Background for Pule Gideon Mantjie

My name is Pule, and I am from a family of nine living in two room house and a shack. Both of my parents are still alive, I am lucky to have them. I am grateful for the support that they give me every day of my life. Life was so complicated during my school years, more especially at high school. It is there where I started to do things that wasted my time. Until one of my teachers, Mr. Lekaota, inspired me by telling me that “opportunity comes once in a life time” passing grade 12 was like a dream come true.

They tell you that life after matric is hard, I wanted to further my studies but because of financial reasons, lack of money, I could not. One thing I know is that with God everything is possible. One day I got a phone call my principal, he told me that he wants to see me in his office. I went to him and he told me about some people from America that where offering an online education in emergency management. It was an offer that I couldn’t refuse, for me education is a key to success.

SCHOOL IN KANANA

Well it is great to have a school like these one because some of us have never been in a disaster; we have only seen them on TV. Disasters are out there every day and they need to be managed at all times no matter what happens. This is just the beginning of life for me.

Since I have been in this school I have learned a lot, not just for me but also for my family. More especially when it comes to every day emergencies. Now when it comes to an emergency I know that we have a plan, we are prepare to respond, and have mitigated what we can so that we can recover from any emergency. I like to watching this school grow every day; grow not only for us but for the benefit of our community. We can go further and further with the lessons we get from the emergency managers in America, and with support from those who are here in Kanana like Mr. Landon Densley he has been like an angel to us, he can teach and at same time motivate us.

FAMILY LIFE

It so nice to talk about my family, we the Mantjie’s, are people who love and care for one another. We like to talk with each other more especially support each other in the things we are doing. My family is such a support to me. They feel that education is the best way to reach success. I am really enjoying my studies in emergency management. I look forward not only the possibility of a good job but a real way to serve my community. I can be a support to the upcoming generation with the knowledge that I have gained.

FUTERE OUTLOOK

Looking forward to my future now has so many possibilities, I don’t know how things will work out but what I know is that with God anything is possible. A simple job is all I am after when I finish my studies in emergency management. There are times that I think about working outside of South Africa, it is not as easy as I thought it might be to work internationally. I believe with the a strong background in emergency management, getting the FEMA certificates, earning my Associate Emergency Management certificate (AEM), and having the support of groups like Every Child Is Ours it might just be possible. My future is going to be bright; I would like to thank all the people who are supporting us.

LEARNING ABOUT WDMCC

The first semester was hard because expectations where set so high. We were promised laptops, books, t-shirt and access to the internet, all as part of this school. Well none of that happened. We lost many of our classmates because of the lack of these things. Things did not happen as fast as I would have liked. But I can tell you that with perseverance comes success. Things all changed when Mr. Landon came from America. We had someone to help us understand the world of disaster management in the room with us. And slowly we got computers and the internet and FEMA gave us student numbers so are now taking our test online. I have passed almost every test we have been assigned. I am now so excited about this college and would like to see this college grow and expand to other places around South Africa.

CHALLENGES

When I am not at school or studying, I like hanging out with my friends and most are working now and have money to spend. That has been hard on me because I am not working I am in school. There are some simple things that I would like to have and my family doesn’t have the money to get them for me. I must remember perseverance, I know with the mercy of God I can survive through difficulties times.

Today I am able to go to school and further my education. What I want is to make sure that I do my best on my studies. I know on the good days there will be a smile on my face.

CHOICES TO COME

One of the greatest things about this school is that much of the success of the school is in the hands of us as the students. For us to be successful in what we want to accomplish we know we must work hard, and be a support to each other. It’s exciting to know we have such a big effect in our own learning. The WDMCC and The Every Child is Ours foundation has opened the doors to so many good people who are helping us learn so much. We have the resources and the tools to learn. If we do not feel we know a subject well enough we can go to FEMA online training, to our long list of teachers who are Emergency Mangers, or we can ask our local resources of the Fire Department or Disaster Management Centers. All of these resources come from the hard work of the leaders like Mrs. Kay, Mrs. Jan, Mrs. Zodawa and Mr. Landon.

Sometimes things are hard, the power goes out, computers go down, people do not show up to meetings, whatever the case we manage. It’s a lot like life things often do not go like the plan but we are learning how to adjust our plan, to have back-up plans and make each day a success.

I look forward to working in Emergency Management. I feel like I have more confidence, people notice and they ask me what I am doing. I tell them what I am studying at the World Disaster Management Community College. I am proud to be a part of this school.  

FIRST DAYS

Computers have not been a part of the Kanana education growing up and at first it was hard for me to figure out what to do.  With a few lessons and practice I can tell you that now I am able to work on the computer on my own thanks to Mr. Landon. White, our student leader, has been there for me when I have had question. Mr. Landon is always telling us “working together we can do more” and now I can see that we are doing more on our studies it good to work as a team. I still want to see our school grow.

HIGHLIGHTS

Putting together my own family emergency plan has been a highlight. At first it was hard for me and I was not sure I would be able to get it completed, but after the way my classmates talked about it I knew it would be important for me to have. The one thing about a plan is that is never finished. We need to remember to update it often with the new information and items we may have or the changes that have happened in our family. And knowing how to put together a plan will help me to help other families, or companies to develop plans.

LOW LIGHTS

We are working on the Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) for the Kanana Secondary School. We have done quite a lot of work on it. The work on the plan has been hard but we are getting there every day we meet we talk a lot about it. Most of the other schools in Kanana do not have EOP plans that can help them to respond or prevent some of the disasters that can occur at any time. It exciting to be a part of this plan because we might help prevent issues and maybe save lives because the school will have a plan they will know what to do.

SECOND SEMESTER

I am looking forward to do more on my school work and to increase the number of my FEMA certificates, and also to work towards getting my associate emergency manager certificate (AEM).