Thursday, November 20, 2008

The R2.00 boy - Part 1

There was this boy who at the time seemed very much too ordinary looking to be standing on the corner of the street. He looked about ten years old - if not younger.
Every second or so he would tilt his head back just to make sure I was still making my way towards him. There was a hint of hope, pain and confusion deeply vexed within him. I could see the not to sublty desperation, wrapped in shyness cling around him.
"Here he comes...but I wonder if I can trust him" he must have thought to himself.
As I walked closer, I could not help but be moved by his innocence that was resembled in him facial expression. The closer I came, his hand started opening up and I slowly saw the figurement of what became a R2.00 coin.
"Excuse me sir" he said. "Do you have a rand...my mom sent me to the shop to get some bread?"
"No, sorry, I don't." I anwered quickly, and shocked I walked away.

After this happened, I could not help but drown into a spell of thought. Im not sure if the kid lived on the street. He did not resemble that look with his grey pance and black school shoes. Another possible explanation is that his mother had sent him to the shop to get bread and thought that it would be easier for the boy to get money than her trying at all.
I've been toying with the idea of what it means to be an ACTIVIST. I love words, and breaking them down is something I do quite often. Thus, I began to explore.

So, the word ACTIVIST (with help of the Maxi Chambers Paperback Dictionary) is derived from the word ACT which has various descriptions. But simply means to perform and produce an effect. To 'ACT UPON TO' means to fulfill. 'GET IN ON/GET INTO THE ACT' is to start participating in something.
It is also seen in the word ACTION, which involves activity, behaviour, a deed or gesture, fighting or a battle.
ACTIVISM is described as a philosophy of creative will, a policy of direct vigorous action. So an activist is someone who believes in activism. Interesting enough that the word 'will' and 'creative' are used to define this word. There is a power to choose.

These various intepretations got me thinking. To be an activist or be involved in activism requires one to feel strongly about and against a particular kind of issue or injustice. This issue would need one's continuous attention and must be heartfelt. I am not trying to teach readers of things they may already know. I hate the fact that there could be a R2.00 boy in this country. I am hungry for a kind of activism that is heartfelt - I too am on the discovery path of what it really means to be an ACTIVIST.

2 comments:

Brown said...

Nice one sipho! will that "path" be leading you towards sleeping on the streets with me for 16 days? ;)

Beth said...

One of the definitions I found when I was searching was "a person who hangs onto the desire to help a cause like a rat terrier hangs onto a bone". Sound like anyone you know???