Jean-Marc Stidworthy
Sithembile's* parents can't afford nappies. This has left her with a burning rash. She can't sleep, she wails into the dead of night.
A lack of nutrition during the nine months in her mother's womb has resulted in her being a frail child. Her future looks bleak on the brightest of days. In a year or so she'll need to be prepped for school, but her impoverished community does not have adequate centres to aid this process.
When she reaches first grade she will be behind many of her peers. Homework will be an arduous task for the rest of her school years because her parents are willing but unable to help.
Her misfortunes are compounded by her house not having electricity. She will see the streets increasingly littered with rubble and wish she had the means, or the knowledge, to rectify this. If her community weren't so bereft of leaders someone could guide her in this cause, but leaders are few and needs are plenty.
Professor Alida Herbst from the Potchefstroom campus at North-West University's (NWU Puk) social work department, says that 20 to 25% of all individuals in rural communities will most likely never have the resources or abilities to lessen their dire circumstances.
It is a figure that the university, through continuous investment in all levels of the community it serves, hopes to see drop. To achieve this sustainability is of paramount importance.
Very little is achieved in the long term by simply donating to a cause. To make a true and lasting contribution foresight is required. Jean-Marc Stidworthy, community liaison officer at NWU Puk says: "It is a futile endeavour to make once-off contributions to a community. You have to look at how you can facilitate positive change over an extended period of time. Think ripples in a pond, only that we need each ripple to be of the magnitude of the one that preceded it."
Community upliftment can't be achieved by monetary contributions alone. It serves a function, but not a primary one.
"The biggest resource at the university's disposal is the amount of willing hands that we have, personnel and students who offer their spare time to get involved in the community," said Stidworthy.
"This enables us to contribute more, to assist more than institutions with more available funds. Take our Pick-a-Leader project that we are running at Resolofetse Secondary school (Ikageng), Boitshoko (Ikageng) and Potchefstroom Secondary school (Mohadin). Through this project we help pupils realise their leadership potential. They know the hardships that are suffered in each of their communities and by equipping them with the necessary leadership skills they will be at the forefront of change."
A decade ago the scenario that was painted rang true for Sithembile, but not any more.
Through the university's involvement with Nappy Run, a campaign that generates funds for nappies and an early childhood development programme, which includes a host of pre-schools and day care centres with programmes that focus on creativity, motor skills, teacher workshops and school readiness, Sithembile won't be left behind.
Renovations by NWU Puk to various schools in her district mean that she will have access to classrooms that are conducive to learning and playgrounds made for joy.
Through NWU Puk Swop Shop she will learn the importance of recycling and be rewarded when she trades recyclable goods for stationeries, toys, sanitary products and more.
She will reach the latter stages of high school and study for exams under lights provided by NWU Puk and Vodacom's APS solar project applications. She will be a leader in her community. She will be one of many. This approach, the university believes, is an elixir that can invigorate a community.
"Our youth is shackled by their socio-economic circumstances. They are bound by restraints that are not of their choosing. As a role-player in the community and province, it is our duty to widen their confines. Each and every child should be able to thrive now and excel later, that is the future that we at the university strive for," Stidworthy said.
After enrolling at NWU Puk the next stage of their tutelage as leaders begins through programmes such as Leave-a-Legacy.
For Kegomoditswe Letebele, the results of this programme have been profound. "I never thought I could be more than my eyes could see, but I was taught there is a leader in all of us, no matter what your background.
"The university taught me to dream beyond my circumstances. When I came here to NWU Puk I saw these huge buildings and thousands of people. It was scary, but I was taught not to fear things that are bigger than I am. It was a life-changing experience. I never thought that I would be a leader of more than a few people, but now I am a leader of more than 250 in my residence and many more in my life."
Tsholofelo Shupin said: "I was taught to set goals and how to obtain them." Imagine a scenario where Sithembile runs a volunteer recycle unit in her community as part of one of her student Rag community services initiatives, while completing her degree.
Picture her tutoring learners about green living and watch how she establishes a nongovernmental organisation that shelters the homeless; teaching them to use recyclable products to make beads, bowls and jewellery. Now, stop imagining.
This article was supplied and approved by the Mail & Guardian's advertisers. It forms part of a larger supplement.