Every now and again it is good to be reminded that we have a good story to tell as South Africans.
“The specifications have been further improved over the years and are today adopted as the standard by electricity utilities in South Africa. South Africa is now seen as a world leader in prepayment technology and many other countries have adopted our standards as well.”
(Source: https://www.eskom.co.za/prepayment/prepayment-history/)
What are the signs, references we rely on to affirm our completion of things? Why do we rely on them? Why do we need to complete things?
What about our lives gives us the audacity to think that it ends once we have reached stages of completion? When we have completed the project, the mission, the purpose?
What makes you think your purpose will ever be completed?
– Siphokazi Tau
During a recent staff meeting, our Head of Phase: Prep School shared a short story. I can’t quite remember the details of the story today but a phrase stuck in my mind that is worth sharing:
“Let’s make ourselves unbusy.”
I think the phrase so perfectly captures how we need to be intentional about how occupied we are. We are not going to become less busy, in fact, modern life guarentees that we will become more and more busy.
One does need to take the time to slow things down, enjoy a sunset, watch water dripping of a leaf or watch people walking by as you silently enjoy a morning cup of coffee.
The thought of being less busy still resonates with me.
Mbulelo illustrates how small actions lead to eventual change during his reflection of the Presentation Mastery Pathway.
On Wednesday, Komani Toastmasters held it’s club meeting. These happen every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 6PM. More about them here. It is was a short line up: an evaluation educational from Luxolo, a reflection speech from Mbulelo and tabletopics by Simnikiwe.
Mbulelo’s speech, Swallowed By Vision, was what I’ve come to expect from Level 5 speakers: excellent introduction followed by a well explained body and a fitting conclusion. During the body of his speech Mbulelo did some maths that stuck out to me. I’ve attempted to run these numbers before but never did quite reach the conclusion that Mbulelo achieved.
He started by highlighting the that in a program year Toastmasters will have 24 meetings. These 24 meeting take on average 2 hours and give you 48 hours. If you assume that a working day is 8 hours long then it stands to reason that 48 hours gives you 6 working days of training and development. Komani Toastmasters offers their membership at R1700 per year.
After laying out this point he emphatically pointed that you will not get access to this kind of training at this price anywhere. He is proud because the skills he gained have empowered him to take radio interviews and run programmes on behalf of clients with confidence and skill.
The benefits are there and he put in the time to develop these skills. One would probably not think much of two hours every two weeks but it does all add up to rewarding outcomes. Especially when you stick to the habit.
There is a green Jojo water tank outside the kitchen with a tap attached to it. One day I’ll find out why they are called Jojo tanks in South Africa. Anyway, once in a long while the water level drops and the water pours out ever so slowly.
Under normal conditions, it takes 3 minutes to fill a 20 litre bucket. Yes, I have measured this on various occasions. More by accident than for any real science. This time extends as the water level drops and to a point where it takes a really long time to fill a bucket.
I’ve been meditating on this scenario over the last month or so. With certainty, once the tap is opened and sufficient pressure exists in the system, the bucket WILL fill up. It may take three minutes or 6 minutes or 30 minutes but it will fill up.
Another scenario plays out on the farm when it rains. Mom religiously collects rain water! I mean religiously. If you think there’s a place in hell for sinners, I’m convinced that for mom there exists a reserved location in hell for those who do not collect rainwater. I’ve heard mom wake-up at 2am to get the buckets out because she hears raindrops on the roof
When it rains she will place buckets and baths under the eaves to catch drops. Depending on the rainfall it can take 10 minutes to fill a bucket or one whole evening.
I’ve set this up at length because after seeing these scenes playout on the farm year after year, I may not be sure that Jesus’ return but I am sure that a bucket placed under eaves during rainfall will fill up. And it is that certainty that has come to dominate my mind on all projects big or small.
The steady application of effort gets results. You don’t need an army to get something done. a number of people willing to exert their effort in one common direction will get the necessary results. It may take 10 minutes or an entire evening but it WILL happen.
So to answer the question in the title…
Assume 1 drop is equal to 50 cubic millimetres and knowing that one litre is in fact 1,000,000 cubic millimetres. If my maths is any good, you would need 20 000 drops to fill a litre. This extends to 400,000 drops to fill a 20 litre bucket.
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.
Let’s run a few numbers on the hypothetical marking load of a language teacher required to result some 200 learners…
Assume a learner population of 1000 young teenage minds eager to learn and discover the world around them, 3 formal assessments per quarter, 20 minutes norm time per script, and an 8 hour working day. There are a few other caveats but…
Let the numbers run.
1000 learners ÷ 5 grades = 200 learners per grade on average
200 learners × 3 scripts = 600 scripts per quarter
600 scripts × 20 minutes = 12000 minutes required to complete the marking
12000 minutes ÷ 60 minutes = 200 hours of marking
Lastly,
200 hours ÷ 8 hours = 25 working days of marking
Worth noting that there are 50 actual teaching days in a school quarter.
The biggest concern for me as an educator is that with these numbers, it is quite possible that I do not have “a life”.
I think after two attempts at the full-time production orientated education cycle spanning eight years, it is safe for me to say, “No, I can’t do this, again!”
There really should be other ways to make money and explore my chosen field of study. There really should be.
After three stops, I arrived at my penultimate stop for the day. Pietersburg English Primary School. I greeted the security guard and explained who I would be visiting for the afternoon. He called the teacher and asked me to wait till the teachers were done with a staff meeting. I was 30 minutes early and had little qualms with waiting.
It really was generous of the security guard to gesture that I take a chair on my arrival and settle down under the shade. The shade was refreshingly cool and gave me the chance to take in the last three stops. Curro Heuwelkruin, FNB Platinum Park, and Cash Crusaders Checker Centre. Surprise, surprise! The bank was the most trying of all those stops.
I passed the time by responding to emails and tying up loose ends from the day’s activities.
“Your call is valuable to us” chimed the answering machine at Northern Academy Primary School. After three minutes of hearing the voice, I reckoned my call will probably be valuable tomorrow too. I chuckled at the irony… the valuable call and the three minute wait.
I also got to meet one of my former learners. I can’t quite remember her name but she had a younger sister whom I also taught. They had the most loving father. The warmth of that gentleman’s smile still warms my heart nearly a decade on. She is an EA at the school now. Temporary position. EA as in Education Assistant and not Examination Assistant.
Eventually the time for my appointment arrived. The teacher walked me through to the offices at PEMPS. And the memories rushed back into my mind: school concerts, eisteddfods, adjudicating one debate, Mr and Mrs Claasen (a couple that held the principal positions at the PEMPS and PCS respectively). But the memory I shared with the teacher was the day I was in the quad waiting to write an aptitude test and the school hall where I choked on my poem while I was at Pietersburg Christian School.
We arrived at her office and I explained the purpose of my visit. She knows that I have been running debating tournaments in Polokwane high schools for many years. So she was won over on that front. Today, I wanted to see if a primary school league would be feasible. The teachers face lit up at the possibility. Her excitement was often expressed throughout our conversation. We discussed what would be possible: what would the school consider affordable, how much debating can children handle after a school day, can we meet during term four.
It was a meeting. The culmination of four years worth of planning started by a parent and a handful of teachers. Not enough is said about how long some journeys take. Little is said about how sometimes you may have three to four different starts before events actually start. I’m glad I am around to see this start. The conversation came to an end as I wrapped up the story of my aptitude test. “I wasn’t aware you attended school here” she said. I had to correct the tale. “No, Ma’am. I only wrote the aptitude test. I never did quite make it into the school.” It was an odd story to retell. My Grade 1 photos are a testament to this. I was the only school child at PCS with PEMP’s school socks. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard the story of how I ended up at PCS with PEMP’s school socks while also having written an aptitude test at Mitchell House. Definitely a story to hear the other side of one day. Before the mother breathes her last.
It was a scenic walk through one of the hiking trails in the Haenertsburg area. Lehumo and I were bouncing ideas around as we often do when we go hiking. Haenertsburg is a village nestled along the R71 to Tzaneen. There are a few hiking routes in the area that offering varied hiking difficulties. The village work is one of my favourites.
But let me get back to the idea behind today’s post. We were discussing the value of building solid business ideas that solve local problems locally. Whether this means taking the time to train staff to desired levels of competence or thinking about issues of scale when before the business starts.
Lehumo was impressed with the breathtakingly beauty along the hike and got to a point where he highlighted that the hike we were on was only 60 kilometres east of Polokwane. We didn’t travel to Mpumalanga or some other exotic location looking for a hiking route. Instead we got a few bottles of water, a small backpack with snacks and took an hours drive east.
At this point, he highlighted something profound. It stuck with me! “Master your own backyard,” he said. The idea really got me thinking. Have I really exhausted all business growth avenues in Polokwane? Do I even know the name of the southern most town under Polokwane Municipality? Have I travelled to its eastern edge? Spent a night in the cities most northern location or even breathed the air of its western boundaries?
The thrust of his argument really was just that. Do you know what the business space is in the world that is immediately around you? Or have I been dreaming big or perceiving high level issues and concerns?
I still feel inspired and motivated to go one step further whenever I think I’ve exhausted my options. The goal is to not know about my proverbial back yard. The goal is to master my proverbial backyard.
The country’s matric results were released a few days ago. I remember when the release of matric results was a big event on my calendar. This use to be this way because I was a part of the process of producing the results that the country celebrated and criticised.
I was a Grade 8-9 English teacher at the time and would also take my holidays to work at marking centres. Do not be deceived, I did not do this for altruism’s sake. I did this because the money was good. I do miss the thrill of reviewing marksheets, getting them approved and watching the envelope leave for additional processing.
But the release of this year’s results was different. It felt different too. My biggest reminder that the results were out was seeing my old high school’s noticeboard: “MATRIX 2021 100%” it proclaimed!
My mind swelled with pride! That’s my old high school… or the school I last attended before matriculating. But more than that I was reminded of how the school arrived at this moment.
I was the second class of matriculants at Eagle’s Nest Christian School. This was back in 2006. And every so often when I drive past the school the school, I’m reminded of how much the world can change because one man and woman decided to start and keep a school running.
Since then Eagle’s Nest has completed its entire high school block. I remember when Mr Mac first told me about this block. He would point to the school gate and explain how the area would look once completed. I was 13 at the time. The first building in block was completed in my late 20’s.
Every time I drive by the school I’m reminded of this story. Mr Mac laughs every time I tell the tale to learners when I’m around him. I introduce him to the pupils I have taught as my high school principal. This feels special because it is special. My old high school principal lives in my neighbourhood and has built one of the more successful private schools in the area.
It isn’t a flashy school. Mampara brick is the brick of choice for all new buildings with exception to the Admin Block. Mr Mac used face brick for that. Mr Mac together with Ma’am Elsa, true to the missionary focus of the school, have built a school that provides a good education with all the bells and whistles. But without anything lavish.
When I look at how I manage my affairs I realise I try do the same. Get results and don’t try be fancy while doing it. I really do aim to do the basics right, reliably. Crazy to think that may well be because of the high school experience the school afforded me. We really all are connected and remain connected.