A tiny speck of life, a foetus, tossed off by the creative power of a Supra-Mundane being, generated as the consequence of the fertilization of an ovum by a sperm cell, suddenly bursts into the confines of a wild and uncertain world at the end of each incubation period, to assume a role and to accomplish a mission. A youth, so delicate that the touch of a rough finger can destroy him, but so strong, determined and irresistible that he can force his way through anything, even through things impermeable.
Hope springs eternally in the heart of youth, but where Hope is not nurtured, despair creeps in and gains absolute possession. And it is despair that leads youth to the contemplation of suicide when he becomes sick and tired of his life of guilt and sin, fearful of living any longer and afraid of facing the mistakes he has made. But if the youth could only look up and behold the radiant face of ‘Hope’ smiling at him, he would easily find the peace, joy and strength needed to overcome all his troubles, shredding them to pieces in the twinkling of an eye.
“Hope is not a grain of sand”, the Gambian poet, Lenrie Peters echoes, but no matter how tiny it is, it would still be sufficient to keep the youth alive and sane in most extreme circumstances. It is hope that spurs the youth on, to be up and doing. It is hope that keeps the youth going. Nelson Mandela as a youth, hoped against all hope for the liberation of his people and he actually lived to see his hope being fulfilled. Robinson Crusoe, cast away on an uninhabited island, hoped against all hope for survival and this propelled him to start from scratch and build a good compound and large farm single-handedly.
Far away in “Another Country: the Land of Literature,” Sister Eileen Sweeney sums up through her writings that Hope is the anchor that keeps “the ship” called “youth” steadfastly held together no matter the high and stormy sea of passion, pain, distress or tribulation that batter against him.
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