful followers/ fans/friends around the world. We're having a busy time catching up with school work, exam preparations and matric prelims and exams (eeeeck)... We promise we'll be back during the holidays. In the meantime, please see the work we did with the wonderful USC Annenberg School for Communications in Southern California. The project was called ''What does Democracy Mean to You?'', we had a lot to share. Best thing of all is that we got some Flip handycams to use for future projects and got to learn how to use Soundslides software to create our wonderful projects. Look out for more soon. [caption id="attachment_815" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Sphamandla from Students for Humanity with Samantha from USC"][/caption] Thanks for your understanding. Love, Students for Humanity

Helen Zille is Premier of the Western Cape, but more than anything she is a woman who possesses phenomenal leadership qualities. She is both a South African citizen and a human rights activist who stands for goodness. And of course she might not be perfect, but no one ever is.When she visited our group, Students for Humanity, on the 8th of May she shared with us what it was like for a non-racist, white woman like her to take up the challenge of becoming a journalist during, then, apartheid-rife South Africa. She says it was not easy because she had to be watchful of the kinds of stories she reported on, so as not to stir up conflict, but because she loved her job she strived for success. Her sharing with such a beautiful story about her background was very inspiring to the group. We usually see the premier on T.V debating about social issues, often with ANC, and think “She’s fighting for power…”  And today we got the opportunity to see the leader through different eyes, and not through those of the media. We learnt that being a leader takes enormous courage and perseverance. It was a very powerful message she ...

Thank you to all who voted in the WIN A LAPTOP story competition. Congratulations to Nanzi Siyo for receiving the most votes on her touching story: The Pleasure of Self-Mutilation. She wins herself a laptop to write more stories! We wish her all the best in penning her journey to healing and being a voice of hope to her peers.

ONE SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENT  WILL WIN A LAPTOP! and YOU can decide who: Leave a comment to this post  - with your name and the country you are from -  and let us know what you think which story should win!! ----- STORY 01: How we became.. (Written by Bulana) >> Read it here ----- STORY 02: Life is a journey to the bright future (Written by Mfundo) >> Read it here ----- STORY 03: The pleasure of Self-mutilation (Written by Nanzi) >> Read it here ----- STORY 04: Absence of fatherhood (Written by Odwa) >> Read it here ----- STORY 05: The feeling of being lonely (Written by Kabelo) >> Read it here ----- STORY 06: If life were a cartoon (Written by Nelson) >> Read it here ----- STORY 07: Robbed off.. (Written by Zikhona) >> Read it here ----- STORY 08: No longer! (Written by Sbuja) >> Read it here ----- STORY 09: One of "them" (Written by Themby) >> Read it here

I would prefer to commence with giving you all the positive factors that somehow developed the unique and courageous person I am. I would also like to outline the negative factors which I believe that have also played a major role in building my character. I will also mention the likes and dislike which you might find interesting. Zoom in on your global map and you’ll find in Africa a well known sunny country called South Africa, further down you'll find a big city called Cape Town. I live in a small region in Cape Town called Khayelitsha. Every month, week, or day is filled with entirely new experiences for mostly the young stars like me who love touring Khayelitsha. Kindly allow me to take you on an imaginary tour around Khayelitsha. The first thing that forcefully grabs everyone‘s attention is the unity among the people of Khayelitsha. You’ll hear people screaming, laughing and some shouting for joy. Happiness is seen in every child’s face. Most parents may be single but I assure you they fully show their children love that even covers the role of an absent father. They are always helped by the ...

Believe it or not but life is really a journey to the bright future. That is my description of life from my experiences and with out them I would not be where I am today and I wouldn’t have made the decisions that I made during the process of living. Each and everyday is important in my life and I try by all means to make an effort to achieve something in my life. One wise man had once said to me, “Live life to the fullest and never put your problems aside for tomorrow because you will never know what the next day holds for you.. or something worse, what if tomorrow might never come for you? Would you like to live in regrets and sorrow for rest of your life? Or would you stand up for yourself and be a man? Think twice before you do anything”  Those words left me with something to think about for the rest of my life. From my observation through out the years I found that people describe life according to their experiences in it. I have always believed that life is a journey nothing more, nothing less. We all have to walk ...