A shy young man, Lithemba Sebe has been described by Woineshet Bischoff, manager of Child Welfare, as one of the organisation’s success stories. His hands shake gently as he describes his childhood. “My mom passed away when I was seven.
My sister was assigned legal guardianship after my mother died.”
This remarkable young man has clearly not let this early childhood tragedy stand in the way of his dreams. Lithemba will be attending Rhodes University to study for a Bachelor of Science. mg老虎机游戏_经典老虎机—激情赢盈中 at Rhodes is one of his dreams realised.
“Rhodes for me, growing up, was this place that you could never go to and actually getting a chance to study there is amazing.” He says that he could have gone to Stellenbosch, but his family didn’t want him to go so far away, he admits with a smile.
Although he has friends going to Rhodes he doesn’t think that this will make the transition any easier because they are not going to be doing the same courses as him. As for the party scene that Rhodes is supposedly so famous for, Lithemba says that he doesn’t drink. But he is looking forward to going out, especially during Orientation Week.
Although he is going to be studying towards a Bachelor of Science, Lithemba is a multitalented young man. He writes poetry and has been asked to perform it at several Child Welfare functions.
He was also part of Ubom! East Cape Drama Company this year and performed with them during the National Arts Festival and in the end-of-year show Inkwenkwezi and the Seven Tsotsis.
He is also a keen debater and has taken part in several debating competitions and he adds that people are often shocked to find out that he likes to draw. Yet it is his love of writing that gained him an internship with Rhodes student newspaper The Oppidan Press.
His science teacher, whom he describes as one of his heroes, found out about the project for him. With a laugh Lithemba describes how he used to get told over and over again by his English teacher to use paragraphs in his work.
“During my internship I learnt how to paragraph,” says Lithemba and this helped him with other school work. Lithemba goes on to talk about his views on different political controversies in South Africa and beyond.
His political awareness further defines him as an unusual young man and the type of person that South Africa desperately needs. Lithemba dreams of writing a book that will focus on “how we as a nation could overcome some of the obstacles we are facing right now.”
This young man has many dreams for his future and with his combination of artistic talent and a passion for science, he hopes to become one of the future leaders of South Africa.
Story by Tessa Trafford
GROCOTT`S MAIL 19 Dec 2008 Page 5