When a parcel of books arrived at my desk for review, my 18-year-old daughter snatched one of the books without telling me.
After three days of furious searching, she handed me the book titled Breach, declaring that the writer was spot on.
Days later as I delved into the book, I kept nodding and understanding why the girl found resonance with what high-performance coach Ronen Aires had penned.
Aires, whose preferred sobriquet is Young Elder, is an agent of change whose work ignites sparks in others to take action.
His Damascus moment came when he bolted out of corporate life, taking a leap of faith and founding the Student Village, a prominent student marketing development agency with his varsity mates.
In this 220-page body of work Young Elder advocates for a change of stereotypical beliefs because young people are often misunderstood, and their perspectives and innovations often written off by the old guard. He details generational differences between the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), Millennials (1981-1996) and Generation Z (1996-2010).
It is Generation Z that he says inherited a messed-up world but their verve and spirit can lift us out of the morass.
Young Elder, being an eternal optimist, believes in youth – our rolemodel elders could empower the youth to make this world a better place.
Citing shining examples of the Gen Z spirit, it is no wonder that my daughter said “Viva” to Young Elder.
Environmental campaigner, Greta Thunberg, got nominated for two Nobel Peace Prizes; Mohamad Al Jounde, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon built a shack school to teach refugee children; each time authorities demolished the structure Mo never gave up. The school is today recognised with professional catering for 2 000 refugee children. At the age of 16, he was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2017.
Langa’s own Ayakha Melithafa was one of the activists to file a complaint with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, addressing the climate crisis. These are just a few examples I picked up because my daughter was born around the same time, and that the world can be in their hands is a reality that this book has prepared me for.
Rita Pierson in her TED Talk speech “Every Kid Needs A Champion” urges us, the elders, to believe in youngsters’ potential and stand beside them in challenging situations.
This is not going to be plain sailing because Gen Z knows more than those before them, they will disrupt the establishment and define life on their own terms.
They are primed to breach the status quo and Young Elder has earned my respect as a thought-provoking leader.