The Power of Hope

My name is Lucia Mlotshwa, and I'm in Grade 8.

My father died when I was 5 months old and I was raised by a single mother. My mom works on a farm so that she can provide for me, my brother and my big sister and makes sure that we don’t suffer that much. Ngondini is a place where poverty is everywhere. Sometimes we would stay a week without electricity and water.To get water we have to ask neighbours who have water storage tanks so that we can drink and bathe. To cook we looked for wood or cut trees to make fire so that we could make food.

Growing up seeing my mother's suffering made me stressed. I decided to work hard so that I could assist her But I ended up losing hope because our home problems kept getting bigger. I told myself that life at home will never change. My mother started working long hours away from home so that she could get more money.

Things changed. I got my first school award in grade 5. That made my mom proud and gave me hope that I would be successful in life. I continued working hard. I began to see how my school gave me an opportunity to shine and show that I'm capable of something. I realised that if you put work in, a lot of things can happen unexpectedly.

That is when Raise the Children came and gave me a bursary. They supported me through hardships at school when I lost hope that I'm never going to be able to pass at my new high school. Today I’m improving a lot of things because of that support and I appreciate that with my whole heart.

Thank you.

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Tilting at Windmills

Thank You, from Our First "One-Percenter"

Until the Cows Come Home

The Power of Education and Opportunity