Herbertsdale
Workshop 2
Jessica
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Climate change in Herbertsdale
Workshop 2: presenting climate models, 14-15 January 2014
Day 1: almost no one arrived; eventually screened some videos and had discussion on them (Heiveld,
rainwater harvesting; Gouritz Biodiversity Corridor)
Day 2:
Scheduled to start at 9. Just after 10am, Elvin opens the meeting, with approx 18 people (excluding 4
from EMG). All participants are from HBD, apart form EMG and Wendy Crane from the Gouritz
Biodiversity Corridor. One person (Mossel Bay fire dept) has already left – he was here just before 9.
Taryn then introduces the day’s workshop.
Doel van die werkswinkel:
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‘n kort inleiding tot klimaats-verandering (a short introduction to cc)
Wat bedoel dit spesifiek for HBD (what does it mean specifically for Herbertsdale)
Om to begin om to dink oor planne vir die toekoms, i.t.v. bronne en verhoudings (to start to
think about plans for the future, in terms of livelihoods, resources, relationships)
Agenda:
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Inleiding en bekendstelling (Introduction and getting to know each other)
‘n geskiedenis van die verhouding tussen EMG en HBD (a history of the relationship between
EMG and HBD)
Opsomming van Oct. Werkswinkel (summary of October workshop)
Buitengewoonde weer in HBD en omgewing (Extreme weather in HBD and surrounds)
Klimaats-verandering in HBD en omgewing (Climate change in HBD)
MIDDAG-ETE (Lunch)
Bronne van HBD (Resources of HBD)
Opsomming, evaluasie, sluiting (Summary, evaluation, closing)
Introductions
Introduce your name and your favourite weather:
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Taryn, hot day because I love to swim
Rommerk, hot day then I feel it’s a nice day
Renate, rain because I love to sleep
Sune, warm but not too hot or cold
Caroline, lekker reen
Xxx, rain with TV under the blankets
Magdelene, warm weather
Sunshine
Sunshine
Thabo, light drizzling days, because I can’t swim
Alvin, warm and rain
Wendy, sag, sag, reen
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Auntie Katie, like weather just as it comes
2 others...
Veronica, cool weather
2x – cold and warm
Jessica, storms and smell of rain on the land
Stephen – cold, wet and lovely smells from cooking bread, etc.
EMG-HBD relationship
Taryn introduced EMG as a small NGO with office in CT and Nieuwoudtville; work with people and
the environment. E.g. work with Rooibos farmers and people in CT who struggle to access water. In
2009-2010, did some research on drought in Eden district and Municipality increased water tariffs.
We had a workshop here in HBD. We met Elvin who has done more work with us, e.g. participated in
the international climate change meeting in Durban.
Then we got money for a project. There are scientists who do lots of research on climate change.
Now we’re trying to see if these science models can say anything about local impacts and whether
this if helpful for people on-the-ground, or does it just add to worries. We did some work on this in
GVW near Piketberg, and now here we are in HBD.
We began in October last year and had a workshop with a few participants. We looked at HBD
resources as well as some challenges that HBD faces. Minutes of the meeting are available (copies
on the table).
Introduction to climate change
Stephen gave a short intro to what climate change is and what causes it. Is there anyone here who
has never heard of cc? (No one volunteered ignorance...). He explained the difference between
climate and weather. Climate change is about changing weather patterns. Why is this happening? He
explained the greenhouse effect, how burning fossil fuels is leading to global warming, and what
greenhouse gases are.
Observations: sleeping toddler in a mattress behind me; another child sitting quietly on a woman’s
lap. Most participants are concentrating and listening to Stephen. Some are taking notes. One or two
of the youth look bored or cynical.
Question from Caroline: I’m worried because I know in a greenhouse if its too hot the plants all die…
so if there are too many greenhouse gases above our Earth, we could also be killed!
Answer from Stephen: this is why the politicians and scientists are worried; for eons we’ve become
used to the earth being a particular temperature. No one is really sure what the effect of heating the
planet will be.
There are scientists that do a lot of work in the story. It’s hard enough to predict tomorrow’s
weather, so even harder to predict 50 years time. What they min-of-meer say, is...the Western part
of the country will get drier (less rain), warmer, winters won’t be as cold and the winter rains will
happen earlier (shifting seasons). Eastern part will get wetter and hotter; and rain will come in more
concentrated form (over shorter time periods).
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Weather in HBD – what does it look like now?
Listed: temperature, rain, wind, light, moisture, clouds, storms thunder lightening, droughts.
Summer: 30C and up; can rain any time of the year but a little more in winter (discussion
/disagreement on this). Humid.
Winter: 0-20C; rain is soft and storms. June/July/August are coldest months
Aloe tappers work year round, but struggle in the morning wind.
What about the Berg wind? Is there a season for this? I live in the mountains and often windy there,
but dead still when I come to town. Mostly this hot wind is in summer.
What’s the worst part of your weather? Heat. Hot summers. And dry. Even though summer rain,
doesn’t really help.
What’s the worst part of winter weather? River overflows at least once or twice a year. Everything is
muddy.
What about fire? It’s the farmers that burn the veld.
What about spring and autumn?
Relaxation / visualisation
Jessica lead a very short relaxation / visualisation into the past – to the time before houses and roads
in Herbertsdale.
Unusual weather in HBD – building a timeline
Taryn led plenary discussion (see timeline on flip charts)
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Agreed on what constitutes unusual weather – droughts, floods, hail and thunderstorms,
fire, heatwaves
Kate (Golden oldie): When I was small, there was always water; we never struggled to get
water. Weren’t as many crops from the farmers; and then dams came. Worst flood was in
1981.
Xx: I was born in 1964...so from 1970 there was still lots of water in the river; gathered every
Monday. Didn’t have taps or toilets. I was in junior school when the came – maybe early
1980s – each house got a tap. And toilets about 15 years ago.
When did you notice less water? Hard to pin-point.
Power (Eskom) came in....
Drought 2009-2010
2004 – flood washed away the bridge
Windstorms blow roofs off
Fires every 5 years or so
No memory of mud slides
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Impacts and responses to unusual weather
Sit in small groups (organise yourselves) to look at how a specific event affected you & your
community and how did you respond. Questions for each group are:
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3.
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Hoe het die droogte/vloed jou en jou familie getref?
Wat moes jy en jou familie doen om dit te oorleef?
What het die gemeenskap / Munisipaliteit / kerk / ens. gedoen om jou te help
Wat was nie gedoen nie (or could have been done) of wat was gedoen wat die ding erger
gemaak het?
Report backs
Group 1: The drought
What did we do to survive?
We had to make a small hole to collect water to live. Every day we took water from the wasbak to
clean our clothes. Food was more expensive – e.g. price of potatoes went up. Water restrictions
meant that we had to use same water for bathing, washing clothes, etc., and that we couldn’t water
our gardens. Small farmers and fruit/veg sellers were affected. People had to share baths, etc.
People on farms used to get water out of the rivers but they couldn’t any more, had to collect it
from small fountains.
What did municipality do?
Municipality brought water in trucks. They took water trucks to the farms. They monitored water
use.
What should have been done, but wasn’t done?
The municipality didn’t respond when we phoned the hotline to report people/ farmers who were
wasting water. People didn’t get enough water – the municipality brought trucks with water, but
delivered it first to all the farms along the way, and by the time they got to Herbertsdale there was
only a little bit left, so people had to wait until the next day to get water.
Question: the number you could call, was it here or MB? Mossel Bay. And water was also trucked in
from MB.
Group 2: Most people in this group hadn’t been in HBD for their whoe lives, but
they talked about the weather and how it affects them (just slightly different
questions).
People who live in plate-huise (shacks made of metal sheets) feel the heat and the cold very
severely. They have to collect water in buckets from the houses whose backyards they live in.
Aloe harvesters – best weather is warm with no wind. Sap doesn’t flow well if wind is blowing.
Group 3: Floods
How did the floods affect the community?
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Unemployment went up; lots of damage to possessions; people got sick; electricity cables were
damaged. P
What did people do to respond/ survive?
People had to filter water, or boil it before using it. Some people in the community organised food
parcels and a soup kitchen.
What did municipality do or not do?
Municipality did not do anything to help the community. They should build more storage dams.
Group 4: Droughts
How did the droughts affect the community?
Seasonal work dropped, e.g. naartjie trees died, those farms went under and were replaced by big
dairy farms. So lots of seasonal workers lost their jobs, unemployment increased.
How did people survive?
There were some opportunities for short term work in the town. Some small community projects
were started, like support for entrepreneurs. People also had some income from aloe harvesting.
What should have been done that wasn’t done?
We didn’t get any warning or info on if the floods were coming, very poor communication, and we
don’t have internet here to check on these things for ourselves.
Presentation: How will cc affect HBD (according to the scientists)
Jessica presented; Stephen translated; no time for questions.
13h20 LUNCH
Team meeting at lunch time. Agree not to go ahead with mapping resources. Instead, need to find
out where people are at and how useful the morning has been for them. We don’t really know who is
in the room or why they have come.
Touching base
Stephen welcomed everyone back. It’s hot, so will try to wrap up quite quickly. Will start with a
summary of what we have done today (and yesterday, when people watched some videos).
Observation: almost no one is here after lunch; and suddenly 3 men walk out, one after another. Elvin
has called them out. Outside people are talking on the balcony and the sound of an engine
(lawnmower? truck?) is very loud. It’s also very hot. At least two of the people in the room have been
forced to stay here by Elvin. What is the real community dynamic? Eleven people now here – some
haven’t been here in the morning. The men return – 14 now in the room. Plus Caroline’s child and
their dog.
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SL: Any questions?
Elvin: have the scientists come up with any new findings?
SL: Yes – always refining models
Caroline: is the info from HBD useful for the scientists?
SL: what the scientists want is...info from e.g. a weather station
TP: but there are more and more scientists who want to hear about people’s on-the-ground
experiences, particularly in the field of climate change
Caroline: the old people can tell us a lot – they are also like scientists because they can say what the
weather is likely to be, etc.
SL: but those old prediction measures might not work anymore as the climate starts changing
The same men walked out again! They keep being called to help with something outside.
Evaluation
Talk to your neighbour for 15 minutes (2 or 3 people). The question is: wat was vir jou (persoonlike
for jou), interesant, of balangrik, of scary. Not only what was interesting, but what was relevant for
you, and why. Was there info or an insight you got that could be practically helpful.
What has resonated with you today? (what have you learnt, what will you remember, etc.)
What was interesting for me were the science predictions, especially the one model CI2. And the
question I asked – that we’re in the middle, but could be hotter. It’s useful as well as interesting.
I liked the map of western/eastern Africa and that we’re in the middle; and changing different ways
on each side. Maybe I’m being paranoid but worried what might happen if those climates clash – e.g.
will there be a Tsunami? SL: you’re already in the middle, its normal; what might change is that you’ll
move towards summer or winter rain.
Learnt about the greenhouse effect, which was interesting – nothing I’m planning to do about it.
Learnt about gh effect at school, but interesting to hear about it again. (11 years ago).
Everything was interesting for me, and in the end quite scary. Feels like too little info is given on cc;
and also worry that its the whole world.
Some input from Stephen and Taryn about what governments and others are doing, e.g. cities
planning re sea-level rise, Eskom solar heaters, etc.
A final word from EMG to say that we are open to discussing a future relationship with Herbertsdale,
but we will wait for people from HD to initiate it. We do not want to force people to come to a
meeting and listen to us if they are not interested. Some of the areas we can imagine offering
support in are: understanding the aloe markets better, starting to think about organising better as
aloe harvesters; understanding the river and overall water situation better, in conversation with the
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municipality; offering more information and education on climate change. Our doors are open, but
you need to think about what you would like our contribution to be.
Some reflections
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There were some alarm bells from early on that we might struggle to get a meaningful
process going in Herbertsdale: we discovered that SCLC were no longer working there, we
couldn’t get a clear picture of any active organisations in Herbertsdale, etc. But we went
ahead anyway, because of time constraints, because HBD worked in terms of the
hydrological modeling, because we had a relationship with Elvin.
A similar thing happened in both sites: The active people, with leadership qualities and a
genuine interest in the workshops (Ian in GVW and Elvin in HBD) were so busy running
around organising logistics (food, participants, etc) that they were hardly in the room during
the workshops. This is a pity, because when they were there they participated actively and
brought important perspectives.
It is very hard to tell whether there was anything helpful that came out of the workshops in
HBD, for the participants. Most of the people who attended had been rounded up and
pressured to attend on the morning of the workshop. They sat politely through the
workshop, but did not seem to really understand why they were there, or how this was
possiby relevant for them.
Ntombi from SCLC, the fire guy who came from Mossel Bay, and Elvin and Shune from HBD,
all spoke about how no-one in HBD ever goes to meetings. They said things like: ‘they have
no commitment, they are only committed to complaining’; ‘they are not interested in
working for something if there are no immediate money benefits’; ‘they have been
disappointed in the past so now they would rather just get on with their daily lives then go
to meetings which they do not really understand the point of’.
There were a number of people in the October workshop who were part of HAK, who really
seemed interested in attending this follow-up workshop, but none of them came. There is
possibly some tension between Elvin and HAK. Or people were just busy.
Elvin is quite difficult to communicate with, and his suggestion of the 14th and the 15th as
dates was maybe not the best suggestion. Shune said the previous week would have been
better, because this week everyone is out looking for work, getting their kids to school, etc.
Elvin thought last week wouldn’t work because everyone would still be in holiday mode.
Elvin did not communicate with me that these days would actually be very busy. Either he
did not realise, or he just didn’t take the initiative to communicate with me about the
situation.
Elvin, Caroline and Shune said that it had been a useful and interesting workshop, even
though people were quiet they had been concentrating, and they all said ‘if they weren’t
finding it interesting they would have left!’.
The climate models for HBD did not say very much more than what we could have said
based on the regional models.
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