Thabelang Sepadile
to learn when one is unable to see. Testing a person’s eyes and giving them spectacles does not sound profound, but it can literally change a life. Seithati is evidence of this. It is also significant that she chose AME, a long distances away, rather than the easier option that is the school close to home. Had she not done so, Seithati may never have received the spectacles that are her new eyes. She may even have been deprived of the opportunity to finish school. ***
What do you want to be when you finish school? My dream is to be a doctor so that I can help sick people, just like the doctors who came and helped me with my eyes. Now I can see the chalkboard. Before it was difficult to read and write, but now everything is clear.
What would you like to say to the people who brought you your spectacles?
I would like to thank them very much. They really helped me. Before, I went back to Grade 5 because I could not see well. It is very hard to learn when you cannot see. Now I can read and write. May God bless you!
The circle moves backwards and forwards in song and dance. Thabelang Sepadile stands in the centre, leading the game while the rest respond to him in chorus. Generally, it is the older children who take up the leading role, but now he is firmly in control. He saw a gap and inserted himself when there was a lull between songs. It is not the first time. Everyone knows him for this. “The boss,” jokes principal Limakatso Nketsi as she watches. In class Thabelang is the same. His bravado is the source of much amusement and laughter, perhaps even a little envy. In another school his behaviour might be considered disruptive, but at Morifi AME his enthusiasm is entertained, encouraged even. It is his way, his character. The innocent assertiveness has found understanding and acceptance, earning its place in the school. To try and stop him would be to discourage his spirit. And why would anyone want to try and crush such fierce determination? An only child, Thabelang lives with his mother and grandmother in Ha Taung, a village a good distance up a mountain where its residents live on a small, isolated plateau that looks over much of the rest of Morifi. In the mornings and afternoons his little legs carry him across these steep, long distances. It would be a privileged position to be a fly on the wall to the endless possible worlds of wonder that likely dance across his thoughts on this journey. When he grows up, Thabelang explains, he wants to buy a phone. Oh, and also to be a teacher! Later on, the screams of a little person can be heard around the school. Thabelang has burst out crying inside the Grade 1 classroom, his inconsolable sobbing contrasting sharply with the confident character that has been so ever-present throughout the day. But then, one has to remember that Thabelang is only six years old.
What is your favourite subject? “Maths … No, English!”
What do you want to be when you finish school? I want to be a teacher so that I can buy a phone. Then I will come and teach at AME and work for Ma’am (Nketsi). Thabelang is pictured in the centre of the image on this page, and biting the table in the image on p154.
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