PROLOGUE:
Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been striving for ever greater efficiency. In fact, efficiency—making the best possible use of the resources at hand—has become the core concept of how we need to survive within our high-risk communities in Cape Town, South Africa.
On the face of it, efficiency makes us more in tune with our environment by not being unnecessarily wasteful. However, it has, in many cases, reduced resilience amongst people of color within our previously disadvantaged communities and the ability to deal with change and crisis in our lives.
Unlike humans, nature is more resilient but far less proficient: numerous plant seeds are dispersed to allow some to germinate, and many animals have extremely short lifespans – both suggest a wasteful use of resources.
The human way can bring insight and foresight to decision-making, and we can be proactive by bringing about positive change in our lives and those of others we associate with. Nature is essentially reactive but does adapt to changing environments. So, how do natural systems build resilience, and how can humans harness it, too? One key element is the natural tendency towards increasing diversity. But from a human perspective, diversity can add difficulty and a degree of redundancy.
Our strategy as POC needs to be very similar to nature’s resilience. When our environment inevitably changes, we must learn how to find ourselves in the perfect situation to be the change we want to see in our lives and communities on the Cape Flats. As a result, we can survive under strict conditions, albeit in somewhat difficult circumstances.
If those custodians for positive change that was marginal at first had not been there to take on the critical roles to plant the seed, our lives would have collapsed.
Today, we’ve lost our connection to the life-giving properties of seeds (metaphor). This loss of diversity and abundance has a metaphoric equivalent in human life. When seeds lose potency, humans lose a powerful symbol of renewal.
– Earl Albert Mentor
