Last month we were... Doing it for Do it Day

by Patrick Madden

Last month an intrepid group of Go2Africans took the day off work to paint the woodwork training room of Learn to Earn in Khayelitsha.

Greater Good

It started with Greater Good South Africa, a non-profit organisation that makes it easier for South Africans to make a meaningful contribution to development and charity work in their country. Greater Good South Africa organises volunteer projects, educational and environmental initiatives to improve South African society.

Do It Day is Greater Good's call-to-action campaign, which mobilises volunteers to do specific development projects on one day in October. It encourages people who don't usually volunteer for a cause to make a difference on just one day, in one of many projects that are listed on the Greater Good website.

Learn to Earn

One of said projects was painting the woodwork training room of Learn to Earn, an organisation that seeks to develop people - especially unemployed and unskilled people â€" in all aspects of their life so that they can support themselves and those around them.

Learn to Earn in Khayelitsha teaches woodwork, computer skills, sewing, baking, and business skills to formerly unskilled people, and then provides the mentorship necessary for them to start earning a living. More than 3,000 people have passed through their programs, and are now contributing and earning individuals.

Dusting

We arrived at Learn to Earn on Friday morning, and were shown around the training rooms, humming with the energy of people practicing their newly acquired skills. The garments and objects they craft were on display for sale in the shop next-door, where we would be served muffins and tea during a break in our work.

But we hadn't even started yet, and our first impression of the room we were to paint was that it was much bigger than we'd expected. The walls rose eight metres along a floor of about twenty metres in length and ten in width. And it was dusty.

We set to work first brushing the dust from the walls, from the corners, from the girders, from the cupboards - two of us on a scaffold in the rarefied air near the ceiling and five of us at ground level. The dust was thick and everywhere, and this preliminary job made us sneeze gratuitously.

Painting

In just less than an hour we were done with the dust, and the task of painting was before us. A large barrel of old white acrylic paint stared at us from beneath the thick skin it had accumulated over the course of its life. But some dedicated stirring and a few cups of thinners later, and it was ready for use.

We set to work. Marc and Marco manned the scaffolding, and the rest of us trawled the floor, rolling the sticky paint up and down the walls. It was harder work than we'd anticipated, and our clothes got spattered with paint over the course of the next three hours.

Getting it done

Gradually the job was completed - every square metre was shiny with paint, and our hands (and faces) looked as though they'd tried to follow suit. The solvent smell of turpentine accompanied our efforts to remove the sticky stuff from our skin.

The lovely Learn to Earn staff were obviously grateful for our efforts, rewarding us with muffins and tea and many sincere thanks. We were tired but satisfied - our time in Khayelitsha had been educational and we were proud to have made a tangible contribution to such a worthy cause.

Article © Copyright 2006 Go2Africa.

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