Unlikely Heroes: Helen Lieberman at TEDxEuston
The speaker, detailing the work of Ekumba Labanu, asserts that the true builders of South Africa are the women on the ground, not the great leaders. She highlights the progress made through grassroots organizing, citing examples from the care of vulnerable children, seniors, and the establishment of community centers. The overriding message is to acknowledge and praise the sacrifices of these dedicated community members. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Person recounting the story (Implied role in advocating for ground workers). - Audience context: Presentation at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). - Location: Cape Town, described as having beautiful Table Mountain and a peninsula, contrasting with the "other side of Cape Town" she discovered as a young girl. ## Theses & Positions - The core workers supporting the speaker are thousands of people who worked very quietly on the ground. - Ekumba Labanu is a non-government organization owned by the people on the ground. - While South Africa enjoys freedom, the community does not have economic freedom. - The care for senior citizens is not non-existent. - The true builders and backbone of the country are the women on the ground. - The ultimate goal of many preschools is to create and grow children. - The health center's purpose is to promote preventative health—understanding and taking responsibility for health issues—rather than just providing services. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Vulnerable children:** Children who are in preschools or are orphans. - **Eullequeeni:** The name given to the health concept, meaning freedom. - **Parent center:** A necessary resource to coach young parents on child development and support. - **Black position:** The initial, severely limited role the speaker held at a major hospital in Cape Town. - **Community organizing:** A process that cascades from smaller groups of mamas meeting in area forums into larger groups covering orphans, preschools, after-school programs, seniors, and youth programs. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Caring for vulnerable children:** Accomplished through the mamas, who take in the children. - **Establishing a preschool:** Involves creating one that looks like the current, established model through collaborative effort. - **Senior care:** Involves opening centers designed to keep seniors productive and enjoying their lives. - **Center establishment:** Involved buying land from a corrupt official who was willing to sell it cheaply, and registering it in the name of the community. - **Health awareness:** The process involves educating people that they should not wait until they are ill to seek health care (preventative health). - **Initial discovery of townships:** The speaker found patients in the townships after being restricted from doing so by the military and police. ## Timeline & Sequence - **20-21:** Age when the speaker began walking with the mamas. - **1963:** The year the speaker witnessed the "hell and horror" in the townships. - **Early life:** Time when the speaker first saw "the other side of Cape Town" as a young girl. - **Today:** Time of presentation at the Clinton Global Initiative. - **Centre Launch:** A specific center was launched on the 2nd of December but had been running for a year. ## Named Entities - **Cape Town:** Location of the speaker's story beginning, featuring Table Mountain and a peninsula. - **Ekumba Labanu:** A non-government organization owned by the people on the ground. - **Kaichi:** A very large township where the speaker noted visual problems in children. - **Tuti:** A woman who initiated the opening of care places for seniors. - **Nomsa:** Lady who initiated the first preschool after noticing children in the community. - **Mandela:** Visited the mamas and asked for one specific thing. ## Numbers & Data - Age speaker started with mamas: **20, 21**. - Number of children one example mama cared for: **14**. - Number of centers the speaker has established: **19**. - Number of children found in the sand dunes who could not read or write: **6,000**. - Number of women who could read and write among the 6,000 children: **20**. - Period for preschool spread: **10** years. - Percentage of children in Kaichi with visual problems: **45%**. - Number of children who have passed through the mamas' hands: over **a million**. ## Examples & Cases - **Mama's capacity:** One mama who cared for 14 children, and another example of a child-headed household consisting of two sisters. - **Preschool evolution:** The progression from an initial model to a full center. - **Senior center concept:** Turning seniors into centers where they remain productive and enjoy life. - **Land acquisition:** Buying land cheaply from a corrupt official and registering it in the community's name. - **Youth program (Chess):** A young man from America offered chess lessons; a group of kids in shacks near a big center requested lessons, leading to a full support setup. - **Literate mama graduation:** The example of a barely literate mama graduating with a Sitta accredited certificate and becoming a registered homebased carer. - **Health center demonstration:** Showing that one should not wait until ill to see a doctor, particularly illustrating the "macho" barrier for men's health. - **Eye clinic finding:** Discovering that 45% of children in Kaichi had visual problems preventing school attendance. - **Hospital experience contrast:** The speaker's early experience in the black section with limited therapeutic time for severe cases versus the apparent lack of care. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Early healthcare trade-off:** Superior suggesting the black section did not require more services, countered by the speaker finding clear evidence of need. - **Township living:** The reality of living in shack land versus the necessity of community centers and area forums for gathering. - **Advocacy:** The choice to continue advocating for change despite being told *"Leave it. Leave it. Don't do it."* - **Praise vs. Builders:** The speaker notes she is receiving recognition for efforts involving "sacrificed very little" compared to the true builders. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The speaker admits she "can't tell you the things that I did" due to the vast volume of stories. - She advises against focusing on great leaders, suggesting instead to focus on the women on the ground. - She acknowledges being "too young and naive and stupid" when the wonderful women first came to her. ## Methodology - The speaker used personal storytelling to illustrate the scope of the work accomplished. - The speaker utilized visual evidence (slides/photos) to show the before and after of community infrastructure like centers and preschools. - The approach described is grassroots, community-led organizing, which cascades through various dedicated groups. ## References Cited - **Mandela's visit:** Mandela visiting the mamas and subsequently asking for a visit to the mamas. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - Call to action: The audience must stand up and praise the women on the ground who sacrificed their lives and built the country. - Recommendation: When contemplating South Africa, one should focus on the women on the ground, not the great leaders. ## Implications & Consequences - Failure to address the children in the sand dunes would mean they would remain illiterate and unschooled. - Delaying healthcare until illness occurs means missing the opportunity for preventative health care. ## Open Questions - How to secure ongoing support for the new experiential learning ECD college. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I feel rather humbled to stand here because I just have a little story of thousands of people who worked very quietly on the ground."* - *"So there isn't really much improvement. Although there's freedom, we don't have economic freedom."* - *"Eullequeeni means freedom."* - *"My words are don't think of the great leaders and they're not such great leaders. Don't think of all the other things. stand up and praise the women on the ground who sacrificed their lives..."* - *"It was the most horrific experience because in the black section there was no apparatus there was very limited therapeutic time..."* - *"We'd like to do something with this lady. Her name is Tuti. We opened all the places of care for seniors."* - *"I can't tell you too much. This is the woman that I would like to or tell you the story that she came to me and said, 'There's 6,000 children in the sand dunes over there. They can't read or write and there's no school.'"* - *"My message is that here I stand as the fairy godmother. Believe me, I'm not getting the profile, getting the praise for something that I really didn't do..."*