A walk in someone else’s shoes

Trailing train tracks of thought I find myself on a passenger seat staring through a window, humbled by what I see. I stare as we pass through the dusty roads of rural Mqanduli on our way to some of the schools the Nelson Mandela Institute works with. The purpose of this visit is to join hands with members of the community to repair windows, paint walls and clean the school yard in preparation for the school’s re-opening.

I was dressed for a different occasion. But I felt that I was given an opportunity to recreate someone else’s world (in a way), someone who might be less fortunate than I am.

I grabbed a paint brush and tried to make the walls of the school my canvas. I plugged in my earphones and listened to the words of Wasalu Muhammad Jaco or Lupe Fiasco: “When your spirit is strained and you limited to change ... Never let your heart reflect the conditions in which you staying.” 

Trying to crack this lyrical riddle, I found myself smiling inspired by the resilience of these children. I asked myself: “How do they trick the mind not to register the decay surrounding them?” You have to have character to do that. The world treats us like the places we come from, limiting us to by their preconceptions. Much of the time we internalise this, forgetting these are only places we have been, and do not determine who we are and where we are going.

The homes of many of these schoolchildren are far from school. Many walk long distances every day, and some live so far away from school that they have to forsake the love and protection of their families to live alone in rented rondavels closer to school. All of them daily and punctually avail themselves of the opportunity to learn. School attendance is an expression of their commitment to empowering themselves. They stare through a tear-stained window of opportunity, waiting for and working toward their chance.

They are the everyday heroes and heroines of our times.