Friendship, Setbacks and a Change for Good
Having fallen ill with Turberculosis, Tutu struck up a longstanding friendship with Father Trevor Huddleston. It was during these years when the decision to join the priesthood was made and changed the course of Tutu’s life.
While being educated at his secondary school, Western High in the old Western Native Township, near Sophiatown, Tutu fell ill with tuberculosis. It was here that a deep friendship began between Father Trevor Huddleston, who regularly visited and brought books to read. After recovery, Tutu became a server at Huddleston’s parish church in Munsieville.
With the Apartheid regime well underway in South Africa from 1948, Tutu saw through his Matriculation Board examinations in 1950 by way of candlelit study. Tutu was accepted to study at the Witwatersrand Medical School. Unable to obtain a bursary, Tutu decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and enroll at the Bantu Normal College, outside Pretoria, to study towards a teacher’s diploma.