KAROO NEWS - "Youth Day is about honoring and paying tribute to the youth of yesteryear, especially 1976, but it is also about celebrating the hopes, dreams and visions of being the youth of South Africa today," this is the general message from various young people in Aberdeen.
Luxolo Primary School
Tatum Kameel (Grade 6) and Emihle Pillay (Grade 9) agree the best part about growing up in a small rural village like Aberdeen is the way the community understand and support one another. Pillay says, “The old saying it takes a village to raise a child is so true in our community. Here we are being raised by the whole community.”
Kameel articulates the youth’s general perception about Youth Day as, “To me Youth Day means that I can be whatever I want to be, because of the sacrifices that were made by the youth in the past and I appreciate their sacrifices and applaud them for that, cause now we have much better opportunities than they had.”
To Sinombulelo Godla (Grade 7) attending school is by far the highlight. She says attending school helps in shaping her into the person she is.
Aberdeen Secondary School
Emihle May (Grade 12) message to her peers, “Always keep in mind that you are the future of your nation. You are the hope of your families, communities and South Africa. Take education seriously and make decisions that support your vision for a bright future.”
May is not blind to the challenges faced by youth in rural towns. She says especially matriculants daily encounter challenges such as lack of proper access to information due to a lack of proper libraries, poor network connections, financial constraints and substance abuse.
Christiaan van Rensburg (Grade 12) inspires his peers with pointers that education is the key to success, and that the youth should also be entrepreneurial. He says young people should identify needs in their communities and start a small business to provide for those specific needs. Van Rensburg also emphasises that the youth must be ready for change and should be adaptable, since circumstances can change rapidly.
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