Work

We are all the same

  My school- Wontong Chodo Hakyo (Elementary School)

I had to write a message in my schools year book. This is what I wrote:

We are all one.

"Everyone smiles in the same language." - Author Unknown

Nearly a year ago, I got on to a plane and flew over 12 300 kilometers and arrived in a school where my brother and sister seemed to have visited before. The boys loved soccer, computer games and WWE, just like my brother. The girls loved music, boy bands and chatting, just like my sister.

As puzzling as it was, it became clear that all of us are really just the same, especially when we are in school.

During my first few weeks here, my family kept asking me what the students were like and I kept say they’re the same as the students in South Africa. You have the good students that do the work, ask great questions and really want to learn and on the other side you have the other kind that don’t care or make an effort, which always makes sad.  But then I remembered the mistakes you make when you are in elementary school, all the lessons you should have paid attention in and all the teachers who could have shown you the world, if you only gave them a chance.

Now that the year is nearly over and I have to sit and write this message, I’d like to share what I’ve learnt. We are all the same; we laugh, smile and interact in the same language. We learn in the same way, we teach in the same way.

Wontong is very different from Johannesburg. For one we have over 3 million people in the city and Wontong has a lot less than that. But if you look closely and after getting over the different languages, the different appearances and the different continents, you’ll find or see that the people and mostly the students have the same dreams and the same goals. We are all human; we are capable of treating each with respect and love.

Thank you Wontong Elementary School for welcoming me into your world, its felt just like home and it has shown me that the world is a very small place, especially because we are all the same. We are one.