My vision for our group, Students for Humanity, is that we become active members in our communities. That we bring about positive change in people’s lives. And I take it upon myself to go out there into our communities and find out what exactly are some of the things that we can help them out with. I know of many struggling, community-based organizations that I feel we can assist.  I am also willing to go out there and find people who are willing to donate to or sponsor those organizations, so that they can continue with the good work that they are doing.
– MCYB

We, as students for humanity, want to do something important for our communities. So I want to contribute on the orphanage side, because I like working with people and children. To me, helping young people and working with young minds is what I enjoy most. I will also help finding sponsors.
– mfundo

I would like to be responsible for the compilation of short stories. I think that it is important for us to express our creativity and not let our talents fade, I mean, it is very rare for one to see young people actually having a short stories book that they can call their own. We, as the students for humanity, should see this as an opportunity to inspire other young people out there to also write about things that they experience in their communities. We, the students for humanity should not only concentrate on writting short stories in the genre of fantacy but should also write about realistic things so that other people, especially young people, can relate to our stories.
– Nanzi

I want to volunteer for community organizations. I will give my full time in helping other people in the communities and each project that will be generated by Studentsforhummanity. I want to be part of the forward going and exciting movement to help others in need. I would like to interact with others.
-– sbuja

I would like to register Studentsforhumanity as an organisation for the youth so that we can be sponsored by the government which allows us to sponsor other non-governmental organisations in our communities.
I will dedicate my time to find more information on how to get registered as a youth group.
– yara

Something that I would like us to do for the community, we must try and teach the disadvantaged primary schools about computer skills the basic skills that could help them to get advantage in terms of computing world. Also to educate them about the basic leadership skills that would help them to become the leaders of the future generation. And we must try to find a way in  which we could convince young, immature but intelligent and beautiful teenagers to stay away from drugs and start doing positive things in life and make them part of the students for humanity family.
-– spha

I like to visit orphanages and give them the love that they need. I would like the students for humanity members to collect old toys, or anything that they can give  to children. I truly think that its pointless for someone to have things that he/she doesn’t need, stored in their homes while other people really need those things, they would make them happy. Anything that anyone can give is more then welcome. We should also try our best to make government sponsered orphanges to be noticable, by maybe going out there and asking for donation and anything that they are willing to sponser. We should all have love for the people and help them because “umntu ngumntu ngabantu”
– Ntombie

I would like to volunteer in sport activities during December holidays.
I will establish contact with the orphanage home that is close to where I live.
I would also like to volunteer with the leadership courses in Maths and Science.
– wonga

I would really love to be part and parcel of the group that will be visiting places like orphanages, pre-schools etc.
Designing is one of my hobbies, due to that I would like to be with the group that will design the students for humanity membership card, poster, T-SHIRT etc.
– bulana

I would like to responsible for all the podcast that we do. I would like to make sure that we get it well organized, that podcasts are posted in time and with a variety of topics. I would also love to get involved in marketing the project so that we can get sponsors and raise something, which will allow us to do something for the community. I would also like to be part of the students for humanity group that will offer free extra lessons of science and maths to township schools, as our school focuses on them. All and all I would like to be responsible for the growth of this project.
–- siphe

Firstly I would like to be the person who is in charge of the Student for Humanity theme song/s, I’m able to write lyrics and I’m crazy in love with music. Secondly I would like to be part of a team that will seek sponsorships at big companies. I would also like to design the Student for Humanity t-shirt.
– skhumbuzo

I would like to be a leader of a poetry section, and to be a leader of a short story section because I am a story teller. There is an organization in my community that helps children after school, it’s like aftercare, they can teach us how to knit because they can. I would like to publish my own short story in this Studentsforhumanity short story book.
– Mkhuseli

My commitment is to visit an orphanage home, where I can help with taking care of the children at the home. I would like to visit, help out and at the same time look and listening to what their challenges are, how things can be better. I would also love to help with getting and approaching potential sponsors for the homes that need help.
–- nosizwe

In my community there are many places that need to be helped out by the youth. The help is not needed in the form of money, but in the form of a helping hand. We need to show love to the community. What I would like to do in my coomunity is help out with the young kids and old people. I would like to show the young kids the opportunities that are there for them and teach them to value education, because in my community most of the kids dont value education and life. I would do this by opening a leadship programm in their schools. I would also like to help in an old age home with the cleaning and making sure that people are happy.
-– mlamli

I would like to be the leader of the “short stories book”, because I am so curious about other peoples thoughts and backgrounds, what its like to be a living human being for them? I would also be interested in other people’s experiences in life, what kind of challenges are peope facing, what obstacles are there? My goal is to allow people to write about her/his personal story, to tell us the challenges that s/he faced then and now. I can see that students for humanity can intervene and help here and there.
-– aphish

I would like to be a teacher in the studentsforhumanity project. I want to teach whatever is there to teach that would make a difference, because it is all about making a difference e.g. I would like to be part of the teaching in the leadership course, singing, dancing, reading and telling stories. I would also like to be a researcher for the this project, but I do not want to research all the time.
– yandisa

I will go to my church and ask them if there will be holiday clubs this holiday. If there will be any I will try to persuade them into letting us take part into helping the children who are young in the streets and teach them the way to life and how to set their goals.
-– Iran

Image under the creative commons by D-G-Butcher

From my knowledge and experience of culture up until this point, I can define culture as the shared expression of behaviors and interactions, and affective understanding that is learned through a process of socialization. These shared expressions identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group. Culture is the way one expresses his or her self according to the way of one’s family belief-like style of living and it holds the history of one’s people. I am a Xhosa child and I was raised under and taught the Xhosa rituals and customs. Some of the practices that I do, I actually perform them because it is a must and I do not even know the meaning of them, nor the idea behind it all. Some of us, as the youth we do not value our culture because of the things affecting us in this generation.

– Mfundo

My life has been a reflection of what many young people are thinking about culture. For some reason I don’t seem to get across the fact we do things that are different but we are the same. This is the reason I say I need to investigate the matter.

That is why I say:

To me culture is a pure confusion

My thoughts are thick, I gather

What is it with the people?

Do I have a hard brain to understand?

Or it’s simply just the hard feelings of the unknown

Upon looking, I can’t go forward

I need a clean new start

I call upon the people to settle my thoughts

I call upon my imagination

I want to think today!!!!!!!!

– Bongi

What? Who? When? How? Why? These are some of the words that immediately come to my mind when I think of the concept of culture. What really is culture? Does it exist or does it not? I keep asking these questions which I cannot find answers to, and I am starting to make up my own answers, trying to create myself a little world with my own system of beliefs.

Ok. First there is Christianity and then there is African culture which, on its own, consists of many, different cultural belief systems. Which one of the two am I supposed to choose? Is one better then the other? It is quite difficult for me to make up my mind because all the belief systems that are out there actually have good reasoning behind their belts for their existence. Christians believe in God and they have the bible to refer to whenever an answer is needed to whatever question for whatever reason. Africanists also have substantial back up for all their practices, even though some may often appear as more bizarre than others.

Seeing that I cannot bring myself to choosing which one of the two to choose from and that I fail to find real answers to most, if any, of my questions. I have decided not to believe in either of the above systems but rather create my own system of beliefs. At the end of the day it is not what I believe in what will make me a better individual but rather the kind of choices I make.

— MCYB

I believe in all cultures. I for one see culture as what was thought by a person or people driven by what was occurring those days. Because of the wonders I have seen so far, I am bound to believe in the existence of the ancestors. Yes, they do exist because the people who believe in them (like the Sangomas) are actually succeeding and going somewhere because of them. A Sangoma is a traditional Zulu healer and respected elder who lives by frequently connecting with the ancestors. On my side, not to offend any reader, the LORD that was crucified on the cross because of my sins did die. But the extraordinary thing that makes him even more worthy to be praised is that he overcame death. He died but on the third day He raised from the dead. He concord death.

– N.Bulana

I was raised by a Sangoma, my mother was born in the Eastern

Cape and I was born in the Western Cape. I have no clue what is

culture all about. I do what I am told to do. I believe as they

believed in their culture, which they know in details. I tried to find out

about culture but found nothing. The saying that I came

across is: “I was told to this and I was not told why is it done, I

do it because I believe in older people”.

Some people believe in God and some in ancestors… I believe in both.

I never went to church but I think God knows that I do praise him. And I am confused that

there is God and ancestors, don’t they work together? If anyone has

answers please help me, why is there something called culture and what

is it for?

A Sangoma is someone who heals people in a traditional way using herbs

and these herbs they don’t just go to the bushes/forest and take them,

they dream while they are asleep and their ancestors tell them where

to go and dig for herbs to make medicine. Some people become

very ill and when sent to the doctor nothing will appear but the

doctor will say he/she is fine, until he/she is sent to a

Sangoma (Traditional healer).

It is a long process to become a real Sangoma, for some it takes a year or more. At first he/she wears all white clothes or all red and beads (that’s is the first phase). The color of the beads is not just chosen but also appears on her/his

dreams. Then when he/she is well in health and knows everything about

healing then they can wear their own clothes.

– Siphe

Culture is something that we as South Africans are diverse in. We have many different cultures in our country. I feel like culture is something that we have to value because leads us in life, it shows us the importance of life. But I also feel confused by some of the rituals; like doing circumcision and slaughtering a goat or sheep for a dead person. I don’t know why we have to perform some of the rituals. But all in all I think culture is the guide in life so that we can not make silly mistakes. It is also there so that we can make something better about our lives. We all have different cultures and some of those questions we have cannot be answered. In life though, we don’t have an answer to everything.

– M. Gadi

Some people believe that culture, the Xhosa culture to be precise, makes them who they are but what I do not understand in the Xhosa culture is the concept of ancestors. In my culture, people believe that the ancestors guide and protect them; they then perform various rituals to praise and to pray to the ancestors by slaughtering goats and cows. Ancestors are dead people right? How can they help people when they do not have the power to bring themselves to life? I think the whole topic on culture is more of a self fulfilling prophecy, if I believe that ancestors are my primary source to God then that means that praying to my ancestors will work for me. All in all I feel that we all have our own beliefs of who or what God is and I feel that we should not criticize other people’s cultures because we may not be sure whether our religions are the ideal ones. After all, if we all felt the same way about God then we would all be doing the same thing right? In conclusion, we should all do what works for us!

– Nanzi

What does culture mean to me?

This is one of the questions that I ask my self, but I do not have the answers. Many people, including me, cannot define the term culture and many people again including myself are confused by the culture that we have and as humans we have our own doubts.

What I could just say is that, it is not the culture that confuses us but the people who think they know something about the culture that confuses us, these are the people who tell us things that are not true and we should believe those things that they say, like my brother saying that I shouldn’t play soccer in the house (I know that I shouldn’t play soccer in the house), but when my brother says that I shouldn’t play soccer in the house, he says it like it is more than the ball being played in the house, it something like there is more to it. And when I try to ask why, he would say: “Mother said we shouldn’t play soccer and I didn’t argue so you too mustn’t ask questions that have no answers and that leave me in confusion.”

I also think that what makes people confused about cultures is that we live in a world were most of the things that we should know are kept as secrets from us. And as humans we cannot really believe in something that we do not see, like God and ancestors. Some people believe in Ancestors and others believe in God and we tell ourselves that this is the way while we know that we are not sure of what we are saying. We also say that there is power beyond us and we are not truly committing ourselves to that power because we can’t see the power we just think the power is there.

– Yandisa

Out there is Science, God, culture. Which one should I choose? There are so many people speaking different things to me. Which one must I believe? I have so many unanswered questions in my mind. At home my culture is emphasized, at school there is science and my community is filled with various churches with different Gods…I am confused…I don’t know what to believe anymore. As I am growing up, exploring and discovering new things I am becoming more and more confused. There are some rituals that we practice in my culture like, male circumcision, Lobola (=money paid by the groom for the bride), Imbeleko (a goat is slaughtered to introduce a baby to the ancestors).

I believe in both the ancestors and God because I am raised by a religious family. To me culture is what makes me who I am.

– Asithandile

I don’t believe everything in my culture because I don’t understand some things. And when I ask my elders, they don’t know some of the answers either.

Most people believe in different things but we have one thing in common, we all believe!!

Some people believe that there is God; some believe in ancestors, some don’t believe anything.

Most people don’t believe in God but they believe in Science. But who exactly controls the life we live if it’s not God. I believe that God is the one who controls the earth and the air we breathe. And sun comes every day. There is someone behind all this.

I think we must understand each other, and accept that we don’t believe the same thing.

– Mkhuseli

I believe in everything in life; I believe in god, ancestors and all other things in life. But in terms of my own culture I feel very proud to belong to something that is unique as “Culture”. I also believe that as a person you must have something to believe in, not knowing why, because once you know why all the things in life are being done, then what will happen? Your mind will not work and that is why you must always be wondering why most of the things are happening. Culture and its customs are diverse so that we feel as one of a kind and unique in the same time, it also gives the people who belong to the same culture a connection in a way.

– Sbuja

Your culture is defined by the way you interact with others, the language you speak, your dress-up, and your rituals and custom. And I belong in the XHOSA culture (http://www.sa-venues.com/language-xhosa.htm).

I really believe in my culture but sometimes it feels like, according to my point of view, everyone could believe in my culture. Can you imagine a nation that believes all the same thing?

I believe that my culture brings up humanity (Ubuntu) and most of things that are done or not done in my culture are to guide you to right things in life. For an example the payment of “ilobola”, which is the payment made by the groom’s family to the bride’s family as appreciation for raising up the bride. In this way a man would value his wife.

Some people do not even believe in their culture I’d like to convince those people to start to dig up about their culture so that they hold on to their cultures. While doing this, remember there are questions that cannot be answered.

It is up to you!

With love from the African cultured boy

– YARA. Peace!!!

I have a dream about my career not dreams like most people do then they got into a cage that they are stuck of choosing at the end on which dream that they must go for. My dream is to be a guy that is dreaming the world of the new technology. I want to work with computers for the rest of my life. Everyday I am on my cell phone because I haven’t own a computer yet, just surfing the net and figuring how it works and how it is operating.

Fast cars, I like them so much and even dreaming of driving one. I like racing as I like competing at school, actually doing that with myself. I want to drive. I would love to own a house that is designed by me, because I love things that I own and one day say “That thing was designed by me”. And not thinking of marrying, the reason would be because I love my job than anything else. I also want to be a body builder and even be part of the World Wrestling.

By the one and only, Siphe Mananga (Mr. Nice Guy).

My dream is to become a great painter and to be able to draw or paint at any angle. I also want to go to the University of Cape Town an study Astronomy because I love looking and exploring the mysteries of the universe and my second option at university is Electric engineering.

Sbuyiselo (Sbuja)

In the future I would love to be an Electrical engineer or a medical doctor, presently I’m doing all I can to make sure I reach my dream. I would also love to do some volunteer work at a shelter or an old age home, because I like to give back to the community. I also want to live in a big house with my parents and cater to them in every way I can.

Nosizwe

My dream is to become a Computer Scientist, because I like computers and now I want to fix them. I would like to publish my poetry, my short stories and mo book. And one day I want to be a script writer, I want to write a movie about a child who does not want to listen to the parents, and the child want to go back to the stomach. The movie will show how great life is, and how this child will suffer when it can’t see the world.

I want to stay here at Khayelitsha because Khayelitsha made me who I am and I want everyone to see me when I succeed and I want to be a good example to others. I want to have a family if I find someone who is my type. I want to have kids and live happily ever after!!

And I want to support my family especially my young sister. I want her to study and succeed in life. I will support her till my last breath. I want an easy and happy life!

Mkhuseli

My name is Busisiwe Mashele and I am 18 years old. When I grow I want to study Film and Media most preferably at international university. In general, I would describe myself as a loving and caring person who loves putting smiles on other people’s faces. In the future I see myself working with people from all different walks of life and making a positive
difference in their lives. Apart from working as film producer I would also love to establish an orphanage home for children who are both infected and affected by HIV and Aids.

My ultimate goal though is to live a happy life with a family of own and to also travel the world.

Busie

My dream is to became a doctor and study Medical degree, the MBChB, at the University of Cape Town, because it is the best university that can make me the best of the best doctors this world had ever seen. I want to specialise on the surgery side because there are very few doctors who are surgeon in South Africa.

Mfundo

My dream is to save people’s lives by pursuing a career in Neurology. I want to live in a big house with my mother, and drive a Lamborghini. I want to bring a smile to an orphan’s face by giving them a place that they can call home. I want to share what I have with the needy by donating money to charities. I want to travel the world and explore different cultures and religions. I want to do everything that has always been thought to be impossible by man!!!

By:Nanzi Siyo

I’d like to see myself being a fashion designer, because I believe that I’ve got a talent of seeing things differently from what we already have in out country, and also express myself by showing them a piece of me and my designs (all weird things that are in my imagination, LOL!). To achieve my goals I’m starting by going out there and search on what qualities should I have in order to achieve this goal and working towards finishing school and study fashion designing at university.

Ntombie

My dream is all about making a difference in the whole wide world. I would also like to travel the world so that I ain’t just making a difference here in South Africa but the world. I would like to have my own family, because I think I owe my future family so that I can tell my kids what wrong and right and so that I could love them as much as I love myself. But most of all I would like to live my life to the fullest.

Yandisa Mtsotso

Hi, my name’s Daria. I’m 23 years old Ukrainian girl. I love smiling,
reading books, learning new things, traveling all around the world
and universe. In fact, I’m an ordinary girl and I have a gigantic
dream-to become a translator and help people understand each other and
live in peace and harmony. And I strongly hope to achieve my goals.
But there is one thing that I will never be able to do- I’ll never be
able use my legs and hands the way people of my age do…

I am the first and very beloved child of my amazing parents. They are
my great supporters. My parents were looking forward to having a baby
but the day of my birth turned into a nightmare for them. The first
words my mom heard from the doctors were “Your daughter has no eyes
and you should better leave her at the nursing home for disabled
people, as  she’s like a vegetable and you shouldn’t sacrifice  your
life because of such a child”…You can only imagine my mom’s horror
after such terrible statements. Although she was lost for words but in
her heart she knew that she would never leave her daughter…Some hours
later it turned out that I did have normal eyes but there was
something wrong with my legs and arms. I was diagnosed with a very
rare illness known as ‘arthrogryposis’. That means that my arms,
fingers and legs are severely affected. My hips and arms are
dislocated so I can’t unbend my knees and even stand straight. My
fingers are not flexible and can’t bend at all and I can’t stretch my
arms. Additionally I’ve got clubbed feet. According to the doctors my
case was a real can of worms! J I mean the disability I was born with
is not curable…But my parents never lost hope that with some surgeries
I’d have a chance to straighten my legs and arms. So, I had to undergo
many painful surgeries and therapies. I must admit some of the
massages really did a miracle to me –the flexibility of my hands did
improved but unfortunately all these medical experiments just left
scares on my legs and soul…

Till the age of three I was examined and treated by several different
hospitals and God knows what my dear mom had to go through to have
this right to give me some treatment (She had to look after other
children in the hospital, so I could be treated free of charge). After
each surgery I had new plasters on my legs which prevented me from
movement and hurt me terribly…And one day when we came back home from
the hospital and after my non-stopping weeping because of the pain
caused by the plasters my mom couldn’t stand it anymore and removed
them from me forever….

Doctors predicted me to be able for nothing but God had other plans
for me….Little by little while growing I learnt to use my legs in my
own way- now I can move quite successfully –even though it might look
very funny for you-I walk with my bent knees, clubbed feet and I’d
call it ‘walking in a squat position’. I can’t stand and walk like
that for a long time but at least such self-made skill allows me to
feel myself more independent, moving around my house and yard. My
dislocated joints prevented my body from a normal growth; therefore
I’m a very tiny and short girl…J  I’m a bit taller than one meter. At
first glance my fingers are unable to do anything-but they can do
perfectly everything for me- I dress myself, pick up all the things,
carry my books, write with a pen, draw pictures and typing here for
you this message….My parents have always taught me to focus on the
abilities I’ve got instead of feeling pity for myself. My disability
hasn’t built a wall for me-I’ve always been surrounded by many good
and true friends who always stand by me and never let me feel
‘different’. Sometimes they confess that at the beginning they were
rather confused with my ‘being different’ but just a few moments after
talking to me-they never saw my disability. To be honest, I hate the
word ‘disabled’ as I don’t consider myself to be so!  When I go
outside with my wheelchair I don’t bother myself with a thought that
other people might stare at me and the way they accept me….I learnt
not to notice those starring eyes and silly remarks forwarding my
way….I accept myself the way God made me and even though there are
some moments when I do feel myself frustrated I am grateful to Him for
creating me this way….

I received my school education at home because there were no special
facilities for me at our local village school. So, school teachers
came to me every day during 11 years and did their very best to make
an educated lady out of me. So, after finishing my school and being
awarded a gold medal for good achievements in studies, I made up my
mind to enter the university…

Just some years before I got my school diploma, I was blessed with a
friend who changed my life forever-the Peace Corps volunteer Joel
Wheeler who voluntarily worked as a teacher of the English language in
our local school.  He was introduced to my family and lived with us
for several months. For two years he had lived in our village, he’s
became not just a friend for me, but a great teacher as well as a
member of my family. He inspired me  to study English (before his
arriving at my life I barely could say some English phrases like ‘how
are you?’) and realize my vocation- to become a translator…Nowadays I
can’t imagine my life without languages as they open the world for me
as well as help me find many friends all around the world. Nowadays
I’m a student of the Private Classic University and study translation.
I can speak English and German. I’ve already obtained my Bachelor’s
degree and these days I’m preparing to start my final year of studies
and get my Master’s degree. I’m a part-time student, what means I
attend my university only once a week (usually every Saturday) and
every day during my exam periods (around three weeks twice a year).
And even though there is no lift and hundreds of endless stairs, my
mom assists me so much to get around there….She simply carries me in
her arms along the long staircases, sometimes we have to climb up to
the 6th floor…But in spite of all these challenges I have to face
every single day-I am very determined student and optimistic person. I
prefer to make my obstacles my opportunities.  My life motto is ‘hope
without any hope’….Even it might seem like life treats me cruelly
sometimes, I’m open for people around and my greatest dream is to
change this world for better. I know I can’t make myself tall, I will
never be able to dance, to wear high heels and run but I also know
that I’m able to make difference in some peoples’ minds…Real happiness
is not measured by your heights or  looks but how much happy you make
feel people around you. And even if there is a thunderstorm in your
life sometimes, don’t forget that there is always the sun behind the
dark clouds…

What is your point of view? listen to ours here:

Journalist Klaas Deknatel started an online initiative Zuidafrika2010.net (in Dutch) which prepares the 2010 fans for all soccer related and non-soccer related facts and actualities about South Africa. Klaas was interested to publish something on his website about the 2010 Vocab. He was part of the debate that was held post the recording of the podcast and during the creation of the podcast itself. His report about the 2010 Vocab can be found here (in Dutch).

By Ntombie Ntuntum

The website has been an inspiration to me, to read about other learners story and to learn things about how they feel about their community, how they see things in this world. But I’d love to know what other teens (except us students for humanity members) are seeing the world that we live in. It’s quite interesting to see passion of writing about their life. I like the fact that we also educating people how to communicate in Xhosa, I think it would be fun if we could all know how to speak our 11 official languages, imagine I speaking Venda don’t you think?

By Siphe Mananga

I just want to communicate with the students around the world and let my voice be heard. Let people know what as the students of South Africa are doing to encourage other youth and share our views on politics, sport and education. The thing I want is to learn the most important things, because not everybody knows it all no matter how wise you are. I want to be able to teach, be a leader and make I can serve the community on what I have in hand. I want the site to enable students and people to be free on sharing their personal issues and be confident to speak out.

By Ephraim Ntlamo

Students for Humanity for me means a lot, it empowers me to be a consious citizen of my community. I also think students for humanity is a good way to enable youth to assume leadership roles. Within our communities and on the African continent, youth are disregarded in decision making.
In my personal view, Students for Humanity will give African youth the skills and confidence to speak up in order to ensure that our needs are met.

By Mfundo Nomnabo

Students for humanity is a youth organisation, in South Africa, that connect youth of SA with the people around the globe, in terms of story writing. In this website one have a chance to express his/her feelings about life, things around them, etc. through this website. These stories motivate and encourage the viewers all around the world. For me being part of this website is one in a life time experience and I take myself so fortunate that have this opportunity to be a member of “Students for humanity” and I see “Students for humanity” as a very successful website in the future.

By Nosizwe Gxalatana

The website is an inspiration to me, its an opportunity for me to inspire and get inspired. It’s a place where I can get my voice heard and not be judged, where people get to judge what I say not where I come from o what I look like. A door way to communication with people I could not reach no even in my dreams. It’s a adventure one that I get to learn a lot while going thru it.

Mfundo Nomnabo is building a brighter FUTURE for the young ones…
South Africa is a struggling in terms of education compared to other countries so that is the reason I decided to help those children who are struggling with their schoolwork and who do not have the same opportunities as this one I have. I am helping these students with their schoolwork and by sharing the knowledge which I have with them. I believe that I know a lot more things than some of them but that doesn’t mean that I’m better than either one of them and we treat one another as one family. The main reason why I started this small Organisation called Each One Must Teach One is because I want to reduce the concentration of violence, crime, drug abuse, and more in my community and South Africa as a whole.

 I’m still struggling to get more children in my neighborhood to this organisation but I feed these ones that I have with knowledge. The idea behind this project is to help each and every child in my community and I believe that together, my community and me, we can build a better homeland for all of us and brighten up our community. I’d like to produce teachers, lawyers, and doctor in my community through love, sharing, and caring with in my community.

Some parents believe that I’m an example and a role model for many young ones in my community. To teach children and be good to your community as a whole you first have to show good morals, ethics, and be enthusiastic and if you build that kind of attitude within you I, from experience, promise you that you’ll have a right personality and become a leader for many. To make these children strong through their personal problems I always say to them work like a slave to live like a king tomorrow and I advice you to do the same. Each one must teach one in the whole wide world to construct the world of excellence.

My name is Wonga Zono. I’m a student at COSAT .

I am a civilian that lives in the shacks of Site B in Khayelitsha with an ambition of fulfilling his dream. That dream is not to run away to live in the suburbs (what a lot of people do when they make it out of the township) while the people I grew up with are still living their lives in a poor environment. People often tell us stories about how people are struggling through poverty because they are looking at shacks from the wrong side and these became bedtime stories. YES! Shacks also have the right side, which is why I decided to write about my life.

It starts when I started living in the shacks of Khayelitsha where someone gets shot dead in front of your eyes and when cops ask who killed him, you would say “I don’t know” because the thought of you also being killed would run through your veins as if the heart is pumping them, when we were about 8-10 years old we were already smoking what was called “Glue” which we bought for about R10. We would sit in a water Tap that was round in shape and we would smoke that drug for fun, this was the only wrong thing that I have ever seen in my community.

When time past and we were about 12-13yrs, we were still smoking so the people in Site B called a community meeting discussing what we were doing, then the cops were involved. What was funny was that we never listen to the people, the police even our own parents not knowing that life will be like hell to us for the upper coming years.

We decided to quit Glue when we were all 14-15 and started a new life in sports. We played soccer and discovered that we were really good and we got a coach that had real experience in coaching but his problem was that he was selling weed, we went to him because we thought he would supply us with money not knowing that he would steal the money and the sponsorship we were getting so that we can play in the grassy field, we were use to play in the sandy fields”
My brother, the guy I believed to be my role model, was the most caring person at home. He was about 22 and was working at the Grand West Hotel, he was the General Manager of that that place, but he didn’t last there because he got arrested and did almost 6 months in prison. Then when he got out he was fired and had to work in a TOYOTA garage, he was also fired there for fighting then he returned to the streets of Khayelitsha. He smoke Heroin, Tick-tick and he is now serving 6 yrs for house breaking but he has done 2yrs in trial and will now do 2 years and the other two in probation. After that we heard that he was the Brain and the head of all the drugs that came in our community in short you can call him “THE DRUG LORD”.

The above were a few details of what the bad side of my life was like; now its time for the good things and they start of at home. I went to Ajax Cape Town soccer trials but was not taken because I was young and didn’t have an ID, but the coach told me that I was very good at soccer and he said that I should not give up.

As time went by my community was becoming more interesting because I would often see people smoking Drugs in front of their parents. The drug invasion in my community was started by the people that are fathers to us children, then was passed to the people we call our big brothers and then to our selves. But I am always lucky because I didn’t smoke all those Drugs. Me and some of my friends go to a youth church that always starts at 7pm and ends at 8pm so we do have a life that we consider to be the life of a shack living bachelor.

We have set a goal that we would not take the short way in life but take the hard, long and painful side of life. We have promised our selves to get proper Jobs, then before living our lives in the suburb we will first let our children experience what we have experienced in our child hood so that they don’t think that they are better than other people ‘for we have saved for them a life never lived.

Here is a picture of a weed smoking guy in my community.

Here are some of the people that I go to Church with besides the smoking guy.

here is a gangster that grew up with my brother

Here is “The Drug Lord” my Brother