In reflecting on this past year, I am saddened by the pain so many people have had to experience. The loss of loved ones, livelihoods, and life as it was pre Covid-19. The looting and unrest here in KZN was another moment in time that will forever remain etched in our memories. The intense emotions linked to these experiences seem to swirl around us with unrelenting force, leaving us spent.
The beautiful thing about working with children though is how they remind us, every day in so many ways, why we cannot lose hope. Hope for our future, for our families and for our country. This little four-letter word, H O P E is so much bigger than what it looks like on paper.
Hope is not pretending that there is no hardship or sorrow. It is rather the quiet still voice that whispers that our troubles are for a season. It is the inner strength we can draw on to sustain us now and tomorrow. Hope is an amazing feeling.
It is hope that has kept so many of us going this year. As lockdown levels eased, we saw how hope rose in our children. Hope for more meaningful contact with family and community, hope for regular school attendance and hope for a future.
The generous support of so many of our donors kept hope alive as we struggled to raise funds in an environment that has become progressively more hostile and barren – as the after effects of the pandemic and, more recently, the looting took effect. As we draw close to wrapping up this year, let us hold tightly onto the light and promise that hope fosters in our hearts.