Tonight, I feel heavy-hearted about life, the state of the world, and (in particular) my contribution. I tend to feel this way every now and then. I think about why evil and suffering seem to prevail. I feel that I should be doing more than what I am currently doing, and that what I am doing does not make much difference. Usually, when I feel this way I find inspiration in quotes from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I thought I would share some quotes, from The Lord of the Rings, that inspire and encourage me. I have also included one quote from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

 

Frodo:

I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf:

So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

 

 

Haldir:

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, still it grows perhaps the greater.

 

 

Frodo:

I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam:

I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in these stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something.

Frodo:

What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam:

That there’s some good in this world, Mr Frodo…and it’s worth fighting for.

 

 

Gandalf:

Yet it is not our part to master the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.

 

 

Gandalf:

Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I have found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.

 

 

Sam:

It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.

 

 

Galadriel:

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

 

 

Frodo:

We set out to save the shire, Sam, and it has been saved – but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.

On the 20th of May, we visited the Cape Town Holocaust Centre.

Visiting the Holocaust museum was both an informative and emotional experience for me. As we walked through the museum and saw the pictures of Jews being killed, Germans standing staunch in their belief that Jews had bad blood, and even seeing the replica of what concentration camps looked like, I was appalled to think that the genocide of the Jews really did happen. People had been brainwashed to become insensitive to the inhumaneness of the system. It was a series of events that caused this it: It definitely included making Germans from a young age believe that Jews were degenerates; it included a very influential leader convincing the people that what they were doing was the right thing; it included discouraging anyone from questioning or challenging the system.

The story of the holocaust shows what happens when people forget what it means to be human.  Jews are a particular group of people and they were brutally marginalized.

 

How many groups of people do we marginalize today? In what ways do we fail to affirm the dignity of others? These are the questions that came up after we walked around the museum.

 

 

I look at my life today and consider the types of systems established by society that I conform to without even questioning or challenging. At school today, I learn models about supply and demand, profit maximization, capitalism, etc.  I take these models and theories to be absolute truth, and I expect to apply them in everything I do. Little do I question the bearing that these models have upon humanity. Do I even challenge these theories and consider how they apply in the type of society we are in today? One day when I am in business, I don’t want just to focus on profit maximization. I want to be able to consider at what cost that profit maximization will be. Will it be at the cost of laying off some workers, or lowering their wages to the minimum? Will it mean raising market prices to an extent that those who are not rich cannot afford bare necessities? I don’t want to marginalize those deemed not to have much bargaining power.

I really believe that in everything we learn, room should be provided for us to question and scrutinize systems, discuss how, why, and for what context  they were established, and decide how practical they are not only on an efficiency level or otherwise, but also with the dignity of humanity in mind.

Germans were made to believe that their pure blood would be compromised and that they had to destroy anything that would infringe upon their pure blood, even if it meant killing about 6 million Jews.  They had no room to question or challenge anything, they could only follow.

 

 

Miriam Lichterman, a holocaust survivor, shared her story with us on the 21st of May. I was in tears through most of her story. It breaks my heart that something so sinister could go on – and for that long!

Throughout her narration, she shared it with hope and strength. Even though the only thing remaining of  her late family are memories, even though she starved and marched in the snow for a week with other Jews, even though she was treated more heartlessly than the lowest animal, still she dwells upon the goodness of humanity.

She told us her story not for us to feel sorry for her, but rather for us to learn from her. She said, “You don’t know how much strength and courage you possess, until the occasion arises for that strength to be tried.”

Miriam Lichterman’s hope in the humanity of humankind inspires me.

A sick and dehumanising society.

It is easy to prove how similar we all are. It is difficult proving how different we all are. Throughout history evil man have tried to make "diagnostic tests" that will make it easy to divide the human race. I have heard stories about the notorious ‘Pencil Test’ – a test carried out by government officials on those who wished to be classified as ‘white’ in the days of apartheid. The test went something like this: a pencil was inserted into the hair of the person wishing to be reclassified – if it fell to the floor, ‘white’ classification was granted, if it stayed in place, ‘colored’ classification remained. There were further layers in the test – if someone, wished to be reclassified as ‘colored’ from ‘black’ the same pencil would be inserted and the person had to then shake their head. If the pencil stayed in, no reclassification!

A sick and dehumanising society.

In his quest to prove that people are not good enough to be qualified as human being, Hilter instructed that peoples nose and hair color and beliefs should qualify them to be human-beings.

A sick and dehumanising society.

When I was standing in front of 600 pictures at Cape Town Haulocaust Center, every picture representing someone’s sister, brother, aunt and cousin I was overwhelmed with shame of being a human being. I have never been shameful of ever belonging to a human race, but realizing how brutal human beings can be towards one other, I could help thinking animals are better than humans, because at least they kill out of hunger or self defense, we kill out of anger and hatred.

A sick and dehumanising society.

I was very shocked when I thought about my thoughts, and I realized that as much as Hitler is different from me he is also similar. The bitter truth is at some point in his life he was nursed by the warmth of a loving mother, he was nourished by the breasts of a women, he smiled as a child, he enjoyed the taste of sugar tantalizing his taste-buds, these are some of the similarities that I shared with “baby Adolf” , How did he not see these simple truths about human beings?

A sick and dehumanising society.

I finally understood what Rholihlahla Mandela meant when he said “all humans were created equal and should be treated equally.” The moment we start thinking that we are different or better than a certain group of people, we device an excuse why we should treat people less of human beings and we start brutalizing them.

A sick and dehumanising society.

Few personal questions surfaced about myself which  had to answered urgently. I needed to know why do I consider myself a black South African? Why is being South African not enough for me? It dawned on me that I belong to a way-better race, THE HUMAN RACE. Before I am a Xhosa, South African and African, I am a human being, a species that sits at the throne of all living creatures. Contrary to the popular belief (that Nazi`s and the apartheid government believed) when we further sub-classify this human race we diminish the value of who we are.

A sick and dehumanising society

Examples of commitment to social responsibilities exist in the form of NGO’s, PBO’s, laws, regulations, events, drives, marches, protests, business models, grants, programme’s, various institutions or simply just behaviour on behalf of brave individuals. Some of these initiatives work, others do not. The question is: how do we replicate this commitment?

Four Saturdays ago our team attended the Graham and Rhona Beck Skills Centre in Robertson as a background to the community project which we will be involved in in the area. Several individuals took time out of their Saturdays to explain the work done by the Skills Centre and the Rhona and Graham Beck Trust in the farming community. As I listened to the various presenters I questioned how such a large-scale community-orientated initiative had come to be. It was possible to recognise the value for stakeholders and investors from a marketing perspective. However, what was more difficult to understand was, before a kind of community project is pitched to investors or local farmers, what occurs at the individual level? In  other words,  what makes individuals such as Graham and Rhona Beck perhaps, recognize a need for development in the area and commit to it (quite significantly as they have) in order to allow something like the Skills Centre to materialize?  All concerns about sustainability aside, I was interested in trying to understand what happens on an individual level to make farmers (such as the Becks) take the responsibility upon themselves to provide almost entirely for their labour force according to the best model available, instead of just fulfilling Corporate Social Responsibility needs by funding small projects here and there. At least, these were the questions that I was asking myself in my notebook next to a circled ‘B’ for Blog.

A Saturday thereafter, we attended a session with Mr Nigel Bailey. His discussion looked at a leadership model which appears to be common in its application amongst leaders who we recognize as respected or revered. The idea is that one is able to solicit respect when a balance  is struck between caring and confidence exhibited by an individual, the result being composure in decision-making and interaction with others. It is safe to say that it is no easy task trying to convince our ever-questioning and ever-critical group of just about anything. Give us a diagram to explain your model and the first thing we will tell you is that you have picked the wrong shape.  Again, all concerns about infographics aside, the question which I was really interested in was (as you might have already predicted), regardless of whether the model is fool proof when an individual commits to it, what makes the individual commit to it in the first place?

Last Monday we attended a session with Mr Harry Culver where we looked at the Corporate Social Responsibility of business, as part of the discussion. There was quite a bit of debate around whether companies can or do (or should) ever act from a space of altruism rather than pure profit or legal incentives. One of our team members Phillip, was quick to point out that what we should be asking is, when companies do act from a space of social commitment, devoid of legal or profit incentives, why is this the case and how do we cultivate that?

Finally, last Saturday we attended a session at Solms Delta in Franshhoek. After completing a Social Tour of the site, Craig MacGillivary, the CEO spoke to us in the rather picturesque setting under the oak trees over-looking the vineyards. He told us the story of the farm running according to a remarkably socially-focussed model and having not yielded profits in 10 years in doing so. Earlier I mentioned that it is rather tricky to convince our team of pretty much anything. Well, you know you have ‘buy-in’  from us  when you say something and almost the entire team reaches for notepads, Ipads, cell phones to tweet away or save your verbal gem somewhere for a blog post later.  I think part of Craig’s winning recipe – in addition to free wine – was the pure humility and transparency with which he spoke about the operations of the farm. He openly admitted to the marketing appeal of creating a ‘niche’ such as Solms Delta had, but clearly it had taken more than that to get all the stakeholders to once again buy in to the owner’s vision.

Perhaps it was the wine or the fresh air, or the mere repetition of the  same thought process, but suddenly I reached for my own sticky notes to capture a fleeting idea, circle it ‘B’ and put it away for later. Perhaps everyone else has realized this already, but what each of these sessions helped me to realize, and what I think a program such as SAWIP cultivates, is that individuals who identify with a set of core values that are so important to them that they become integral to their perceptions of themselves and what they believe is universally crucial for humankind form what become  a core of non-negotiable standards. It then follows that these values inspire conscious behaviour which focus on needs broader than themselves, such that they hope, directly and indirectly, to inspire in others similar behaviour. Essentially these individuals become what I understand to be leaders; they lead in such a way that they need to be unable to separate all their actions from this set of non-negotiable value-standards. I believe that it is this kind of leadership that allows for effectiveness, sustainability, compassion and confidence and all things nice, but that more importantly, I think it survives the greed, corruption and unethical behaviour that tests most people in the course of their lives.

 

This week SAWIP visited the Holocaust Center in Cape Town.

This is a challenging blog for me to write because the experience so deeply moved me that I feel it would be wrong to not write about, however it also touched me so profoundly that I am left with few words. Thus, presenting the challenge of wanting to write about something but not really knowing what to say.

Perhaps that’s what my blog should be about, not words or motives or ideas but rather the concept of allowing ourselves to feel and remember that we are human.

The SAWIP 2013 team is collectively a very critical group of people. I say that not in a negative way because I often think it is one of our strengths; the emphasis we place on ‘critical thought’. We are constantly questioning, evaluating, discussing and engaging, always led by our words and our thoughts, always trying to rationalise and debunk.

The past two days at the Holocaust center reminded me that it is important to allow ourselves to occasionally be guided by our hearts and not our heads. That although we should always think deeply and often critically we must never lose our humanity. We must never stop feeling.

No matter how much thought we put into an idea, our contribution to society will be so much more powerful if we remember that our emotions carry so much meaning. We don’t just learn from lectures and books but we learn from our sorrow and pain. We learn from moments of joy and elation and we learn from the times of trial.

The SAWIP team had the absolute honour and privilege of hearing the story of Holocaust survivor, Miriam Lichterman. The encounter will definitely be something I never forget, an experience I will always treasure. I am not sure what or how to write about Miriam just yet. Maybe one day I will gain a clarity of thought that will allow me to decipher the magnitude of all the lessons she taught and the wisdom she shared.

What I do know is that her story made me feel.

It made me feel sad.

It made me feel heartbroken.

It made me feel angry.

It made me feel inspired.

It made me feel full of hope.

It made me feel human.

Below is a link to the poem Hands by Sarah Kay. I know this poem has been shared on the SAWIP blogs page before but I feel there is a strong correlation between the message I am trying to share and that of the poet. There is more to life than what we sometimes assume.

We live in a complex and multifaceted world where the emphasis is often on what is tangible, material and ‘worthy’.

But there is more.

There is touch and emotion and humanity and love, such things should be embraced, used and never taken for granted.

We must always remember this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn0zAUVkCgE

 

 

I was watching a movie a few weeks ago with some friends, this movie was titled The Great Debaters. This movie is about a few talented college students attending school at Willey College in Texas in the United States. These students, lived in the era of active racial segregation in America, but regardless of the colour of their skin and the ‘humility’ of their tertiary institution, they became the national debating champions, defeating  the likes Oklahoma State University and the reigning champions, the  Harvard University Debating Team.

At the beginning of the movie, one of the Willey College professors says the following words, “Education is the only way out. The way out of ignorance, the way out of darkness, into the glorious light”.  I took some time to think about this statement and the truth behind it. I then assessed the lifestyles of the different times and the effect that education would have in the different times. I came to a question I couldn’t really answer and give reason for: Is education really the only way out?

 

It is an undeniable fact that education is one of the greatest and most precious assets that one can have. Education helps you become more open-minded, look at the world from a different perspective, education is said to help you think, help you make better decisions. I then thought, what about the people who don’t have the opportunity to get an education, or what about those who just choose to leave school and pursue other ambitions, such as entrepreneurship, modelling, acting, singing and even some occupations that don’t need Bachelor of Business Science degrees and LLB’s? Is it rational, better yet is it fair to say that they are not open-minded, they don’t see the world from a different perspective, they don’t, they can’t make decisions simply because they didn’t go through the system of Harvard, UCT, UWC, Yale, Princeton, Wits? Is it fair that we make such conclusions about these people because they didn’t choose the life of lectures, tuts and regurgitation what is preached to them by a professor? Most certainly not.

Perhaps then we need to redefine what education is. The mistake that a lot of people make is that they seem to think that education can only be obtained at Oxford or at CPUT. When we talk of someone who we consider and educated being, we are speaking of someone who went through the system of Stellenbosch. We need to change this mentality. We need to come to the understanding that education is everywhere and that there are many means of obtaining an education

 

As a little girl, my grandmother would have me sit on her lap and she would lay down 70 years of wisdom onto my 6year old soul. She would tell me about how I ought to respect my elders, how I aught to love my neighbour and honour my parents. In my teenage years, she taught me how to cook great meals, how to care for children, how to care for myself as a young women. She taught me about the ups and downs of marriage. That was education.

In high school, I played Netball and had a brilliant Netball coach. Through him a learnt how to run in the air, how to always make a perfect shot, how to tag to my opponent, how to keep my legs firm yet flexible in a game, through him I learnt strategy, speed, and a love for the game. That was education.

It goes without saying that in the ideal world, we would all love to see people with degrees behind their names, especially because we are academics ourselves. But at the same time, e need to get out of the ideology that the education is only found in the lectures, textbook and the libraries. Part od it is, but not all of it.

 

On leaving the Holocaust exhibition I immediately jotted down a few thoughts and feelings since I did not want to lose that gravity of the moment. There is a heaviness which weighs down on you like few other things in life. One cannot even start to imagine the vastness of the Holocaust, the actors involved and the impact it had on our world. My view is at best uninformed but I thought I would try and share my thoughts anyway. Please bear with me.

 

In debating one is thought try and not use the holocaust as an example to support your argument. This is in one aspect out of respect for those involved, but it also runs a bit deeper than that. The complexity of the situation and the sheer abhorrence of the act make that it can’t be analysed in rational terms. To try and deconstruct how a modern civilization can become complicit in an act of genocide on such a large scale is something which cannot be done in one blog post. In a sense it baffles the mind, it is almost unreal.

 

If I were to guess I would say that is the only reason why Holocaust denialism still persists in our society. To think that over 10 million people were killed in a mass genocide by other people is beyond my understanding of humanity. Some estimates range to upwards of 30 million people killed when you include all racially motivated crimes by the Germans including the persecution of: homosexuals, Roma, Slavs, Poles, the handicapped, Soviet Prisoners of war, religious and political dissenters of all races, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Freemasons… The list goes on and on. A prudent estimate would put the number of victims at between 11 and 17 million people.

 

One of the things which are striking is the large discrepancy between the figures. This suggests that despite the fact that it was the most well documented genocide in history we still do not really know the extent of it. Any form of genocide goes against all laws of humanity. It should not matter how many died or exactly how institutionalized the act was; yet one gets the feeling that in this case the scale of the act cannot be ignored. In trying to comprehend it, one should not lose perspective on the “realness” of it.

 

It happened far away more than half a century ago, yet these were not soldiers; They weren’t conscripts who had willingly signed up for war, or had been drafted to defend their fatherland, these were normal people, every single one of them (I am in no way suggesting that soldiers aren’t people, or that they all die willingly; I’m only trying to emphasize the absurd nature of their relationship between victim and perpetrator). I say this with all sincerity, but there was nothing admirable in their deaths, it did not serve a cause or achieve some goal – It was nothing more than senseless murder.

It leaves me despondent while typing this; it leaves me at a lack of words, the feeling is best described for me with the Afrikaans phrase “Dit laat my koud”. It’s an ironic phrase given it’s loaded past, but maybe it’s the heaviness of the phrase is that which draws me to it.

 

 

When a beggar asks you for money, how do you respond?

 

 

I remember when I was younger, one of my mom’s friends told us that a beggar came up to her and asked for money to buy bread. Instead of giving the beggar money, my mum’s friend went into a supermarket nearby, bought a loaf of bread, and gave it to the beggar. The beggar said thanks and walked away. My mother’s friend says a few minutes later she saw the same loaf of bread in the middle of the road being trampled upon by cars driving past. She was heartbroken not because of the bread going to waste; she was rather disappointed by the fact that her giving seemed to have been in vain.

 

Today one of my greatest concerns is that the value of giving in this regard is being compromised!

 

In my 1st year at UCT, I used to walk about Rondebosch or even Cape Town, and I’d be approached by beggars often. I had a hard time saying no, so I’d give what I could. But after walking the same streets and seeing the same beggars do the same thing time and time again, I began to ask myself, “Did my giving help in any way?” I might give the woman money for bread, but tomorrow I shall still find her in that same spot asking for money. I’m hurt even more when a woman with children will send her children out to do the begging. My heart breaks when I have nothing to give the child. Imagine also the type of mindset that is fostered within the child when all they have learnt to do in life is beg.

One guy came up to me last year saying he needed R20 so that he and his son could stay at a shelter for the night. He even showed me the contact details on the card from the shelter . I gave him the R20 in good faith that he’d have a place to stay for the night. The following week he came up to me again (I don’t think he recognised me from previous week) and he told me the same story – this time around he included a pregnant wife in the story. I told him that I don’t have money and I walked away.

People stop giving because they feel that they are being taken advantage of.

What is the difference then between someone who gives the beggar money, and somebody who gives the beggar nothing at all. Has the person who has given something away really made a difference to the life of the beggar? When a beggar comes up to me, do I just believe his story and give him the money, or will he go spend the money on drugs or something else? The issue with giving in this scenario is that you are unable to discern the impact of your giving.

After asking this question, I decided that I wouldn’t give away money but food instead. To be honest, though, this became difficult to maintain. I am still reluctant to give away money because I feel that it won’t change the life of the beggar for the better at all. I don’t want to give for the sake of giving – only so that I can sleep better at night.  As a Christian, this renders me conflicted too because the Bible says it is better to give than to receive.

 

Now I’m not trying to make beggars look  bad. I just want to illustrate how a series of events similar to these can drive people who were previously generous to give up completely on the idea of giving to help others, because they have been discouraged in their previous endeavours to give.

Beggars are part of my community, and as an active and informed citizen, I must be conscious of improving the situation in my community. So how do we give to the fellow citizen on the street in  a way that is significant and sustainable? How do we encourage them to make use of facilities that do exist (e.g. homes, shelters, soup kitchens, etc.) to make a honest living and try to improve their situation outside of the street?

 

I urge people with experience, understanding and knowledge about this to start sharing their ideas.

 

Inherent in the creation of any society are the institutions that form the foundation for social development, the process by which a social group learns, adapts, grows, and reflects. These institutions imply more than simply organisational structures; they describe the rules of the game, both formal (laws enforced by courts in the legal system) and informal (cultural practices sustained through collective understanding), as well as govern how members of society interact with one another. The nature of population growth, economic change and the massive global integration of different countries, among other things, has fundamentally changed how these rules are established and how they play out.

 

Human nature is generally biased, and this applies to our approach to social development as well; our own experiences of people and places force us to put a personal spin on it, and knowledge that we actively acquire helps us to balance this out with some objectivity. All of this helps us define the role that we see for ourselves in our communities in the future, and if we seek to orientate that role wholly or partly towards positive social change then we need to decide where to begin.

 

Do we try and hit it at the highest level or do we turn to our immediate neighbours? When we try and work towards changing a situation we have to decide how much we are willing to take on. Do we try and enact macro level change, altering these institutions in society to create broad and far-reaching effects, or do we focus in on a micro level, where we develop personal and intimate interactions with people in the hope that these interactions will feed back into society with some sort of multiplier effect.

 

It is an important question, but one whose answer we often take for granted: we assume that with the scale of certain problems in South Africa that effective social development can only occur through large scale change and we often fall into the trap of looking for the magic bullet, the one core idea or intervention that will snowball into something much bigger. When we get too carried away in this, we lose touch of what is real about people and what is real about what drives them. Our egos often get in the way; to be the one person with the pure medicinal answer to cure all our social evils is a wonderful dream. I am guilty of this thinking as well, and I think we have forgotten, in our search for grand answers, what it means to build from the ground up; for all our talk about grass and roots, we have in our minds the leaves and fruit that comes much later. We look long and hard into the future but often forget to acknowledge the small steps that we have taken to get to where we are.

 

Our time spent at Solms-Delta Wine farm last weekend reminded me of this choice we make when we try to serve our communities. Through its own individual and relatively small actions with regards to development and inclusion of its labour force into its operations, as well as its heartfelt appreciation of the past history of the farm, the organisation has created waves in the farming community and is now regarded as one of the most socially progressive farms of its type. The impact it is having on its own community as well as its contribution towards shaping broader social structures comes not from advocating sweeping policy changes and fighting for reform, but rather from leading by example and being excellent in doing this.

 

This is a good example of what it means for something or someone to be a role model: not acting in a way that attracts recognition for doing what is regarded as socially popular, but rather focusing on staying true to a vision and recognising along the way that others are willing to buy into the same vision. This is what is happening at Solms-Delta, and it sounds like something which we would like to strive for, but at the same time a small part of it puzzles and slightly worries me.

 

What the social interactions at Solms-Delta tell me is that it comes down to individuals and their preferences to make social change happen. To take it right back to the beginning of this blog post, we have moved away from the blue-print idea that you can create the right structures and incentives so that less emphasis is placed on individual willingness but rather on coordinated social pressure to enact positive social outcomes. In this situation, even if an individual steps out, momentum and expectation mean that anyone who steps into the position is incentivised (in whatever way) to continue the good work; where social development is rooted in the attitudes of specific individuals it becomes harder to adapt and continue in the same vein if that person moves away or begins to hold others to ransom through their actions.

 

Jail (among other things) is a threat the keeps us from committing crime; principles in good schools with strong parent bodies are incentivised to keep their schools running well; city mayors with active citizens are held to account; village elders are shown respect, despite potentially being unable to contribute to the physical well-being of their community, because it is through their role as bearers of information that knowledge is transferred over generations; policemen or teachers who are held up as leaders in their communities have an interest in maintaining professional and ethical behaviour in order to retain their social status. All of these are examples of how different incentives, formal and informal, lead communities and people to act in certain ways.

 

I am still unsure whether it is more beneficial to rely on individuals or institutions when we think of social development or whether – and this is more likely the case – that it requires a mixture of both. Individuals can be nurtured to serve their communities and structures can be created and adapted to strengthen platforms that people with different opinions and backgrounds can come together to work on.

On visiting the Solms-Delta farm yesterday, we were taken through a journey of the farms history by a very inspiring woman, Marcia. She had the courage to share her life experience on the farm with us and how she found herself to be talented, motivated and encouraged enough to change her circumstances.

 

 

If you have read any of my previous blogs, you should know by now that I take a very personal perspective when it comes to these wonderful communities that we are being exposed to through SAWIP. I always think of my own life and how I can learn from these extraordinary individuals who have not forgotten their social responsibility towards their community in the process of empowering themselves.

 

 

Marcia stayed on the farm for 21 years, out of her class of 4 Matriculants, she was the only one who passed and had a Matric Ball. She described that day as bitter-sweet because she drove past her classmates, and they were sitting along the road as she was dressed up and on her way to her matric ball. She felt pleased with herself that she was able to persevere and make it that far, however, she was deeply saddened by the fact that her classmates could not make their education a priority.

 

 

This story brought something very relative to mind. The fact that we all might be afforded the same opportunities and one might take more away from it than the other. In Marcia's case, her classmates received the same education as she did, however, they did not possess the same drive as she did. She also said that she had the advantage of loving, supportive and encouraging parents. I feel that this has always been my advantage.

 

 

I have a mother that does not expect any more from me than for me to stay away from drug abuse, alcoholism and, her biggest fear, falling pregnant before I have a career. So far I have done good. She always told me to steer away from the stigma that is attached to colored girls, that all they are good for is reproduction. I am of course not saying this to step on any toes but my mother really felt this way. She told my sister and I: 'once you have a child, your life is over, is that really all you want for yourself? I see so much more for you.' She made us believe that we are capable of greatness and all we see in our community is not what we should be striving for. We should be reaching for the moon and one day make our way back home to teach others that they are capable of such greatness too. Marcia highlighted today how important this self belief and faith from loved ones are.

 

 

The burning question today was whether or not the fact that the farm owners are giving their workers so many things such as housing, water, electricity and education for their children. I asked Marcia whether or not this was to the detriment of the workers and their families. She answered me very wisely saying that they have earned what they are receiving today through the hardships they faced previously. Yes, we have struggled and we look back and are thankful for those times as they have made us stronger, wiser, determined and ambitious. We would, however, not want our people to have to face those hardships forever.

 

 

Education for their children is the most important investment for this community and I feel that it should be for all communities. It is so important for them that the farm owners gave them DSTV! This was of course shocking for me as I see it as a luxury that only a fortunate few can afford and I couldn't understand the link it had to educating the children. The CEO explained this logic to us very simply. He said that if the kids were to go to the outside world beyond their homestead, they would have seen enough things on tv to avoid them from having intense culture shock. The television holds a wealth of social knowledge that he wants the kids of the community to be exposed to and benefit from.

 

 

So all these benefits are afforded to the farm workers and their families, and like Marcia, I feel that the farm owners sincerely had the best interest of their community at heart. The huge investment that they have placed in the youth of the community is commendable. Yes, we do not know what they will do with it but that is up to them. This is the case in many communities. Youth are afforded equal opportunities but it still depends on them whether they want to take full advantage of it and develop themselves.

 

Cami

The “challenge” of raising R7000 towards my participation in SAWIP taught me a lot. I learned that I am part of, and have access to, more networks than what I would have thought prior to undertaking the “challenge”. I learned that networks are essentially relationships, and that the quantity and quality of one’s networks depends on the quality of one’s relationships with others; which, in turn, depends on the quality and consistency of one’s character.

The “challenge” also reminded me of how powerful and important generosity is. Generosity refers to a willingness to give, and a liberality in giving, without expecting anything in return. It involves offering time, money, talents, a friendly greeting, a listening ear, a kind word, etc. in the service, and for the benefit, of others.

I (unexpectedly) received the R7000 I needed to raise from a single sponsor. My sponsor (who receives many requests for financial assistance) does not usually assist students financially, but chose to assist me in compensation for services rendered (pro bono) since 2010. I rendered my service over the last few years (without expectation of reward), because I was passionate about the work that I did (and therefore did it well). I did not imagine, and could not foresee, that the generosity I extended would result in generosity received.

Generosity is paradoxical: generosity begets generosity. Those who give, receive back; perhaps not in kind, but certainly in turn. It is indeed better to give than to receive, because it is in giving that we receive. By spending ourselves for the well-being of others, we enhance our own.

 

A few quotes on generosity:

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.” – Albert Einstein

“For it is in giving that we receive.” – St. Francis of Assisi

“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.” – Lao Tzu

“Infinitely more important than sharing one’s material wealth is sharing the wealth of ourselves – our time and energy, our passion and commitment, and, above all, our love.” – William E. Simon

“I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” – Etienne de Grellet

 

 

So far our blogs have been a space where we have been allowed to reflect on our self, our team, our passions, views and the vision we each hold for South Africa. I find reading the blogs an immensely rewarding experience in itself. I love reading about my team, each of us on our own journey, all-looking for our ‘how’.

 

It is no secret that SAWIP facilitates a process of rapid growth and encourages an environment where asking questions is supported but also expected from us.

 

 

It won’t take you more than a quick browse through our first blogs to understand the intense process of self-reflection that many members of the team are undergoing. However there is also a process of external reflection that SAWIP ignites, a reflection on the circumstances we are facing as a nation with a focus on HOW such circumstances can be dealt with and, in many instances, overcome.

 

 

Towards the end of last year, students running for the Student Representative Council at UCT underwent a series of ‘interrogations’ where they were expected to answer questions based on their campaign. The student’s collective response to the candidates and almost every promise made was an echoing “BUT HOW?”

 

 

This notion of ‘how’ stuck with me and I have been desperately searching for ‘my how’ ever since.

 

 

You’re passionate about improving health care in South Africa- but how?

 

 

You want to challenge student apathy- but how?

 

 

You want to change the way men view and treat women in our society- but how?

 

 

There are of course the generic and widely accepted answers to many of these questions. The challenge lies in finding YOUR how and not simply accepting the ‘how’ that others have so confidently presented.

 

 

The phrase “nothing new under the sun”, meaning that everything has been done already and even at our most creative and original we are only reinventing the wheel, is one that has been accepted by many. It is becoming increasingly difficult within our contemporary society to find new answers or ways of approaching things that people have been trying to ‘solve’ for years. We need to approach things differently and (in the same vein as my previous blog) more creatively.

 

 

I do not agree with the sentiment that ‘talk is cheap’ and ‘taking action’ is the hard part because often I think it is incredibly difficult to talk about many of the issues that confront us. We should value conversation and discussion in all circumstances because it takes a deep level of understanding and a collection of many different perspectives to gain enough insight to ensure that when we act we do so in a truly meaningful way.

 

 

There are many of these ‘how’ people walking amongst us. People from all over the age spectrum that have come up with creative and original ways in which they can make valid contributions. Their ‘how’s’ are rooted in practicality but limited by nothing other than their personal visions.

 

 

Many of my SAWIP teammates are ‘how’ people and it is hard for me to hide my frustration and jealousy as I am still in search of mine. I don’t know if it is something you actively look for or if your ‘how’ somehow leaps into your subconscious.

 

 

I can think of no program or process more appropriate than SAWIP to help me find ‘my how’.

 

 

 

 

 

2.) On blaming apartheid and its legacy.

This blog forms part of a series of I will be writing on the idea of a born free generation.

*Also I promise I wrote this blog before reading Jess' piece on our political imagination. If you haven't please do as the two blog posts touch on a lot of the same issues, although we differ on a few points. http://www.sawip.org/sawip-team/team-blog/entry/our-political-imagination-

In my previous blog post I wrote about the lack of appreciation I believe my generation has for the wrongfulness of apartheid. It is quite a provocative stance to take when taking into account exactly how obviously unjust apartheid was. We often talk about our generation as a post-apartheid generation, a generation of "born free's". While apartheid is most certainly over we are, in my opinion, everything but born free.

It seems that despite the atrocities of apartheid we have not learned our lesson. The wrongfulness of apartheid did not lie solely in the fact that the segregation and unjust discrimination were institutionalised. Racism and structural discrimination is always wrong whether institutionalised or not. We see the same injustices being perpetuated in an inequitable status quo and yet there is a distinct lack of willingness to achieve redress. This is the part that baffles me. If you realise that something is wrong, surely you would be willing to make reparations in some form?

This redress doesn't necessarily have to take the form of material reparations; it can take the form of a willingness to integrate, to commit to the building of a united South Africa, to acknowledge the injustices of the past and to support the transformation of our community. Most of the initiatives are intangible; some might require you to give something of yourself.  Apartheid isn't over until we have dealt with its consequences, something which will take many years. This does not mean that we should blame apartheid for our failures, merely that we should acknowledge the role it has played in getting to where we are.

Some would argue that in our effort to achieve redress we are creating a form of reverse apartheid. Such a view is naive and uninformed at best. When you have experienced many years of structural oppression, where your movement is inhibited, where your workplace and home is determined for you, where you are prosecuted for expressing your views and live under a brutal police state; when you are stripped of all human dignity, only then can you call it reverse apartheid. Someone else getting preference above you for a job due to the massive amount of privilege you had in life does not equate apartheid, it equates a form of redress.

We recently visited Robertson where our community research project for SAWIP will be taking place. The community we are to work in is more broken than anything I have ever imagined. The community experiences high levels of alcoholism and domestic violence. It has one of the highest incidences of foetal alcohol syndrome in the world. There are several scholarships available for children of the local school to go to University; the problem is that no student achieves high enough marks to gain access. The top scholar in 2012 achieved an average of 68%. More than 2 thirds of the students tested were positive for illegal substance abuse. There is a general lack of resources despite illegal drugs being readily available.

This community isn't in the rural Eastern Cape. It isn't in faraway Natal or Limpopo. It is less than 2 hours drive from the Cape metropol, yet is different world. Redress has not reached this community. It is trapped in a spiral of abject poverty and if we are not going to blame apartheid, then who is to blame?

 

 

 

I am enrolled for 8 modules at the Sustainability Institute this year, one of which ran this past week. The module is called Food Security and Globalised Agriculture and I returned to the normal rhythm of life after Saturday’s class finished in quite an ambivalent frame of mind. (Yes, my cool course includes class on Saturday mornings.) On the one hand I think I might have found my thesis topic, which I am most excited about, and on the other hand, I am faced with all kinds of new questions on life and how I live with nature. One of these questions is about my diet: specifically related to my meat-eating habits. I have been concerned about global protein intake for a few years, having spent 2011 as a dedicated weekday vegetarian and since cutting my meat intake significantly. Now I am considering vegetarianism again, although I know the methods of putting fruits, vegetables and other sources of nutrition on one's table are also less than ethical and sustainable to some degree.

Some other themes I am investigating further include mother and child nutrition, small-scale farmers, genetically engineered food and the traps we as consumers fall into, and global governance of food systems. In terms of my potential thesis topic: I am looking for a topic that has a definite economic component to it. I like transdisciplinarity and complexity theory as lenses of study, and so last week I finally found a topic that resonated with a few of the criteria I subconsciously set for identifying a thesis topic. In lectures by Scott Drimie and Lisanne du Plessis, both involved with the Southern African Food Lab, the concept of “First 1000 days” of human nutrition were particularly interesting. They stated that malnutrition during this period (conception to 2^nd birthday) often leads to stunting. This includes physiological and cognitive stunting, of which the latter has particularly long-term, irreversible effects on a person. If a person’s brain does not develop optimally, it leads to cognitive problems. Years after malnutrition, this person would not be mentally as able as an individual whose brain developed optimally, and therefore his or her ability to contribute to society and particularly to the economy will be lower than ideal. This first 1000 day nutritional deficit has been projected to impact on economic growth by 2-3% GDP growth annually. When I heard this, I knew this was a topic I could investigate further for my thesis!

 

At school I loved literature, intrigued by intertextual referencing. I think the connections that form in our brains are fascinating. Just as I recognised Shakespeare’s Portia in Merchant of Venice in Opperman’s Periandros van Korinte female lead Melissa, so we recognised links between seemingly unrelated bits of knowledge in our minds. Sometimes these connections form whilst asleep, and we wake up with logical explanations or steps to follow fully formed, and other times we formulate connections during conversations, or as I do sometimes, mid-sentence. I look for opportunities to form new connections, and curiosity really is the best tool to realise this. Where it plays out can be in watching TED talks, reading storybooks, academic texts, chatting informally or discussing serious challenges to nation building. The important thing, to me, is a willingness to engage with the unknown, to embrace stories and to enable yourself to experience novelty through behaviour. The individual’s role is important, especially once a certain degree of exposure and access to information is reached. Maybe this is the privileged me speaking. I am still looking to create more sensible connections between access and learning.

 

The values that we represent are generally acknowledged to stem from a mix between our genetic inheritance and our family and social environment. However, the idea that people around us have shaped what we have become and, in some cases, continue to shape who we are going to be is often taken for granted.

I’m using my parents in this post because, although we shouldn’t need a specific day to celebrate them, Mother’s day a few days ago gave me a beautiful opportunity to spend time with those people I love, get them some time in a schedule that I have somehow managed to exclude them from. Coming from a stable immediate family where I share a deep connection with my parents and my brother I have often taken my relationship with them for granted. Maybe this only happens as you get older (easy on the comments!), but you begin to realise how much you actually absorb from those who influence you. I don’t just mean development of your personality and character, but actual ideas, thoughts, opinions, knowledge both innate and learned.

My SAWIP application form gave me a small space, a few hundred words, to try and lay down this contribution from my family to my personal development. My question to myself now is how often do I step back and think about how much I learn from specific people in my life? That small blank space on the application form was nowhere near big enough, but it made me transform abstract ideas and feelings curving around in my mind into lines on paper, small squiggles whose form and place set in concrete words that try to sum up these influences.

 

Never before have my words carried so much weight and substance. When I was travelling, away from my home for a long period of time and wandering nomadically down my continent, I developed an appreciation of  how special it is to have my family near me now while I study and I’m acutely aware of how hard it is for some of my friends whose families are not so physically accessible to them, for whatever reason. It is scary that it was necessary for me to remove myself in order to truly value what I had.

 

To paraphrase one of my more eccentric calculus tutors: time is jealous. It moves quicker than we realise and unless we stop and take the time to think, the people that we have now might move on with it. It's easy to spend easy time with them, but my challenge to myself is to sit down and actually write down or record what I get from these people. To ask them their opinions on life and the world and, as objectively as possible, put them down in a way that makes me aware of what these are. To almost create a document in which resides the people that make me who I am.

 

This is not a rushed process; we have the time, but we must use it usefully.

 

Almost everyone can agree that sexual offences are an unacceptable trauma that nobody deserves to experience. What we might disagree on however, is what constitutes a sexual offence and how far does someone have to go in order to be declared a sexual offender.  This is a problem.

 

The South African Constitution tells us that as people, we are not to sexual abused or offended and should one be convicted with such behavior, they will face severe punishment from the justice system. This is all fair and well. What is open for debate however, is what exactly constitutes as a sexual offence. Rape would be an obvious one, if a woman or a man has been raped; the perpetrator deserves the adequate punishment. But what happened when a man grabs a woman’s breasts without her consent, what happens when another human being touches you in places you are not comfortable with? Is that also a sexual offence? And what type of punishment would this perpetrator receive?

Rape has become such a common issue in South Africa and the rest of Africa that it now downplays other sexual offences. These days, so often a woman will go into a police station or any legal authorities to report that she has been sexual harassed or abused and so often, she will only be taken serious if the offence is considered a ‘serious’ offence by the person to who she is reporting it. And in many cases, serious means rape. Sexual offences such as being ‘groped’ inappropriately on the breasts or the buttocks happens so much in the world around us that these actions have become somewhat acceptable. This is wrong! I sometimes witness women being touched inappropriately in taxi ranks, parties and even on university campus and when the victims of these offences report, the cases are barely ever pursued because they not considered serious.

The justice system has to step in. It needs to step in and start to define what exactly constitutes a sexual offence and how each sexual offence is to be dealt with. But before that happens, we as young South Africans need to do something about it. We need to start speaking up about such matters, we need to voice out the injustice in this manner, and we need to have a unified voice, one that will be heard. We cannot sit back and watch our young women and even young men be treated in ways they don’t approve of and then allow those cases to just land up gathering dust in police station store rooms. It is our right, more than that our responsibility to speak up and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Furthermore, it is our responsibility to ensure that such things are not ignored or taken lightly.

It is our responsibility.

 

It is often said that the majority of what we learn, is learnt outside of the classroom.

 

I experienced this last weekend in the most refreshing of ways.

 

Allow me to set the scene:

 

It was Saturday night and I was running late for one of my really good friend's 21st birthday party. I parked my car and started walking briskly towards the party venue when I was stopped by a man looking quite startled and shell-shocked. He proceeded to tell me the story of how he reached this state.

 

The moment he started speaking it was evident that he was not from this country, he was American by birth and was on holiday backpacking through South Africa. Himself and the three students he was in charge of had spent the day climbing Table Mountain and upon returning to Rondebosch, had been robbed of their passports; money and backpacks. George(the name of the man) went on to describe how he really needed to get to the American consulate and asked if I could possibly give him a quick ride to Baxter where he could get onto a MyCiti bus.

 

I decided that this man genuinely needed my help and that the party could wait so I turned around, jumped in my car and drove George to Baxter.

 

Upon arriving at Baxter, George further explained to me that all they need to do was get to the American Consulate and if they can do that, they will be able to sort out new passports and money etc. George informed me that it costs R98 return per person to where they needed to be. This equals roughly R400.

 

George had no money whatsoever since he got robbed and he pleaded with me to please lend him R400. He went on to take my phone number and give him his and ensured me that as soon as they arrive back from the consulate that he will get in touch with me and repay me.

 

It is worthwhile to bare in mind that this is the first time I had ever met this man, I had no clue who he was nor any indication as to the soundness of his story.

 

It was at this moment when I was faced with a choice that could affect both my life and George's life for many years to come.

 

My options were:

 

1) Lend George R400 and have faith that humans are inherently good and honest people.

 

2) Deny George any amount of hope, in a foreign country, purely based on my pessimistic view of the human nature.

 

There were countless reasons why I shouldn't have helped George out and why I shouldn't have gone down that road, but then I took a step back and tried to put myself in his shoes.

 

I considered how I would want to be treated if I was overseas in a foreign country and had just lost all my possessions as well as any sense of hope.

 

I did not trust him, as I do not trust easily, but for that brief moment I saw a glimpse of what the world could be like. If I could not show love to this one man in a moment of need then I could not hope to understand the love that the likes of Nelson Mandela showed towards people who hated them and ridiculed them publicly.

 

I chose the former option. 24 hours later, George called me up and we met for a coffee in Rondebosch. We got chatting about SAWIP and the fact that I am going to Washington DC in June and he gave me $100 to say thank you for everything I did and for all the trouble I went through.

 

I believe that people are inherently good and that we need to give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove us wrong. I also believe in the power that acts of random kindness have on the world and that a lot of global issues can be mitigated through sharing a bit of love.

 

 

I have included a link to a fantastic(albeit very idealistic) concept of looking out for your neighbor and spreading the love:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_JAlTxc1k4

 

There are many incredible experiences that we are fortunate enough to have through SAWIP. We are surrounded by a network of people who care deeply about South Africa and have recognized in us a kind of potential which we might not even have seen yet, but that forms part of a much  ‘bigger picture’ for our country (said at the risk of sounding very  bold indeed) . These individuals invest in us their money, their time, their energy, and their true concern. This is what allows SAWIP to ‘happen’. Yet aside from all of the workshops, debates, learning, meetings, exercises and least of all the experience of working and living in Washington, DC for six weeks, one of the most valuable experiences that I have had is removed from these itinerary items.  SAWIP, in the space of mere weeks, has facilitated a process of rapid self-reflection for me, which I imagine without the program, would only have happened slowly (and more gently) over many years.

 

One such reflection occurred today (now probably yesterday) on Mother’s Day. Through the program, I have come to work with a children’s home in Athlone in Cape Town as part of my community project.  As a result, every Sunday I don a definite ‘dress code four’, tie up my hair, roll up my sleeves and go to wake up the 16 four- to six-year-olds, whose naps end just as I arrive. For them, it is time to open their eyes, step outside and play. For me, it is time to open my eyes, step outside and learn.

In the interest of creating routine and consistency for children who can probably not rely on much else, the structure of my time spent there is always the same. They wake up; this generally requires a fair amount of coaxing and enthusiastic mention of sunshine, fresh air and the nice day.  Then it is time to go outside. This is generally accompanied by equal amounts of sand in mouths, playground politics, giggles and tears, having to play human pony (or dinosaur) and my best attempts at developing hand-eye coordination and a culture of sharing and taking turns. The day ends with supper time and then bath time which comes complete with teeth-brushing patrol, coordinating matching pyjama sets and trying to clean, dry and dress 16 very energetic little people arguing over Spiderman underpants.

In addition to a free cardio workout, training in future parenting skills, learning the value of patience and having a good sense of humour alike, and gaining a renewed respect for parents and people who work with children, I learnt a lot from observing a sense of nurturing and responsibility at the home from some of the most unexpected sources, fitting for the day perhaps.

I observed this as I watched the work of the caretakers. These are women whose job it is to see that these children are fed, clothed and cleaned. These are women whose connection to these children is first and foremost professional in their capacity of holding responsibility for 50 children all demanding individual love, care and patience. These are women who have to deal with challenges  ranging from runny noses and wet beds, to a lack of resources and essentially raising children scarred by  the extremely adverse backgrounds  from whence they come. Yet these are also the women who find the love and patience to gently hold these little hands as they walk (very slowly) down the stairs, to comfort them when they cry, teach them manners and instil morals and values in them despite everything else,  and  do all of this with smile lines creased into their faces.

I observed this as I watched a young mother sit, tears running down the creases in her face as she fed her child in a state home, when she was not able to look after her, in her own home. I looked at the image of a person who some of us so easily dehumanise and blame for whatever action, poor decision, or circumstance that has brought her child there. Yet yesterday what I saw was just another young girl, who life had worn down and nearly broken and who I had probably not expected to be there, yet she was.

Finally, I observed this in a moment when I was sitting on a chair outside, one child on each leg, heads on my chest and another behind me, playing with my disappointing and frustratingly short hair, and I caught a reflection in the window. Just for a second, I could have as easily been a young mother in similar circumstances as described above. I am not her, but for a moment I was there just to share in the responsibility of children. I was also there to look past my reflection and see a young man I recognised from one of my courses swooning over a crying toddler next door, something I found quite touching.

These are seemingly small and trivial happenings, but they did lead me to consider that for all that is happening in South Africa, for all that I dream of changing – poor and corrupt leadership, the lack of accountability, poor service delivery, to be part of a network of humanity just looking after our children is what is important to me. I am acutely aware of the controversy and questions raised surrounding work of this nature: “Who does it really benefit?”, “Is it sustainable?" Again, I have not found the answers yet. But these seemingly small and self-focused reflections have led me to at least one  important reminder. I discovered a poem in an old poetry textbook, which in its last stanza captures this reminder to myself particularly well.

 

Today

A woman with a gash

So deep and wide in

Her black soul

Came and spilled her

Self over me.

 

Asking to be held

Like no-one held her

Asking to be fed

Like no-one fed her

 

She crawled beneath

My skirt trembling and

Afraid and clasped

My lifeboat legs

 

But I had meetings

To go to

And a world to save.

 

- Gabriela Pearse

 

Whilst having a conversation with a group of friends concerning our futures and where we see ourselves in the next few years and what lifestyles and career paths we wish to pursue, someone made the statement “I can’t wait until we’re all grown up, living the dream in our ocean-facing mansions, driving our kids to school in the latest Porsche, eating gourmet meals cooked by professional chefs in our own kitchens” and everyone in the group seemed quite enthusiastic and seemed to be looking forward to this type of lifestyle, which only makes sense.

So I decided to pose the question “But is that all we’re going to do with ourselves? Be rich and live lavishly”. And friend responded “Well of course, isn't that the reason why we’re here, isn't that the reason why we’re working so hard to have a degree from the top University in Africa”. This answer saddened my heart.

 

Perhaps, rightfully so, it is okay to wish to live in a mansion and drive an expensive car because you have earned it. After all, that’s the reason why we make money, so we can spend it and that’s the reason why we work hard, so we can afford to live lavishly. But this mentality troubles me. It’s not so much the concept of living life lavishly that disturbs me, it’s the thought that we as young people have lost our sense of social responsibility. I genuinely believe that it’s okay to spend your money on whatever pleases you, but above and beyond that, I believe that social responsibility is something for all of us to share.

 

So often we take the opportunities that we have been given for granted, the fact that we have a chance of receiving a world class education, the fact that we never go a day without a meal, the fact that we don’t have to worry about what we will eat or what we will wear because everything has already been provided for. We often get so closed up in our own little bubble of convenience that we forget about the reality that so many other people face on a daily basis. The reality of not having food on the table at super time, the reality of having to wear the same clothes that three of your older siblings wore because there isn’t any money to buy clothes of your own and the reality of a life filled with stress and worry about ‘what shall we eat tomorrow?’. We spend so much time paging through Cosmopolitan magazine, indulging through the pages of Vogue and trying to keep up with the last trends whether it be fashion, cars or the latest ‘hand-out spots’. We believe that the purpose of our education is to ensure we live comfortably. And rightfully so. But I believe we as young South Africans, need a bit of a reality check.

 

Social responsibility is for everyone. It is not something we should fear. It’s not reserved for Missionaries or the Government, it is something that we should all partake in, at least that’s what I believe anyways. Social responsibility is not restricted to working in soup-kitchens or giving away money to feed hungry children in Africa. It could also be working in the justice system to enforce the law and protect people, it could be educating children, it could be making effective and sustainable policies in government, it could be lending a hand at an orphanage. Bottom line, anything that helps more than just you, but also the community around you and anything that seeks to make the lives of other just a little bit better, that is fulfilling social responsibility.

What we as the youth need to do is become more conscious, we need to notice the world around us and get the understanding that it does not revolve around us. I really believe in my heart, that we can all make a contribution to making the world better for each other, we need to find an area we’re passionate about and dive into it.

We have a long way to go.

But we must remember that “A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Chinese Proverb

 

Let’s get to it.