There’s a video circulating that seems to address the idea of privilege, but is that what’s really going on? Privilege and disadvantage are two very different things. Removing disadvantage doesn’t automatically make someone privileged.
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Street Children
Vodacom Lesotho sponsored students at Sepheo School to participate in the 2017 Malealea Monster adventure race, giving them an opportunity to learn endurance and experience success. Vodacom's contribution shows that it's possible to bring Excellence out of Poverty.
We know every child on the street in Maseru. We also know those who were once kids - now young adults - still living on the streets. We love these ones, too, and they love us.
Over time, we have seen their numbers dwindle, but a solid cadre remains, too lethargic and weary from a life on the street. It is hard to watch some young men progress and some refuse to budge. Every one of them hates the street. Most have hated it enough to let us help.
On my last visit to the largest hangout, we lifted weights together and as I was leaving I told them that I don't want to go to their funerals. They should be coming to mine. The simple truth is that being on the streets ends in prison or death.
As an officer in the army, we always had a catch phrase in the front of our minds when making decisions: “choose the hard right over the easy wrong.”
I now find that simple anecdote as poignant as ever as we maintain the direction of a charity that works with extreme poverty, child homelessness, delinquency and neglect. There’s an easy wrong that removes the surface of the problem from our view. There’s an easy wrong that is better at producing heartwarming stories than actually making a difference. There is an easy wrong that generates massive donations. We won’t do any of it. The easy wrong is still wrong.
Reports of widespread and systemic suffering from the developing world provoke bewilderment: 'this isn't right,' 'something needs to change.'
But what needs to change? Who needs to change it?
At Sepheo, as much as we care about seeing every child off the streets and living out their purpose in excellence, we also care about bringing Basotho to the forefront of the solution.
Before I left Australia in 2013, I sat in the office of my now-former boss discussing the plans for Sepheo and establishing a culture of excellence out of poverty. I outlined how we wanted to centre our model on a Character and Leadership program, as success is fleeting without the right character. She nodded and matter-of-factly said, ‘you need to add resilience.’
This week I met the mother of one of my boys for the first time. I travelled to the factory where she works, just next to the South African border, to meet her on her lunch break. It was a beautiful moment for me. She greeted me with the hugest smile...
We hear it all the time, "these kids can't learn," "they're uncontrollable," "don't waste your money."
Our response? "Try them," "behaviour can change," "they're worth it." We have seen that children can learn, even when every voice in their life has said otherwise. It's not too late.