ComServ

Sometime in May

"The people who live effectively never say "I". And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say it. They don't think I. They think "we", they think "team". They understand their responsibility to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't side step it, but "we" gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done." Peter Drucker

I will admit that post selection and orientation I felt slightly at a loss. There was no constant unknown gnawing on my subconscious and no camp to be thinking about for the following weekend. What on earth was I going to spend my weekend doing?  An unobtrusive mail in my inbox yielded the answer. Habitat for Humanity-site clearance. I vigilantly set my alarm on Friday evening giving myself plenty of time to meet up with my fellow Stellenbosch SAWIP-ers who were coming along. I then went off to a 21^st. I woke up 15 minutes after my said alarm time. Too much fun was had at the 21^st! Dressing as I went, I sprinted out the door and down the street, arriving very short of breath and not feeling very well, but on time for the bus (which thankfully was late).

A component of our pre-Washington commitments is the completion of 30hours of community service. I probably would have come close to this through my ordinary activities, but following a discussion about the true nature of community service amongst my team mates the previous weekend, was inspired to really get my hands dirty. And get them dirty we did. Upon arrival a pick and a spade were thrust into my hand as the 20-odd people there took to a virgin piece of scrub land. The end goal would see it turned into housing for six families. It was exhausting work, particularly after a solid three and a half hours of sleep. Dempers kept me motivated with his comments about “how good this was going to be for my Two Oceans endurance training!”  5 hours later the task was complete. The volunteers huddled together, said a prayer and surveyed the product of the mornings toil. It was wonderful to have such a tangible result. It was then back home for a good scrub and an afternoon’s rest.

My next community service “activity” was the Two Oceans Half-Marathon.  For some time now I have been organising and coordinating a team that was to run the event for charity. I managed to arrange for Media24, via the Rachel’s Angels trust, to sponsor our team and their striking outfits- luminous pink shorts and leopard print vests. We arrived at Newlands in the early morning darkness and joined the masses in the icy air waiting to start. The run was a lot of fun and our outfits drew much attention, responses ranging from “Go leopard!” to “Who are these people? I think I’m going to Google them...!” We managed to raise a considerable amount of money for a little farm school outside of Stellenbosch. Excitingly the Rachel’s Angels trust has decided to build the event into their annual programme with a new farm school selected to benefit each year.

Community service is vital for all South African’s who have had a shred of privilege in their lifetimes. We get out of sync with the reality of life “out there”. My high schooling occurred very much in a bubble (it was a brilliant environment for study however) and, although to a lesser extent, Stellenbosch is somewhat isolated too.  We need to get out into the “real” South Africa. It is not a place of grand white-washed buildings and immaculately manicured lawns. We need to get our hands dirty- giving something back and being exposed to the poverty, inequality and injustice that we, as individuals, as leaders and as a team have to work against in securing a better future for the lives of our brothers and sisters. Being exposed to abject poverty and its associated conditions has opened my eyes, shocked me, sickened me and inspired me to destroy it.