In 1998 when I started the Lodge, I managed to make an enemy on the second day we were open for business.
I put on our pamphlet (yes, I am that old that we actually had printed brochures that we delivered to real live people!) that the lodge was “nestled in the secure suburb of Sunninghill Gardens.”
The next day, I received an e-mail from Linda G. Linda G is the queen of our area (and is very queenlike, except that she actually works). She’s been faithfully and relentlessly working at making the suburb flourish for decades. In her mail she bluntly told me that I don’t pay a membership to the Sunninghill Rate payers association, and yet, took advantage of all the hard work they do to make this suburb beautiful and safe in my advert.
She was right. I sent an apology and joined the association immediately. We’ve been comrades in arms ever since.
Over the years, our suburb has had to take on much more responsibility as the municipality fails us more and more dismally. As frustrating as it is, it also gives our community a sense of purpose and a common goal to continuously uplift the area and protect our sense of camaraderie, which is very rare in the northern suburbs of Joburg.
We often focus on how COJ charges us incorrectly each month, how the potholes cover our roads, how weeds are taking over our pavements and that litter piles up everywhere. We are frustrated by how they are building more and more malls everywhere, and how people race around the area like speed-demons. We complain that the corporate office blocks have been converted into cheap rental apartments, bringing in tenants unwilling or unable to contribute the suburb. We worry about the increasing number of squatters on the riverbanks. We fret about the low bridge that is constantly flooding… and don’t forget the taxi rank that blocks Witkoppen Road and is a serious eye-sore, and the darn broken traffic lights.
What we forget to talk about however is this: Every morning from 5a,m our area is alive with walkers and runners. People greet each other and we make friends before the rest of the world wakes up. Every day, an older neighbour walks around with a trash picker, picking up rubbish and emptying bins. He does this with no acknowledgement and just wants to serve his community. In the afternoons walkers walk dogs, children play soccer and people wizz around on scateboards.
I know that many of the doctors at Sunninghill Medical Centre see vulnerable children absolutely free of charge (I’ve taken many a child from Alex and Tembisa to see Dr Fuller there, and am always touched by the love and tenderness with which he heals those kids!) Opposite SMC, I know Wayne from Sunninghill Optometrists goes out of his way to assist domestic workers and other low income earners to get affordable glasses.
Chris, Chris and Kevin from Spar quietly collect school shoes, which they graciously trust me to distribute. They ask for no recognition. Look at these happy souls in Alex at Ratang Bana with their shiny new shoes.
When we organized a group of kids from Tembisa to come have a fun day in our park, Sunninghill Netcare paid for the busses, estate agents paid for the toilet hire, shops and restaurants gave food. What touched me most was that our people showed up. They played with the kids, painted faces and built relationships. We had one request from the place of safety in Tembisa, and that was that the children wanted to run on grass. In the Ehlanzeni section of Tembisa, there is not one blade of grass. Their request was so simple, and we delivered it beautifully with our glorious park.
Our latest challenge has been our suburb’s pavements. With all the rain we had last year, the grass has shot up everywhere, not to mention the weeds. Our suburb pays for two gardeners (and they cut the grass in front of all the properties – whether or not their owners pay to belong to the association. )These poor guys just couldn’t cope with the wild and abundant growth, and so, the fabulous family that own our local Shell garage said they would sort out the huge area opposite Megawatt park (wouldn’t it have been nice if our parastatal also volunteered to look after the area?). We followed suit and Sunninghill Recovery Lodge volunteered to look after the stretch of road in front of Netcare Sunninghill. We employed a gardener five days a week. I love that we created a job for someone who is now able to support his family by doing honest work and beautifying the world.
Linda Lazarus’ estate agency did the same in the Gardens, and in bits and pieces, our area is getting tamed. Lilima Crescent borders a townhouse complex and they do not look after the verge at the back, as it is nowhere near their entrance. Phineas and Patrick, who works for us at Sunninghill Guest Lodge, have started to take on the maintenance of this stretch too.
There is a pharmacist in Sunninghill who knows many residents in the high density living area cannot afford to miss work and queue at clinics, but they can also not afford to go to the doctor. He sees them for less acute ailments and gives them the right medicines at affordable rates.
Our very own Zazen respite care is a NGO that makes palliative care available to all – those who can afford it, and those who cannot has found a home in Sunninghill. I remember when we were busy with our licenses and making changes in preparation to open the facility that our neighbours and residents embraced the idea of a palliative care unit. Right from the beginning, people supported and encouraged us. In October when we celebrated World Palliative Care day neighbours showed up in droves to support our fun-run. Sunninghill Striders and Sunninghill Walk/Run for life have adopted this day too and together we make it exceptionally special. And most importantly, we raise awareness around palliative care and funds for those who can not afford this necessary service.
In the 80’s, James Wilson, who taught at Harvard as a political scientist, and George Kelling, who was a criminologist, came up with the “Broken window theory.” This theory was made famous when New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani implemented it and turned the trajectory of the city around. The theory basically says that if there is one broken window in a building that is left unrepaired, it will lead to more broken windows because it signals that no one cares. When people see visible signs of ‘disorder,’ even just one broken window or a graffiti scribble, it creates a psychological “permission slip” for further disorder and criminal behaviour. Graffiti will lead to more graffiti, litter leads to more litter, one broken window leads to many other broken things: broken lights, broken gates, broken buildings, broken people and a broken society.
The patch next to the Sunninghill Builder’s Warehouse is a reminder of how quickly an area can unravel when no one takes responsibility. There are many vagrants who gather there. Some hopefully hold up placards advertising their skills in the construction trade, but the majority are just loitering about. There is litter everywhere, illegal traders and general chaos on the road. ( Below are some pictures of Godfrey our painter fixing up the building on the corner of Nanyuki and Kilindini, see the difference? )
This reminds us that we have chosen differently! From our courageous community leader Linda G, to our gardeners, to the Shell family, the doctors, the optometrist, the Spar team, to the neighbours who pick up litter at sunrise, Sunninghill is full of people quietly repairing “broken windows” every day.
I believe that if “the broken windows theory” is true, that therefore the opposite must be true as well: one mended pavement, one cleaned verge, one older neighbour with a trash picker, one doctor seeing a child for free, one pair of donated school shoes, one bus full of children running on grass for the first time… each of these sends a different message: someone cares here. One good act invites another.
That is the real work of Sunninghill and her people. It belongs to us all.