An unlikely performer’s pathway to the stage
Twenty-two-year-old Siphiwo Monde recently traveled to New York from Port Elizabeth to tell his story on the Ubuntu Gala stage. His experience is unique, but not uncommon for the children we work with in South Africa.
Read his story below (adapted from his gala speech) and visit ubuntufund.org to learn more about our cradle-to-career model.
My name is Siphiwo Monde and I am an actor. This is not the typical story people expect to hear from someone who grew up with the odds stacked against them. I was part of one of the first generations born in post-apartheid South Africa. To call myself a trained actor, then, is to announce the realization of my dream, but my road has not been easy.
For as long as I can remember, my life has been a series of interruptions. When I was 10 years old, my father left and I was forced to move to Johannesburg to live with my stepfather — a man I had never met before. He was kind and I learned to love him as a father, but I missed an entire year of school because I had no birth certificate. In fact, I had very few possessions of my own and nothing to root me. Just as I began to settle into my new life, I was sent back to Port Elizabeth.
I lived in a small, run-down home with my nine cousins and my grandmother. At times, all ten of us would share a plate of food. I suffered abuse and was mistreated by my cousins. To them, I was a bastard– their fathers visited them regularly–mine did not. I kept to myself and turned inward. When I was 14, my grandmother passed away. I had no choice but to return to Johannesburg, but the school there was a violent and dangerous place. My mother feared I would fall prey to drugs and the gangs who ran the school so she brought me back to Port Elizabeth. She and my sisters fought bitterly. It started as constant yelling and screaming, but often escalated to physical violence. One day my sister called the police. My mother was arrested and had to spend a week in jail. I couldn’t focus on my studies and failed my exams.
Everything I had worked so hard to achieve had crumbled. Every adult had failed or left me; every system had failed, but I was too determined to fail myself.
I discovered two things that changed my life — the stage and Ubuntu Education Fund.
Ubuntu gave me educational support I needed to graduate and the stability my home could not provide. I found a safe space and a community that not only taught me how to learn, but give back. Through an internship, I had the opportunity to share my passion for drama with my younger peers. Most importantly, I had people who believed in my right to dream big and nurtured my love of acting and performing. Growing up, I didn’t even know if I would make it through high school, but here I was being encouraged to apply to one of the most prestigious drama schools in South Africa. It was a long shot, but with all the support I had, I was accepted!
Ubuntu provided me a way forward. It wasn’t just somewhere I went, but a pathway to my goals. Today, I am no longer an unwilling traveler. I control my own destiny and have what it takes to chart my own path. I am proud to be an Ubuntu Scholar, a role model in my community, and an actor.
A child’s birthplace shouldn’t determine their future. To empower young dreamers like Siphiwo, become a donor today.
All images by Patrick Kolts and Erik Nuenighoff
