Some weeks, I am amazed at how much we can learn from each other. I have incredible respect for institutions of learning, but the wonderful wisdom we pick up from each other in the real world serves me much better than any certificate, diploma, or degree ever has.
My brother and I recently discussed a book called Factfulness by Hans Rosling in which he discusses global poverty, and people’s access to electricity and vaccinations, amongst other things. He explains how the trajectory of your life can change if there is even the smallest shift. For instance, if you earn slightly more, have one person who believes in you, are able to send your children to school, visit a clinic or get your own transport, it will change your children’s future.
These philosophical discussions are always fun to have over a glass of wine in our homes with high fences and manicured lawns, far removed from those statistics. But in South Africa, we are never too far away from the divides and the extremes. While I’d like to hide behind my high wall most of the time, the unescapable reality is that in our extremely unequal society, escaping poverty is tremendously difficult, and it’s getting harder. That’s a fact, whether we like it or not, that impacts us all.
Let me go back a bit. I have a gardener named Brilliant, from Malawi. Brilliant has worked for me brilliantly (sorry, but how could I not?) for over a decade, but over the past few months, he has gone AWOL quite a few times. He would just stay away from work and then reappear and carry on working like an Energiser Bunny. Each time he had a different excuse, but nothing made sense. Two weeks ago, he just did not come to work for three days, and I told him in no uncertain terms that this was the very last time he would get away with pulling a no-show. I was sad because Brilliant is like part of our family, and he works really hard. He is also terrified of me, and I suppose, because of his inability to speak English well, we seem to have a significant communication gap, so I got another worker, aptly named Colgate, to go and speak to him to find out what was really going on. It turns out that Brilliant has a brother, and for reasons unbeknown to any of us, he is now sharing Brilliant’s bike. When the brother has the bike, Brilliant cannot get to work, which also means that he cannot charge his phone, so we cannot get hold of him, and he cannot tell us that he won’t be at work or that he is sick, etc. When Colgate explained all this to me, I knew it would be incredibly easy for us to help Brilliant. I also realised that if we did not, he would lose his job, he would probably not find other work ever again, and he and his family would just sink deeper into the abyss of poverty. I asked my friend Alan, an avid bike rider, to help me find a strong 2nd hand bicycle. We searched a bit and after a couple of days, found the perfect pre-loved commuter bicycle for Brilliant. Giving Brilliant this bike was the highlight of our week. He was ecstatic, and his smile was almost as wide as Colgate’s. (See, you can’t make these things up!)
Transport is not a problem that’s unique to Brilliant. Access to transportation can have a profound impact on people’s lives. For instance, studies have shown that reducing commute times can significantly improve economic outcomes. In fact, research by Chetty and Hendren found that children raised in areas with shorter commute times tend to earn higher incomes as adults, with a 7% increase in income associated with a one standard deviation reduction in commute time. These numbers are astounding and show how something seemingly small, can make a significant long-term difference.
Brilliant can now get to work daily, but so can his brother. Brilliant can get two hot meals with us every day, do his laundry and charge his phone. He can communicate again, plus he saves money and time as he does not need to buy and prepare meals, and additionally, he is getting good nutrition. I see so many men buy a bottle of Coke and a white bread for lunch, blissfully unaware of what it does to your overall health. (I’ll spare you my concerns about their microbiome and glucose spikes!). Aside from his nutrition, he can also be part of a work community that will support and care for him. Hopefully, this job, but also the community and opportunities that come with it, create a small stepping stone out of the cycle of poverty.
It is an extremely difficult cycle to break. It’s really encouraging when people manage it, and there are many amazing success stories, especially in our context with so many people who overcome unimaginable hardships and obstacles. I’m inspired by the tenacity and determination of many of my staff and people I encounter every day.
This week, a wonderful Scottish man went home after we cared for him for just over a month. When he arrived his hair was long after 9 weeks in ICU, he was rake thin and hardly spoke. His wife arrived after the ambulance dropped him. She was a beautiful Scottish lass with porcelain white skin and a heavy accent. She adored him, and I saw the way he looked at her. It was the type of love Jane Austin and the Brontë sisters could only have wished to capture. As Mr McIntyre got stronger, he told me how he met his wife at a dance, how it was love at first sight, and how they eventually found their way to the tip of Africa. He had the recovery we all hoped he would have, and went home last week. I stood crying as we waved them off. His daughter stood next to me and told me that when Mr and Mrs McIntyre got married 6 decades ago, they were so poor that the only time they had sugar in the house was after their wedding when they used the icing from their wedding cake to sweeten their tea. And now, all this time later, in a different country, they managed to put three children through university, received amazing acute private care at a flagship Netcare hospital, were able to afford our recovery lodge and are able to afford private home care until Mr McIntyre recovers completely.
I am not sure how Mr McIntyre escaped the cycle of poverty, but he did, and he enriched my life and the lives of our team. I’m also not sure that buying a bicycle for Briliant is going to change his life forever, but it has been two weeks now, and Brilliant has not missed work. In fact, he is always early, walks a bit taller and makes a bit more eye contact. He doesn’t know about the statistical correlation between access to transport and success, but from where I stand, it looks like he carries his load a bit easier. I have to keep trusting that the small things I can do to make a difference or provide an opportunity for someone will have an impact. As Desmond Tutu put it: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”