It is difficult to define community engagement. But from afar it could easily look like two people sitting together reading, with feet swinging under a school desk and moments of shared insights that erupt in loud laughter. Even more difficult is to understand why some people get involved in community engagement and others don’t.
It is difficult to define community engagement. But from afar it could easily look like two people sitting together reading, with feet swinging under a school desk and moments of shared insights that erupt in loud laughter. Even more difficult is to understand why some people get involved in community engagement and others don’t.
“The motivation to get involved is the endpoint of a whole process, it is not a binary decision people make between either doing it or not,” said Charles Ainslie, the Director of the Learning Trust that funds Project Read Grahamstown. There’s a context of family, support, and stimulus around certain social issues that leads people to it. People have different things to give; some are more interested in doing other things.”
“It will be different for everyone,” said Ainslie. “I guess we all link to people at some kind of human level. You end up [working]with a lot of very inspiring people with integrity. It’s a very meaningful thing.”
“I volunteered because I love reading, and I can’t imagine not having a book with me all the time, Di Westcott, a Project Read volunteer, and to think these children are going through life without that chance. If we can help a bit that would be great for me.”
Leah Gharbaharan, a student volunteer, said that she’s done volunteering for her CV, and because it makes one a more well-rounded person. “It’s nice to see your efforts and work turning into something, and I enjoyed engaging with other people in the community,” she said.
“Self-esteem is a huge thing,” said Dr Shelley O’Carroll from Wordworks (a Cape Town-based literacy project). “It’s not only improving the children’s literacy and language, it is actually empowering women[who volunteer]in communities and giving them a chance to up skill themselves and play a more meaningful role.” She also mentioned that volunteers are developing knowledge that they can put back into the community and the schools.
“The specific climate in Grahamstown is somewhat different…quite complex as well,” said Ainslie. “Is there an overshadow of the university, and its influence and its role and stature in relations to the township, and a legacy of a hundred years of that, in small concentrated space? I don’t know.”
“It is unfair to believe that people who are unemployed, who have nothing, and who have come from very disruptive backgrounds, can be expected to respond in way that people that had 20 years of consolidated support and stimulus, respond,” said Ainslie.
Despite this, Ainslie said that “You still have very inspiring examples of people who have nothing and who don’t have that support, [who]look inside themselves and the resources they have and doing the best they can.”
O’Carroll also added that, “I think the question of volunteer staffing is also huge one, in that some [volunteers]are really battling to put food on the table for themselves… they want to do more, and they grow a lot through it, but then they go and get an ironing job because they need to pay for their children’s school fees”.
“The bigger picture is broad-scale social development. How do you measure the impact you’ve made in a person’s life over two years? But somehow we all think that it makes sense to provide help. It’s a broader responsibility for society. It’s a partnership,” said Ainslie.
