After what must’ve been one of the longest and most stimulating days in the program thus far, the SAWIP team was split into groups of five to attend a leadership dinner with U.S board members and distinguished guests to what would be a wonderful evening of stimulating youth transformation. Our afternoon session being the highlight of the day, when we were granted the opportunity to meet with the legendary Congressman John Lewis. What a brilliant man! I’ve never seen all of us on the team so captivated and intrigued by a single person or event. We sat with Congressman Lewis in his office and listened with aware to his stories about growing up in poverty, leading the civil rights movement in the 1960’s for equal voting rights in the U.S and preaching to a congregation of chickens as a young boy. Though short, it was in my mind the most inspiring session we have had so far. I was inspired by Congressman Lewis to study the great leaders of the World, to study the ages when great change took place and above all else to discard fear and be courageous. I’ll never forget what he said: “When you stand up for something and you not just willing to live and speak out about it, but to die for it. That’s when you are liberated.” I strive to one day be that liberated.

We spent our late afternoon among distinguished academics speaking on the parallels of civil rights movements in South-Africa and the United States. This was very interesting and our dialogue on civil rights movement swung to an interactive history discussion on the absence of stories or history of minority races such as blacks. But what has been the most inspiring evening event thus far was the leadership dinner and interaction with distinguished guests from a diverse background on a level that made us feel like the guests and teachers of the evening. We spoke on issues relating to politics, education, leadership and most importantly, what we have gained whist being in Washington and what we will take back to South-Africa. We all had something to take back home, in fact we all had plenty to take back home. My take home package included a great sense of African and South-African pride and awareness of South-Africa and Africa’s incredible potential for growth. I truly believe if I had not been part of SAWIP and this phenomenal experience in Washington, I would have taken all my knowledge and expertise to another country. Now I feel a sense of urgency to stay in South-Africa and use my expertise for the benefit our country and country folk. I feel obligated to attain the highest qualification and use it as a means to better the entire country not just my own economic status.

What followed was a question to the guests on what they think we should take back home and from these opinions flowed rivers of inspiration. We were told to go home and speak out on issues we feel need to change even if people think it’s not our place to speak out on. We were told to be courageous and role models to the youth of South-Africa. We were told that the United States looks up to South-Africa as being very modern, based on our constitution, and the world desperately needs South-Africa to get it right, and we need to help South-Africa get it right. And lastly we were told not to wait for something to happen or to be done studying and retired to make a change and impact, but to do it now. These words were most inspiring and stimulating to me and definitely something I am going to live up to and advocate for.