Blazer

           Our packing list said to bring one nice formal outfit for celebratory occasions. So I brought a blazer thinking I’d get to wear it to weddings, village ceremonies and the like. Unfortunately, I’ve donned that blazer far more times for funerals and memorial services than anything ebullient. This Sunday, I put on my jacket again not necessarily only to mourn the senseless murder of one of my South African friends, but to celebrate his amazing life and provide comfort to our friends.

            Amos was the guy who brought my first Brothers for Life group together. No one has made me prouder in Peace Corps than Amos. For any RPCVs or PCVs reading this, he was one I was sure was going to make it out of the vill. And you know those are few and far between. He was an amazing leader in and out of the classroom. Afterschool he would stay to help his fellow seniors study for their exams. On the weekends, he would write beats and songs with his rap group composed of other guys from our Brothers for Life club. A few weeks ago we started looking into ways he could actually pursue his dreams of becoming a police officer or a social worker.

            On Saturday night, he was at a shebeen with his girlfriend and two best friends Thabang and Thabang. A few guys asked him to help them find the path to another village in the dark and he agreed to walk them there. At his friends protest, Amos pulled out R20, handed it to them and said, “Look, I would never leave R20, so I promise I’ll be back.” Within a few minutes, Thabang and Thabang heard screaming from the trail. A few guys had attempted to rob Amos while he walked the trail in the dark. When he refused to give up his phone, he was stabbed in the heart and left to die. The two Thabangs found him there.

            What hurts the most is that a young man with so much potential to change the world was taken from us, instantly and unjustly. So this weekend, when I put on my blazer to honor the man Amos was, I hope you can also take a moment to think and pray for the young people in South Africa; those who are doing the right thing and becoming the men and women who will shape this country’s future. They need all the support they can get.