Volunteering in South Africa
Posted Sunday, July 08, 2007, 11:28 PM by Lonely Planet
Here, where history is delicate and fresh, revolution is a dangerous word. Hundreds were exiled for imagining a post-Apartheid state, and millions suffered trying to outlive it. But in the sleepy tourist town of Hoedspruit, on the edge of Kruger National Park, fifteen young Shangaan and Sotho women are learning to tell their stories straight.
- Volunteers at the Amazwi School of Media Arts
At the Amazwi School of Media Arts, South Africa, it's time for an editorial meeting. The first edition of the signature publication, The Amazwi Villager, is just three weeks away, and the students are restless to see their names on the page.
One-by-one topics are revealed; the threads are hope and life and struggle. But death, it seems, is everywhere. There's a profile of a prosperous coffin-maker, a tombstone carver, an investigation into Burial Societies, a day-in-the-line at a hospital, plus a staple diet of abortion, AIDS and TB.
"Aish, this journalism stuff is too hard!" moans Thandi, 22, for whom writing stories is in fact too easy. On her first assignment, Thandi spent an evening at a local shebeen (unlicensed bar), witnessed one stabbing and another near-death, and wrote it all up with poetry and poise.
Her teammate, Siphiwe, 27, is a bronze Sotho athlete with high cheekbones - the right side stamped with a ceremonial scar - and a broad, ready smile. She wants to be a sports broadcaster, but for now, it's an illegal immigrant from Mozambique who fills her days.
Meanwhile, Bongekile, the accomplished, unofficial matriarch of the group, is trying to sort through the mess of government housing.
The class-come-newsroom bristles with mess and noise. Copies of the Daily Sun change hands like winter gloves, and Gloria, this week's blogger, writes a celebration of feminine might.
- Tom Spurling is volunteering at the Amazwi School of Media Arts, South Africa, where he is helping students write for their new publication The Amazwi Villager
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Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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4 Comments:
This sounds like such an amazing project. Are there others like it anywhere else in the world. It is the kind of model that if successful could be repeated to increase media literacy, access and fairness everywhere.
Yes, this is indeed amazing! If you want to combine teaching with eco-sightseeing adventure, Hands Up Holidays (www.handsupholidays.com) offers two week trips like this in Nepal, Kenya, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Laos.
Keep on the good work, in my mind it's important to close that educational gap between different ethnical groups. Non-Profit Projects like yours should be more supported be all kind of men.
Best Regards
Straussennest - Oudtshoorn
It is great to see how everybody do their bit to get South Africa going.
I am sure that if we pull together, we can make South Africa a great country
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