The power of exposure

each other positively, if we are to take our nation to higher levels.
This week we are domiciled on the exposure phenomenon, i.e., what it is and also its power. Exposure in simple terms is a deliberate process of broadening people’s minds, outlook, attitude and skills levels through rubbing shoulders and learning from others, in the neighbourhood or externally. The end result of this process is the production of individuals who are wiser and who add value to society at large, and in their places of work. A bit of a mouthful but I hope you get the drift!
Would you believe it (I sincerely hope you don’t), that I first tried on a shoe at 10 years of age, initially putting my right foot in a left side shoe? Blame it on exposure (or lack of it, actually), for I was coming into contact with the ox leather for the very first time. An aunt of mine had her own experience to share – she first visited the City of Kings and Queens at a ripe age, after having a few siblings. After tasting ice cream she thought it would be unfair not to take some to her children, in the rural areas! Three ice creams (the coloured type), soon found themselves tucked in between new bed-sheets for safe keeping. On arrival home, the ice-creams had all but disappeared and left behind three wooden handles. This world (hayi bo), she must have remarked.
In case you think this exposure phenomenon is only domiciled in columnist’s clan, I bet most of us would have married different people had we had enough exposure. I can hear couples, especially men, defending their choices profusely. I will also defend mine and say I had been to Madlambuzi (to the south), kumakomoyo – Mutare to the east, Muzarabani escarpment, etc., before settling in the endowed but rather expensive province of Masvingo. Abadala had an idea about this exposure phenomenon, which led them into coining the “induku enhle iganyulwa ezizweni” idiom.
The exposure factor affects things social, educational and things work related – big time I say.
On the social side we have just seen in the paragraphs above that one can easily choose the second best spouse depending on their exposure level. The danger is that when such individuals eventually get a little more exposed, they do not only become a nuisance unto themselves but to society at large as well. This is sadly the reality that we see, now and again.
Some children domiciled in towns no longer visit their folk in the countryside, sometimes with adverse consequences. A child only seeing milk via chimombe and not the God made udder of a goat or cow, a child not tasting amasi made by dear gogo, and only visiting this otherwise tasty product via Dairibord – oh Lord have mercy on us. A child not getting wisdom imparted on them via ukhulu or ugogo? I am not sure, maybe it is because I had one of the wisest khulus, really – he was just oozing with home grown wisdom. All in all African culture is rich, it teaches respect and a sense of belonging, which things are fast disappearing, with dire consequences.
We see these things in our educational system – lack of exposure of the teachers which adversely affects schoolchildren, right from Grade Zero, all the way to university level. These products of lack of exposure consequently operate below optimum levels in all they do. In years gone by, schools used to have events such as inter schools and provincial sports fixtures, careers days, school tours, schools quiz competitions, young scientists exhibitions, etc., all aimed at exposing the children.
Yes, these interventions used to work wonders. Some will argue that travel was relatively cheaper, then. While that might be true (it is arguable), the benefits that exposure brings, cannot be wished away, unfortunately. I have been seeing a bit of Jikinya in schools of late – fantastic is all I can say. I remember in the early eighties when I used to work in the endowed (soils and livestock) district of Tsholotsho, there was this school going by the name Mvundlana Primary School.
It had one of the most vibrant cultural ensemble, with one of the small boys always almost turning into a mvundlana (baby hare) with his antics. Yes, that was culture at its best. Let us resuscitate career guidance sessions, school tours, in a meaningful way, dear schools. Exposure for our school children remains a critical must have.
Most tertiary institutions have introduced attachment programmes as part of their teaching methodology, in order to give the programmes the much needed practical bias. While not doubting the good intentions in these attachment programmes, are they having the desired intentions, becomes the billion dollar question? Do these institutions of higher learning evaluate the effectiveness of these programmes, from time to time? We meet these students in industry and commerce, and all we can say is “let us get a little more practical”, dear institutions! We should all be guided by the philosophies of value add and also that of seeking continuous improvement.
The working world also requires this exposure phenomenon. An artisan is sometimes referred to as a journeyman. I am not sure why there was a changeover in the name but to me the title journeyman conjures a spirit of seeking exposure and more exposure, in order to raise the competency bar. Our forerunners in apprentice training realised the significance of exposure of the recently qualified artisans.
Good organisations will have vibrant training programmes for all employee categories, these programmes all fulfilling a need. These programmes vary in format, duration and also where they are offered from, with some offered in-house and others externally. Some are of a short duration, the look, listen and learn type, while others are the learn and write tests type. The important thing in all these interventions is that there is a learning component which is meant to add value to individuals and consequently the organisations they work for.
The take home for this week? We all can do with increased wisdom, which is a sum total of the inherent and learned components.
The inherent component is genetically driven while the learnt component is a combination of classroom type learning and the go-out-and-see-other-operations type of learning. I argue that the “go out and see others, type learning” is meaningful and should be encouraged.
I call it “learning by difference”, very much synonymous with exposure! Very invaluable it is. This learning is not restricted to issues work related only, it also covers the all-important social sphere as well.
Let us all use the festive season to up our exposure levels, I urge you dear readers – I certainly will.
I rest my considered case on exposure.
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