A letter to my team

To my most incredible team,

Tonight our SAWIP journey together ends and I thought it would be fitting if my final blog post were an open letter to you.

What now feels like a lifetime ago, I started this SAWIP journey unsure what I would actually learn from it, but knowing that I strongly identified with the goals of the program. 6 months later, I have learnt and done so much that it is actually difficult to describe or quantify how SAWIP has changed parts of my life. But one of the most profound impacts of my SAWIP journey was, undoubtedly, the 14 of you.

The word ‘diverse’ is tossed around a lot in South African nationalist rhetoric – so much so that it has begun to lose its meaning. However, for me our team invigorated the word ‘diverse’. I don’t mean it in a racial way, although obviously we are a racially diverse group. And I am not referring to socio-economic backgrounds, fields of study or culture. We are a diverse group because our thinking is diverse.

Never before have I been with a single group of people in so many different scenarios, where it is revealed how differently people think. We all think in such different ways; we present our thoughts in totally different ways too. And that is one of the most valuable ‘lessons’ I have taken out of SAWIP.

The way you think inspires me; the fact that we have a common goal yet so many thoughts as to how to get there is both a challenge and a privilege.

If I were to isolate a lesson I’ve learnt from each of you, it would be the following:

Fiwiwa – You can’t classify Ubuntu. It’s not a commodity, it’s a feeling. And it’s the feeling you have when Phiwe is around.

ThamsanKa (In an American accent) – there are always at least two things

Zola – silence and contemplation are important

Kgotsi – humility

Saif – Passion, patience and commitment

Edy – Anything – and I mean absolutely anything – can prompt a disgusting story about something scientific, or a baboon.

Nondu – the importance of nurturing. And SAwag.

Shannon – hope is infectious

Makhosazana – the significance of a name

Kwadwo – Gay Pride in New York was a good life decision

Carel – meetings are run on time with the tapping of a watch

Daniel – White boys can dance

Jason – true gentlemen exist

Parveen – Dancing on the Brooklyn Bridge at midnight, to no music, under a full moon – that’s what life is about.

I feel honoured to have worked with each one of you, and to be your friend. Thinking back to our final night in DC, I leave you, my lovely team, with this:

“Tonight

We are young

So let’s set the world on fire

We can burn brighter than the sun”

So much love to each of you. Thank you for this incredible journey.

Alli