Life beyond small towns

It’s been 26 years since I last wrote for the Northern Natal Courier.  Many things have happened since– mostly life has been kind.  I visited Glencoe about a month ago on the occasion of a family bereavement and the despair I saw compelled me to write again.

I now live and work in Johannesburg and have been fortunate to have a job that has taken me to many different countries. This has afforded me great learnings and experience.  Johannesburg, like many cities around the globe, is made up of migrant workers.  Immaterial if one is a doctor or a miner, chances are that one was not born in Johannesburg. As with most cities, there little sense of community.  People are insular and it is difficult to find close associations.

Coming from Glencoe, where everyone knew each other and every child was raised by a community of people, it is still difficult to assimilate to this metropolis.  After my recent visit home, it spurred me to want to share with young people of communities like Glencoe and Dundee what life is like and what to expect if you decide to migrate to the cities.  It is my hope that through this medium and over the following months, I can offer some advice and direction which would make the transition easy.

There are some matriculants who will successfully enter higher learning institutions, universities; tehcnikons and the like.  Then there are those who typically come to the city seeking work.  Here you will be faced with a barrage of new experiences.  To speak specifically of Johannesburg for now, simple things like getting to your destination, finding accommodation, taking a taxi, can become a challenge.

Of course it helps when you have family already established in the city, but for those that don’t the challenges can become easier with a mentor to ease the way.

My first years in Johannesburg were fraught with mistakes!  I remember taking wrong busses and ending up in wrong end of town!  Of course wanting to impress the city dwellers with one’s sophistication was paramount as well – and inevitably ended up in embarrassment for what did one really know having been raised in such a small town? Here no one knew my name or cared who I was whereas at home all I had to do was mention my surname and it automatically gave me standing.

I struggled through restaurant menus and did not know what half the food really was and then ended up ordering things I hated but still had to pay for!  And the dress code!  Everyone here looked so stylish and confident.  After many mistakes, I finally resigned myself to doing what I was comfortable with and independent of the many influences I was faced with.  Now, decades later I am happy that I took the decision in my youth as it has spurred a sense of independence of thought and being that has served me well.

So for now, I would humbly like to offer the learnings I have had to you, so that your journey is smoother and less fraught with distress.  A group of friends and colleagues have raised their hands to help review CV’s, letters of application for employment and other submissions.  Collectively we could do research online for institutions that offer scholarships, bursaries and internships and then forward the information onto you.  We can assist you in refining your documents to give you a better chance of success and guide in choosing a career path.  Of course, this does not mean that we will find anyone a job – the offer is merely to assist with guidance and advice.

This would be our way of enriching our lives by helping other people traverse the plain from small town to urban living.

I am adding my contact details below and if you do not have email, you could drop/post letters to the Northern Natal Courier offices to be forwarded to me.  My email address is veeran1@telkomsa.net.

I would also invite you to share topics you would like to read about.

Until next time…

Ends…