Youth Day message I wrote for a friend.

I would like to start by wishing our youth a fabulous and prosperous youth month.
Life as we have grown to know it has certainly changed of late, who would have imagined a year ago that not only South Africa, but the entire world would be on its knees thanks to an enemy that is completely invisible to the naked eye? Yet here we stand despite our circumstances once again at the crossroads with decisions needing to be made about how to go forward! I ask, despite the pandemic, is anything truly different? Are the decisions we make not just as important today as they were all those years ago during the Sharpville uprisings? An event in history where young people stood up for a better life! Where history was made to better the lives of those that had been left behind with a substandard education and no hope for the future!
Why is it then that our youth of today, do not see the value of education? Why is it that despite the efforts of those brave young men and woman, our young people today, do not understand that the greatest weapon on earth to fight poverty is knowledge, determination and courage to step out of their comfort zone.
Nelson Mandela once said, “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.”
I can only come to one conclusion, we as the generation that fought for a better education for our youth have failed to follow through! It appears that we forgot that which was fought for was meant for all those that followed us! After 20 years of democracy, our youth are not encouraged to excel academically but instead the focus is on getting through school at any cost and that school is no longer compulsory after the age of 15. We as Adults entrusted to care for the well being of our children have let go of our own expectations for a better future and leaders that benefitted from the better education during that era are now content to see our youth enslaved once again by giving easy alternatives such as lower pass marks, lack of enforcement against truancy and false hope.
I believe that the pandemic sweeping through the world should be a wake-up call to every one of us! The lock down that has taken place in South African has exposed our weakness and susceptibility to hunger and suffering of all South Africans, not only particular race groups, cultures, or language groups but all of us. It is up to us now to decide how this world situation is going to affect us in the future. We can emerge united in our cause for a better life for all by refocusing on the important issues such as education through any means possible after all we are in the age of technology and anything is possible or we could remain the slaves of a society which believes that there is no future for the young and that will forever be dependent on the “Master” of Government to determine their good or bad fortune.
My message to the youth of today is very simple, “ It is time to start looking in to the mirror with a different perspective, After all if all you see if failure, heart ache and disappointment, that will become your reality. However, If you see the image as a reflection of success and possibility to which you aspire to, the world will see what you see and as long as you focus on achieving your goals, life will be a challenge which is both rewarding and challenging. Successful people seldom strike gold at the first attempt but rather by continuing the search despite the setbacks.
I urge you all to become the best you can be and not what others expect of you. God Bless, Be Safe and Happy Youth Day.
“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”