~ Isabel Becker, Seattle

In a time of great uncertainty, I believe one thing remains constant for everyone. Covid-19 has taught us all something. I think I can speak on behalf on many students when I say one of the biggest realizations I’ve had during this past year is how much I took my education for granted. As a senior in high school, it’s been alternately frustrating and heartbreaking to have to struggle through my last year of high school from home. But amidst my own feelings of irritation, working with Seattle South African Scholarship Foundation (SSASF) has helped me to take a step back and see the bigger picture. Students across America may be feeling a mixture of sadness and anger from being kept at home – but the truth remains that one day we will return. There may be many changes in the structure of schooling, but our paths of education will stay the same. We will still be offered the plethora of opportunities for our future that access to education provides us.   

This year we have experienced just a taste of what many young men and women in South Africa live with every day of their lives. The unwavering desire to go to school – but the inability to make this dream a reality. Even for the students who are lucky enough to attend primary and secondary school, their financial situations make the prospect of college a far-off fantasy. It is all too common for students to abandon their education after high school to support their families, only furthering the cycle of teenage pregnancies and low-paying jobs that often come with lack of education.  

In 2008, a Seattle non-profit organization invited a group of students from the Hector Peterson School in Cape Town, South Africa, to Seattle for several weeks. Host students from Seattle formed meaningful connections with the South African students and realized how impactful and transformational their time spent going to school in Seattle was. Understanding how limited their new friend’s education options were in South Africa, the Seattle students decided to combine efforts to help pay for college tuition. Seattle South African Scholarship Foundation was born, and since then we have funded 25 students’ academic journeys through University. It is our goal to reach students who are living in significant poverty, who would otherwise be unable to further their education, and who have demonstrated academic strength and leadership potential. We hope that as part of realizing their dreams, these students will give back to their communities, thus contributing their talents, passions, and commitment to their country at a time when so much is at stake in the future of South Africa.  

As a team of students from three high schools in Seattle, we work together to fundraise and advocate for South African students. We organize everything from small scale fundraisers to larger scale events and auction dinners. Through selling baked goods at basketball games and football tailgates, organizing walkathons and holiday themed fundraisers, applying for grants, presenting to larger non-profits and schools, utilizing social media to spread awareness, and collaborating with small businesses, we use our passion and creativity to raise scholarship funds each year. Covid-19 has been a unique challenge as we have not been able to plan for our regular in-person fundraisers, and additional costs have surfaced from South Africa such as paying for Wi-fi and food due to shifts to online schooling. Despite this unpredictable year, we’ve used technology to connect with potential donors and reach beyond our usual circles to share SSASF’s message. In doing so we’ve taken great strides towards reaching our fundraising goals.  

Although I have enjoyed furthering my organizational, communication, and leadership skills, the aspect of SSASF that has been the most meaningful to me is reading our talented scholars’ applications. Though every scholar has a unique story, there is an easily identifiable theme of unbreakable spirits growing in a system set up to crush them. Despite being given nothing and working for every single thing they get in life, these young men and women show a strong sense of resilience, compassion, and undying ambition that jumps out at you through their words and leaves you breathless for a moment. More than just learning about the power of education and danger of its absence, I have been inspired to think critically about the role I play. The student’s stories I read simultaneously invigorate and infuriate me, and I can’t help but wonder – will it always be this way? While it is incredible that SSASF can choose one scholar to sent to college, what about the others? Are they simply destined to a life of poverty? How can the South African education system be fundamentally changed so the future isn’t simply American non-profits picking who can follow their dreams and who gets left behind? These aren’t easy questions. And although I don’t have the answers, I am very grateful for my work with SSASF encouraging me to ask them in the first place. As someone who hopes to be a world-changer and ethical global leader, I believe one of the most valuable things we can do is continue to ask hard questions. I am confident that our generation possesses enough passion and determination to do so, and that one day we will realize the answers are more attainable than we imagined.  

Thank you so much for reading. If you would like to support SSASF, visit our website with this link: https://www.ssasf.org/