A Circle of Light in the Darkness

Monday March 7 

I think that I mentioned in a "pre-Africa" blog that one of our missions on this trip was to hear the stories of people that we met.  Today was our first official opportunity to do just that.  The team was split up between three different locations.  I went with two other artists to the Emthonjeni Community Center located in the settlement of Zandspruit.  The center provides job training to residents in the settlement, pre and post natal care, a preschool program and an after school program for the children of working parents.  I met a young dancer named Rapule Lebere.  We seemed to be a total odd couple, but within a few minutes it became apparent that we had parallel artistic journeys.  Let me tell you the story of Rapule and his dream.

Rapule volunteers at the center teaching dance to the children.   He himself had an underpriviledged background.  For as long as he can remember, he's loved to dance.  He would watch television and copy moves that he saw and before long, was passing on his moves to other children.  Someone noticed his talent and his intention of bringing dance into his community and at their own expense, enrolled him in dance classes.   He eventually travelled to London looking for work in the theatres there, but returned to South Africa when his mother passed away.  Determined to give back, he began working with the children at the center and eventually wrote a musical called, "The Darkened Light."  He explained to me that even if you cover a light with a basket, the light is still shining in the dark.  He wants to produce his musical with the children of Zandspruit to bring attention to the talent there and to show the world that there is so much to be valued in the people of the settlements.  He believes that it will also bring awareness to the children that they have more options in life than they realize.  While he still would love to be dancing in a London show, He knows that his talents are better spent working with children to give them their own dreams.  Now, he says that his greatest success would be to watch one of his students from Zanspruit perform professionally. 

Rapule's light in the darkness is my circle for today and I hope to someday hear that his dream is realized.