Co-op encourages culture of reading
ALEXANDRA - The lack of social and coping skills has been identified as core to the culture of dependency and despondency in Alexandra.
The lack of social and coping skills has been identified as core to the culture of dependency and despondency in Alexandra.
This was said recently by a member of a youth co-operative in reference to social and economic challenges making the township one of the least developed in the city.
Andrew Makatu of Boholo Cooperative said although he is still young, he and his colleagues had analysed challenges of this township. Their decision was that youths should contribute to improve livelihoods of residents whose culture is to rely on handouts especially grants from government and when that failed, they blamed everyone except themselves.
Makatu said the co-operative is a think tank to help reverse the demeaning mentality of expecting entitlements without putting in effort for self development and personal improvement. He said they will assist residents to take ownership of self made and other challenges, impart problem solving skills and empower them to contribute to plans for concrete development of the area. This he said, will put them in a position of strength when negotiating for other support.
Makatu added that this would further enable local youths and graduates to contribute to their own local development, create opportunities for local employment, develop a core for future leadership and establish a development-oriented culture for the youth to emulate in future.
The co-operative he said was also a facilitator for training and encouraging a culture of reading, especially among the youths for their personal development and for researching innovative solutions to local problems. “Improved knowledge will increase local capacity to analyse, implement and monitor developments taking place in the area. It will help people engage productively rather than having the current competitive mentality deflecting their attention from addressing the decay, making Alex what it is today,” he said.
He added that at the moment, anyone from anywhere was able to do as they please in Alex as there was no platform for residents to share issues of common interest. This made the youths feel marginalised from engaging and participating in resolving social challenges in Alex. This he said in reference to a suggestion by Obed Bapela, deputy minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, that local organisations should rally around a representative structure for the area’s development.
Details: Andrew Makatu; 073 772 7453.
