In its 41 years of existence, Atlantis has seen the rise (and fall) of many community organisations.
Failures that have caused our community to suffer. Promises were made, expectations were created and in many instances the funds were even made available to realise some of these projects.
Many investments are made in Atlantis, but does the community truly benefit? Are residents really capacitated and economically empowered through these initiatives? Can we really say that investments are geared towards addressing unemployment and other socio-economic challenges? Are interventions geared to absorb our young professionals to stay and give back to our community?
I recently attended a workshop where we discussed the current spate of violence in our community and with the specific focus on “the process of decay.”
This made me think that as a community we become so gullible that we accept everything presented to us. We live in a town that has delivered so many talented young individuals and still some are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty.
On many occasions I’ve travelled to Cape Town in the morning and witnessed many buses and cars driving into Atlantis with workers from outside our boundaries – don’t we have the skills in our community to carry out the work?
A community is judged on how well it protects and serves the most vulnerable. Organisations, are you really rendering services as stipulated within your Transfer Payment Agreement?
It is time for the community and its structures to stand unified in addressing the past and solidifying the present and future.
The following are some of the principles of community engagement:
- Shared Power: Power is shared among all (willing) members of a group. No one is above the other and everyone is willing to make sacrifices to ensure that the community prospers.
- Partnership: True partnership must be equitable; equitable partnerships can exist when all entities involved treat each other as peers/equals. We should share our expertise and invite others to share theirs; everyone creates and learns together about the issue at hand.
- Open Dialogue: Active listening and honest response is imperative for open dialogue. We should base our work on exchanges of experience, questions, dialogue and reflection, rather than lectures or a top-down approach commonly used for sharing information.
- Individual and Community Transformation: I believe that imagination is a means of liberation. We intend for personal change to lead to community, institutional, systemic, social and cultural change. It starts with you as a resident/organisation.
- Aesthetics of Transparent Processes: I believe the arts can be a powerful way of creating personal and community transformation.
I want to urge every resident to become involved in the shaping of our beloved community. Attend public meetings – especially, those hosted by ward councillors – so they can tackle the challenges you have to face on a daily basis.
, Allister Lightburn is a community activist in Atlantis.
The views expressed in this column is not necessarily that of Weskus Nuus or Media24.
