VERITAS

VERITAS

VERITAS

Veritas – by Lindani Mchunu

(Story extracted from the Royal Cape Yacht Club newsletter. Sept ‘21)

I was so privileged that when I was in varsity I didn’t know there was such a thing as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. My life was beyond privilege and to me it was normal, my parents were qualified professionals and I had watched my father work his way out of poverty to an affluent life. I knew my experiences were not the same as my cousins from the township, but I just thought it’s because their parents didn’t work hard enough.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Meritocracy as I have come to learn is a pipe dream. The world stopped recognizing people for their value a long time ago, if it ever did for that matter. The world recognizes people for their allegiance to and proximity to power and their influence thereof. One climbs the ladder of life in accordance with one’s eligibility to maneuver all three levers; allegiance, proximity and influence. Power is the ultimate privilege. Everything that one is required to achieve from a very young age, is merely preparation for one to get as close to power as possible. There are exceptions of course to every rule, but that is all they are, exceptions.

On the 22nd of August the Academy had its inaugural graduation, this time we were celebrating the achievement of those learners who were part of the TETA programme, which ran over 2 years benefiting in total, thirty students. An interesting fact, it costs about R78 000 a year to train and upskill one student in our Academy and they only come once a week. We worked out that it’s more expensive than most of our country’s top private schools and universities. Yet those learners in private schools and universities definitely get more out of their education than any of our learners and definitely have more opportunities waiting for them.

You may be wondering why the price is so high. Well, boats are expensive to maintain as you know, but more than that we have to provide transport, we have to provide food, we have to provide everything else that would afford someone coming from a home with absolutely nothing, the opportunity to be part of our academy.

To have both parents in life is a privilege, for both of them to be educated professionals is a privilege, to travel and expand your mind is a privilege, to not worry about student loans is a privilege, to live in an environment that is loving and warm and secure is a privilege. To inherit all that by just being born is probably the greatest lottery ticket one can win. I inherited all of that. All of it.

It has been my interaction and engagement with these young people in the Academy that made me aware of just how privileged my life has been. It has humbled me as a person to the very core of my being. I am no longer the same in so many ways. Yet it has also made me realize that one cannot claim to understand something one has not been in direct contact with on a regular basis.

The graduation on Saturday was amazing, we had learners who have been with the Academy for five years now.  Young ladies who arrived as a group of 18 in 2016 and only three of them were still present. I admired their grit, for sticking it out for so long, coming from a background where sailing should be the least of their concerns. Statistics recently released in Gauteng say that in the last 12 months, 23000 teenage pregnancies have been recorded by the Department of Health, of that number 1000 teenage pregnancies were from youth between the ages of 10-14.

That is the reality of what girls have to face in the township, their bodies are under siege. Where are their parents? Where is the safety net? Gangsters, crime, corrupt police, drugs, alcoholism, unemployment, single parent households, HIV etc.  Somewhere in the middle of all that, their parents are trying to survive. I have not worked my way up the ladder sufficiently to have a meeting with our President and to ask the simple question of “when”.  When will it be enough, how many have to perish before it’s enough? Then pose the next question, “how much” suffering justifies real action? I don’t know when I will ever be able to have this private conversation with power, if nothing else, then just for my own sanity. Looking into the abyss has its drawbacks, it takes something from you, the very thing we protect our children from, innocence.

Yet I remain positive because I saw on Saturday that a few people can make a difference.  Some of our Academy students have gained employment during the course of our programme. What we need, I have come to find, is a few more people who can commit themselves to change just one life. I cannot stress enough how important this work is, I cannot impress upon you enough, how important a role this club can play. Apathy, indifference, this is the ultimate sickness of society.  Governments and politicians live off our apathy and indifference.  They maintain their power through the revolving door of poverty, making promises at every election and like playing the lotto, the masses always believe it could be their turn. If only they knew what the odds of winning a lotto ticket are in real terms, perhaps they wouldn’t be so easily enticed.

 

The missing link in our Club, are the members and the youth of the Academy actually meeting and having a conversation. On both sides there are unanswered questions, “who are you” “where do you live” “how are you” “who are your people” “what are your dreams”. These questions posed on both sides would erode slowly that veneer of insulation we all suffer from. There are a lot of problems in this country we all love so much, some of them are so daunting it’s easier to just look the other way. If we don’t do something, one day looking the other way will no longer be possible, because the only view that will be possible is the abyss.

I was never this vocal about such things, until this academy impacted my life, to be exact until these young people did. Their plight made me realize I could never walk away from this and be able to say I didn’t see what I saw, it would haunt me wherever I go. What did you do about it Lindani? What did you do about what I showed you? That would be the lingering question. So here I am, with very little knowledge about this landscape, I am doing my part, and my part in total is about convincing government and the private sector to spend their money on the youth of this province.

I beg, I plead, I write proposals and give presentations, I charm and cajole, I manipulate and influence. What more can be done? Well so much more. I am pleading with you, those of you that read this newsletter, do something, anything, most importantly I am pleading with you to meet these kids, chat with them and tell them your story, then allow them to tell theirs. I have no doubt in my mind that if we can get it right here in this Club, we will find a purpose that will take this institution to the stratosphere.

Thank you to all who attended our graduation ceremony, thank you to TETA who believed in our programme and supported us. Thank you to the committee that puts its weight behind me. Thank you to Sibu Sizatu our senior instructor who has managed to train so many kids without a single injury.  You are a gem man and thank you to Jennifer Burger my Anchor. We have an Academy Centre that we want to build, a Centre that will be a place where all youth can congregate, socialize, learn and feel a sense of belonging within our Club. I am looking for funding everywhere for this Centre.  We have a Rio campaign that we must accomplish.  I am currently pushing government to give me more funding so that we can take more learners. Support us where you can. You may not see what I see. All I ask of you is to have a little hope. Have hope that our course is true, our crew is capable and our boat will get us there…

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VERITAS

The First Among us

The First Among us

The First Among us  – by Lindani Mchunu

here are those among us who manage two worlds, in an attempt to someday unite them.  We seek this unification not only for peace and cohesion, but for ourselves. Our state of being is constantly oscillating between that which we were born to be and that which we wish to become. We find ourselves at odds with our past, present and future.

Upon reading Eva’s story (https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/krotoa-eva)  I found myself amused at how life is one big recycling machine. More than 300 years ago, a young Khoi woman was grappling with the very same issues that plague my mind and so many others like me. Across colour, gender, class, religion, ideology, there are those among us who have never seen the world in black and white.

We see grey, we see colour, we see diversity and complexity and embrace all of it. We find ourselves in conversations around those that we relate with, but not relating to the conversation. We find ourselves in rooms with supposed enemies relating to a similar frustration, sharing the same sentiment and walking away unsure of why we are enemies.

The world has never known what to do with us, for the sky must reflect the ocean and there can be no in-between. Yet we keep pointing to the dance we see between the Sun and the Ocean and the amazing Colors that are painted across the very same sky, during sunset. How can the world not see? How can the world not see?

Read the inspirational story of Krotoa, a 10 or 11 year old, who was taken in by Jan van Riebeeck during the first few days of Dutch settlement in the Cape. She worked as a servant to the Commander’s wife, Maria van Riebeek (nee de la Quellerie), and is first mentioned in van Riebeeck’s diary in January 1654 as ‘a girl who had lived with us’. 

“There are those among us who manage two worlds, in an attempt to someday unite them.  Krotoa is one of them.”

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VERITAS

Some good news please

Some good news please

Some good news please – by Lindani Mchunu

It has been as clear as daylight that what we have done in the past couple of years with this academy has indeed been the right thing to do. If this lockdown and Covid-19 pandemic has proved anything, it is that indeed our society is unequal. Absolute equality is a fool’s errand, there will always be differences across the board. Yet what this period of strife has done is to ask us a few critical questions.

There is only one question that interests me personally. What does a dignified life mean to us at the most basic level? I believe this is the question we should all ask ourselves individually and then collectively. At our Academy we believe swimming is a human right and therefore, all the youngsters that come through our door, walk away with a swimming certificate. That is our bottom. We believe even if the youngsters are not great sailors, or don’t have what it takes to make it through our program, they will definitely walk away with a swimming certificate.

That decision to ensure that we give each and every single youth in our program the opportunity to learn to swim, defines us as an Academy, more than the learners. It’s a threshold we have defined for ourselves. The learners of our Academy may not come out on an equal footing when they complete the program, but they will all be able to swim as a bare minimum.

This is the question I believe we should all ask ourselves. What is our bottom as a society? So much has been written about this global pandemic, we have seen it ravage countries from afar and finally like a tsunami, we saw it devastate our beautiful country and it continues to do so. We all know that we have been let down by those that are supposed to lead us, they have always let us down, maybe it is the nature of all politicians, self-interest before anything else.

Maybe it is the nature of power, self-preservation before anything else. It would be so easy to say all human beings are this way, in times of peril they self-preserve. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. I read a book many years ago, which was written by a holocaust survivor, who was based at one of the concentration camps. In the book he shares a few observations about the human condition when faced with life threatening and hopeless circumstances.

What I remember quite vividly from the book was a story he told about a man who was dying of hunger in one of the sleeping quarters. Instead of the other prisoners stripping him of everything and letting him die. They gave him food and warm clothing, made him soup and tried their utmost to save this man’s life, even though everyone knew it was an exercise in futility. After all, they were all going to die as far as they were concerned, if not through hunger, then they were all going to be shot, or burned. The man never made it, he died in his sleep. When one of the prisoners pointed out that they might have wasted food that could have been shared amongst the living, one of them replied, “we are more than our stomachs”.

For this holocaust survivor it was very clear that human beings are good at heart and when faced with certain death, they believe the most important thing to preserve is life itself. Yet what I took away is that human beings value something else beyond life itself and that is Dignity. Human beings believe no matter the circumstances, we all deserve dignified lives and if it comes down to it then we deserve a dignified death. We may disagree on many things as a society. Yet what we should all agree on after this nightmare is over, is what does a dignified life mean to us and what is our bottom.

Our academy kids were stuck at home like all of us during the pandemic. They did not have access to internet and they did not have laptops or devices to access educational material. I do not believe social distancing was possible in some of their homes. We have managed to get some quotations for a very affordable device that we can purchase for 35 of our learners to be able to access online learning platforms, through the assistance of one of our members we have also been able to create an e-learning platform for our learn to sail program, with assessments and tests for the learners.

I will be sending this proposal to possible funders – please feel free to contact me through the office or directly if you can assist. One might say this is a futile exercise in the current economic times, but if you have been reading until now, you know how I feel about futile exercises, I don’t pay much attention to them, like those prisoners in the concentration camps even in the face of death, life is important.

We recently also did a closing report for one of our funders, who has supported us for the past two years. It was interesting going back two years and seeing how many lives we have touched, how many learners we have developed and equipped with skills. One of our students is a girl from Khayelitsha who is now enrolled in the False Bay boat building school, she arrived in 2016, and she didn’t know what a boat was nor how to swim.

Indeed this year of 2020 has shown us life is unpredictable and nothing is guaranteed. Yet what it has also shown us, is not matter the circumstances, we always have a choice in how we choose to respond to any situation, we always have a choice to either be defined by our circumstances or to define who we are through our circumstances. I would like to say to all of you, keep floating, keep going and always define yourself by your choices no matter the circumstances. And if I may be bold enough let me suggest that you choose your principles above all else. As always see you on the water.

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Nexus and the Honeycomb Conjecture

Nexus and the Honeycomb Conjecture

Nexus and the Honeycomb Conjecture – by Lindani Mchunu

The Bees use the shape of a hexagon to build their honeycombs, they somehow knew before we did that this is the most efficient shape. This shape produces the least amount of waste in terms of area covered and wax is a valuable commodity to the bee. Whether it’s the bees that figured out this incredible phenomenon or it’s one of nature’s principles in dealing with shapes, energy and waste in mechanical construction, what cannot be argued is the efficiency of the Hexagon shape. 

Why am I talking about all of this? Because it’s how I see our community here at the club. The academy presents an incredible opportunity for the members of this club to deposit something to our honeycomb. By way of example, a member of the club overheard me in conversation talking about skills development for our academy sailors. The member has subsequently made contact with me and we will be working on value-added service, which will benefit Gr 10 – Gr 12 learners to prepare them for their school exams. Every time a member approaches me and wants to get involved in the academy in one way or another it brings hope. It brings hope because, at times, I am jaded about the lack of integration between our academy members and club members.

At times I hear comments like, the academy is for black kids, no matter how many times I have addressed this false notion. I am jaded because at times I hear comments like, we have to have the academy. After all, we have to, its government policy. I’ll say it again without fear or favour. Before I came to this club, I was convinced that the majority of white people in South Africa of a certain age are intrinsically racist, because of our past. It did not shock me to encounter racism from a white person above the age of 50. I just said to myself, well they grew up in a different era. Where black people were the help and nothing more.

What has always broken my heart though was when I would encounter a young white girl or boy that was racist and had very archaic views of a black person. Then I arrived at Royal Cape and my eyes were open to the fact that most of my views about white people were skewed and at best, downright false. I have met members of this club who understand the work that has to be done in this country and want to support this initiative of ours. I believe it is incumbent upon me as the manager of the Academy, who just also happens to be black, to keep sounding the clarion call. This academy is doing great work currently, but this academy can achieve the unimaginable if we could find a way to get our members involved in the shaping of the young people that frequent our club every week.

Thank you to all of you, who chat to me from time to time and share ideas about how we can continue to improve our product offering, thank you to all of you who continue to see the relevance of its existence, not because it’s government policy and not because it meets transformation objectives of the club. We are doing it because it is a collective reflection of the ethos of our club. I am not here to take the moral high ground and be a judge and wave a transformation stick around. I am here because I believe in the members of this club and their collective understanding of the social ills that rage on beyond the gates of Transnet. Members, who believe that we should open our doors, and find a way to integrate ourselves into the very fabric of our society. I am here to help, to lend a hand to the project that is the RCYC SAILING ACADEMY. A project that I hope outlives all of us. I hope this academy ultimately becomes a nexus for our members to deposit and withdraw from. I hope instead of becoming a government project that meets our transformation objectives, it becomes the very fabric of who we are.

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The shortest path is a circle

The shortest path is a circle

The shortest path is a circle – by Lindani Mchunu

The universe is clear. The circle is a sanctified shape. The elliptical movement of heavenly bodies, the elliptical shape of things is telling us something indeed. Everything seems to be round. So it seems the course of our lives follows the same procession. My 16 month old daughter has the same posture and mannerisms as my 93 year old grandmother. When we are young, we resemble our old age and when we are old, we are like toddlers.

My daughter is as stubborn as my grandmother, my grandmother is as determined as my daughter. I am however stuck in the middle. I am a man child. Too young to claim the mantle of wisdom and too old to fain ignorance. I went to CPUT Granger bay last week for my annual Orientation Day presentation to the new students. I normally talk about sailing, the yacht club and the yachting industry as a whole. I am always pleased to see the wonder and awe in the student’s eyes, to be introduced to something completely new and the opportunity laid bare before them, to venture into the unknown. What I love about my daughter is that for her, everything is a possibility, in her mind nothing ventured nothing gained is a palpable reality. Everyday she’s pushing her boundaries. I am always chasing after her, to protect her from danger that she is not aware of, as she explores her environment. I envy her. Her curiosity over powers her fears.

My grandmother on the other hand is jaded and disillusioned by life, everything seems the same to her and anytime any of her grandchildren speak of new things her reply is always the same “we will see my child, we will see”. Every time I find myself standing in front of young people, who are about to take on the world. I remember my daughter’s enthusiasm and curiosity, I remember her bravery which is solely based on ignorance and lack of awareness of danger. My daughter has not failed, she has no reason to doubt herself, she has not been heartbroken she has no reason to not trust love. Her disappointments thus far are superficial at best. My daughters circle is still perfect. My grandmother’s circle was an undulating journey of broken links and severed ties. Her circle is held together by resilience and sheer perseverance. My grandmother’s circle is a fragile structure, with chips, cracks and makeshift parts held together by glue. If I could give one thing to all the young kids that sit in front of me, as I give my talks at CPUT, I would give them resilience and perseverance with a splash of curiosity and sense of wonder. If I could tell them one thing to remember for all time, it would be “Burn like the Sun, burn with intensity and purpose, burn until you become a Super Nova and explode across the Universe”.

Our circle will not be a perfect one, but what will hold it together is our sheer resilience and perseverance. What will fill the empty space in between, will be our bravery and curiosity.

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The Stars of the Show

The Stars of the Show

The Stars of the Show – by Lindani Mchunu

On the 24th of November we had our Annual prize giving. I look forward to this event, because we get to meet the parents and guardians of our students. Normally when kids are involved in a sport, they are supported by their parents. The parents drop them off and pick them up, on big occasions like tournaments or Regattas in our case, the parents are there to cheer them on. I remember my first Mac 24hr event as Academy Manager, the amount of support I saw from parents helping their kid’s setup camps and make food and so forth was commendable indeed. Yet it was also a stark contrast to my academy. I was the only parent for all my kids, I was the only person they had for support. I couldn’t help but wonder, how they felt to see other kids with their parents, knowing very well that their parents, were at home not able to come see them do what they love, or even worse maybe they didn’t have parents, or the parents were drunkards or worse their parents didn’t even support what they were doing.

At our prize giving we awarded certificates of competency, from competent crew to safety courses and day skipper tickets. It was a walk down memory lane for me. I had vivid memories of most of the students that were in attendance, I have seen their confidence grow from strength to strength on and off the water. The most emotional moment was when Yonela’s mother cried as she witnessed her daughter receive her skipper’s ticket. That moment was too real for me. I realised the responsibility we carry on our shoulders. Every day we come to work we carry the hope of mother’s, who believe that this academy will save their children from the perils of poverty and Township Life.

Someone once said to me it’s not personal its business. I couldn’t disagree more strongly, the work I do here is very personal and if it wasn’t I wouldn’t have done it as well as I have. The more time I spend here on this job it becomes even more personal every day. Sometimes I get impatient with people who do not see just how serious this work is, if I tell you that it is a matter of life and death for some of our kids, I am not exaggerating. All I hope for, is this academy continues to thrive long after I am gone and whomever may take the helm from me, realises that it is a very personal undertaking, that must be done with immense passion and compassion but more than anything, the committees and members of this club should know that just keeping the doors of this academy open is a huge feat in and of its self. We are not just teaching people how to sail we are saving lives, if you all knew some of the conditions our young people face in the township, you would realise just how incredible these kids are, to keep coming here even though they face despair every day. I couldn’t have done this job any other way, I thought I would not get emotionally involved because I thought I couldn’t deal with the abyss that is poverty and township life. I couldn’t deal with not being able to save them all, or give opportunity to all of them.

Yet now I realise that was not my job. My job was very simple, keep the doors of the academy open and keep the lights on, those who seek refuge will find it and those who seek opportunity will grab it. Just keep the oil burning.

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