Building community one bite at a time
There’s an old old African expression for how to undertake a large and daunting challenge, “One must eat an elephant one bite at a time”. To do this you must still maintain a healthy appetite, and there is no organisation where this is more apparent than OH Watch. OH Watch is a lot more than the average neighbourhood watch. Not only do we do our utmost to improve security, but we also monitor potholes, street lighting, the cleanliness of the suburb, and noise pollution. We take up these issues with the relevant authorities, requesting maintenance and repairs on an ongoing basis. In addition, we do our best to foster a sense of community, with the objective of building the reputation of being one of the friendliest,safest, and most vibrant places to live in South Africa. This has obvious benefits for all of us. Our festivals in our parks are just one of the tangible efforts we make to provide a common focus for our residents.
So, it was this big appetite that drove OH Watch to research, develop and plan for the possibility of establishing a more formal organization in our area, where funds would be collected by the City from property owners in order to really make our neighbourhood the best it can be in terms of safety, cleansing, parks, trees, and community. OH Watch hosted an information meeting about this last week to gauge the response of property owners. As was expected, there was a mixed response, from those that are totally against,and vocal, to those that were willing to sign any forms there and then. I left the meeting feeling that one of the hardest things in life is to motivate positive action, to enable us to find innovative solutions to issues that challenge us as a community. If it is NOT an SRA or CID, then surely there is another solution, and where are the good folk of Higgovale and Oranjezicht when out-of-the box thinking is required of them?
I have been grappling with the mystery of building community for some time now. Today I received an email from Amanda Kottler, who asked if I knew about the Roseto Mystery. I googled it, and here’s what I found:
In the 1950s a physician by the name of Stewart Wolf became aware of a medical mystery happening in the small village of Roseto, Pennsylvania. During that time period, heart attacks were an epidemic in the U.S. Yet, rarely did anyone in the town of Roseto under the age of 65 suffer from heart disease.
Wolf conducted an exhaustive study and concluded that the urban legend about the lack of heart disease in Roseto was in fact true. Further as it turns out, the Rosetans were dying of only old age and nothing else!
This led to an additional intensive study to determine the underlying cause of this phenomenon. They ran through the usual suspects–diet and exercise, genetics, regional bias, etc. In the end the only reason that held up under the microscope of rigorous scientific analysis was that the Rosetans’ longevity both in terms of quantity and quality was due to the unique culture of community within the village of Roseto.
Now, I ask if it is true that we can create this Roseto effect in our time in our community? Can we strive to make our residential community more Roseto like. And, if a culture of community is so directly linked to the quality and quantity of our longevity, then why stop there? Why leave our health and happiness to chance, to one neighbourhood watch and to a handful of folk who give up a lot of their personal time to do good for others?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Sheryl, thanks for this week’s blog which poses a huge question: how to build community? I wonder if one builds a community or whether the community builds itself. I suppose it’s a bit of both. For instance, there wouldn’t have been an OH Watch in the first place had you not started the ball rolling; there wouldn’t have been a Special Ratings (SR) meeting at St Cyps had you and your team not worked bloody hard to make it happen; so too the Heritage Day get-together. So, you’re really asking about the second part of the equation, namely, how a community builds itself.
Unfortunately I had to leave your SR meeting early so didn’t get to say what I felt needed saying, which was, “Get real guys.” For instance there was a lady in the audience who seemed to be complaining that she had to queue to obtain some special rebate. Whatever did she expect? That City officials should come to her? There’s k-k innie land (in the world actually) and we all want to live in Pleasantville. It’s a joke.
But I don’t think this post is fielding your question. Well maybe it is. If the envisaged community has to be built from people like the aforementioned lady then it’s not going to cohere. So either she has to have one or two insights or be ignored. My suss would be to ignore and continue working with like-minded people; which is essentially what you’re doing.
I remember my first introduction to OH Watch suspiciously perusing the flyers displayed on a table in Gardens Centre ‘manned’ by two very gracious members who empathised while I gaaned tekere about vigilantism. Well, a month or so later I joined, then I bought a radio, then I attended your patrol meeting, then I volunteered to patrol, then I responded to Billy’s call to take a radio slot…en kyk hoe lyk ek nou :)
So ja your title says it all: ‘one bite at a time’.
Cheryl, strength to you: your research for the SR was thorough, your PowerPoint creative, your manner kind and your approach collaborative. Thank you for all the time you sacrificed and the energy that went into putting it all together. You’re doing all you can; it’s now up to ‘the community’ to do its part. I sense there’s a chance that it will happen as more sceptics like I and the lady above find one another and do the necessary to build ourselves; alternatively the SR process falls victim to OH Watch’s success; now there’s a conundrum or maybe a solution. As mentioned: it’s a huge question.
I’ll be at your next SR meeting; hopefully ‘the lady’ will as well.
Keep well.