Honored guests, visitors, ladies and gentlemen.

First of all, I want to thank all of you for being here to share with me what is essentially a celebration. Yes, I believe that we have many things to celebrate. First of all, there is our young democracy. Born under extremely difficult circumstances, our political system is slowly settling down. Its parliamentary, executive, judicial and civil society systems are gradually showing their strengths, their ability to withstand the tests of debate and disagreement. Despite the huge potential for discord and strife, we have withstood pressures that have torn other countries apart.

This does not mean that we should underestimate the challenges we face, or ignore our problems. We have to confront the reality of our situation directly and make the difficult choices that are necessary if we are to survive and prosper as a country.

It does not mean that we must sink into despair, often of our own making. Being realistic about what needs to be done does not mean always having to seek out the worst attributes within us, and in the process disparage the good we have achieved, and still can achieve.

That is why I am sometimes concerned that when I deliver serious messages, as I did earlier today to our young guests out there, it is interpreted as a message of despondency. I know that you share my concern about the challenges that our children face, and about whether or not they are equipped to face those challenges. However, I think we should impart to them the wisdom of our years, the lessons we have learned from the mistakes we made, in an inspiring manner. We must guard against creating a cycle of pessimism that very often becomes self-fulfilling. What we fear most often comes to pass because we are immobilized by that fear.

And so, it is gratifying to see so many prominent, and very busy people here today, willing to sacrifice their time and give of their energy, and to do so in such a positive spirit. I thank those of you who have traveled from afar to be here. We know that you will carry back to your homelands the message that we are a country and a people determined to resolve our problems. I want to thank in equal measure those South Africans who are coming to the fore to help impart an important message to our youth about the dangers of HIV / AIDS and how to prevent its spread. I also want to thank all the sponsors and funders of this event. Your generosity made it possible for us to host such a large number of children, and to set up programmes that make them more aware of themselves, their rights and their responsibilities.

This is the kind of partnership we need all over the world. People of goodwill coming together to resolve problems rather than become paralyzed by their seeming enormity.

I Thank You