Listening to a student

​I have started studying this year at UP. I am doing a short course called leadership in Urban Transformation at the Centre for Contextual Theology at University of Pretoria. It involves 5 x 4-day sessions over the year where we analyze, reflect and plan our work.

Today is day 4 of the block and lectures start really early so I arrived at 6:30. I went in, the lecture theatre was locked and so went to sit outside. While waiting there I opened up my lunch box and offered the young woman next to me a mango. She seemed quite eager to receive it and so I began to ask a bit of her story.

She is from the Eastern Cape and has come to study theology. She is currently sleeping at the Elim Church while she waits for her NISFAS funding to secure her residence. She should be placed in res by next week. In the mean time she had not had food (clearly for a while).

I gave her the rest of my lunch, my card to call if she needs help in any way and went off to class thinking about what's happenening around South Africa on our universities and how this story gives me a little more insight into why this is all so important.
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