LOCATED IN JOHANNESBURG’S MOST WELL-KNOWN TOWNSHIP OF SOWETO, LEBO’S EXPERIENCE WITH THE COLUMBA LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME AND THE RELATABLE MENTORING SUPPORT HE RECEIVED TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND. NOW HE’S INSPIRED TO BE A ROLE MODEL FOR OTHERS.
By Ján Michalko
The township of Soweto is a contradiction – a physical paradox. In parts it is booming and bustling and in others it harbours despair.
For some, it is the home of entrepreneurs who are ‘making it’ on the urban scene. They are hustling and making headway, inspired by the promise of the new South Africa. Since the end of apartheid in the early 1990s, Soweto has seen new houses and shops springing up for the rising middle classes. It is a beacon of progress.
Yet for others there is a very different story to be told. Areas of Soweto remain dominated by shacks and houses that lack electricity, water and good sanitation. Townships like Soweto are symbols of continuing vast inequality and the failed transformation of the rainbow nation.
Soweto is a contradiction that symbolizes the differences that divide South African society. Many people that live there find it increasingly difficult to relate to one another because their lived experiences are so markedly diverse. That is why the place itself captures well the challenges and opportunities in the lives of young South Africans. Young South Africans such as Lebo.
At the age of 25, Lebo is working with Columba Leadership at its central offices in Johannesburg. inHive is working with Columba on the potential for an alumni network to enhance the positive impact of its programme and it is here where meet Lebo for the first time.
Not only does he demonstrate how the values and skills that he was taught through Columba have enabled him to successfully graduate, get a certificate in IT and now to study at varsity. But he is also one of the faces of young women and men that greet you on the walls as you enter their offices. Here, Lebo is a poster boy.
LEBO’S JOURNEY
Lebo’s journey to Columba and to his IT career has not been easy but, as he tells us over a glass of coke in a nearby Nando’s, his father has always been an inspiration and encouraged him not to give up. He knows how lucky he is to have a male role model in his life, to whom he can relate to and in whom he can see himself.
Many other young South African men aren’t so lucky and grow up without fathers or uncles in their lives. The white supremacist and patriarchal regime of apartheid tore apart many Black families to supply cheap male labour in the mines, while women cared for other people’s families as domestic workers. Together they were the backbone of the country’s economy for the advancement of the minority and many young people – the so-called Born Free generation, who did not live through apartheid – still bear its legacies.
In addition to his father, Lebo had another source of guidance and support in his Life Orientation teacher. We laugh as he explains how he ran away from his teacher and did not like her at first. But eventually, he found in her a mentor, an interested adult with whom he could question what he really wanted to be and what he was passionate about. But most importantly, a mentor he could relate to.
Although she came from a very different socio-economic background to his, their connection and ability to relate came from their shared experience in the Columba programme. It was this teacher who encouraged him to go to a careers centre for advice and to start saving for his future through an NGO that she runs for young people.
Having also participated in the Columba Leadership programme, Lebo’s teacher was an example of how it brings together educators and learners to ignite a different approach to school management. They instigate a change in youth-adult partnerships so that they work together to transform their schools and their wider communities. Communities that are often challenged by crime, violence, high drop-out rates or teenage pregnancies.
But one of the key challenges for schools that go through the Columba programme is sustaining its impact after programme completion. Lebo tells us that when he came back to his school a few years later, he saw that the teachers needed support to keep the Columba values going. Furthermore, he saw it as his own personal responsibility to step in and help:
“It would be a great thing for us to go back and to re-activate; to bring back the values, to bring back the programme. I feel like it will actually not only work for the teachers but for the entire school.”
GIVING BACK
Lebo wants to go back to his old school and be a source of inspiration for other young people like him. He recognises the importance of having relatable role models in his own development. He never thought that he would be part of the Columba programme because he did not have the confidence to see himself as a leader and an active change-maker. But he believes that many young people just lack that someone they can relate to – someone to provide the encouragement, support and motivation they need.
Who else can ask the question that his father and his teacher asked him: Who are you Lebo? What do you want your life to be?
So, as we close, we ask Lebo ourselves: what’s next? He begins by admitting that when he was in high school, he had a very different vision of what his life would be at the age of 25:
“I had these crazy ideas about being a medical doctor, being married, having kids … I never thought it would be so difficult at some point to have what you want… Your life takes a different direction.”
He goes on to say that although marriage and getting further qualifications is still on the table in his next five-year plan, he wants to find the time to go back to his school to support the next generation. He wants to go back to share his story with others, who just like him come from the midst of the paradox that is Soweto. Who can relate to him within that context of inequality that divides South Africa. Who, in having something in common, might just be ready to hear the advice he has to give.
That is why inHive sees value in working with organisations like Columba to build alumni networks. It will enable young people to hear from people like Lebo and hear his message that, although life might not go according to their plan, the values that Columba teaches young people of focus, perseverance and service can still help them on their journey.
