Our school, Makovongo Secondary, is situated in the settlement Makosha, north of Giyani Township, Limpopo province. The school is approximately 12 kms from Giyani. It was 1991 and our area had been hit by a terrible heat wave.
On this day the sun rose red-red hot. Ants moved around with their bellies pushed up to avoid touching the hot surface of the soil. A big noise was coming from the dam situated next to the school which supplies water to the greater Giyani community. Young and old people were collecting fish that had died from the heat and were floating up to the surface of the dam.
I was busy teaching in one of my classes when one educator came rushing into the classroom. I was told that there was a certain boy in Standard 7 who was not feeling well. I told the educator to grant permission to the learner to go home. The educator hurriedly went away only to be back within two minutes, this time running like a sprinter hoping for a gold medal at the Olympics. I was informed that the learner had collapsed.
I rushed to the class and found the boy stretched out on the floor. The boy was unconscious. I had to act fast. It is common knowledge that in rural areas like the one where our school is situated, contemporary communication services such as telephones are non-existent. I was not in a position to call for an ambulance for assistance (even though I could, such services are not available in rural areas where I was).
I rushed to my car and actually loaded the boy into my car and dashed for the boy’s residence. As if what I was experiencing was not enough, there was no-one at his place. I then decided to take full responsibility of the situation and proceeded to Khensani Hospital.
On arrival at the emergency area, I grabbed a wheel chair and took the boy to the consulting room. I was fortunate to find three medical doctors who battled to save the boy’s life for almost two hours. As I waited outside the consulting room, time seemed to stand still. One of the doctors emerged and informed me to take it easy, as the boy was out of danger. He told me that had I been 15 minutes later, the boy would have been history.
That’s when I said, ‘Thank you mighty God for the strength you gave me to take such decisive action.