Welcome to SUNS 2008!

           Guest Speaker

Reon Schutte

 

In March 1992, Reon Schutte was arrested and imprisoned in Zimbabwe while performing a cross-boarder operation for the apartheid-era government then in power.  He was originally sentenced to 26 years in prison, a sentence that was considered a “life sentence” because prisoners were not expected to survive, given the conditions of the prison. His sentence was later reduced to 19 years.

 

On October 21, 2004, Reon was released from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, Africa’s most notorious and brutal prison, after serving 12 years and 8 months. He was released because President Mbeki of South Africa intervened and asked President Mugabe of Zimbabwe to release him on medical grounds, as Reon had been diagnosed with cancer and had already undergone six operations. He had been told he only had six months to live.

 

Enduring the most horrible destiny, he found love, exchanging letters with Charmaine, now his wife. He finally left behind the hell of Chikurubi and found a gift of life in his little daughter.

 

Reon is bravely battling his adversities and looks more than set to conquer them!

  

Before Reon was arrested, he had learned to speak Shona, a language widely spoken in Zimbabwe, as part of his military training. It was this skill that often saved his life in prison, as he understood what the guards said but never let on that he could understand them. Reon can in fact speak 11 languages: English, Afrikaans, Shona, Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, and Italian.

 

When Reon was released in October 2004, he had never seen a cell phone, computer, ATM, or CD. For comic relief, he relates several humorous stories about this in his talks. Reon’s presentation will send you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that will leave you with the ultimate respect for this special human being.

 

Reon is a person of immense courage and humility. His acceptance of his circumstances, his capacity for forgiveness, and his courage to take on the modern world with such conviction is amazing to all who hear his story.

 

With his newly regained freedom, Reon is living life to the fullest, fulfilling and sharing dreams he never thought possible.