The New Year is always plagued with resolutions: the need to be fitter, healthier, more focused and financially independent. It’s often symbolic of how we failed the year before, reminding us what we didn’t achieve the previous year, but at the same time, giving us HOPE to do better this time ‘round. As we close off the old year, we make promises to ourselves and those around us, that ‘This will be the year!’.

As South Africans, we look back on the year, often with dismay. Load-shedding, gender-based violence and corruption, to name a few, littered headlines, smart phone screens and our homes. Moody’s and other rating agencies seemingly looked down upon us, preparing for the worst. A sense of despair and anxiety riddling every member of society driving many South Africans to emigrate en masse. Yet, out of each of these instances of wastelands, glimmers of hope have been emerging not only in our consciousness but in our daily lives as well.

Mass emigration has led to the #Imstaying facebook group, which is a platform for those who still believe in South Africa to share encouraging and motivational stories of the HOPE they are finding in day to day instances in South Africa. The murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, sparked public outcry against gender-based violence, resulting in public demonstrations, marches and ordinary South Africans standing up against abuse. These are just two examples of a renewed HOPE in South Africa.