Paul Harris - Extract from the speech at Penryn College Founders day 23rd July 2007.

I was invited to talk about transformation: One of the most moving experiences I have had was some years ago when I participated in a transformational initiative known as the Vuka programme. The objective of the programme was to get a better team spirit within our company. We had recognized that one of the obstacles was that people did not have an understanding or appreciation of one another, and of one another’s cultures.

On the first day we sat in two groups of equal size on opposite sides of the room. One group of Black people and the other White people. We started by talking about our perceptions and feelings towards the other group. Of course we all started off being very polite and nobody really spoke about how they truly felt. We were fortunate to have a skilled facilitator (Mike Boon) and slowly he was able to loosen us up and get us talk about how we truly felt. And lots of things came out, much of it for the first time in mixed company.

Most of the White people spoke about their fears. Their fear of crime which they saw as a “Black thing”. Many had examples of having been the victim of crime. The spoke of the fear of a lowering of standards and their fear of “going the same was as the rest of Africa”. They spoke of the fear of affirmative action and how it would rob their children of opportunities, etc etc. In fact it was much like the dinner party talk that sometimes takes place when “whiteys” whinge about South Africa.

On the other hand most of the Black people spoke of how they had suffered under apartheid. How their families had been separated by law. How they were confined to townships that had totally inadequate infrastructure. How they were deprived of adequate education and therefore the skills needed to compete in today’s economy. How they are often humiliated by White people who treat them as inferior and do so without any acknowledgement that they have the same human feelings of love, pride and dignity as white people. They also spoke of the toll their families and communities took when their loved ones were victimized and brutalized by the apartheid regime. Nearly everyone told of either a personal experience or one involving their close family.

As you can imagine this outpouring of all our baggage and all our perceptions about one another was extremely emotionally draining. At the end of the day it was not possible to go home and watch TV and go to bed. I did not sleep well that night and despaired at the incredible gap that there appeared to be between us as South Africans.

On the next day facilitator asked us what type of country we would like to live in and what type of company we would like to work for. We wanted a country that was peaceful and prosperous, we wanted a country where there was law and order and that was crime free, we wanted a country where our children would have opportunities for a good education and employment, we wanted a country that was clean and took care of the environment, we wanted a country where there was mutual respect and harmony between people and between races etc, etc, etc. There was no difference in what we wanted. Ladies and gentlemen we all want to live in a peaceful, prosperous and safe country where there are opportunities for all and mutual respect between people.

For the rest of the session we spoke about what we as individual people can do to realize these aspirations. The atmosphere had changed from being negative, whingeing, inward-looking and obsessed with our differences, to one where our energy was directed at the solutions and what we ourselves could do to realize the aspirations that were common to all of us.

Ladies and Gentlemen transformation is about this journey. It’s about the journey from being inward-looking, negative and obsessed by our prejudices and differences to being positive and contributing to creating the type of community and country we wish to live in.

Of course we will have frustrations, of course there will be times when we will feel we are not making progress, of course there will be people who spoil things by not letting go of their prejudices and negativity. As an aside can I say that I find nothing more soul destroying than listening to people who endlessly complain about things in South Africa and yet make no contribution of their own to solving our problems. Transformation is not an easy journey – as a friend of mine once said “There is no easy road to a good fishing spot”. But it is a journey worth traveling because this is the greatest country in the world and we must claim it for our children.

And, Ladies and gentlemen and scholars, it is also an incredibly exciting and rewarding journey for those that put their hearts into it. At FirstRand we found that a lot of our staff wanted to make a contribution but simply did not know how. So we started the FirstRand Volunteers Programme which is entirely voluntary and aims to help people become more effective in community work.

What we now have is people within the bank ranging from the most senior to the most junior getting together in groups and doing amazing things. Some take grannies to the movies on Saturday, some adopt orphanages, some collect clothes from privileged schools and some renovate schools over the weekend. Imagine that – the kids leave school on Friday and when they return the school has been painted and repairs done.

The feedback from our people has been phenomenal. Almost without exception staff say that the experience is enriching their lives and giving them so much more appreciation of the lives of people less privileged than themselves. And our staff these activities are great for team building as they share the experience. For these people the transformation journey is an exciting and rewarding journey.