DEAR Editor:
In the death of Pauline Duncan, the Port Shepstone Twinning Association has lost a founding member, mentor, leader, community activist, and above all a humanitarian.
She gave of herself unconditionally.
She was phenomenal in every respect.
The organisation’s objective through its many programmes since 1994 has been social cohesion and empowerment.
In the many exchange programmes with Sweden, Pauline, in various leadership capacities was at the cutting edge in promoting this vision.
She epitomised this perfectly through her relationship with ordinary people, with respect, dignity and equality. She led and coordinated programmes as a volunteer and understood community needs.
One of the programmes which ran for eight years has been the Global School Journey Programme.
It is best described in her own words in one of her documents as follows:
“Each year, around October, we hosted a group of about 25 Swedish politicians, teachers and principals from throughout Sweden as this was a national programme representing 32 municipalities. Their base was at the Gamalakhe College of Education hostel. From there they went out in groups of five to areas such as Izingolweni, Nyandezulu, Ekubusisweni, Magog and Umzumbe, where it was arranged for them to stay in the homes of local families…
Bo Hellstrom (the Swedish convenor) and I moved around the five rural areas, checking that all was okay. Each night we slept in a different home in a different area. It was here that my eyes and heart were truly opened. My experiences as a white urban woman living in a rural home and becoming one with the rural families were life-changing.
I never thought I would experience bathing in a bucket and slipping it under the bed to use again; collecting water and firewood, and shooing away cows who block the way to the pit latrine…
There is so much good that has been done through this programme, including getting to know one another better, becoming more tolerant and understanding our differences.”
Our chairperson, Thulas Mkhize sent the following message of condolence:
“As an association, we are deeply saddened by her departure and we wish her eternal peace. To her family, may God grant them the strength to bear with this loss. Uwile umuth’omkhulu. RIP our dearest Pauline.”
May her legacy live on.
GULSHERA KHAN
Port Shepstone Twinning Association
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