Luck Of The Draw

We are born where we’re born, plain and simple.  As I look out at the overwhelming struggle that millions of South Africans face every day, I am reminded of how lucky I’ve been in life.  Sure, I’ve run into small challenges here and there, but nothing, nothing even close to the daily trauma – crippling poverty, ongoing violence, overt racism, and dysfunctional schools - that shapes life for countless people in and around Cape Town.  I was born into a two-parent home, as opposed to 65% of south Africans being raised by a single parent (usually the mother).  The fact that mine was a highly-educated family, with both parents earning post-college degrees, increasingly advantaged me in profound, priceless ways.  From that beginning, that privileged foundation, I was blessed with two amazing people who loved to learn and religiously shared that interest with me and my brothers.  I can distinctly recall my parents taking turns reading to us, especially before bed, asking us deliberate questions about each book to see what/ how we thought.  Of course, we had no idea what they were doing at the time, but, as a father now, I see and appreciate it clearly.  Beyond loving us, they pursued every avenue to spark our minds and imaginations, to render learning fun, exciting, and worthwhile.  By doing so, they provided us with a secure, encouraging environment in which we felt safe and willing to take chances.  As an avid doctor, my Dad would also regularly shoot science questions at us to “see what we were made of.”  And though most of his pop quizzes flew right over my head, their lasting impact remains; I now adore throwing questions at my own kids, both far brighter than I, who step to the challenge with a ready smile.  They will even toss a few random questions at each other, just to spice things up – or make them more competitive.  The point is, my kids are as fortunate as I was, born into homes with two loving parents, food on the table, and a resonant respect for learning.  Living in Cape Town, a community partially deprived of such conditions, makes us even more grateful.  In fact, Carolyn, who works in early childhood public policy in the U.S., recently attended the Lego conference in Pretoria, South Africa.  One of the more animated presenters there, a highly acclaimed, internationally recognized reading expert, drove home the idea that parents are role models in everything they do.  Their kids, in turn, absorb their behavior.  Just as violence begets violence, therefore, reading begets reading.  It’s not rocket science.  So that is why the situation is so dire here.  According to research, only 1/3 of adults in South Africa read for pleasure; only 15% of 4^th graders can read for meaning; and a whopping 120,000 dropped out of primary school (grades 1 – 7) last year, citing poor quality of education as the main reason.  And therein lies the mountainous, multi-dimensional challenge before South Africa: can it ameliorate the chronic social ailments that paralyze countless families, leading inevitably to violence, divorce, and poverty?  If they can, through job creation and access to education, then children - and their children, and their children… - will benefit, in ALL ways.  And shouldn’t that be the primary goal of any civilized, forward-thinking culture, the welfare of its youth?  For those kids born here, in homes bereft of love, security, and intellectual encouragement, the very future of this country depends on the answer to that question.