We have recently moved out to Kalbaskraal and really do like it here. I have kids, I have a grand-child and I want them all to come and live here in Kalbaskraal. But that does not mean that everything is perfect and all flowers and rainbows in Kalbaskraal.
There is very little difference between Kbk and most other rural villages and areas, but there is a significant underlying ailment in Kbk and as far as I can see so far, is that it is a very small community, but that is broken up into a myriad of smaller communities that simply refuse to develop with each other.
I find that peculiar, as pretty much all the micro communities want to achieve EXACTLY the same thing.. A better community, one where our kids can walk in peace and not be hungry, one where we can all celebrate the good and all challenge the problems.
I am not going into the reasons and causes and the blame game, as we will stay there forever really and never see the future. A very smart fantasy writer, Terry Pratchett, has this to say “humans go through life backwards, as they can see where they have been, but have no idea where they are going” I surmise that it is different for trolls, as if they look back, they cannot outrun the avalanche.
So what do we do??
I am just going to tell a short story here, if you do not mind. 3 weeks ago, I met a fellow kalbaskraaler in one of the WhatsApp groups and she found out what I do and after we spoke, she asked. She told me she was having a baby shower and needed some stuff for her daughter but had a very small budget, could we help her. OF COURSE we will help her, she did not come insisting that we help her, she laid no guilt nor obligation on us at all. And so doing, it was a pleasure to help her.
She needed a pallet (almost everyone in Kalbaskraal has access to one it seems) and the word baby cut out of wood. 2 very small things. This was very easy, except for moving the pallet. And that is where community came in. I just asked someone else in the community to take the pallet to her place, while I asked yet another person if he would be prepared to spend some time cutting out the word baby.
All agreed and the bottom line, something very small, becomes something very big. The daughter had a terrific day made special by at least 3 men she never even met and need not.
Now, just before anyone gets in their mind, this is a story about me… It is not, not even close, it is about community and how it should work.
If this is what 4 strangers can do for each other in a day or two, CAN YOU IMAGINE what the VERY MANY groups and churches in this village SHOULD BE DOING FOR THE COMMUNITY?
Folks, WE ARE THE COMMUNITY, municipality, school, government, they are not going to build into our community, they should and do try sometimes, but it really is the community that has so very much more power to effect change, than any programme or organization OUTSIDE of the community.
We are The No-Stone Foundation and are committed to developing this community, we will do this through educating and upskilling volunteers, we will do this by trying to be an example of how things could work and we will do this by constantly saying yes to those that really need.
