Putting down local roots (SWANENG PART 3)
Correspondent | Tuesday December 3, 2013 18:16
At dawn on the first day of our second school year in 1964, the stark and painful reality of so many primary school-leavers seeking entry to so few secondary schools arrived outside our rondavel.
These were not dry statistics in some government report, but real people in a desperate situation, and for Liz and me in that moment, the experience was traumatic. We woke to find a huge crowd of hopeful youngsters together with their anxious parents — some of whom had travelled hundreds of miles to reach Swaneng — bringing their blankets and camping on our doorstep.
It was harrowing to have to turn away even a single one of these imploring youngsters, yet the harsh reality of Bechuanaland's financial constraints in 1964 meant that at the beginning of every school year, the crowd of hopeful students would get larger — and most would have to be turned away.
At this moment, our immediate reaction was to do more of the same: to redouble our fundraising efforts, to build more classrooms, and to recruit more teachers so that we could take in more youngsters the next year.
Establishing a Board of Governors, 1963
The Provisional Committee had completed its task. They agreed that the school now needed a Board of Governors, but were at first uneasy when I (Patrick van Rensburg) suggested that we should invite the parents to elect such a Board. They were eventually persuaded of the benefits of our democratic approach, and a meeting of parents was called.
Some of the 12 now elected were parents, some were teachers at primary schools, one or two, like Mr Peto Sekgoma, were prominent in the tribal hierarchy. Mr Mogwe, the Education Officer, was also elected. At their first meeting, they discussed and approved a Draft Constitution and an Educational Policy outline that I presented to them.
I had thought a lot about the purpose of education in this Protectorate and what the future might hold for the country. Knowing Botswana today, it is important to look back and try to relive the Bechuanaland Protectorate of those early days — in which we were struggling to build our School.
When asked why the British had neglected his country, Seretse Khama used to reply: 'We asked the British to protect us from the Boers, we didn't ask them to take charge of us and develop us!' Even so, it seemed to us in those early days of 1963 that in neglecting the Territory for so long, the British had left the country at the mercy of its two powerful neighbours, South Africa and Rhodesia, and vulnerable to economic domination by South Africa.
We witnessed every day in Serowe the effects of this unequal relationship with South Africa and how it constantly distorted Bechuanaland's development — creating dependence, siphoning off the ablest and fittest, and undermining local economic activity and the production of food. A handful of white settlers controlled the Protectorate's commercial life — cattle sales and shipments and retail stores.
Constraints on what could be done
For now, we had to get on with Swaneng's busy new term. We were constrained by our own limited resources in how many we could admit — by the size and number of classrooms we were able to build, the quantity of desks we would be able to buy, and the number of teachers (volunteers included) whom we could afford to pay and accommodate in such housing as we could afford to construct. Moreover, we didn't have money enough — only hope — to see us through the first half of 1964, let alone through the whole year!
Few of those applying to Swaneng had good examination passes, among either this year's earlier applicants or those who had arrived before dawn that day, most of the latter having already sought admission to the more established schools and been rejected. We selected 50 students for our First Year enrolment. Our Second Year class totalled 25, some of whom went into the accelerated stream.
Mike Hawkes and Don Baker taught for 40 out of a possible 45 periods a week. Our new Setswana teacher, Tholo Molefe, also taught Geography and Hygiene, and he had a similar load. I, Patrick, had 41 periods of English Language and Literature. Mike Hawkes' heavy load consisted of Maths and General Science teaching. Liz taught English to one class, typed the school's correspondence, and cared for our baby son Masego.
I was glad when Martin and Mary Kibblewhite arrived. Martin soon took charge of building operations — and also taught the students how to build. Martin was a craftsman of some excellence, especially in cabinet-making, and had worked with masters of that trade in Sweden. But he also had building skills and was readily able to pass these on to the students and to teach them building theory. This was an important step forward for the students. They could in future contribute effectively with building skills and not simply manual labour. Martin relieved me of many burdens and brought professionalism to the task. Martin later produced simple building textbooks for students. He initiated a Construction Co-op (CONCOOP) for artisans and building workers, and he played a vital role in the development of policy at Swaneng.
During the months following the start of our second school year, we were increasingly concerned about our precarious financial situation. Thus it was a great relief for us to learn that the Joseph Rowntree Trust in Britain had approved a substantial grant to the school. How it lifted our spirits to know that we now had a more assured future! We could plan again and recruit new teachers for 1965. IVS responded warmly to our request for teachers. We also had enquiries from individual teachers offering to find sponsorship for their travel to Bechuanaland, and one even for his salary. Several of them were to arrive as early as August 1964.
The Swaneng Consumer Co-op is launched
In early 1964, the arrival of Mr Trevor Bottomley from the UK as the newly-appointed Registrar of Co-operative Societies was just in time. He asked us for a report about our proposed consumers’ co-op, the opposition of the traders, and the refusal of the authorities to license our trading activities. He proposed that we should appeal to the Resident Commissioner to exempt co-operatives from the operation of the trading law, as long as co-ops traded only with their own members.
Seretse Khama and I presented our petition to the Commissioner, Mr Peter Fawcus, when he next visited Serowe, and he accepted Mr Bottomley's recommendation. This news meant that we could go ahead and begin building our Co-operative Store. Members decided we should re-convene the following Saturday at the site allocated for the store to offer voluntary work in setting it out and digging the foundations. It was agreed, too, that those able to afford it should make short-term loans of R10 to enable construction to proceed without delay.
The Committee appointed two good artisans, both members of the co-op, who had agreed to work for minimal wages, to complete the building. Recruitment and loan-raising continued for the next 10 weeks at the end of which our Co-op Store was ready to open.
The opening of the Co-op Store in July was a great event that was presided over by Trevor Bottomley before a sizeable crowd. Ruth Khama came with her twin boys while John Harlow represented the District Commissioner. Mr Mothusi Seretse, an earnest young former stores clerk with the Tribal Administration, took over as Manager. Over the following months, he was assisted and trained for the job by a Swaneng staffer. Sales grew day by day, with each member's purchases carefully recorded against the day, in a year's time, when the mounting surplus would be distributed as his or her bonus.
Volunteer staff arrive in numbers
In August and September of 1964, several of our new volunteer teachers arrived, just as Mike Hawkes prepared to leave Swaneng. Liz and I had both been impressed by the sincerity and cheerful dedication of this fine young man, and it was hard to adjust to his absence when he finally returned to Britain to continue his studies. Don Baker and his family were also preparing to leave us. Don and Joan had given staunch support to Liz and me in the early days at a time when the school was at its most vulnerable and we were in great need of help, and we would miss them.
The new arrivals comprised the IVS contingent of four: Len Davis, Jennifer Griffin, Peter Roberts and Ian C. Smith, in addition to Philip 'Puffer' Jones, who came through the Unitarian-Universalist Service Committee in Canada. Near the end of the term, David Wyld joined us at his own expense.
They all threw themselves enthusiastically into Saturday voluntary activities, effectively leading students in different teams. They also took on some administrative tasks and helped run the Co-op Store that we had opened just prior to their arrival. Liz and I were gratified and astonished by the energy, effectiveness and enthusiasm that our new volunteers brought to Swaneng.
It was a delight to me to be able to challenge all our new staff with the problems that we faced at Swaneng, to outline the possible solutions that might be tried, and then to delegate. Just as our students had seized the chance to take responsibility for our problems and offer their own solutions, in the same spirit our staff took things on with energy and initiative — often inventing new solutions and suggesting new directions that we might explore.
Building in brick, mortar and stone
The grant from the Joseph Rowntree Trust meant that we were able to speed up construction of the second classroom block — designed as a quadrangle of eight classrooms — and to start building a science laboratory, dormitories and family staff houses. Martin Kibblewhite designed most of the buildings. The students participated in the construction of all of them except the staff housing because we didn't want to be accused of using their voluntary labour to serve our interests. For the houses, therefore, we employed only the paid local artisan and the unskilled labourers already working for us.
While students and staff were busily engaged in building classrooms and developing gardens and planting trees, our employed builders were making good progress with staff housing along the line of the low hill above the school buildings. I was enchanted with their stonework foundations. The ochre stones were excavated from the sites of the houses themselves and painstakingly laid in their natural patterns. Besides its attractiveness, it was an immediately available local material needing only minimal dressing. The burnt, blue-red clay bricks we bought in the village were products of local resources too and of local industry — burnt with wood together with waste cinders from the steam locomotives still operated by Rhodesia Railways.
My greatest pleasure still, at sunset, was to observe each day's work. Climbing up the hill to see the stonework, and to look down at our classrooms, the slowly rising walls of a laboratory and dormitories, the thatched common room and rondavels, all functionally useful, built by Serowe artisans and the freely given, interracial labour of students, teachers, and work-campers; and all lying quietly in the starkly grand setting transformed by our anti-erosion work and tree-planting.
Seeking assistance overseas
Liz and I were making plans to visit Britain, hoping to raise funds and recruit teachers so that we could admit more students the following year. We were to leave shortly after our nine Junior Certificate candidates had written their exams, which was our biggest concern at Swaneng that November. But we were anxious about the Co-op too, for the traders had successfully threatened some of our South African suppliers with a boycott if they continued to sell wholesale to us.
We found some alternative suppliers in Southern Rhodesia. We also informed Trevor Bottomley, who promised to take action about the traders' threats. One or two traders also started selling sugar below cost to challenge us. Trevor told us to advise our members to buy all their sugar — but only their sugar — from them, which we did. It worked.
Our Norwegian friend Cato Aall visited us again late in the year. Aware that the little old car he had brought the year before would by now have outlived its usefulness, he brought with him a Cortina station wagon. I told Cato of our pending trip to Britain, and he promised to organise meetings for me in Scandinavian countries for the purpose of raising funds.
On the last day of November, Liz and I and our young son Tom Masego took a train to Bulawayo where we caught a plane to Salisbury, then flying on to London the same day. We began an intensive tour of talks and fundraising with the Joseph Rowntree Trustees, with War on Want, and with OXFAM. I also met with IVS to review our future needs for teachers.
In Norway and Sweden, I met people who knew little or nothing of our work at Swaneng. I recounted how I had become involved in the tasks we had set ourselves, engrossed in exploring the relationship between education and development, and increasingly committed to the students who worked hard to build Swaneng and to the success of the Co-op. If we could build our school inexpensively, mobilising material resources about us and the labour and skills of our students and people in the community, and if we could hit upon an appropriate education that equipped students to serve development, we might build a replicable model of education fit for all.
When I returned to London, I found a joyful telegram from Swaneng. Five of our nine J.C. students had passed. Staff and students had organised a successful workcamp and made great progress with building. The South African suppliers' boycott against the Serowe co-operative was weakening. Liz and I looked forward to our return to Swaneng.
Taken from Patrick and Elizabeth van Rensburg, Swaneng: The Early Years, unpublished manuscript. Very lightly edited by Tom Holzinger. This instalment of Swaneng history is entirely from the point of view of its founders. The next instalment will be mostly drawn from the accounts of students and villagers, as Swaneng increasingly had an impact on its home community.