I remember driving myself to Kgakoa Senior Secondary School in Mogwadi. I’ve used two routes to get here: using the main road to Senwabarwana and using the N1 to Louis Trichardt then connecting to the aforementioned main road by driving through the farms.
I met a handful of debaters that day. I had my laptop, printer and a good internet connection. All pre-covid things. The learners enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and I think they are better people for the experience.
Today, I got to meet the learners at the school again. But not before adventures with the taxi politics of the North. How the village of Ga-Ramongwane and taxis to Dendron are located at two different ranks truly defeated me today.
Many hiccups aside: bank queues at month end, app only banking apps with spotty internet connections, the local taxi rank drunk or nyaope smoker, and other logistics issues. I got off at the entrance to Ga-Ramongwane, a literal shot left from the R521, and started the 10 minute walk to Kgakoa Senior Secondary.
It is a quiet village. I saw the young women with braided hair that had the golden braids mixed in with the black braid waiting for the taxi. I saw the elderly women with her mask on making her way somewhere. I saw the young man (clearly on something) leaving the bottle store.
I took the last turn and looked up to notice the revamped school entrance. A smile shot across my face. Progress! Painted walls! A beam across the school gate with tubed signage confirming that I had undisputedly arrived at my chosen location: KGAKOA.
In this moment, I have never felt prouder to be asked to visit the learners again and offer training. My body has the fondest memories of this campus. Seeing the entrance and all the other campus developments somehow left me feeling like I had progressed too.