Supporters of the Lentegeur Community
It is a huge honour for me to be here on the occasion of the historic launch of the Lentegeur Education Foundation which has decided to use the WCED Community-School Initiative to provide it with a context.
I think that today's gathering, and what is happening at another 200 or so schools and communities around the province, is give us very practical demonstrations of "reasons to believe" and are absolutely local enterprises.
I think that what you are saying here today and what other schools have been saying through this week is indeed that "Life can be different". Yesterday the Premier told the Grade 6's and 7's, the choir, community members and the twenty members of the school's "Breakfast Club" who get a plate of porridge from the school that "Food doesn't just fall out of the sky - we need to work for it".
He was launching the school's brand new and first ever vegetable patch and said that communities need to know that there's no need to break in to a school to steal a computer to put food on the table.
He said that if the school is growing vegetables and saying to the community - 'come to us and let us talk, and maybe we can make a different plan to put the food on your table", then we are looking at a new way of doing things.
He said that he looked forward to the day when all 1400 schools in the province were community hubs and added that we must grow this province, "patch by patch".
The community-school initiative is to encourage schools to think of new ways of working with their communities. We made up to R1000 available to help schools give their work a kickstart. And the results have been phenomenal.
I want to say that each apparently small step is really huge one when one considers the multiplier effect of this kind of thing happening all over the province.
It is very clear to me that many of our schools already have quite remarkable links with their communities. My visit to the Noluthando School for the Deaf introduced me to a school, which is open to the community well into the night.
We saw vegetable tunnels, a community member operating a motor car repair shop, training in bricklaying, training in things like making job applications and even ship-building. We heard about plans to open a creche facility.
I am proud of the way that many of our schools provide facilities for our Adult Learning Centres. I acknowledge the wonderful partnerships we have with sister departments and the police force as well and all the work they all do in schools and with communities.
Kalkfontein Primary in Kuilsriver presented an amazing sight last night. The whole school was lit up and in use, as it is three times a month, as a medical clinic being run by students from Stellenbosch University.
The parking lot full of Bambanani volunteers made visitors feel secure and welcomed. Inside, the classrooms were filled with mothers and babies, a pharmacy and signs of huge efficiency. There were educational speakers, entertainment and every indication that this is a community hub to be proud of.
This meeting in particular will be interested to hear that this service runs under an impressive Kuilsriver Network called the "Local Integrated Network of Kuilsriver" or LINK. They are going to operate under the banner of "HAMBISANANI": "Let us walk together".
Kalkfontein Primary only opened this year and I'm thrilled to see what they are achieving already.
I can't list the achievements and wonderful work done in all of our schools and I'm not going to try: those were just two examples of communities and schools that are already fully mobilised.
What has been similarly exciting for me is to see the schools that are taking their very first steps right now in this week: it's the first plants in the first vegetable garden, it's the first computer class ever for the community around Zola Secondary or the other focus schools in EMDC East, it's this initiative today - the first formal coalition of schools in Mitchell's Plain.
It's all those "firsts" all around the province that are also such landmark moments. We need to spread the news of your initiatives and all the learning that is happening along the way. Through this multiplier effect we might find, in the end, that we have brought about the transformation that is so close to all our hearts.
There's a big international movement, which started with the "Imagine Chicago" movement. I challenge you, the people of Lentegeur and the supporters of the people of Lentegeur, to use this initiative to help you live your dreams of a regenerated Lentegeur to the fullest.
I want to encourage you to think of the LINK model of Kuilsriver and to check in with the Proudly Manenberg people as well. I'm thrilled to hear about all the work you have been doing on social capital already through the years and about how well you already understand the concept of working in a cluster.
I was delighted to hear about the call to my office yesterday from the Chief of the State Prosecutors in Mitchell's Plain that they had read about our initiative in the Plainsman and wanted to find out how to work in very practical ways with our community. This is a wonderful and immediate demonstration of the value of working in a linked and co-ordinated manner.
It's also an indication of the role of the media. I want to challenge the media today to work harder at the job of building social capital. Of course they have a role to play in exposing corruption, telling us of disasters and all the other things they do.
But if we are serious about growth then we need to use those networks too to make our world stronger and better and the place we want for our children.
I salute all of you here today. I know that this is the beginning of your formal journey together but that you have been sharing for many years already.
Thank you for adopting the "Hambisanani" model.
For enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Email: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
