Grade 10, Lesedi la Thuto
I woke up lost in the city of gold … waking up to the tallest building in South Africa … police vans going up and down like a dog hunting for an animal – it’s unlike Lesotho where I come from. There’s too much noise … there’s happiness. I miss the sound of horses jumping up and down … all I see here is cars, lost dogs and homeless people.
It’s a Monday morning, my first day at New Town High School. Let me just say my first everything … And again I am a new born baby, a pioneer, starting my life all over again.
I woke up and also woke my little sister Lethabo and I prepared her for school. She looked so sad. I guess she misses her friend Tshepi from Lesotho who used to wake her up around 5 am and tell her that she was late for school. She’d jump out of bed, rushing only to find that it was 5 am.
She looked deep into my eyes and asked, “where will I find another Tshepi. It was touching and I didn’t know what to answer. I just looked down and said that there are so many Tshepis out there.
We went off to the bus stop. Everyone looked so angry but then I didn’t blame them. It was a Monday morning yet they didn’t even greet each other … I guess social media is taking over. They were all concentrating on the phones … “Oh, look,” shouted Lethabo, “our new school.”
The moment I saw the board my heart beat so fast … but then there’s no turning back … I entered the reception area and they took Lethabo to the other side of the school. I was left alone. Then they showed me my class. I was introduced to the other side of the world.