Connect to share and comment US first lady tells South African
children: "Yes, you can!" SOWETO, South Africa – To the young
African women who crammed into the pews of a Soweto church to
hear Michelle Obama speak, the message from the glamorous U.S.
first lady was time-worn but still inspirational: “Yes, you
can.” In the United States it may have become hackneyed, but the
slogan has resonance in South Africa’s biggest black township,
where unemployment and poverty remain widespread. The
catchphrase from her husband’s 2008 presidential campaign had
the crowd at Regina Mundi Church chanting along. In South
Africa, more than half of 15- to 24-year-olds are unemployed —
and that’s only counting those actively seeking jobs. Obama’s
message of encouragement, and the story of her own background as
a descendant of slaves — raised in a one-bedroom Chicago
apartment — struck a powerful chord with young people attending
her address to the U.S.-sponsored Young African Women Leaders
Forum. Onthatile Mataboge, 22, who had