A Parallel Life

Meera Singh

Boring, pointless, and tiresome are often describing words students would use to describe school in the United States. Exciting, challenging, and a privilege are words that many kids in 2nd and 3rd world countries would use to describe school. 

About 2 years ago I got the opportunity to visit South Africa with my mom and some of her friends, and their daughters also tagged along. We were going because a brand that is sold in Sephora (which is where my mom works), donates a percentage of their profits to a charity called room to read. This brand is called Tatcha. Tatcha has funded 5,856,659 days of school for schools in places where education isn’t something that everyone gets for free. My mom, along with two of her colleagues were invited to go with the CEO of room to read and the founder of Tatcha to visit two schools in South Africa. They also said that my mom and her colleagues could bring their daughters.   For the first three days, we got to go on a safari. It was amazing. I remember eagerly climbing onto the black leather seats each morning thrilled to see new animals that I had only heard of but never seen. As I hopped into the jeep, the sun was beating down on the seats. We saw lions, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, and so many other incredible animals. I loved every moment of it. When I saw a zebra for the first time I remember being too stunned to speak. After, we got to visit two schools in a town near us. These were schools that a charity called Room to Read had donated money to in order to help create libraries. 

Along the ride to the school, we passed several houses. These houses weren’t like the ones I was used to seeing. To me, they seemed more like shacks. They were pieces of old rusted metal put together for families to live in. I was shocked. I had always thought that houses were made of nice materials and had a door, floor, bathroom, and were larger than one room. As I was looking out the van window, I heard others talking about how a third of the students at one of the schools were orphans. I was even more shocked after hearing that. One-third of a whole school’s student population didn’t have parents? That seemed absurd. I questioned my mom thinking that I had misheard her. She responded, telling me it was because many of the parents died of AIDs. “I thought that there was treatment for AIDs,” I said. 

“There is, but none of these families could afford it,” my mom replied. I was silent the rest of the ride. I thought everyone could afford healthcare, just as I also thought everyone had houses like mine. “Meera, keep in mind that many of the kids at this school are only just learning to read,” my mom told me. 

“Why?” I replied.

“Because this school couldn’t afford books.” As we were nearing the school, I was thinking about what it would be like to have both of your parents deceased and only learning to read around the age of 13. I was thinking about how miserable I would be if I were those kids. I thought about how miserable they must be. As I was thinking, the feeling of butterflies swarming around my stomach occurred. 

We got out of the van, and I wiped the sweat off my head. “Man, South Africa is like a sauna,” I thought to myself.  

Thump. Thump. I looked up to see kids playing enormous drums and a parade going on around us. “What is this parade for?” I asked. 

“It’s for us,” my mom responded.

“Us? Why?”

“Because we helped create libraries for this school by donating.” Before I could even respond, a group of girls swarmed around me asking to take photos. They had huge smiles plastered across their faces. They were so excited to meet me along with everyone else. I felt as if I were a celebrity. I took photos with some of the students, talked to them, listened in on some of their classes, read to them, and even got to play soccer and netball, which is a sport that is commonly played in many countries.

Before we began playing soccer, I believed I would be one of the best because I played on a team, and I had shoes on unlike the rest of the kids who were barefoot. We started playing, and I, along with two other kids who were on the trip with me, were demolished. We were shocked. I tried to keep up, but they had amazing touch with the ball. At the time, I was quite the sore loser. Normally I would have been sulking, and I would have been making tons of excuses on why I didn’t win. But there was something so contagious about the students’ spirit. They all had smiles on their faces the whole day. Even when I lost the ball, they would cheer me on. 

When I first arrived at the school I felt out of place. I had grown up in almost a parallel universe. I thought it would be weird and awkward. Since their English wasn’t very strong, it was hard to communicate at the start. It was rocky at first, and I was overwhelmed with the number of kids. But as soon as we started playing soccer, I immediately felt better. I made connections with some of the girls and boys, and we were able to have a ton of fun without even speaking much. 

I thought to myself, “If we are the same age, and both like soccer, it shouldn’t be so hard to become friends.” I was right. After we played soccer I sat in on one more of their classes. They shared with the class what they want to be when they grow up. Many of the students said they wanted to be doctors and help people in need. As I listened, I started noticing a pattern. Not one of the kids chose a career path because of the money. They all chose a career based on what they were interested in or for the sole purpose of helping others. I was still in utter shock. How could these kids have so little, but be so happy? I kept thinking about how my friends back home complained so much more even though they all had loving families, nice houses, and a good education. Before I went on this trip, I had been told numerous times that Iam blessed for the life I have, but I never really understood what people meant by that. I thought that all children had loving families and nice houses. I also thought that all kids had an education. I thought that school was free everywhere.

When I got back to school in California, for once in my life I was really excited to go to school. I had a whole new attitude. A school is a place where you get to see your friends every day, a place where you experience your highest and lowest points, a place where you get to learn. Since then, I come to school excited to learn. I come to school thinking of the kids I met that one day and wondering how they would react if they came to visit Synapse. Would they think a bunch of spoiled Americans go here? Or would they think Synapse is really cool? Regardless, for me, school is now a place I love and enjoy.  

Going to South Africa taught me a lot. I met some kids that I will never forget. I still wonder how they are doing and if they will accomplish their goals. I think they will. I think anyone can accomplish their dreams with the amount of drive the kids at that school had. Though it’s unlikely, I hope I can meet them one more time and tell them how much they taught me and how they changed my perspective on so many things.