A SILENT SONG ESSAY QUESTION
People living on the streets apply wisdom in order to survive the difficult conditions. Write an essay to qualify this statement citing illustrations from Rem’y Ngamije’s The Neighbourhood Watch.
Living conditions on the streets are difficult. To survive, one needs not only determination and effort but also experience, knowledge and good judgment. Members of The Neighbourhood Watch apply wisdom to survive the arduous conditions on the streets.
First, the crew is judicious enough to secure territory-a safe haven for sleeping or just to lay low when they weren’t out on a foraging mission. The bridge’s underside is precious real estate to the Neighbourhood Watch. It is an important shelter when it rains and during cold winter nights. The letters NW sprayed on the columns have the same effect as musty pee at the edge of a leopard’s territory. Other crews know better than to encroach it lest they face bloody retaliation. It is also a safe place to hide their stash so that they don’t have to lug their scant possessions everywhere they go. More luggage would slow them down as they rummage their neighbourhoods for food and other essentials. Elias calls their territory headquarters. In the morning, he wakes up the rest of the crew and they share a can of water for washing their faces. To a street family a safe territory is indispensable.
Secondly, they are wise enough to rise early to go searching for food. Elias, Lazarus and Omagano set out before the light of day is full born. They leave early so that they can score the real prizes-that is the overflowing bins behind restaurants. In the early morning one can get edible semi-fresh morsels. In the late morning, the food starts rotting. The neighborhood watch knows: “the early bird does not catch the worms”. In order to get there in good time Elias, Lazarus and Omagano lengthen they are strides. They know that time is of the essence on the streets.
The crew knows that they have to maintain a good bond with other people in order to survive. Elias has a good rapport with most of the kitchen staff in the city. They refer to him by the monikers ‘Soldier’ or ‘Captain’. Sometimes, they leave out almost decaying produce for him and his group. Because of the good relationship, Elias would sometimes be lucky to get potatoes with broken skins, rotting mangoes, and wrinkled carrots. The staff would be generous enough to give them smushed leftovers from the previous night for instance half-eaten burgers, chips drowning in sauce or salads. Most of the kitchen staff are poor and many a time they would need to take the leftovers to their own families. It is amazing that Elias manages to get some food from them.
The Neighbourhood Watch crew is so astute that they have organized themselves into specialised units. Elias, Lazarus and Omagano are always on food duty whereas Silas and Martin are tasked with searching for other essentials. Before, Elias was in on his own so when he met Lazarus he suggested that they form an alliance because it was taxing to rummage for food and other paraphernalia necessary for survival in the streets. At first, Lazarus was resistant. Cold winter nights forced him to comply. It worked for them since two people could cover more ground. One searches for food and the other for other essentials and thus they could do more in a day. Now, they know that children and women are valuable recruits. Some obstinate guards demand for a 10 or 20 dollar bribe to let them scavenge through fenced off bins. Elias usually pays them but when he has no money Omagano goes behind the dumpster with a guard and does what needs to be done. The valuables crew on the other hand provide discarded blankets, mattresses, clothing, reusable shoes, trolleys etc. Trolleys are useful but they can also be traded for better necessities. The two teams work separately and meet in the late afternoon. They share the food that is bread, mashed potatoes, grapes and water. The valuables crew brings newspapers, plastic piping and poorboy caps.
The Neighbourhood Watch also understands the city and its neighbourhoods. Elias asks the crew to sleep since they plan to go foraging in Ausblick tonight. It is too hot to be on the streets now. Night is better and more lucrative for the Neighbourhood Watch. The crew knows that if they hit the bins early, they may score some good things in Ausblick for instance broken toasters, blenders, water bottles, teflon pots or pans, flat screen TV cardboard boxes and even some food. People in Ausblick still know how to throw away things. Elias, Lazarus and Silas will scout ahead rummaging for valuables while Martin and Omagano push the trolley. They know that soon Ausblick will be overcrowded like Olympia and Suiderhof. Pionierspark used to be worthwhile but not anymore. Now, the Neighbourhood Watch are deterred by peeking heads, barking dogs and patrolling vehicles with angry shouting men. They know that the earlier they get to Ausblick the better.
The Neighborhood Watch understands that in order to survive on the streets one must focus on the present, not the past or the future. Everyone brings a past to the streets. Lazarus’s tattoos are evidence of his prison stint. Elias is not scared of him since he faced gunfire against the South African Defence Forces. Because of hunger or need for food on the streets, they have no time to think about the past. Elias shares some street smartness with Lazarus. He says the streets has no future, there is only today. “Today you need food. Today you need shelter. Today you need to take care of today”. On Fridays and Saturdays, the crew avoids the streets and retreats safely to Headquarters. They do this to avoid clashing with patrolling police. Silas wants to leave but is forbidden from taking Martin with him. Elias and Lazarus mock the fools who sit on the roadside in Klein Windhoek and Eros waiting to paint a room, fix a window, install a sink or lay some tiles because they are too proud to forage for food. They end up going home hungry. Martin thinks that sometimes those “fools” can get a job and maybe things will be better. Elias insists that “maybe is tomorrow” and there is only today. On the street one needs to focus on the present to survive. “Every day is today.”
Elias and Lazarus share what they have learned on the streets with the rest of the crew including how they decided to change tack. The crew learned that you cannot survive by being around people trying to survive. When foraging in the poor neighbourhoods, you only get what they don’t need to survive. The Neighbourhood Watch realise that poor people only throw away garbage which is disgusting and babies which are useless. In the poor neighborhoods you had to be ready to find shit: old food, used condoms, women’s things with blood, and broken things. When looking for newspapers to light a fire once, Elias and Lazarus was shocked when they found a dead baby. They knew it was time to upgrade. They only went there because they needed to survive. To survive you go everywhere and do everything. You cannot be picky. But now they know that they should upgrade and go to places where people have enough to throw away. Neighbourhoods with white people and black people trying to be white people have such people. They finally get smart and decide to move away from poor people who have nothing to throw away by themselves.
Lastly the Neighbourhood Watch is wise enough to know that there are some neighbourhoods you have to avoid. They avoid Khomsadal which is overcrowded and people drink too much there. They lost their friend Amos there due to his pride end alcohol. He used to curse people, use ugly swear words and always refused to apologize. He was then stabbed to death. The Neighbourhood Watch knows that on the streets dead bodies are bad. Police would roughly demand explanations from witnesses. They used baton bashes, frustrating paperwork and throwing innocent people in holding cells. When Amos died, everyone including Elias and Lazarus knew they had to run away. They were also wise enough to stick to the initial story that they had nothing to do with the murder when the police caught up with them. They were beaten, bruised, bleeding, with swollen eyes broken ribs and injured limbs but that was better than losing life. They are smart enough to completely avoid Khomsadal.
In conclusion, difficult experiences make people wise enough to cope and survive. Acuity is essential for survival.
