NO MORE TEARS!

Nseleni is the small township in the Northen kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa. The youth of this township met on the 16 of June 2008 with the congregation known as Church of God under Pastor Zikhali and celebrate youthday. There were so many musicians there to entertain all the people who were there. Some of them there were singing gospel songs and Zulu caltural songs they all said "no more cry, no more tears now its time to celebrate".

They said, the youth of 1976 fought against Aparthaid especially in education. Bongani Dhludhlu member of the Church of God said they decided to celebrate this Youth Day together with the youth of Enseleni because people there ignore this township especially when it comes to events like this, ''we like send a messege to our youth they must look at their talents and focus on education and they must know its very important to go to Church'' said Bongani Dludlu. Mrs Zikhali, wife of pastor Zikhali leader of the Church of God said ''it's not boring to be in Church; that is why we are doing this event as a church''. She also said the youth must stay away from drugs and sex because it will kill their future.

There were many people there from youth to adults and all they said now is the time to celebrate and look foward to the future knowing that the past is the past but the future is comming and the youth must prepare for the future now.

"Why are we being treated like animals?"

THE first thing one senses when entering the refugee camp at the Glenvista rifle range in Johannesburg is, isolation. Here is a group of destitute foreigners who are in South Africa because they fled their respective countries because of either war, famine or whatever other problem that the African continent has inherited, and they come to our country, only to be treated like a distant cousin.
When the xenophobic attacks first broke out, I felt ashamed as a South African, but when I visited the camp and saw a one month old baby wrapped in nothing but a dirty rag, I felt ashamed as a human being. As I was walking around the camp I was drawn by the sound of a crying infant and upon further inspection I saw a mother and her three infants sitting around a camp fire with two pots on the fire. The mother told me that she’s preparing their first meal of the day (it was approximately 11am) and her infant was crying because she was hungry. It took everything in me not to break out in a sob right there in front of them, so I just walked away. The majority of the people said they had opted to cooking their own food because the food provided at the camp gave them diarrhea.
I came across a teenager who was carrying two knitting needles and wool. She’s a grade 8 student in a school in Pretoria and she said they were given the needles and wool by the Red Cross to keep them busy. She was knitting herself a scarf for winter. But before I could escape she asked me, “Why are they doing this to us? Why are they treating us like animals?” I didn’t know what to say, so I just looked at her and assured her that things will get better and everything will be back to normal soon and she could go back to school.
I certainly hope that something will be done to remedy the situation; either by being integrated back to their old communities or improving their current living conditions.

The youngsters

We were the group who decided to compile our package of the seminar by focusing on the youth. Seeing as the packages were played for the first time on National Youth Day, we thought of sticking to the theme of election reporting by asking youngsters, experts and political parties if they think the youth is going to vote in next year's elections. We got some very interesting answers, and if you click on the link, you be be able to hear us in action. And enjoy the extra effects that made compiling this report so much fun. We hope with the help of the report, you will think about making your vote count in 2009.

Enjoy! Roderick, Alani and Grace.

Are you a spy for the government?!

It is so shocking when you think you are reaching out to someone in a very uncertain situation, and they point at you with the question: "Are you a spy for the government?" This drove me to tears when we visited the Glenvista Rifle Range refugee camp during the seminar.

We had to prepare ourselves for a Live Stand-up exercise by speaking to the refugees. I interviewed an old man from the DRC who spoke to me on behalf of a whole group from the DRC. They mainly came from Jeppe. A pastor and human rights observer, José, was my translator because this old man could only speak basic English. (His home language is French.) During the interview the elder got upset and pointed to me with a crooked finger telling me in French: "You, you are just standing there, you are not making many notes. Are you a spy for the government?"

I could feel fury working itself up from my hart to my head, when I noticed the fear in this man's black eyes with the blue circles around them. For a moment he reminded me of my grandfather who passed away a few years back, and my throat started to close up. I answered with a heavy heart: "No, I'm not a spy. Do you want to see my business card? I'm just here to tell your story."

He raised his hands in apology, and while telling me how they feel about being in a camp - while they just want to stay in a safe and peaceful place - tears started rolling down my cheeks. I felt so ashamed, because they started to comfort me, while they are the ones being wronged and who needs love and attention. "Don't cry, don't cry. It's okay. We think we'll be okay."

Can you think about having your father, mother, grandparents, siblings, other family members or friends trapped in a cage like an animal on display...? Enduring living conditions with little food, sharing 50 toilets with 2300 other foreigners and sleeping on a floor, to keep them safe from people who are supposed to care for them? This thought overwhelmed me. It overwhelmed me, but also gave me new inspiration.

To be a journalist is such a privilege! I get to tell the stories of incredible people, who are brave and so human. This is a privilege I will treasure forever!

WOH! WOH! WOH! IS SOUTH AFRICA OUT OF THE AFRICAN MAP?

There are about three thousands people from different African countries who are sttaying in a refugee camp at the Glenvista rifle range in Johannesburg following xenophobic attacks. When you arrive at the camp, you see white tents which are in close proximity and people moving up and down and their faces show alot of crisis. The camp is closed with a wirefance to protect the refugees. I spoke to Simon Muchangazike from Zambia and he told me that South Africans attacked them and they said they must go back to their countries because they are foreigners. He said they call them KWEREKWERE. Simon further said that he has been living in the country for more than six years, but this year he was attacked by the same people he called his friends and the people who were working for him. Simon said he had a photocopying and photo studio but all his equipment was stolen by his workers. He said he has a wife and child but his wife is back in Zambia but his baby is still in South Africa. He carried on to say that there is not enough food and not enough blankets to sleep and its cold because its winter. Simon said they feed them expired food and if they are sick they give them expired tablets. He said they want to go back to their countries. I also spoke to Mzilakaweh Folochawye from Gana told me that he was in love with a South African lady and she took all his staff and money and said she will kill him if he doesn't go back to his country. Life is really bad there as they sleep together in the tents and there is no privacy, they bath infront of others and even toilets are closed together. Some of the refugees drew a replica of the African map, but showing South Africa as not being part of the continent. Many of those people are skilled, one of them told me that he is an aeroplane engineer and is afraid that he has lost his job. The refugees said they don't want to stay in South Africa anymore, even if you can promise them one million rand NO NO NO. They want the South African government to take them back to their countries because South Africans call them MAKWEREKWERE.

Rome was not built in one day

South Africa is in its 14th year of democracy, and people are accusing the government of letting them down. South Africans are not satisfied with service delivery the government is providing them, they believe the government hasn't done enough. Mama Marry Sibiya a 58 year old from Alexandra a township North of Johannesburg points out Rome was not built in one day. She proudly showed us the book that encouraged and kept her strong, the Nelson Mandela auto biography "A Long walk to freedom". Mama Marry has been staying in Alexandra for as long as she can remember and believes things have changed as compared to the past where there was no electricity,water and roads. Mama Marry is an inspiration especially for the youth of South Africa who she believes are just complaining about everything and do nothing to change things. Of cause there's still a long way to go and much needs to be improved, but let's remember fellow South Africans Rome was not built in one day.

Experiencing the isolation

Different nations from around Africa who live in South Africa saw the other side of South African citizens. This was shown when the South Africans attacked these people accusing them of taking their jobs, wives and RDP(Reconstruction and Development Programe) houses. Talking to these people nomarly named as foreigners in the Refugee camp at Glenvista in Johannesburg they expressed their views by saying South African citizens have isolated them. They also feel the goverment of South Africa is not doing enough to help them.


One of the Foreigners in this camp said that they really are isolated because they can not even talk to their own families because the place has no electricity they cannot charge their cellphones, so this feels like being an animal in the cage. Situation in this camp for me looked very tense you go to the tent where the family of 8 people is sleeping in one tent, where there is no privacy. South Africa is in winter now and how can a person expect someone to sleep on the floor with only one blanket?. As you can see in this photo the mother of a child is bathing her in an open space where everyone can see and that leaves the question of how safe are the children on this camp?. It is very easy for somebody to just take a child and abuse because the place is dark in the night with no electricity. Children are supposed to be at school but because of the isolation they very scared to go because South African children will also be there. Coming to the point of food complaints are more than you can think. People in the camp feel they have been given expired food because since they started eating from the camp they experienced diarrhea almost all of them. The foreigner from Congo said the Goverment of South Africa is trying to get rid of all the expired food by giving it to them. Another thing he said they want to be sent home very soon but the South African goverment wants them to stay under this isolation situation. About their safety they said when they were beaten by fellow South Africans the police never responded they just laughed and said 'sure'. With this Xenophobia attacks in South Africa I really did not care much but after visiting this camp everything changed, I really felt something for these poor people. Something I saw is that these foreigners are still very angry with South African citizens. A new Africa map was made with South Africa out of Africa.