The following blog post is written by Eva Cortes, a student at the University of Kentucky, who – together with Heather Hayes – is volunteering with FunDza.

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Last week we had the opportunity to attend the AGM of the Athlone chapter of University of the Third Age (U3A), a group of retirees who celebrate being in the third age of life. This group of energetic people come together to share their skills and are all very active members of their community. One woman told us that they had made over 1000 scarves for underprivileged youth. While this project took them many months, they were dedicated and pleased with the results of their endeavor.

It was a privilege to witness this group listen to one of FunDza’s young commissioned writers, Sicelo Kula, who gave a moving rendition about his past experiences and how they have shaped the person he is today. The audience was enraptured by his words and impressed by the way he had overcome hardships. Sicelo spoke about his goals, role models, setbacks, and ultimately, his accomplishments. He thanked FunDza for giving him the opportunity to be a writer and for helping him find opportunities to further his career as a lawyer.

One of Sicelo’s wonderful talents is his ability to connect with people. Even though he was a twenty-five-year-old addressing people in their third age of life, there was an obvious understanding between him and his audience. He spoke to the wisdom of those who have had more experiences than he has, and of their ability to share these experiences with the youth.

Sicelo concluded his talk with the heartfelt poem “These Days”, that recounts the way love is devalued in our society. We were all sincerely touched by his words, and a period of appreciative silence followed his last verse before applause took hold. Even after he left the stage, a throng of people surrounded him, chatting to him like old friends. They eagerly purchased copies of his book, Taking Chances, from the Cover2Cover table, excited to read the work of someone they had listened to so earnestly moments before. They asked questions about the other FunDza books as well, and seemed quite intrigued by what our organisation has accomplished.

In addition to having Sicelo as guest speaker, we also explained the importance of getting kids reading for pleasure and the achievements that FunDza has made in this regard over the past five years.