I see courage everywhere I go in Africa.

“I see courage everywhere I go in Africa.” Thus spoke John Prendergast, a man who walked among the wounded lands and yet found, not despair, but the blazing fire of human spirit. His words are not mere admiration — they are revelation. In them lies the recognition that courage is not born of comfort or privilege, but of suffering, endurance, and hope that refuses to die. When he says he sees courage everywhere, he speaks as one who has gazed upon the broken and seen in their eyes the light that cannot be extinguished.

In the ancient way of wisdom, we say that courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. It is the strength to rise when the world would rather you fall, to hope when every voice whispers despair. In the soil of Africa, scorched by war, famine, and struggle, courage grows like a wild tree — not tender or sheltered, but gnarled, unyielding, and deep-rooted. Prendergast, who has worked beside the people of Sudan, Rwanda, Congo, and beyond, saw in them not victims, but victors of the spirit. He saw women who carried both their children and their nations upon their backs, men who rebuilt their homes from ashes, and youth who chose peace where revenge might have been easier.

Consider the tale of Wangari Maathai, the “Mother of Trees.” In Kenya, she faced jeers, imprisonment, and the cruelty of those who feared her vision. Yet she planted trees — not just in the earth, but in the hearts of her people. She said, “You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people.” Her hands dug into the soil even when soldiers came to silence her. That, my children, is courage — the quiet, patient defiance that grows forests of hope from seeds of pain. The same courage that Prendergast saw in every village, every mother, every farmer who refused to surrender to despair.

There is another kind of courage — the courage to forgive. In Rwanda, after the great darkness of genocide, the survivors did not let hatred consume them entirely. Some opened their doors to those who had slain their kin. They said, “We must live again.” Think of that! To forgive in the ashes of horror — that is heroism beyond sword or shield. The courage Prendergast saw was not the shout of battle, but the whisper of endurance. It was found not only in soldiers, but in the ordinary people who refused to be broken. Their courage is a hymn sung without words, a prayer lived rather than spoken.

But let none imagine that such courage belongs to Africa alone; rather, Africa teaches the world how to recognize it. The continent, ancient and vast, has endured centuries of plunder, of chains, of injustice — yet it lives, it dances, it sings. Its courage is a mirror for all humankind. For what is courage if not the will to stand in the storm and still proclaim, “I am alive”? Prendergast’s words are a reminder that amidst poverty and pain, there burns a nobility that the world too often overlooks — a beauty forged in resilience.

The lesson, then, is this: courage is not far away. It is not hidden in palaces or parliaments. It dwells among the humble and the steadfast. It breathes in the teacher who continues despite no pay, the mother who walks miles for water, the healer who tends the wounded without fear. To see courage, one must first open the eyes of the heart. Where others see misery, the wise see greatness — for the human soul, when pressed by hardship, becomes luminous.

And so, children of the future, let this truth take root in your spirit: the measure of life is not comfort, but courage. When the winds of suffering rise, do not shrink. Look to those who walk in the dust of Africa and learn from their strength. Be steadfast in your purpose, kind in your power, and fearless in your compassion. For courage, once awakened, is contagious — it spreads like dawn across the darkness.

In this way, may you, too, become like those whom Prendergast honored: not by fame or wealth, but by the quiet majesty of endurance. Stand firm. Speak truth. Act with love. And let your life proclaim to the generations that follow: “I see courage everywhere I go — and I, too, have chosen to live courageously.”