EDITORIAL

To Work or Not to Work

BY Fr Robert Kinena Ndungu MCCJ | EDITOR

ONE OF the key questions teachers ask children in school is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” A large percentage of children mention becoming a doctor, pilot, teacher, nurse, lawyer, or engineer, among other professions that have long been considered lucrative.

Over time, the notion that one can only be successful and happy if one becomes a doctor, a teacher, or one of these elite professions has, however, been challenged. Many graduates, even highly qualified ones, struggle to find suitable employment. South Africa is no exception to this global trend. Our streets are filled with a pool of professionals holding degrees, moving from one office to another, searching for jobs. Gradually, it seems that degrees and diplomas are becoming meaningless.

Genesis Chapter 2 establishes work as being an essential element of human dignity. Bp Masilo and Fr Caramazza explore this in depth, and Fr Muyebe demonstrates practical examples of the violation of human dignity in coal mining. No discussion of work is conclusive without addressing the challenge of unemployment.

Mike Poithier talks about the fantasy of formal employment, arguing for the promotion of the informal sector to address the challenge of unemployment. The experience of Alfi Oloo portrays how one can succeed outside lecture halls, by filling the market gaps using one’s dexterity of mind. In the same vein, Jill Williams argues for mentorship as one aspires to prosper in one’s career and climb the ladder in the corporate world.

In her article, Kati Dijane espouses the idea of mentorship in her interview with Madimane of Justice and Peace Johannesburg Archdiocese. According to Ntlantla Madimane, many young people have been conditioned to merely pursue jobs rather than to focus on meaningful work.

In the final analysis, it seems that most people end up working in most unexpected work environments or doing jobs they were never prepared for! Most retirees will identify with the testimony of J Harvest. These are the lucky ones! Others may live the rest of their lives seeking jobs or basically living from hand to mouth. And all these aspirations are driven by one factor: human dignity. Work makes us human.

The million-dollar question is, “How can humans remain dignified in the presence of high levels of unemployment?”

“How can humans remain dignified in the presence of high levels of unemployment?”

Inspired by the wisdom of Jesus in Matthew 20:1–16, we hope and pray that each person capable of work will be able to find suitable employment, whether in the first hour, the second hour, the third hour, the fourth hour, or the eleventh hour. And when work has been secured, may we be energised by St Paul in Colossians 3:23–24 to work for our sanctification.

Who knows, the work that you are doing now may be the only work you will ever have and this may become the vocation that will one day sanctify you and make you a saint!

I highly recommend accompanying the reading of this issue with the encyclical Laborem Exercens (1981) of St John Paul II. We celebrate all people who, in one way or another, work to make the world a better place, and who bring the face of God to all places of work.

Happy Labour Day!