On June 6, 1966, Robert F. Kennedy spoke to an audience at the University of Cape Town exclaiming, "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." This speech called The Ripple of Hope, sent waves of admiration and inspiration throughout the South African audience that day, and the message of the speech resonates with us now on this Field Study Program as we aim to improve the lot of others, strike out against injustice in order to create a ripple of a 'pay it forward' mentality.
Over the past three weeks, our work with TSiBA, the entrepreneurs, the micro-enterprises, the NGOs, and the charities has allowed us to see this ripple and just how often South Africans are 'paying it forward' in their own communities, often without many resources. The mission at TSiBA is to 'pay it forward.' The students enjoy a free college education in order to help them succeed within their communities in the future. The charities, social businesses, and micro-enterprises are all based around a social mission aiming to improve the lives of their employees or members of the community from the sales of their products or services. Many of the businesses that we had the pleasure of working with over the past three weeks had a business model which wasn't just focused on profits, many were equally as focused on giving back to their communities as they were about their margins.
This ripple of hope has already begun here in South Africa, and our presence here is just a smaller ripple which has joined in with this current. This movement from apartheid towards social and economic justice has a large obstacle in front of it, but with social businesses come change. Teaching people the importance of the power of business can help to tear down the walls of oppression and lead to a new South Africa. Paying it forward can only help to create more ripples, and a stronger current to break down those walls. So, pay it forward, you never know what hope you might inspire.
