Jacob Hlongwane - SocioTech

BBL PARTICIPANT: Jacob Hlongwane, Tshepisong West, Soweto, Gauteng

In a Nutshell

Jacob Hlongwane from Tshepisong West, Soweto, has learnt about soil improvement and is planning for a future in food gardening.

He says…

This is

I come from Giyani in Limpopo and my family were subsistence farmers - mostly pumpkins and maize. As a child, I observed their planting but I was born disabled and so I couldn’t help work the land very much. Occasionally bird scaring but that was it.

In 2003 I came to Gauteng to complete my matric, after which I started a business studies course at South West College in Krugersdorp. That is how I ended up in this part of the world. After two years, I had to drop out because of a lack of finances but I liked the place, so I stayed in the area. In 2007, I asked the councillor for a stand which is when this land that is now my home was allocated to me.

There are many good things about this place. My children were born here. I have good friends here. On weekends we go to Kaizer Chiefs games together. My friend Justice spent his holidays helping me to dig my trenches – he had his own work to do but he took time out to help me.

I am not saying that things are perfect. One of the big challenges is the lack of tarred roads. When there are water leakages or heavy rains the roads get muddy. This wheelchair that I am using is not battery operated so I have to use my hands to push the wheels. Sometimes I don’t know what is in the mud and that is very unpleasant on my hands. I did have a battery powered wheelchair, but the batteries have been recharged so many times that they are now beyond recharging. I took it to the repair shop, but they say it can’t be done. I was quoted R4000 for new batteries so I am stuck using my hands until I can save that money.

I know that there are challenges in my life, but I can’t let them stop me from making progress. I am a husband and a father. I have responsibilities. My children need me to earn a living. I saw my friend farming and I asked him about it. He told me about SocioTech, so I went to the training. So far, I have done MyFood, MyFuture and MyBusiness. I took the training seriously and I have learnt many things. I loved all the new information.

In terms of the MyFood I was very interested in the health information. As a father, I want to ensure that my kids eat right. I keep and sell chickens – people buy these traditional chickens that I have for their ceremonies - but I never sell the eggs, because my little boys love eggs.

"....that won't be a problem for me."

All the eggs belong to my boys. I lived on my own for a long time before I married, so I can cook – simple things, but delicious things. I know that my wife will probably go on doing most of the cooking, but I am really looking forward to having more fresh vegetables and being able to follow The Food Robot teachings. Everyone in this community deserves easy access to vegetables, but for me, with my mobility issues, the change in my life is especially great. Getting to the supermarket from here is expensive and time consuming. Soon that won’t be a problem for me.

The information in MyFuture and MyBusiness is easier for me to apply directly than those teachings that require digging and mobility. I was impressed by the emphasis on taking responsibility for our own actions. It is important to stand up for myself. The money management training was very useful. How to sell. What to sell. How to save and budget.

I can’t physically dig trenches, collect tins or bones and my sons are still too young (11 and 3 years old) to help, so I had to employ an older boy to dig for me. It is an investment, but I know that once the trench soil is rich and fertile, it will last for a long time. Maybe as long as ten years – by which time both my boys will be big and strong enough to dig for me. Once my 3 trenches are complete, I hope to receive a SocioTech vegetable tunnel. The practical information on what to plant and when to plant was new to me.

I have been thinking about how I could be more hands on involved with the farming. I recently saw raised beds on the internet. If they were at the height of my chair, I could do more of the work myself. They could be layered with bones and tins and grass in the same way as the SocioTech deep trenches. I was wondering if perhaps farming inside old bathtubs might work as a raised bed for me. I was also wondering if there was a business opportunity in making raised beds. Not only for farmers in wheelchairs but also for elderly people with bad backs and painful knees. Perhaps SocioTech could train us how to make raised beds? That’s the thing about the SocioTech training, once you have got the right mindset, you start to see business opportunities everywhere.