Jet-Setting to South Africa

This past weekend, I had the great pleasure of visiting two former Sonrise students at their new school in Honeydew, South Africa.  It was interesting how the trip came about, but I won’t bore you with the details.  Basically, it was falsely advertised to me that the price of airfare would be stunningly low.  But as we all know, when something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t true… Long story short, there is a very good reason that Rwanda is currently pushing for improved customer service.  Anyway, I bit the bullet and forked out the necessary dough to fly to Johannesburg over my fall break.  And I couldn’t have made a better decision!

Now most people around here, when they found out I was going to South Africa for the weekend, had one of two reactions.  1)  “By yourself!?!?  Be careful!” or 2) “I’m so jealous!  What are you going to eat?”  I did go by myself, and I was never in harm’s way.  And I ate corn flakes.  Three times.  Now for those of you who don’t live in Rwanda, I’ll just let it be known that Kellogg’s Corn Flakes are available in this country for the low price of 12,500RWF (or nearly 25USD) per box.  Needless to say, I haven’t eaten any cereal in the past 10 months. 

(Sidenote:  I have since eaten cereal in Rwanda thanks to my good friend Hannah from whom I received a box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, only THE best cereal in the world, today in the mail…)

(Sidenote to the sidenote:  If you want to mail me something, like my good friend Hannah did, you can send it to Kelly Simpson, BP 6558, Kigali Rwanda)

Back to South Africa.

African Leadership Academy is an incredibly cool school.  It is comprised of 185 of Africa’s top young leaders.  Last year 2500 students applied and only 100 were accepted into the rigorous program.  I am proud to say that 2 of the first 3 Rwandans ever admitted were my boys Emmanuel and Dieudonne.  ALA is much more like a freshman year of college than any high school I have ever seen.  It reminded me of watching all of my engineer friends pulling all-nighters and struggling through their freshman years at Clemson.  It’s a really hard transition to make from a typical African school to such a rigorous curriculum, but most of the students there are grateful for the amazing preparation they are receiving for American universities and life in general.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the many incredible kids I met this weekend. 

I had an absolute BLAST visiting with my boys all weekend.  I attended their classes, ate with them in the dining hall, watched them make their country proud with an intore dance during a cultural exchange event, walked around campus, met their friends and teachers, and sat down for a few chats in between.  Dieudonne’s overflowing joy and zeal for life and Emmanuel’s incredible wisdom and poise were just what I needed to refresh me for the rest of my year here in Africa. 

Every person I met at ALA was astounded A) that I live in Rwanda and B) that I would fly to South Africa just for a weekend with the sole purpose of visiting my former students.  One faculty member came to tell me that Emmanuel looked so much happier all weekend because I came to visit.  As I left campus on Monday morning, I could hardly hold back the tears as Emmanuel told me how proud he was to have had a visitor and how loved he felt that I would pay all that money to fly there just to see him.  I assure you, it was worth EVERY penny to me, too.

And now for a challenge:  Is there someone you love who lives far away from you?  Don’t just sit around and contemplate seeing him or her some day; fork out the dough and go see him or her, pronto!  I guarantee the time you share and the memories you create will be well worth the money spent.  After all, to paraphrase my friend Kelly, I would rather die broke than live lame.  And to paraphrase Emmanuel, life is about more than accumulating assets; it is about sharing life.