About 60 Jeppe High School for Boys learners spent September 23 clearing weeds, rubbish and alien vegetation at Brixton Cemetery.

The learners joined Friends of Johannesburg Cemeteries (FoJC) to cut back invasive black wattle, robinia and bugweed, weed graves, pick up litter and turn over fallen headstones.

For Sarah Welham, founder of FoJC, getting the boys involved came about through a connection with the school. One of the group’s members has a son at the school and knew they regularly get involved in community activities, so she suggested the cemetery as a project.

The school then chose Brixton Cemetery as one of the places where its boys would spend the day giving back.

Read more: Brixton Cemetery clean-up uncovers historic stories of women

Welham explained that the group does not always have enough people with the physical strength to turn fallen headstones, which carry vital information for recording who is buried in the graves.

Plentiful muscle for tough jobs

With 60 young men on site, the group had the muscle to tackle jobs that are difficult during its smaller regular work parties.

“They’ve cut back a lot of the horrible robinia and bugweed,” Welham said.

For the group, the value of the day went beyond clearing overgrown areas. Welham believes community involvement should be part of growing up – particularly for young people who have benefited from the city they live in. She hopes the boys left with a greater appreciation for cemeteries and the importance of caring for them.

“They’re certainly going to leave here feeling quite bruised and scratched,” she joked, “but yes, I’m sure they’re appreciating the cemetery.”

Taking ownership of community spaces

Brett Riskowitz, House master and an English and Life Orientation teacher at the school, said the cleanup fitted into the school’s wider efforts to encourage learners to become involved in their communities.

The school was already organising a large cleanup across different areas when FoJC approached them about helping at Brixton Cemetery. Riskowitz had seen the cemetery from the outside over the years but had never explored it.

Also read: Brixton Cemetery trapped in costly clean-up cycle

He admitted that he did not realise how badly some areas had deteriorated. Yet beneath the overgrown vegetation and neglected graves, he found something unexpected.

“There’s still like a peace here. It’s beautiful in its own way,” he said.

He believes residents cannot simply wait for someone else to solve every problem affecting their neighbourhoods. While municipalities have an important role to play, Riskowitz said communities also need to take responsibility for the spaces around them.

“It is our problem,” he said, describing the impact of small acts of neglect as something that ultimately affects the wider community and country.

Overcoming hesitation with hard work

The boys appeared to embrace the challenge. Riskowitz expected some learners might initially be nervous or superstitious about working in a cemetery, but said they soon settled in and got stuck into the work.

“Jeppe boys are tough like that as well. So they don’t mind the hard work,” he said.

For Welham, the hope is that this first school partnership will not be the last. FoJC has not previously worked with a school in this way, but she hopes other schools will follow Jeppe’s example.

The cemetery may have given the boys a few scratches and sore muscles, but it also gave them something more lasting: a chance to leave a place better than they found it.

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