I have been seeing with growing interest how the political people have been able to mobilise communities for votes, on whose promise many communities depend, for their livelihoods.
I have seen political parties going from house to house, filling up stadiums and other town halls; I have seen them in church, luring the unsuspecting folk to join and support their political party ad their political rhetoric. All this is super admirable.
However, I have also seen how the politician - after securing the votes - has forgotten the folk at the church and the masses who hired buses to go to the stadium where Imbizo is called. I have seen how the promises made pre-election have been forgotten.
I will tell you something else I have seen though.
I have seen social mobilisation take on a new face. It is an open secret that education for the rural South Africa is the poorest in all of the country. Rural communities are condemned to mediocrity and starvation and servitude because they are educated poorly and this is so on many levels. 1. The schools infrastructure is often very poor, if there is any. 2. There are often limited or no funds at all to ensure the smooth-running of schools. 3. And the education department officials are often people who just wanted jobs but had no real interest in the concept and the philosophy of education.
In all of these tribulations and more, I have seen communities take initiatives to better the chances of the children through social mobilisation and collaborations. A colleague observed a school in the Eastern Cape where only 2 classes made up the school and one of those was a staffroom-cum-principal's office. This meant that almost the whole school's learning and teaching took place out in the sun (rain, rain, wind and whatever else is out there). A few concerned community members offered their houses as classes for the learners and asked for nothing in return. They had to move their belongings to neighbours and friends because they were committed to making education work for their children.
As I craft this post, and cold as it is today, there are about 150 learners at another school in the same province of Eastern Cape who will have their lessons out in the cold of the winter because their school does not have adequate classrooms; where 2 to 3 classes at a time will attend classes under the protection of the trees and standing on their feet for the whole day because they don't have proper furniture. Are there no business people to help? Are there no churches to help? Do we have nobody caring? It starts with you.
Politicians argue that they have to mobilise for them to secure the votes necessary to offer better life and better education. True this as it may be, but instead of mobilising for political control, is it impossible for us to mobilise for specific issues; like ensuring the end to the injustices which asphyxiate the future of our people? Is it difficult for professionals to craft request letters to business, civil society and other structures, to land a helping hand? It is not. And we might be surprised by the responses we get when we ask.
I know it is simplistic to assume that by doing all these things we will get better education, but my point is that for that better education to take place, children must first be given spaces which will enable them to learn, and that may not only be the responsibility of the government but maybe the communities might also need to begin to mobilise ( and this time not on behalf of the politician but on behalf of the child).
So, if you have an old book shelf, an old room you no longer use, chairs and whatever else, please look around and see if your waste might not be some poor kid's treasure. Batho Pele.
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