What will we leave behind?

OPINION - As we celebrate Heritage Day today, 24 September, I find myself thinking about the heritage of our own town - and what the word really means.

Last Sunday, the Outeniqua Pass turned 75. Its history reminds us that roads are built not only with stone and machinery, but through human effort.

Italian prisoners of war and later black labourers helped build the pass that has connected George and the Little Karoo for generations. Their sweat became part of our landscape.

Then there is Pacaltsdorp's historic Klipkerk, which reopened this month after extensive restoration. Consecrated in 1825, it is the oldest church building in the Garden Route and has stood for more than 200 years as a symbol of faith, hope and community. Its restoration means another generation will inherit it.

But heritage cannot only be what we preserve in stone. It is also what we leave behind in people.

Recently, Michael Wynne walked all the way from Kraaifontein to George to help raise funds for Marlo Buys, a young boy from George who is fighting for his life with an undiagnosed illness. Wynne did not need to do it. He chose to.

That, to me, is also heritage: kindness. Compassion. People reaching across the lines that too often divide South Africans and choosing instead to carry one another.

We speak proudly of our Rainbow Nation. Perhaps its greatest monuments will never be made of stone.

Heritage is what remains because we were here. It is the buildings and roads we preserve, but also the values we pass on.

And ultimately, our greatest heritage is our children.

George Herald journalist Michelle Pienaar