“Take what little you have and make a change.”

Me, Bongi, and Nellie, another UConn intern

Who said that? Nelson Mandela? Ghandi? Mother Theresa? Some other world renowned activist? How about Abongile Qasana, a 21 year old Capetonian accounting student and the coach of the Khayelitsha Fire Fighters, the soccer team that I have been working with. I first met Bongi, as he goes by, at a dinner in the apartment of my program director. We instantly hit it off; I was drawn to his genuine love of life and how he NEVER stops smiling. I knew he was someone I wanted to work with, so the next week I headed out to Khayelitsha, the township where he lives, to attend his soccer practice. Since that day I’ve only missed one Thursday night practice, I’ve gone almost every Wednesday evening to help tutor the players, and this coming weekend will be the second tournament I’ve attended. Getting to Khayelitsha consists of an hour commute each way on a crowded bus or taxi, but I always go.

What parent wouldn't want this?

All Bongi wants to do is change the world, yet the best part is he does it every day by changing the lives of the boys on his team. He is one of the most remarkable individuals my age I have ever met and certainly is one of the most positive role models a parent could want for their son, especially in a community that is crawling with gangsters, crime, and violence. He is excited about life, he is excited about the community which he lives in, and he is excited about making positive social change. As a matter of fact, it is practically all he talks about. The simplest things make Bongi happy. I called him one day and asked him how he was doing and he responded saying he woke up with a smile on his face because the sun was shining. Had it been raining, he probably would have said he woke up smiling because the rain was replenishing the earth. The word “good” has to be his most used word. Everything is good; something good is always happening, something good is always bound to happen, and there is good in every situation. Sometimes he gets so excited he starts talking fast and stammers over words, since English isn’t his first language. All I can do is smile when I’m around him. At his busiest, Bongi will be at school all day in the city (twenty minutes in the opposite direction from where I live, making my twice weekly commute to Khayelitsha seem simple), he’ll come home and go straight to soccer practice, followed by attending services at his church, and then he’ll start his homework. He says sometimes he is up until after two doing work, and yet he is back up and out of his house bright and early the next morning with a smile on his face.

Can you tell why I love being around him so much? On a trip where there are only two other guys, Bongi has become a dear friend of mine. Whenever I’m with him I’m laughing; we talk and joke around and just relax, just like I do with my friends back home. After I got back to Cape Town from my spring break excursion I gave Bongi a call to say hi and catch up on our past weeks. After I told him my plans to have more logoed gear printed for his soccer players, Bongi took a moment to genuinely thank me for “all the work and effort that I have put in.” It meant a lot to me, even though doing what I do isn’t “work” or “effort,” it’s fun and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m getting as much out of the work as he and his team are. Tomorrow night Bongi is coming to a soccer game in Cape Town Stadium – one of the World Cup venues – along with a handful of other UConn students and my student who I have been tutoring. We’re both looking forward to the game, but on the horizon is something bigger. Bongi has applied to a UNESCO Human Rights Forum at UConn, which means this August he’d be coming to the States. The prospect of being able to take Bongi around my country, bring him to my house to introduce him to my family, and show him how people live in America keeps me up at night. It would be an amazing experience, especially for him, but for me too, as now I would be on the opposite side of the relationship. For now all we can do is wait and hope he gets accepted. In my opinion there couldn’t be a more deserving applicant.