Where I've been
Hi Guys,
I know Omo has been doing a stellar job of keeping you updated. Here's my rare and humble offering.
As I mentioned before I've been working with four journalism students at a community radio station in Cape Town called Bush Radio. I am having a great time with them. They're hardworking, attentive and have a great sense of humour. They have to put together newscasts and headlines all day. They also have a weekly one-hour magazine show where each reporter contributes an item. I've been helping them with story ideas, writing and structure. They're picking things up quickly.They're second year students at a local university. Their first year is print, then they're thrown right into internships with the most basic of broadcast training in their second year. They have to learn on the job. I love that they're not intimidated and willing to try things I suggest. The only thing that makes me nervous is that it's in a dodgy neighbourhood. In fact that's too polite a word. They've pointed out to me the drug house to avoid. We all make sure we're out of the radio station before dark. The news editor had her car stolen outside the building. Her partner is a police detective. It was pure chance that he spotted the car that had been sprayed and had its licence plates changed. Some how he was able to recognize it on the highway. Cape Town can be so violent in spots that a woman driving home at night is allowed to run red lights after 10:00, particularly if she feels threatened. Also, having three locks on the doors made this a whole different way of living. Initially it felt like house arrest, but I am used to it now. I've been trying to take Friday's off to sight see.
I recently went into my first Black township. Wow. What a &**^%$ disgrace. It's called Khayelitsha. There are about one million people living in the depths of poverty you cannot imagine. It's a sea of shacks. The place stretches for miles. Townships are not places where you can just walk in alone. You need someone local to take you and for a reason. Desperate people will do desperate things. The townships are crime ridden and ruled by several gangs. The police presence is non-existent and so they have by far the highest crime rates in the area. One of my students was going to cover a story with two consultants and I tagged along.
It was a nice story. The local government was giving away bicycles to schools in the township. Getting to school is difficult for many students. They have to walk long distances passed the gangs. Two wheels are meant to help the lives of some students. These bikes were so nice I could have walked off with one myself.
Khayelitsha is said to be growing so quickly that it may one day rival Soweto which is currently the largest township. Actually, we first saw Khayelitsha on screen a couple of years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival. U- Carmen eKhayelitsha is the opera Carmen set in the township, using local actors along with a professional opera singer as the star. If you haven't seen it, it's really good. I never imagined I'd actually see the township. I'm currently on the road for four weeks of giving journalism training. I started off in Namibia. My first stop was in a rural town about 100 kilometres outside the Namibian capital. Reheboth was hot, hot, hot and dry. It's such a rural town that there are no sidewalks, just sandy tracks. Just about everyone here is of mixed heritage of Black and Afrikaans. The first language is Afrikaans but most people also speak English. I was treated really well. In fact the woman who runs the B and B where I stayed spoiled me rotten. My exercising in Cape Town was shot within two days with her because of the way she was feeding me. She's like my mother. She just walks into my room sits on my bed, just to see what I'm up to and starts yakking. It may seem rude but she's great, everyone is so welcoming and sociable. They're thrilled that someone is taking the time to work with their young journalists.
I later went on to the capital, Windhoek, where I was at a university radio station. To listen to the three presenters was cool. There's one woman who was so fluent you could put her on any station at home. These guys are naturals.
The professor who's in charge of the station was cool and I will put money on being a brother. He showed me around, took me to lunch etc. I really like Namibia. It doesn't have the racial tension I often feel in Cape Town. Omo and I will be travelling through there as part of our Christmas tour.
My second week of training was in South Africa in the eastern part of the country. After flying to a small town, Richards Bay, I drove two and a half hours into the mountains. The area is called Maputaland and it is in the heart of Zulu land. I fell in love with this place. The community is literally up a mountain. It is the rainy season so the land is green and lush. The view of the mountains from my chalet was breathtaking. I also loved the people. The staff members were very funny I had a laugh with them. I became so attached I was actually feeling emotional as I was leaving. I want to go back with Omo. My only regret is that I couldn't share it with her.
The station manager and some of the others took me for a drive and I went into the Kingdom of Swaziland. Didn't see too much, as it's a border area, but you can feel the difference from South Africa and I actually say I've been there.
The town where I was staying in Maputaland is also close to the Mozambique border. The station manager was going to take me there also the following day but I decided not to go for a few reasons. I was really tired, also the guys were drinking and driving when we went to Swaziland. I wasn't impressed with them. Thankfully I was driving my rented car because we had so many people. The day were supposed to go to Mozambique though, it would have been me and three guys. I didn't want to risk having them drink again, plus the woman I was close to wasn't going to be there. Another reason is I've been nagging Omo about us going to Mozambique so I think it'll be nice for us to experience an unknown country together.
I'm currently wrapping up my third week in the independent homeland of Lesotho. It's been a very challenging and emotional week. Overall I haven't found the country as welcoming as the others places I've seen. Some of the women I've been dealing with in the hotel etc, have been downright rude. I find some of the people passive aggressive about their rudeness. Thankfully people at the radio station have been decent. The training, though, was also quite a task in the beginning. People at the radio station saw me as fresh ears to bend with complaints. Anyway it was dealt with after I asked the director to meet with them and address their concerns. I'm happy that the staff listened when I suggested they be respectful and mature about how they air their grievances.
Geographical Lesotho is beautiful. It is the most mountainous part of Southern Africa (not officially part of SA but surrounded by it)
You see many people walking around with blankets. Although it's summer now people are prepared in case they get caught in the rural and mountainous areas where temperatures can be cool.
I was out in the country yesterday meeting rural women listening to their music and hearing about their groups.
As I write this the daughter of one of the presenters has walked into the office. She's seven and my little darling, a real sweetheart. She was with us yesterday when we went to the country.
Lesotho is very poor and life is hard for many people. My seven year old's mother for instance has been on a tough road. Her husband was killed in the mines in South Africa in March. He was 38 and leaves her with two children. She's 42 and I can see the pain in her eyes when she talked about him. Her parents were also killed by a mob a couple of years ago. Her father was a chief and he was trying to solve a dispute when he and his wife were murdered.
The sad stories go on and on here.
Anyway folks, I am heading home a day early so I can prepare for next week in Zambia.
Hope all is well with you guys.
Take care,
love Jean.
I know Omo has been doing a stellar job of keeping you updated. Here's my rare and humble offering.
As I mentioned before I've been working with four journalism students at a community radio station in Cape Town called Bush Radio. I am having a great time with them. They're hardworking, attentive and have a great sense of humour. They have to put together newscasts and headlines all day. They also have a weekly one-hour magazine show where each reporter contributes an item. I've been helping them with story ideas, writing and structure. They're picking things up quickly.They're second year students at a local university. Their first year is print, then they're thrown right into internships with the most basic of broadcast training in their second year. They have to learn on the job. I love that they're not intimidated and willing to try things I suggest. The only thing that makes me nervous is that it's in a dodgy neighbourhood. In fact that's too polite a word. They've pointed out to me the drug house to avoid. We all make sure we're out of the radio station before dark. The news editor had her car stolen outside the building. Her partner is a police detective. It was pure chance that he spotted the car that had been sprayed and had its licence plates changed. Some how he was able to recognize it on the highway. Cape Town can be so violent in spots that a woman driving home at night is allowed to run red lights after 10:00, particularly if she feels threatened. Also, having three locks on the doors made this a whole different way of living. Initially it felt like house arrest, but I am used to it now. I've been trying to take Friday's off to sight see.
I recently went into my first Black township. Wow. What a &**^%$ disgrace. It's called Khayelitsha. There are about one million people living in the depths of poverty you cannot imagine. It's a sea of shacks. The place stretches for miles. Townships are not places where you can just walk in alone. You need someone local to take you and for a reason. Desperate people will do desperate things. The townships are crime ridden and ruled by several gangs. The police presence is non-existent and so they have by far the highest crime rates in the area. One of my students was going to cover a story with two consultants and I tagged along.
It was a nice story. The local government was giving away bicycles to schools in the township. Getting to school is difficult for many students. They have to walk long distances passed the gangs. Two wheels are meant to help the lives of some students. These bikes were so nice I could have walked off with one myself.
Khayelitsha is said to be growing so quickly that it may one day rival Soweto which is currently the largest township. Actually, we first saw Khayelitsha on screen a couple of years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival. U- Carmen eKhayelitsha is the opera Carmen set in the township, using local actors along with a professional opera singer as the star. If you haven't seen it, it's really good. I never imagined I'd actually see the township. I'm currently on the road for four weeks of giving journalism training. I started off in Namibia. My first stop was in a rural town about 100 kilometres outside the Namibian capital. Reheboth was hot, hot, hot and dry. It's such a rural town that there are no sidewalks, just sandy tracks. Just about everyone here is of mixed heritage of Black and Afrikaans. The first language is Afrikaans but most people also speak English. I was treated really well. In fact the woman who runs the B and B where I stayed spoiled me rotten. My exercising in Cape Town was shot within two days with her because of the way she was feeding me. She's like my mother. She just walks into my room sits on my bed, just to see what I'm up to and starts yakking. It may seem rude but she's great, everyone is so welcoming and sociable. They're thrilled that someone is taking the time to work with their young journalists.
I later went on to the capital, Windhoek, where I was at a university radio station. To listen to the three presenters was cool. There's one woman who was so fluent you could put her on any station at home. These guys are naturals.
The professor who's in charge of the station was cool and I will put money on being a brother. He showed me around, took me to lunch etc. I really like Namibia. It doesn't have the racial tension I often feel in Cape Town. Omo and I will be travelling through there as part of our Christmas tour.
My second week of training was in South Africa in the eastern part of the country. After flying to a small town, Richards Bay, I drove two and a half hours into the mountains. The area is called Maputaland and it is in the heart of Zulu land. I fell in love with this place. The community is literally up a mountain. It is the rainy season so the land is green and lush. The view of the mountains from my chalet was breathtaking. I also loved the people. The staff members were very funny I had a laugh with them. I became so attached I was actually feeling emotional as I was leaving. I want to go back with Omo. My only regret is that I couldn't share it with her.
The station manager and some of the others took me for a drive and I went into the Kingdom of Swaziland. Didn't see too much, as it's a border area, but you can feel the difference from South Africa and I actually say I've been there.
The town where I was staying in Maputaland is also close to the Mozambique border. The station manager was going to take me there also the following day but I decided not to go for a few reasons. I was really tired, also the guys were drinking and driving when we went to Swaziland. I wasn't impressed with them. Thankfully I was driving my rented car because we had so many people. The day were supposed to go to Mozambique though, it would have been me and three guys. I didn't want to risk having them drink again, plus the woman I was close to wasn't going to be there. Another reason is I've been nagging Omo about us going to Mozambique so I think it'll be nice for us to experience an unknown country together.
I'm currently wrapping up my third week in the independent homeland of Lesotho. It's been a very challenging and emotional week. Overall I haven't found the country as welcoming as the others places I've seen. Some of the women I've been dealing with in the hotel etc, have been downright rude. I find some of the people passive aggressive about their rudeness. Thankfully people at the radio station have been decent. The training, though, was also quite a task in the beginning. People at the radio station saw me as fresh ears to bend with complaints. Anyway it was dealt with after I asked the director to meet with them and address their concerns. I'm happy that the staff listened when I suggested they be respectful and mature about how they air their grievances.
Geographical Lesotho is beautiful. It is the most mountainous part of Southern Africa (not officially part of SA but surrounded by it)
You see many people walking around with blankets. Although it's summer now people are prepared in case they get caught in the rural and mountainous areas where temperatures can be cool.
I was out in the country yesterday meeting rural women listening to their music and hearing about their groups.
As I write this the daughter of one of the presenters has walked into the office. She's seven and my little darling, a real sweetheart. She was with us yesterday when we went to the country.
Lesotho is very poor and life is hard for many people. My seven year old's mother for instance has been on a tough road. Her husband was killed in the mines in South Africa in March. He was 38 and leaves her with two children. She's 42 and I can see the pain in her eyes when she talked about him. Her parents were also killed by a mob a couple of years ago. Her father was a chief and he was trying to solve a dispute when he and his wife were murdered.
The sad stories go on and on here.
Anyway folks, I am heading home a day early so I can prepare for next week in Zambia.
Hope all is well with you guys.
Take care,
love Jean.
posted by omoplusjean at 4:28 AM
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