Nyiko's Buyisela Project:

"There are other more serious challenges facing my people than just lack of optimism about the future. I got to find out first hand, during my interaction with the old people in the fields, just how much of a need there is in Huntington for water. The value of water is over-looked by some people in the suburbs who are surrounded by running water, but to the old people, it is something that they would all like to have in abundance. They understand the value of water and they make sure that they put it to good use. Our village is situated in a naturally dry area with very hot weather and little rain. As a result of such a lack of water, my people have been restricted in their means to carve out a living for themselves and their families through farming and ploughing."

It is still quite amazing to observe how people have tried to overcome such a setback.

They still wake up everyday and go to the fields to plough with the hope that their fortunes will someday change for the better. I, personally, was touched and encouraged by the positive attitude of these old people who could have decided, like everyone else, to sit back and blame the Government for not providing them with water, but instead, they opted to stand up and go on striving.

Ever since I was a young man, I have always seen my grandmother wake up at dawn everyday, gather her tools and head off somewhere only to return home very tired in the evening. During this whole period, I had never bothered to find out exactly where she was headed and why she was going there. When I did finally put up the courage to ask (at the time of conducting my Buyisela project), my grandmother invited me to come with her for a day which ended up turning into a week of exhausting labour for me.

My first day “on the job” was one filled with mixed feelings. There was a feeling of excitement and fear at the same time; fears of spending a full week with old people whose beliefs were very different to mine. When my grandmother and I arrived at the fields in which they all collectively work and she introduced me to everyone, I could sense that some of them were sceptical and uneasy about the fact that they would have a young boy in their midst listening in on their adult conversations. Most of them were hesitant to send me around and this led me to believe that my being there was pointless.

My reason for embarking on this project was to ease the burden and workload that rests on these people by doing most of their hard labour, such as watering their vegetables and digging holes for them to plant in. I, therefore, felt very useless when none of them would let me do that for them; only my grandmother was willing to boss me around. I have reason to suspect that my grandmother had a word with all of them during their “end of day meeting” because on the second day, their attitude towards me had changed remarkably. Not only were they willing to order me around (which is exactly what I wanted) but most of them were making small conversation with me, telling me about “the good old days.”

What impressed me most was seeing most of them do something they had not done at all the previous day and that was to sit down to have a rest. This, for me, was a huge sign that they actually appreciated my help but at the same time, it made me realise how much they really need such help. Most of them are in the final stages of their lives and yet still have to wake up in the morning to go and work in the fields in order to fend for their families. By the end of the second day, I was probably the most exhausted person in the entire village due to the orders I was getting from the old folks. From the third day onwards, I began to feel like part of the team because I was even allowed to stay for their “end of day meetings” and everyone just wanted me to help them with their digging and ploughing.

They found out that I was a law student and began asking me legal questions connected to problems that they had encountered with their former employers and government officials. This meant that I now had three tasks to perform at the same time: digger, plougher and legal advisor. Due to the complex nature of some of their questions, I soon realised how much my old people had been exploited and how unaware they were of their rights. I realised that one of my next projects would be conducting a seminar where I would educate people about their rights - I will call it “Project Know Your Rights”.

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