“Life for young people in my community is difficult. We have issues of no water and electricity. Most of the time, you feel stuck because there’s no change in the situation that you’re in. Crossroads give us breakfast porridge every day. They also give us soup and bread, which is tasty.
I was scared to speak English when the Peer Education classes started. I have always felt more comfortable speaking Zulu. But last year, we were preparing for the reading advocacy and Senette and Vernon believed in me and they kept pushing me to step out of my comfort zone. So, I ended up saying a poem in English and all my teachers were so impressed.”
Young people in the Hlomantethe community in KwaZulu-Natal face issues like poor transportation so they have to walk great distances to get to school, and scarce employment opportunities. They are, however, blessed with strong community ties and a close connection to nature.
When Crossroads started their Peer Education programme at Mqedi Primary School and became aware of the illiteracy issues in the school, the team ran a Reading Advocacy campaign. Here they met 13-year-old Bonginkosi.
“We learnt that one of the best ways to build our self-esteem and confidence is to work on our weak areas. This is because nobody is bad at something, it is just because we have not practiced it enough to be good at it and we cannot quit because it is hard.
We did a session on communication and active listening which was very helpful. I enjoyed learning this because it is a good skill to have for a job. I will remember to first understand the question they are asking me in an interview, then answer.
My confidence in myself has grown, from being the person who sits quietly in class discussions, I am now the one who can lead the discussion during activities.
I love what I learn during class time. They are very different from our teachers and they do not make fun of us when we make a mistake. I really love the different things we do and no week is the same.
I am adamant that I will complete my Matric as this will help me secure a good job and improve my family’s life.
As a peer educator, I tell my friends that right now we are just children, we cannot financially support a baby and we are not ready for marriage because we do not even know ourselves yet.
After we finish matric and achieve our goals is the right time to think about getting married and having a baby.”