“Everyone, when they are young, knows their personal legend. At that point in their lives everything is clear to them and all is possible. They aren’t afraid to dream, to yearn for everything they would like to see happen in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their personal legend.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I love the truth behind that quote. As children we have the ability to dream freely-regardless of culture, time, or place. Children in the United States dream of becoming doctors and nurses, firefighters and teachers. Children here in Zambia share those same dreams. You don’t often hear children say that they aren’t smart enough or they aren’t sure they’ll have the money for college. The sky is the limit, and nothing inhibits their dreaming.
For me, after serious consideration and the ruling out of becoming Kelly Kapowski’s little sister on “Saved by the Bell”, I dreamed of becoming a famous news anchor. My family can attest to my days of “Reporting live from the backyard”. I would set up the ironing board and use that as my news desk and then video tape my segments. My freshman year in college I even enrolled as a Broadcast Journalism major. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was God just redirecting where I was going, but after first semester I switched majors and now today I find myself here in Zambia. But I still love to tell stories and to seek out the unseen. I think the person we were in our early years before we become wounded by the world, is often the person of our “personal legend.” How awesome it is when people are able to chase after those dreams and capture the essence of who they want to become.
I love talking with children here in Zambia. It helps that they don’t laugh at my Chitonga (our local language) and somehow my ridiculous gestures and made up words connect the meaning for them. When asked what they want to become they just tell you-with no shame or embarrassment. Bertha (10) wants to be a doctor, not a nurse like all the other girls. Mulenga (12) wants to be an accountant-I think she read that in one of my Newsweeks. Majory (16) wants to teach English and Cholwe (17) wants to be able to take care of her little brother and sisters. I think my time here in Zambia is about instilling in them the power to believe that those things can happen. Instead of standing with the majority of people here and telling these girls that their education isn’t important, that they will most likely get pregnant and become another struggling woman, I can tell them to believe that all things are possible, that they can fulfill their personal legend.
Here in Zambia people actually believe that men are smarter than woman. This isn’t some vague cultural idea. Boys actually have to get higher passing grades on the grade 9 and grade 12 exams than the girls. When I’ve questioned the teachers on this practice, they will tell me that if the girls didn’t have a lower expectation than none of the girls would pass to the next grade. You can imagine my pride when one girl, Mercy, scored 100% on my history exam! I was bursting with joy for her. I ran to her house to tell her family how proud I was and how she was really setting the example for other girls in the school. Unfortunately, this last Monday as we started classes again Mercy was not found among my pupils. Her family decided that instead of continuing on with 8th grade, this 15 year old girl should get married. And so she won’t finish her education, she won’t get to live out her life the way she dreamed as a child.
I know my thoughts have been a bit all over the place today. I guess what I really want to say is just that wherever we are with kids, whether its in our living room or across oceans, we need to encourage them to dream big. And as we grow up and encounter other people we need to also encourage them to not look at all that stands in the way, but to see the possibilities. Heal from the wounds that this world and its people have inflicted on us and be the person we really want to be. Maybe we all need to remember that child inside of us and figure out how we can let them out to play. That is when we will be free to truly dream again.
Signing off from Zambia, I am Caitlin Clarkson.
