Charity begins at home, he urges
BREIDBACH Primary school (BPS) held their annual graduation ceremony for their Pre-grade R pupils at the local community hall last Friday.
The 70 tots, as the guests of honour, listened attentively to guest speaker Professor Samuel Abrahams as he spoke about love and life in a message which was easy for them to understand.
“Charity begins at home and if you are equipped with these two characteristics you will prosper and achieve success in life,” Abrahams said.
Certificates to honour the graduates were presented as they were capped by the professor.
The pupils sang songs and showed off their dance moves.
The event was also a means to encourage parents, who filled the hall to capacity.
BPS principal Ivan Harry encouraged the children to embrace the forthcoming changes in their school career and then shifted his attention to the parents.
He used a quote by Nelson Mandela who once said: “It always seems impossible until it’s done”, and said that the first year of schooling may seem like a mountain but that it could be overcome.
“To the parents – the fact that you are here is proof that you care for your child. Thank you and I hope your passion for your child’s future will grow with your child.”
BPS educator Bennie Meyer, speaking about Abrahams, said the basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior was that the warrior took everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man took everything as a blessing or a curse,” Meyer said.
“Professor Abrahams is not an ordinary man but a warrior.”
After completing his schooling in Johannesburg, he studied theology at the University of the Western Cape.
Between 1971 and 1977 he served as reverend of the Dutch Reformed Church in Port Elizabeth.
“His pastoral service stretched as far as Nigel in the East Rand, where he served the communities and, due to the political environment in the country, he moved abroad with his family,” Meyer said. “He moved to Germany in 1979 where he furthered his studies in languages and theology at the University of Munich and on completion he broadened his horizons by taking his family to Groningen in Holland.
“The professor started his doctoral studies in 1982 at the University of Amsterdam.
“He was also in the political struggle during the apartheid era and was detained and ill-treated as recounted in a book written by a white friend, Sorry Sam.”
Back in South Africa, he joined the University of Fort Hare, where he lectured Biblical studies and was appointed as Dean in the Theological Faculty – a position he held for 22 years.
