Day 3 started off VERY early. After 5 hours of sleep, I was up at 1am and didn’t know what to do with myself. I laid there in the bed for a while and finally decided to go out to the large conference table outside of my room to read and write a little. I was kind of hoping that someone else would be out there who was having the same problem as me. No luck. I started answering emails and within 20 minutes, Tristian appeared. 
Ah!! Another night owl! We got started talking and not long after, Kareem appeared.
Looks like all 3 of the guys on the trip are night owls. We had a good time doing some male bonding… sharing our life stories, and the wisdom of life’s experiences very much in the tradition of our ancestors who were storytellers. I have to say that I am very impressed with these 2 young men. They are focused and determined, and they know what they want out of life. They have very clear goals, good mentors and role models, and they are in fact role models themselves. They also display a resilience that you could hear in their stories. Each of us has had experiences that could have taken us off track; instead those experiences have molded our character, and inspired us to work harder to reach for our goals. After a little while, Lindsay and Cienai appeared. Apparently we woke them up with our noisy conversation. Cienai ended up staying up with us until 5am or so, and she also shared life stories. I definitely enjoyed bonding with the 3 of them. OK, 5:30am, need to get some shut eye, so we can be ready for part 2 of day 3.
Part 2
Teboho Trust
The staff a TT is made up of executives, teachers, parents and former beneficiaries. The organization was formed as a result of a need observed by the organization's founder and visionary, Jose Bright. 
Jose is a native of Compton, California. He is also a lawyer who was working in the mayor’s office in Washington, DC on various education initiatives before coming to South Africa. He worked with 4 of the poorest provinces in several departments of education. When he started off, he was doing consulting work around the new dispensations for education in SA. Similar to desegregation, many people were afraid that the new dispensations would result in a lower quality of education.
Part of the new dispensation was centered on a transition to OBE (Outcomes Based Education). Many of the teachers were not qualified to teach it. One of the problems is that it is more lucrative to enter corporate life in SA versus going into teaching. Sounds familiar. According to one of our hosts, teaching is a “failed” profession. She was counseled by friend to NOT go into education. Interestingly she rationalized herself going into education to fulfill a need for teachers who could learn to teach under the new OBE standards from scratch as opposed to old teachers who were resistant to the new process. This young lady was educated as a teacher, and is now teaching 4th grade.
It was during the time that Mr. Bright was doing his consulting work that he observed the dire needs of the children of Soweto.
-Soweto stands for South Western Township.-
Many of the children were orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and they were entangled in a cycle of poverty that seemed to have no end. Mr. Bright sat down and did some budgeting, and decided that he would fund the education of 5 children out of his own pocket. The 5 eventually became 7, and the 7 became 10. In January 2001 the organization officially started with 10 learners from orphaned, vulnerable households. Today they have 230 learners from grade 1 to senior in university, and 2 of the original 10 currently work at the center.
Mr. Bright did not want the organization named after him, so the name Teboho was chosen. Teboho is a name that is given to a child that is seen as a blessing. In 2002, in a bit of a crafty move, the township held a traditional blessing ceremony and gave Jose Bright the name, Teboho. The program is seen as wildly successful. It emphasizes a holistic approach to education utilizing 5 pillars: Social Development, Personal Development, Healthcare, Educational Support, and Economic Development. One of the initiatives that they would like to develop is targeted at the amagogo, the grannies. Due to the number of people dying of AIDS, the amagogo often end up being head of households with the families living off of their social security. They are increasingly in need of support. Tomorrow we will be spending the entire day at Teboho Trust as participants in their Saturday program. This is where much of the learning takes place. As part of our orientation we also learned some Zulu and some do’s and dont’s of body language. Mr. Bright has become a father figure to many of these children at great, but willing personal sacrifice. The stories we heard today indicate that there is a great deal of love and respect in Soweto for Mr. Bright. We are looking forward to seeing it firsthand tomorrow.
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