Initiative makes a difference
ACCORDING to Wikipedia, recycling is “processing used materials [waste] into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials”. With this in mind I set up an interview with one of the volunteers involved in a Northern Areas Development Initiative (Napdi) project, Helenvale Recycle Initiative (Heri).
The project is supported by the Office of the Premier, Noxolo Kiviet.
According to Napdi, Heri wishes to:
ý Create jobs through establishing a recycling-focused cooperative that employs up to 20 individuals from the area. This does not exclude other opportunities for downstream employment creation, but for now this is a priority focus;
ý Create awareness of the issue by engaging families and children, key stakeholders, schools, faith-based institutions, and health and wellness actors to work collectively on the problem;
ý Educate the next generation of people from the area and establish a long-term sustainability platform for other specific interventions and programmes triggered by this recycling initiative in its current form.
According to Napdi, to date it has managed to:
ý Collect more than 3 500 bags of household waste in three hours with more than 500 attendees at the Heri Waste-to-Worth festival launch in July that kicked off its contribution to Mandela Day, “cleaning up our act!”
ý Establish a Heri project reference team consisting of Helenvale leaders and activists interested in this project to advise and give input to its evolution and goals. They recruited 50 volunteers comprising various cooperatives and community groups within Helenvale who worked on the launch and made it a success;
ý Develop a recognisable brand for Heri through the Waste to Worth Clean-up campaign as well as the Heri Challenge.
With this knowledge from the information brochure, I meet a man at the Napdi offices in the Famhealth building and he suggests we do the interview while we drive through Helenvale. What follows is the most insightful hour that I have ever spent on a Saturday morning.
Gregory Visagie, or Mr Heri as he is now called in Helenvale, grew up with his grandmother in Schauderville and attended school at G J Louw and Patterson High School. He later moved to live with his mother in Ambraal Street in Helenvale.
He has spent most of his life in Helenvale and as we drive around he reflects on the negative view that people have about the area. “Many people think that we are just an area that is rife with gangsters and crime,” he says with a bit of annoyance in his voice.
He says that although there is crime and a lot of poverty, there are really wonderful people living here who are just trying to survive. He senses a new attitude among the people of waiting to take more responsibility for themselves and their community.
As we navigate through the busy streets, Mr Heri says he sees Helenvale like a “potjiekos”, all the ingredients are put into one pot and what emerges is a “dish that tastes great”.
The recycling project that he is involved in is working because “Napdi came to us and asked us what we wanted and did not tell us what to do”. We drive to one of the sites that the project has cleared opposite Hillcrest Primary.
He says this was a big eyesore because people brought their rubbish and dumped it there. Now the plot is clean.
“People are excited about the project and you see quite a few houses starting to clean their yards and bring the ‘rubbish’ for recycling.”
As we continue our journey through the busy streets, he proudly points to another site that has been cleared by the project. “Many people ride past the area and see all the rubble and dirt, and pull up their noses, but what we find is that people from outside coming into the area, even government vehicles sometimes, to dump their dirt and rubble.
“Our job is to ensure that we do advocacy in our area so that we can encourage people to take pride in themselves and their area.”
Besides being involved in the Heri project, Gregory is the vice-chairman of the Eyethu Street Worker organisation that does street patrols, and with a Rastafarian group, Helenvale One Love Youth Development, and organises various activities like talent shows and sport events to keep the youth busy in the area. He says he is glad he does not have a car because it gives him an opportunity to meet and make contact with the people as he moves from one project to the next, on foot.
The Heri project has made him a bit of a celebrity because when he walks through the streets of Helenvale, the people shout “hier kom Mr Heri, bring julle vuilis vir geld (here comes Mr Heri, bring your rubbish for money)”, he says with a broad smile on his face.
I ask him about his personal dreams for the future and he immediately responds, “I see Helenvale becoming the jewel of the metro and I see myself playing an important part in this transformation”.
Well Mr Heri, I have no doubt that with people like yourself involved in these projects and taking responsibility for yourself, that Helenvale will become the jewel of this metro. The fact that you link your personal dreams to the growth of your area is testimony to me of your commitment to grow and develop your area.
Your knowledge and passion about the work you are doing provided me with a powerful lesson of the knowledge that can be unearthed in our areas if we give our people the opportunity to take responsibility for themselves, as Napdi has done through this project.
Your “university” called Helenvale has such wonderful lessons that we all could learn. Probably the biggest lesson for me in that morning class was that we should not judge until we know.
I have no doubt that with your continued work more doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses and even our next president will emerge from the area.