I will die with a silver spoon..

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Tshimologo Moesi

Location : GABORONE

Event : Opinion

Indeed not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouths but it does not mean you cannot die without one in your mouth. The belief that one does not choose to be born poor but can choose to be poor is very true. When I look at my life now, all I can do is to just say Ebenezer, meaning Thank you God for taking me this far.

Life sometimes can create obstacles for us in this land of the living but it does not mean that you have to stop living. Obstacles are part of life hence we should see them as a driving force towards success and proof that you are indeed worthy of living and God did not make a mistake by creating you. I lost my beloved mother when I was 11 years old doing Standard five on 28 January, 2003. I have to admit that that was really a painful moment for me, my dad and my little brother. 

For me, it was a total breakdown. I was just a small girl in the process of growing up and had wished to share all the life transformations with my mother like every girl would but it was not so. That was an unfortunate part of my life.

These are times when you get angry at God for taking away your mother and we fail to realise that even though your mother is gone, you are still alive and it is God who is sustaining you. Some may say God was being unfair to me, and I would agree they are right but we have to be aware that they are always two sides of a coin.

The same applies in life situations. When one door closes, another one opens. What is important is that you do not let your anger towards God cloud your vision lest you do not see the door He has opened for you on the other side.

My father had to retire from the BDF at an early age due to illness. We then had to leave Gaborone to stay in Serowe, our home village. Our family had to depend on my father`s pension fund.

As if our family`s misery was not enough, my father had to single handedly pay mortgage for the house for the next 10 years. When he finished, we were now living in a big house but had no food. That was funny because people would never suspect anything. They thought we were all set and fine but little did they know the struggles we were going through. 

Luckily, I and my little brother were doing well academically. By us performing well, it was the only way we could support our father. When we were going through rough times, we did not trouble anyone but stayed together. It was not by our own strength but God`s which kept us together and strong.

We would wake up and there was no electricity, not because BPC had failed us but because my father did not have money to buy it. We managed to go to school though and proceed as if there was nothing wrong at home. 

It was those times when you had to get home from school and you find there was nothing to eat. The little that was available or the little mealie meal that was left, my father sacrificed it for us to eat, saying when we have eaten then it made him well. God`s love really gave us hope.

We were looking forward to each day that came by. At school, I and my little brother became stars in our different schools at our respective levels. The pillar of our strength firstly was God and then our father.

Our father kept on encouraging us to work hard because education was the only inheritance that one could give to themselves. He talked to us on an almost daily basis. Of all the quotations he gave us, my favourite was this one,

“Take all the stones that are thrown at you and build yourself a foundation”

From this quote, I became strong in the midst of criticism. This is a very good lesson in life. It is from criticism that we keep on climbing higher. We became eagles. 

When the storms come, all the birds seek shelter but the Eagle alone, faces the storm by flying over it. That is why I like Phakalane English Medium School`s tagline “Aim where eagles soar”. Our father told us that we should hold on to God and not let life`s unfortunate circumstances hold us down. From this, I and my brother became really determinate.

I passed my Standard Seven with first class, my Form Three with second class and my Form Five with 45 points. My little brother passed his Standard Seven with first class and his Form Three with second class and now he is doing Form Four.

Currently, I am doing my final year in Economics as a Single Major at the University of Botswana. I will be graduating in May 2015. I still stand and say what I and my family have been through was not because of our intellectual endowment but God`s hand which was and still is sustaining us. 

I want the young people to know that nothing is too big for God. Waking up dressed in rags or being abused at an early age does not mean the end for you. When life has beaten us down, we all need to be like animals, and wake up from the ground and shake the dust off our lives. When life has beaten you down, you have to fight back. 

The only way to fight back is to be positive, persevere, be patient and trust in God. As they say, the ball or your life depends on you. Always remember, you are your own greatest enemy. So be motivated because indeed you are something in this world. The fact that you are still alive confirms it. Ends