It must be natural to be too excited and confused on where to start commenting about the great things that the “SAWIP 2009 12 Greats” and a mere communist from Zwelethemba like me have seen. All the amazing people we have met and had engagements with. It would be too humble for me to say this tour has been legendary; the owners of the English language need to invent a word for my thoughts and feelings around SAWIP. This tour has worked to instill my pride further as an African, it has been glorious to interact with the Irish crew and the Americans and be more comfortable in my own skin.

My work placement at Congressman D. Payne’s office could not have been better, his office is so overwhelming that the temptation to do everything comes as if it is an instinct. I eventually decided to focus on the Subcommittee on Africa, dealing with Higher Education in Africa particularly. My conviction for education is the longest marriage that I will ever be in, I think uTata uRolihlahla Mandela captures me well when he said: “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.” I trust that I will LEARN a mountain of complexities and skills in this experience. I have the full understanding that my role is not that of absorption here, neither is it one of inflation, it is one of exchange – and that I have been blessed with already.

Our presence on the SAWIP 2009 Greats is to me, an answer to one of life’s most persistent questions, “What’s in a name?” For me, that question is being answered at a decent pace that enables me to know that I am not just a person, but that my very own being tells a rich story in the history of a great nation, whether it be written in books or in people’ hearts, I pray for the latter.