On Tuesday 25th of May, a Matric student was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil on the Cape Flats. The incident was apparently gang-related.
For those children caught up in this situation of rife gangsterism, violence and drugs, and for the more privileged outsider observing these circumstances, the state of affairs seems hopeless. In an environment where learning is not safe, education has become secondary to personal survival.
However, for those of us who know that these learners are yearning to change their circumstance, we view the current state of affairs merely as an opportunity to institute that change.
At Step Up for Life, we believe that changing one’s situation is inherently linked to change in social attitudes: attitudes in understanding how an individual’s behaviour can motivate great change in their community, and how an individual’ s actions can contribute to the enhancement of society.
Step-Up 4 Life provides a platform upon which learners are able to identify themselves as being part of a community – whether local or cross-continental. Thereby promoting self-confidence, identification of alternate ways of conducting one’s life, building cross-cultural local and international friendships, and instilling the belief that they too are worthy of contributing to society. Ultimately, a generation of socially aware, confident children will grow into a friendlier more empathetic global community.
On the 11 June, due to the FIFA 2010 World Cup, the global community will arrive at our doorstep, and what better time than this to educate our learners in the lessons of social responsibility?
FIFA has adopted, as its official drive for the World Cup, The “1 Goal Campaign”. This campaign aims to use the powerful force of football to ensure that “education for all” is the legacy left behind by this World Cup. It aims to unite footballers, fans, charities and organisations throughout the world, and has called on world leaders set to attend the World Cup Education Summit, to unite in this cause.
As part of this World Cup goal, Step-Up 4 Life has been affiliated to the international organisation Friends Without Borders which has at its core, the belief that World Peace is attainable through creating friendships across cultures and countries, using the simple mode of letter writing.
The world is a stage and South Africa is currently occupying the lead role.
For the forthcoming weeks, the world will be our audience, and as a country we need to capitalise on this attention. We must utilise the international exposure the Football World Cup brings, to help advance the wellbeing of our society. Sport is a unifying entity and thus one that can unite the world in transforming our educational climate and engendering the ideas of social responsibility as a medium for personal development.
Our success in this endeavour will depend on both our individual and collective performance.
Now is the time to show your support.
In the words of local celebrity JR, and his overnight radio hit: Lets “make the world cup circle bigger”, and “show dem” what we can achieve for our youth!
If you are a school wanting to participate, or an organisation who wants to assist us in our dream, or simply an individual who wants to volunteer their services, please contact us at info@stepupforlife.org.za and visit us http://www.stepupforlife.org.za/
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