The power of the youth...
With all the different people we met and the different communities we spent time with, I can honestly say I was touched by two communities. The youth groups in Tyutyuza and Upper Regu, villages in Middledrift. The young people I met inspired me to do more with my life than ever before and only because they wanted to change their current situation and their future. Umthathi tries to train people of all ages and really wants the youth to commit because they are the ones who can carry on with training and make sure they train other people in their community. Unfortunately my generation seems to think that anything that has to do with the training that Umthathi is doing is backward, so we were very happy when we found these two groups who were very involved with the training and who wanted more.
Thr Tyutyuza youth group consist of about 25 young men and women with ages ranging from 19-25. They are all high school graduates but because of financial constraints most them have not had the opportunity to further their studies. I met a very enthusiastic and outspoken Sesona Ncat who told me more about their group and what they do. This group not only has a vegetable garden at their local school but they use that food to feed the young children at that school and their families. They also took it a step further and became coaches of various sports which they love at the school and they play in provincial competitions. To top it off they found a way to collaborate with the school and have a session where they pass on their knowledge about hygiene and health that they were taught by Umthathi to the learners at the school which I feel is terrific. What I appreciate most though, is the lesson they took from the money management course, they are now able to budget well with the income their family has and have started saving up for registration for university which makes me proud. This group did not only take their training to and use it to benefit themselves but they are using it to benefit their community as a whole because they want to help out their community so that when they leave for school and for work they know that things are fine and that is what I loved about them.
The Upper Regu youth, have tried to do the same. They have a garden at school and try to play sports but because of a few problems to do with water and lack of space their project did not succeed but after Umthathi visiting them they promised they would start again. What touched me about this group was that some of them were involved in the local crèche and even though they were not getting paid much and their school house needed a lot of equipment they were still positive about starting their project. They said they saw the bigger picture and even though they had given up the first time they know what they can achieve and why they want to carry on with the project and that made me happy.
Coming from a more fortunate financial background then these young people I met, I could not help but feel inspired. You would think that because poverty and struggle is around them they would give up or have a negative outlook on life but with them its the exact opposite. They are more committed, more optimistic about their future and have big dreams for not only themselves but for their communities and the generation that come after them. It made me think if people my age who don’t have much can wake up and fight to put food in their siblings mouth and children they are not related to, what on earth is stopping me from perusing whatever dreams I have. Instead of feeling sorry for them, I felt very proud of them and I was comforted by the fact that they want more training and want to learn more skills that they can pass on and to them it’s all thanks to Umthathi. After meeting these two groups, I was head over heels in love with the work Umthathi does because I was able to see for myself the difference they have made and that is very rewarding.
