How A Soul Sparkle's Triumph over Failure Leads to College
Throughout the years, Aid Africa’s Children and our generous donors support Sophie’s Creche and her continuing efforts with the Soul Sparkles, a support group she started for AIDS orphans who have lost their parents.
What people don’t understand is how these “food parcels”are often the only lifeline these kids have to access food, uniforms for school, and toiletries for maintaining personal hygiene.
In Africa, if you can’t afford a uniform you don’t go to school. It’s a vicious cycle where the poor stay poor. The toiletries includes, soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shaving cream, razors, and sanitary napkins.
These food parcels are the difference between having a life or being excluded from life.
Meet Ofentse who is a Soul Sparkle who talks about how meeting Mama Sophie and the Soul Sparkles changed his life. Ofentse is attending his first year in college after failing 10th grade. He wants to be a lawyer.
Learn how this Soul Sparkle overcame his biggest obstacle to college.
Transcript
“Good day everybody, my name is Ofentse Seopa. I am 20 years of age, I am from a village called...
I’d like to talk a little about myself. I was raised in a very poor family. I was born in 2003, on the 6th of January.
Growing up was never easy for me because you were never able to sustain and maintain that life you wished for.
But then, I met Soul Sparkles and my life changed.
Because through Sparkles I was able to be provided food parcels, toiletries and everything I needed, just like school uniform and everything.
I was able to fit in with other kids because I had uniform, I had food, and I had toiletries, because growing up I never had
those things.
It was hard for me to be with other kids. I was always isolated because I was ashamed because of my background.
But after I met Soul Sparkles, a whole lot of things changed. And, I am grateful for that.
Going to school, I attended my primary, and finished my grades from 1-7, then I went to high school from grade 8
and when I got to grade 10, I failed my grade 10.
That was a time in my life, where I thought I should just give up, because I felt little of myself, I thought it was
the end of me. Because failing a grade to me was a very huge pain to me because I was ashamed, what was going to happen next,
are other kids going to laugh at me? Is it the end of me? I felt stupid and dumb because almost everyone was able to achieve and pass their grades.
I was thinking I should drop out, and everyone from the Soul Sparkles and everyone around me supported me,
especially Mama Sophie she was the one, that who took me in, and had a talk with me. She said,
”it’s not the end of the world because I failed, because once you fail, it is a lesson that you should not relax. I was too relaxed,
I thought I had it, but then, it showed me that in life you don’t have to relax you must fight.
Because a kid like me, from a village like ours, will never make it out…because we don’t have the right tools to make it out, we are mostly disadvantaged..”