John finding hope in story of working for change

Before coming here, my definition of poverty was much father from the reality. I think I’ve been very fortunate in the sense that I’ve never had to worry about where my next meal is coming from nor have to drop out of school to get a job to help support my family. It wasn’t until I got here that I found out what it truly meant to live in poverty. After seeing the conditions people live in I wondered how people manage to stop the vicious cycle and how they can ultimately get out of the townships and that state of poverty. Every way I looked at it, there was some sort of barrier that made it nearly impossible. It wasn’t until class that I found such an inspiring character that exemplified all of the qualities needed to break the poverty cycle. There was a guest speaker during our class and he told us how he managed to start an organization that allowed him to get out of the township as well as finding a positive outlet to the youth in his community. His dance program, Happy Feet, allows the youth of his community to spend time with likeminded students and not give in to the many negative and detrimental possibilities they have access to. As soon as the students get out of school, they go to the dance studio where they remain most of the day. They get their homework done there as well as practice their dance, and twice a week they get home cooked meals. I think stories like that need to be broadcasted throughout the many different townships in order to inspire some of the residents. It would allow them to have something to look up to and maybe give them a way to better their community as well as give them a way out of poverty.