The College students were privileged to be visited by Dr Lilian Cingo, an award-winning nurse and doctor, and St John's grandmother, who took healthcare to rural South Africa. She addressed our students at Amphitheatre and spoke to them about the importance of being able to adapt to any situation.
"Mr Stuart West, Executive Headmaster, Mr Allan Magubane, Deputy Head: Transformation & Diversity, and all St John’s College staff and students.
Thank you for the honour of addressing you. I have come to your college to express one thing that is vital to me concerning you all ... and that is gratitude.
As a grandparent, I am here to pay my respects to you, to let you know that as parents and grandparents, we are truly grateful. I am Lathita and Lwandle Hlongwane’s grandmother. My name is Lillian Nomathemba Hlongwane Cingo – what, how many syllables is that?
On behalf of grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and friends ... in English – Thank you very much. In Sotho, Rea leboha, Afrikaans, Baie dankie, isiZulu, Siyabonga, Xhosa, Siyabulela and Shangaan, Reakhensa.
Before I go on, I would like to explain how this gratitude is linked to some of the points I’m going to mention because if you didn’t have some of the attributes you have, namely the ability to adapt, resilience, love and unselfishness, the College would not be in the good state it is in. We are indebted to you all for the way you have handled the life of this College over the last couple of years.
How did you manage? Let’s go first to that important word, adapting, being able to adapt a frame between mind, body and soul – your attitude towards a situation. My experience of adapting is vast. Born in a village in the Eastern Cape, I had to adapt later to Soweto ̶ when my parents moved there ̶ training in various hospitals in all the provinces and learning the different languages, traditions and protocols.
Then, before some of your grandparents were even born, in 1966, I went to train as a neurosurgical nurse specialist in London.
Shock, excitement, joy, anxiety and uncertainty ̶ what thrilled me was finding that, at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, there were doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and so forth, from all parts of the world.
Struggling to remember where all these places were, I bought an old-fashioned globe with all the countries on it. I had to learn fast, a few words to say, “Good day”, “Sorry”, and “How are you?”
I had expected everyone to speak English there, but we all came together from different parts of the world and had to learn to work together.
The vision of what Europe was was changed for me; the reality was different. I had expected that every white person would be privileged and educated, but to my surprise, when I requested one of my patients to sign a consent form for his surgery, he asked if I would put a cross for him – he had never had an opportunity to go to school. This changed my preconceived ideas about people and countries.
One evening, I went to the cinema with a friend and at the end, everyone stood up to sing “God Save the Queen”. My friend and I were the last to stand up due to our lack of knowledge of the British protocols, but we adapted to the conditions and traditions and in a very positive way, the people from various countries adapted to our ways.
Attitude. I had to change my views about people and their behaviours. In England, I had expected everyone to be rich, a businessman or well off! Oh no, it wasn’t so – in fact, the workers were striking and demanding more money. So, Lillian had to decide whether to stick to old views regardless of what she saw and heard, or adapt in a positive way and in the process, learn to give support too, to share. What was going to be my attitude towards the unexpected changes, some pleasant or unpleasant?
This is what you at St John’s College have done for us during Covid. You too had your challenges at home, I’m sure: potentially sick parents, grandparents and your own dear selves, but what you did was unimaginable. You adapted; you’ve always cared for our children but this time the demand was so much more because you became our guides overnight.
We needed the St John’s staff’s suggestions on how to combat and not accelerate the spread of Covid; to advise on what our children should and should not do when going to school, how to study, what to study, how to be creative. The main challenge was that the teachers had to help us parents become the teaching assistant, in a sense.
Mr West, you guided your students, you calmed them and in doing that, calmed us too. You have given love in many ways to your students and staff, but this was different – there is a killer at work, but you reminded me of the Shakespeare poem that says: “Love is not love/Which alters when it alteration finds/O no, it is an ever-fixed mark/That looks on tempests and is never shaken.”
This is a war, a tempest, but you were reliable, you gave your all and were meticulous about the information you shared, which reassured us no end. What had happened to the world had changed everything in unexpected, unpleasant, challenging and sometimes cruel ways.
“The best-laid schemes of mice and men” were going awry as you adopted new ways, new settings, and different rules to make sure your employees and students were safe. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking, Oh God please bless and preserve their families. They are guiding and guarding our children... Guard their families too. If there is loss, grief or death, be there, God, because they are giving all to the school, to the students and thus to us.
This brings me to the last point: Mr West and your staff, thank you for your resilience, your ability to be tough and pliant pilots driving this boat, for measured decision-making, for your confidence in these decisions, thus consciously or unconsciously transferring that confidence and self-assurance to us. One of the most admirable aspects of what you all did was that you remained focused: you created channels and methods, you changed and adapted, yet you never lost the vision and goals of the College.
Because of these actions, your students, parents, grandparents, cousins, friends, and the community never lost the trust, confidence and respect we have for the school. We felt embraced, part of the process and thus your students feel protected, loved, respected, and their health and interests valued.
You as staff and students in the College were outstanding, efficient and steadfast under extenuating circumstances. So, merci, siyabulela College staff!
As I look at the students of St John’s College, the landscape is picturesque. The world is forever changing and we must all adapt accordingly, never forgetting we have a God-given purpose and reason for being. Reach and strive for that goal... Believe in that goal and understand that you were made for that goal.
Good luck in all your future endeavours - we will be watching and applauding."