Thuli is a twelve-year-old girl from a township in Hazyview. She lives with her mother and her three younger siblings in a small hut. She has two brothers and one sister. Thuli is a very quiet girl and does not like to talk much. She prefers to be on her own or with her siblings.

She is interested in books and loves to hear different stories, but she has not heard a story for years. In the past she heard many stories from her grandmother, but not anymore.

Thuli used to live in Kabokweni with her grandmother, but she had to move to Hazyview to her mother when she was young. Her mother never has time to tell her stories. Thuli's big dream is to become a well-known author one day. Unfortunately, she does not even own a book. She often asks her mother to buy her one. She always answers that they do not have enough money, not even for her birthday, although that is her only and biggest wish. Her mother rather buys clothes or a new television for herself.

Thuli seldom sees her mother. Every day her mother gets up very early in the morning to go to work. Usually Thuli is already asleep when she comes home.

As Thuli is the oldest of the siblings she does all the work at home while her mother is working. She cleans the house, washes the clothes and looks after her siblings.

When she is in school, she often cannot concentrate because she is exhausted from the work she did at home before she left the house.

Sometimes she even closes her eyes for a few minutes during the lesson, hoping the teacher does not see. Although she is really interested in school subjects and enjoys learning something new, she does not like the school or the teachers. They do not like her either. They always say that she is lazy and stupid.

Thuli cannot write or read very well. She never has time to practise at home or to do her homework because there is so much domestic work that must be done. Besides that, she hardly owns any school material.

Sometimes Thuli feels very lonely even if she has all her siblings around her. Nobody really believes in her abilities. She doubts that she will achieve her goal to become an author one day. She thinks that she is too stupid.

Today it is a day like every day. Thuli gets up early in the morning to get her siblings ready for school. Even though they share their breakfast there is not enough for everybody, so she leaves home with an empty stomach.

She has not seen her mother for three days. She does not really miss her because she is used to being without her. So are her siblings.

Yesterday, her mother brought the two boys a pair of new shoes. Thuli has not had new clothes for years. She is not jealous. She likes to see the boys happy. Even so, she thinks how happy she would be if she got a new book instead of her brothers the shoes.

She finally could practise to read, write and maybe even come a bit closer to her dream of being an author.

Thuli's thinking is interrupted by a strict voice. "Thuli! Wake up and repeat the sentence!" Thuli is confused. Then she realises that she is sitting in the classroom and her teacher is looking angrily at her. "I, I don't know." Thuli's voice is weak and anxious. She is afraid that the teacher will scream at her or even hit her with the ruler.

Instead her teacher says quietly, "You're lost. You will stay stupid for your whole life." Thuli feels tears on her hot cheeks and hangs her head to the ground. The teacher laughs and so do her classmates. Thuli runs out of the classroom without looking back.

She runs home as fast as she can. When she arrives there, she takes a bag and packs the few clothes she owns.

Without thinking what she is doing or what the consequences will be, she went to her uncle's house and ask him to drive her to Kabokweni.
"Why do you want to go to Kabokweni? Where is your mother?" he asks. "I want to visit grandmother. My mother gave me permission," replies Thuli.

Thuli must lie, otherwise she would never get to Kabokweni. Her mother would never give her the permission to leave. Thuli's siblings would be alone with nobody to take care of them.

Thuli did not think about them when she left home. Now she realises that her idea was selfish and stupid. She just wants to go back home as her uncle says, "I can take you there." And before Thuli can think about it her uncle opens the door of the car and tells her to get in.

On the way her uncle talks a lot but Thuli does not listen. She thinks about her siblings and her mother's reaction when she gets home. Thuli feels bad. She is afraid that her mother hits her siblings because of her disappearance.

She doubts that her idea to go to her grandmother to start a new life with her was a good one. At least, her uncle is with her and she sees "Gogo" again. Her uncle looks at her caring. "Why are you so sad? Your grandmother looks after you, I promise!" he says with a soft voice.

Thuli smiles and has hope again. They drive for hours until finally her uncle says, "Your grandmother lives 20 minutes away from here." He describes how her house looks like. Thuli and her uncle are both very relieved when they finally see Thuli's grandmother's house.

Thuli gets nervous. What if her grandmother does not want to have her here? What if she tells her to go back to her mother? These thoughts suddenly disappear when Gogo opens the door. She looks at Thuli with big eyes and asks, "What are you doing here my child? Does your mother know you're here?" "No, she doesn't." Thuli looks embarrassed to the ground.

"Come in my dear and tell me everything." Gogo's voice is so familiar to Thuli, even though she has not seen her for such a long time.

She tells her everything about her mother, the teachers in school and even her dream of becoming an author. Gogo listens carefully and nods. She is the only person who understands Thuli. She tells her to never give up her dream and always to believe in her herself. "If you fight for your dream and trust your strengths you can achieve anything." Gogo strokes Thuli's hair.

They spend a lovely evening together. Gogo gives Thuli a notebook and new pencils to practice her writing. That is the only way Gogo can support Thuli's writing because Gogo does not know English at all.

Before Thuli goes to sleep, she listens to a wonderful story from Gogo. She had missed lying in her grandmother's arms and listening to her familiar voice so much.

Thuli goes to her new school in Kabokweni the next day. A kind woman welcomes her with a gentle voice and brings her to the classroom. Her name is Mrs. Mahlangu and she is Thuli's new teacher.

The children start to whisper when they see Thuli. Thuli does not understand a word. She remembers that they speak Siswati here. Thuli gets nervous. She only speaks Xitsonga and a bit of English. How can she ever communicate with her classmates if they speak a language she does not know?

Mrs. Mahlangu interrupts their talking and says, "This is Thuli. She's new in our class. She is part of our community now." She continues, "Thuli does not understand any Siswati. Please only speak English, even during the break." Thuli is very relieved.

The morning goes by very fast. The lessons are quite different to the lessons in Hazyview. They sing, play games and still learn lots of new English words. Thuli enjoys the lessons much.

Mrs. Mahlangu asks Thuli's new classmates to sing a song from Switzerland. Thuli has never heard about "Switzerland". She asks the teacher what it means. "Switzerland is a small but very beautiful country in Europe. In winter it's very cold and there's even snow. But in summer it is warm, and you can even go for a swim in a lake or a river.
You'll find huge mountains there and many different flowers and animals." Mrs. Mahlangu's descrip-tion is so precise that Thuli sees a wonderful picture of Switzerland in her mind.

She could listen to her for hours. "Do they have the big five there?" Thuli wants to know. Mrs. Mahlangu smiles. "No, they don't. But they have other beautiful animals there."

She continues, "There were four Swiss teachers who visited our school in Kabokweni. They travelled over twenty-four hours to come here and meet us. They taught us many Swiss songs and the children still remember each of them."

Thuli has never been anywhere but South Africa. She cannot imagine how it feels to be in another country, to breath different air, to eat unknown food and to meet people with another skin colour. It makes her feel afraid, but also very curious.

After school Mrs. Mahlangu tells Thuli to come with her. They go to a separate building in the middle of the schoolyard. Thuli gasps when she enters the building. The walls are painted in different colours. There is a big book painted with a map of the whole world on one wall, and different animals on the other. The ABC is written in the shape of a book worm. Thuli spots big South African trees and the quote "fall in love with a good book".

Thuli has never seen a library before. She looks at all the books. If she could, she would start to read immediately. "You can use the library whenever you want," Mrs. Mahlangu says. "Wow!" whispers Thuli. She is speechless.

"Here is a book that I particularly like. It is a book from one of the Swiss teachers. The story is about her grandfather, a farmer from Switzerland." Mrs. Mahlangu hands the book to Thuli. She looks at the cover of the book. There are white goats, cows, a gorgeous horse and a dog on it. In the middle of these animals are two white smiling boys around Thuli's age. They look very similar. "They have to be twins," whispers Thuli. "Exactly, they are," replies Mrs. Mahlangu. "You should really read this book."



Thuli sits down in a corner full of pillows. She looks at the cover one more time and starts to read:

Thuli sits down in a corner full of pillows. She looks at the cover one more time and starts to read:

It was an early summer morning. Robert and Konrad were sitting on the table while their mother brought them some milk, cheese and a piece of bread. They were not as hungry as usual because they did not get enough sleep last night. They had been chatting the whole night. That is what twins of eleven do, when they share a room together. They were very excited about the following day. This day was one of their favourites of the year.

It was when the twins and their family went with all their farm animals to the alp, where they will stay for the whole summer. The twins' father was a big farmer in the "Appenzellerland" in Switzerland. For the twins this was the most beautiful place on earth. Maybe this was because they did not know anywhere else.

Robert looked at his brother who had fallen asleep again, the piece of bread still in his hand. Robert tried to steal his brother's bread. Just then their mother shouted, "Robert, Konrad hurry up, we are leaving soon!" The twins ran outside where a few people and many animals were ready to leave.

The cows were moving nervously while the dog was running around and making a lot of noise. Six men, including their father, in traditional dress were singing along with the sound of the cowbells. The twins loved this sound.

After this song, they finally started walking. Robert was walking in the very front, followed by some goats, the best three cows with big cowbells, four men and after them many more cows.
Konrad was somewhere in the middle, with the dog, to show the cows the right way.

The horse carrying everything they needed on the alp for the summer walked at the back.

After walking for about six hours, they finally reached the alp. Even though they had been there several times, the twins still got excited every time.

They love this quiet and peaceful place. For a few minutes they sat in the fresh green grass and closed their eyes because they were still tired from the short night and the long walk.
They could not rest for long, because they had to start with their work. They milked the cows and fed them.

It was getting darker and the first day on the alp was already over. The million stars in the sky, the fresh scent of straw and the quiet noise of the satisfied cows made them feel very content. They fell asleep very fast after listening to a story from their father.

In the morning they had to get up at 4 o'clock to make cheese from the milk they got the previous day. After that they milked the cows, cleaned the cowshed and were even lucky enough to find time to spend together playing games.

They loved to compete against each other. And so, the first weekend on the alp went by.

Thuli puts the book down. She recognises that even though the twins belong to a country far away from South Africa, they have much in common with her. They like to listen to stories, play games and are happy whenever they can spend time together.

Thuli thinks about her siblings. She misses them but she is sure that she will see them again very soon.

While thinking about Switzerland and the twins she closes her eyes. Maybe it will be possible to visit Switzerland one day when she is a famous author.
She thinks about the mountains, the snow and the animals of Switzerland.

She could sell her books there and tell all the Swiss people about the beauty of South Africa and the wild animals they do not know. She can still not believe that they do not have the big five in Switzerland.

It must be very different from South Africa, but one thing the two countries have in common is that they both have talented children with unique abilities who can achieve whatever they dream of if they believe in themselves and never give up.

The end

author:
Milena Laich (Thuli)

drawings:
Hillary Mahhumane
Nolwazi Magagula
Sithole Simphiwe
Mapule Fakude
Muzi Sibanyoni
Xola Ndaba
Xolane Ngomane
Joseph Mahhumane
Wandile Singane
Linda Nomuzi
Siyanda Mncina

correction:
Liz Mackintosh