Building bridges at home
My children are counting the days, family back home as well. It will not be long before we will find our feet again on different soil, like we did three years ago.
Sometimes I imagine all the people we met during our stay in Grahamstown gathered in one room, celebrating friendship, learnings, connections. It would definitely testify to the wonderful diversity that is Grahamstown.
What we knew about South Africa before we came was shaped by our encounters with the remarkable people at Oasis and some childhood memories (my wife lived here for a few months while her father was completing his doctoral studies), the closeness of our language and Afrikaans, the awareness of amazing beauty and the reality of struggle, past and present. Coming from a highly individualised society we were fascinated by Ubuntu and wanted to experience it for ourselves.
We had said yes to an invitation to live and work in Grahamstown. Oasis had started as a movement of friends desiring to be transformed themselves and bring change in the country they so loved. Beautiful work had been developed in Cosmo City, Johannesburg and Hartswater, Northern Cape empowering young people since 2006 to be change agents, through education, agriculture and business development.
I had been involved with Oasis in Belgium and witnessed some of the work in communities all over the world. Because of the exist- ing friendships and our family situation at the time, we were able to come on a short notice, ready to immerse ourselves in a community that was not our own.
I remember the first months of listening to the wisdom and experience of community leaders, pastors, neighbours, Oasis staff, movers and shakers in the community, colleagues working for other organisations, teachers, children, struggle veterans, learners, youth.
I was impressed by the grandmother who rises every morning at 5 to pray for children in her community – hers and others – by the faces that tell of deep suffering, by the readiness of organisations to join hands and make Makana a better place, by the unsung heroes who brought up children in tough circumstances, by journalists who took considerable time to truly understand the different layers of our community, by the resilience of so many. I was lucky to meet people who wanted to see something different for their children, whether they were influential at the University or were born and bred in Grahamstown East.
What would that look like? Our community articulated dreams of good schools for children, jobs to be able to look after the family, places where young people could be safe after school, and a community that looks after you.
So we started with what we had. Aunty Betty started Rainbow Kidz preschool in her own backyard with four children. With the help of friends from overseas, a property was purchased in Vergenoeg to ac- Niels Vandereyken
commodate the growing number of children who needed a preschool. Due to its centrality, children from the surrounding communities could learn under the motto “where learning through play becomes fun”.
At first the school was supported by the Rainbow Kidz Trust and later handed over to Oasis. With this early childhood development interven- tion, the community could build from there.
Together with St Mary’s DCC, Rhodes University Community Engagement’s office, the Assumption Development Centre and the Raphael Centre we brought together people in our community to start SaveAct saving groups, where members would save monthly and be able to access credit from the group. A group of women from Hooggenoeg started crocheting and learned how to make baskets from recycled newspapers. We set up a business SunSpreads, producing seedbutters to create employment and support our work. We invited unemployed young people to take part in Bridge The Gap, a year-long programme empowering participants to be change agents through life skills, computer training and community service. Understanding who we are, where our community is at, what contribution we could make resulted in hours of deep learning, volunteering at schools, after school activities, reading clubs and learner support in local schools.
It was so fascinating to see young people who wanted to give back to their community. Those who showed their commitment through their attitude, willingness to learn, perseverance, hours of volunteering put in and completion of assignments could be selected for a bursary.
In the second year they would start studying at Unisa to become teachers while at the same time involving themselves in the community. It is a lot of hard work, but in a few years, our first students will graduate and will have the advantage of teaching in the community they grew up, understanding the dynamics and having more than their subject knowledge in place.
With our return oversees pending, Oasis is looking for a local partner to continue the good work that has started. We are looking for social entrepreneurs who are willing to use our building for the good of the community. Together we make Makana a great place to be!
Contact info: Niels Vandereyken Oasis Grahamstown Hub Leader 079 475 5850
•Niels Vandereyken Community Facilitator Oasis South Africa is a for