Honouring writer Sindiwe Magona
SA’s own Maya Angelou’s persevering spirit serves as an inspiration for kids to beat the odds, writes Bulelwa Basse
SHE affectionately calls me: “Gwanini”, by my late (maternal) grandfather’s clan name, with whom she taught in her many years serving as a community teacher. Her sense of excellence inspires many, and her vibrant energy can put any “halfawoken” youth to shame!
Award-winning writer and mentor Dr Sindiwe Magona is as much an asset to South Africa – as certain as she was when previously employed at the UN.
What is most capturing about her, is her spirit in sharing the vulnerable parts of her life – for the benefit of those who stand the risk of self-shaming as a result of poverty – which Ma Magona never hesitates to reference as her personal testimony: “This is where we most experience her strength.”
She joined me with the Grade 6 and 7 students of Njongo Primary School in Khayelitsha recently after returning from the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, where she read the little ones stories from her personal collection of children’s literature.
This is but a snippet of Magona’s world.
Before her arrival at the primary school, I prepped the kids with some fun ice-breakers, steered toward listening exercises and critical-thinking stimulation –with a brief history lesson on Magona’s celebrated life. The anticipation on their faces was worth the attempt to create, within them, ambassadors of South African stories.
They each had an opportunity to read out loud a page from Ma Magona’s children’s books.
Playing a part in the Department of Arts and Culture’s Master Classes initiative, my hope in conceiving the idea of transferred knowledge from elders to youth, essentially resides in the practice of them being the carriers of stories, passed from one generation to the next.
Having them told stories by Magona would only be the beginning and as promised Makhulu Sindiwe did not disappoint upon her arrival!
The children lit up to her responses, as they each had an opportunity to share what they’d learnt about her.
We all come bearing gifts in this world, and some of us have no idea what these gifts mean to us and their recipients. Some of us have no clue we have them within us…
And people like Ma Sindiwe remind us that when we come into the world, we arrive alone – even twins emerge from the womb one at a time… and so we exit the world as we came into it – alone, with the hope that we will have fulfilled our purpose, with or without the distractions of the world.
Mama affirms her position: “I’m here to be in relationship with you all…”
She relays her story of very humble beginnings.
“I was almost 30 before I read a book written by someone like me: Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The children gasped and looked at each other inquiringly – some giggled and some listened with mature attentiveness.
“Do you think it’s fun not to be able to read nor write, kids?” A resounding “no” sweeps the room.
“That’s why we need to educate ourselves with books and find friendship with disciplined peers, who won’t pressure you to busy yourselves with things that don’t build you. Laziness won’t get you anywhere. Education is for everyone – no matter your background.”
“Who has a library card? So few of you? Books at the library are free you can read and return them when you’re done!”
She enthuses: “Do you want to hear a story?”
Both students and teachers lean forward to hear more. “I found myself as a single unemployed parent – a mother of three at the age of 23. To make ends meet, I worked as a domestic worker for four years. I had to make a decision to turn my life around.”
Mogona’s persevering spirit, understood the importance of finding a way out of poverty – wanting to honour the efforts of her hands-on and caring parents. By correspondence, using a paraffin lamp as her light, she studied via Damelin College.
“I got my matric in two years. A-Levels followed, also via correspondence.” A product of London University, Magona prides: “I then completed a BA through Unisa. I got a scholarship that took me to New York, which led to me working at the UN for 25 years.”
The blessing was in Magona’s children joining her in the US.
“I’ve been writing for many years: It’s important to do what I do, so that children with similar backgrounds as me can grow up knowing that people like them can also write books.”
At 73, Magona is about to embark on a PhD. She encourages: “Don’t be afraid to try something different. You never know where the path will lead you.”
Mama’s life reminds us that even if our pursuits don’t work out as we quite planned, we become wiser with steps taken rather than allow fear and doubt have us living wondering what would have been.
Our backgrounds need not necessarily deter us from grabbing whatever opportunities that come our way – the lesson here is: Regret is not an option. This is a woman who, as a domestic worker, recalls when she slept in a garage next to her “madam’s” car “That’s how desperate my situation was.”
She instils: “All we need to remember are the three Rs: respect for oneself, respect for others, and respect for the environment.”
Her eyes search around for me in the classroom: “Gwanini uphi? “Standing right behind her, hiding behind a banner where my tears could not withstand the bare moments in her story, I emerge with a big smile: “Ndim’ lo Mama, ndim’ lo”.
She jumps from her seat to leap towards me with a most awakening embrace, my body falls on to her motherly bosom – we catch each other as our bodies reflex into a mode of pleasant surprise, as though reuniting with an old friend.
She quickly turns to the children and excitedly tells them: “I used to teach with her grandfather… “Her aunts were also taught by me!” We laugh hysterically as the kids watch with contagious admiration.
I take a moment to thank Mama Magona, for her time, love and legacy – which we promise to keep teaching those who come after us – that even in times when we lack courage, we shall remind ourselves of hers.
● Bulelwa Basse is founder of the Lyrical Base Project and Sisters In Solidarity South Africa through which she serves youth and women in South African communities. Basse is also director of Bulelwa Basse Services, where she serves the public and private sector and civil society.
It’s important to do what I do so those with similar backgrounds to me know they can also write books