I cannot possibly describe the experience I had today, but I will do my best. It was similar to yesterday, when we got to chat for a while with some older teenagers. Today, though, I got the incredible chance to sit down and talk to three girls ages 17 and 18 for TWO WHOLE HOURS at a township school in Phillipi. I asked them about everything: their relationships, their families, race, sex, drugs, violence. I didn't hold back, and neither did they. They opened up their lives to me, and I felt so welcomed once again. It was so hard for me to look into their eyes and listen to their stories knowing that each day they risk their lives by walking on the street. At one point during the interview, I told them how moving it was for me to talk to them and listen to the gang and gender violence they endure. I almost started to cry when I told them, and they responded with happy words: "We are so happy you told us that." For their privacy, I cannot disclose any of the specifics of my interviews with them, but just know that there is no way we can possibly conceive what they go through every day. Take my word for it.
I am excited about going back to this township tomorrow, and I hope that it warms (and breaks) my heart just as much. This trip has made me more globally aware than I have ever been, and the creative flow is flooding with ideas. I have so much hope; lets make this worth it.
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Such audacious living breaks us free from the limitations of our ever-present autobiography.
- Your elder father
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