by Shaun Themba
Starting from arrival day, it was great. I arrived there a day before, but Thabo made a plan for me to stay at the hotel and thank you for that Thabo.
Moving to day two, which was day one of the hub, I was greeted by the warm smiles and warmth of people I didn’t know. As we engaged with everyone, I realized how interconnected everyone is in a certain way. The way the ACT Ubumbano team put the whole program together is one thing I would recommend that the team keeps on doing because not only did it remove the formalities, but it opened room for everyone to be able to speak out and voice what was in their heart. Everyone spoke out their different advocacies, the challenges faced and the hub was not centered to solve any of those problems for us as activists and people doing the groundwork to actually think about the impact of the work we do and why we actually do it.
Moving to day three, which was day two of the hub, getting to reflect on the happenings of day one and also portraying visual demonstrations of the issues faced in our day to day lives not only showed me how creativity works but it showed me the power of connections and how great minds work alike. It also showed me how everything is not as we see it on the outside, sometimes all a person needs is a hug.
Coming from a more personal perspective, I’m super grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a part of such a life changing three days. Not only did I meet great individuals but I got to learn so much from each and every one who was present there, you know sometimes as a young person or rather as myself I enter into a room feeling somewhat intimidated by these big titles that people carry but for those three days I was reminded of the journey that is still ahead of me and the amount of potential I carry as a young person.
To the ACT Ubumbano team, you were nothing short of amazing, from the curatorship to everyone working behind the scenes. Thank you very much and may you be blessed in abundance.
Warm Regards
Shaun Themba
