Issue No. 5 Children 2010

Human RigHtsFreedom of Press

gReen actionHouses of sand

HealtHtB: the township effect

neWs aRenauniversal children’s Day

sPotligHtcare, notice & love

aRt & cultuRetownship talent

sPoRtHockey Foundation Project

Faces & Placesafrica in the snow

educationin south africa

sponsored by:Free

ouR contRiButoRs

© Cape Chameleon, published by Projects Abroad, South Africa, 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of Projects Abroad. Views and opinions expressed in Cape Chameleon are not necessarily those of Projects Abroad. The publisher can accept no liability or loss in connection with the contents of the publication. The publisher has made every effort to contact the copyright holder for permission to use images.

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Directory

EditorRebecca Saraceno

Assistant EditorKelly Easton

DesignAntonio Gallo

Fabiola Sanchez

Cover imagesFront: © iStockphoto.com

/Cliff Parnell. Inside back:

István Benedek, www.sxc.hu

Printed byColourtone Press

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This magazine is published by Projects Abroad, which organises an incredibly wide range of projects, including

teaching, care, conservation, medical, journalism, business and law. These projects are designed specially for the

many communities where we work and also to provide the best experience for our volunteers. Projects Abroad is

a non-profit making organisation.

SHELLEY SMITHCalifornia, USA

a born and raised southern californian, shelley lives to love and explore. she believes photography, butterflies and children make the world go round. Running clears her head, green tea is a must, and her children will have accents.

CAROLINE WEGNERHamburg, Germany

LESLIE WELLSOntario, Canada

caroline finished her studies and came to south africa to satisfy her curiosity for new things. the passionate hockey player and surfer feels at home wherever she finds ocean, sun and fun – so she fell in love with cape town.

a graduate student, leslie is passionate about politics, community empowerment, indie music and the life-long pursuit of the perfect tago. she hopes to work in the non-profit sector and become a vuvuzela virtuoso.

STEFAN BEDARDOntario, Canada

stefan enjoys snowboarding and hitting the town. His goal is to work in print journalism with topics varying from sport to politics. He has found his second home here in south africa!

LENE ANDERSONHjørring, Denmark

lene is studying at a high school in Denmark, she watches way too many movies and loves chocolate! at some point in the future, she hopes to return to africa again.

kATHERINE BARRYColorado, USA

Katherine recently graduated with a degree in communication studies. she enjoys adventures, particularly road trips, and hopes to find a job that will allow her the luxury of world travel.

JANNA MEYERBremen, Germany

Janna is 19 years old. she started her studies in Political science, but hopes to one day work as broadcast journalist. she loved the culture in south africa.

ELENA CAYLA FUZIERFlorence, Italy

elena is an investigative journalist and the gadget girl in the office! Friends say she always chases politicians because they’re the ones to answer people’s questions, whether they like it or not.

Zoe is studying english at university in london, with the aim of becoming a journalist. in the future, she wants to live in new York and write for cosmopolitan.…

ZOE DOWSETTCoventry, England

according to uniceF,

two thirds of all children

in south africa live in

poverty. alongside this, children face

problems of poor education, disease

and bad sanitation and violent crime.

the mortality rate for children under the age of five years

old has not improved in the last two decades, and those that do

live beyond that young age are often orphans affected by aiDs or

whose parents have died of aiDs.

there is a lot of work to be done to get child welfare where

it needs to be. each year, the south african government aims to

provide child support grants to families living in underprivileged

conditions but with so many areas of life needing social grants, it’s

impossible at present to reach everyone. in 2009, the child support

grant reached nine million children (under the age of 15) and

each year,hopefully, this is improving. the un convention on the

Rights of the child states, every child should have access to basic

necessities, such as the right to a name, to an identity and they

must be protected by not just their families but also by the state. a

child should be valued and kept safe. and in many places in south

africa, this simply is not the case.

Human trafficking is also a major problem, for adults and

children, forcefully taken and sold into the sex trade or hard labour.

many of these men, women and children will already be living on

the streets, so it’s too easy to give them false promises and abduct

them for slavery (see pp. 10–13).

as a mother of two young boys, i worry more and more

about what kind of world i’m bringing my children into. can i

protect them from everything and everyone bad? Will they have

a happy life or will they die before me? But then i realise, it’s

pointless to worry (and i’ve got enough grey hairs anyway). We

have to be aware of what is going on around us and teach our

children as best we can. our children are the next generation, let’s

hope they learn from past mistakes.

editor’s note

REBECCA SARACENOEditor

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eDitoR’s noteYOUNG MINDS

coVeR stoRYEDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Human RigHtsFREEDOM OF PRESS

gReen actionHOUSES OF SAND

HealtHTB: THE TOWNSHIP EFFECT

neWs aRenaUNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY

sPotligHtCARE, NOTICE & LOVE

aRt & cultuReTOWNSHIP TALENT

sPoRtHOCkEY FOUNDATION

Faces & PlacesAFRICA IN THE SNOW

useFul contactsDIRECTORY

ContentsIssue No. 5 2010

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Cape Chameleon cover story Issue 5 2010

Education in South Africaa RigHt tHat seems to Be a PRiVilege

‘everyone has the right to a basic education and to a further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible,’ outlines the constitution of the Republic of south africa in the Bill of Rights, however, it seems to be an ideal that doesn’t match with reality given those people who don’t have any documents and, therefore, any possibility to exercise their civil rights or who can’t afford to pay for a proper education.

WORDS Elena Fuzier Cayla

PHOTOS Leslie Wells, except p. 3: Alice Hedworth

The invisible childrenEducation is compulsory for every South African child from age 7 to age 15, but according to the South African Child Gauge 2009/2010 (issued by the Child’s Institute of the University of Cape Town), in 2001 48% of people over the age of 15 had not completed Grade 9 (which should be compulsory) and 12% had never attended school. One of the reasons is that, especially in the rural areas, there are still a lot of children who don’t have a birth certificate and, therefore, are not accepted in schools. When a child is born, their parents should ask for the child’s birth certificate by filling in a form. Then, why are there children without this document? Apparently most of the time, parents don’t know what to do or they don’t trust hospital staff members, so they prefer just to go back home with their child. To face and solve this problem, the government has decided to give them an ID document through the late registration of birth process, hoping that soon there will be no more invisible children in South Africa. According to the budget speech issued by the Minister of Home

Affairs on 14 April 2010, 354,588 people had been registered through the late registration of birth process, but it is likely that a lot of children are still living in the dark side of the country. The programme for the late registration of birth is supposed to end by December 2010. But then a question comes to mind: what if one of those children doesn’t get the birth certificate by this date? Will he or she just be forgotten? We have to consider that a lot of people, especially those living in rural areas, are not aware of this late registration of birth process and if it wasn’t for the NGOs trying to help them, they would be left alone.

The statistics published by UNICEF talk about an 86% of primary school attendance between 2003 and 2008, but it is almost impossible to find out the exact number of school-going age children that actually do not get any kind of education because if they are not registered they officially do not exist: during the 1GOAL Education Summit that has been held in Pretoria on 11 July, President Zuma said, ‘there are approximately 72 million

3Literacy in South Africa is a major problem, with 18% of adults over 15 years old suffering from illiteracy and the matric pass rates (although getting better) are still quite low.

Here, another problem arises: what about the refugee children? if refugees don’t have any kind of birth certificate and they can’t get one, how can they get to school?

children, almost half of whom are in Africa, who are not attending school.’ Irina Bokova (UNESCO Director-General) said that ‘making education a national priority means reaching everyone. Here in South Africa, I know that education is not only your first priority but also your second and third,’ although sadly it looks like it is not enough.

The less equal childrenAt the same time, to avoid foreign people registering their children as South African citizens, the Parliament has decided that in order to get the child’s birth certificate through the late registration process, the parents have to provide at least the mother card or another official document of the hospital where the birth took place.

Here, another problem arises: what about the refugee children? If refugees don’t have any kind of birth certificate and they can’t get one, how can they get to school? Luckily the government

has found the solution: they should provide their temporary or permanent residence permit. Sounds good, but what if they are illegal immigrants? How can they go to school? The answer is unfortunately simple: they don’t.

According to the Lawyers for Human Rights and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) while relatively few refugee and migrant families have children of school-going age, at least 24% of the school-age children of asylum seekers are not in school. They find two main obstacles to getting an education: they have no ID documents and they can’t afford to pay school fees.

This situation is in contrast with the Constitution: the Bill of Rights doesn’t say that every South African citizen has the right to a basic education; when it was written, the word ‘everyone’ was chosen specifically to not discriminate anyone. Apparently this ideal remained confined just in those pages.

Cape Chameleon cover story Issue 5 2010

4

applied only to learners from Grade R to Grade 9; this means that children in Grades 10 to 12 have to pay fees, even if they live in poor areas and their families can’t afford the cost of further education. Statistics from the General Household Survey 2005 show that children’s attendance rates at educational institution are usually very high, but they tend to drop dramatically from age 15: the attendance rates are about 98% for all ages between 8 and 14 years, but at 17 years they reach a low 85%.

The reason for this drop is that, despite what the Constitution says, for many South African families the cost of further education is prohibitive, therefore their children can only get basic schooling, which of course limits their developing possibilities – from a work point of view as well as a personal one.Few of those children are lucky enough to get sponsored by the government to continue their studies. That’s what happened to Dachmal, a 24 year old who works as a taxi driver assistant in Cape Town: he explained that he had received a ‘white education’ just because out of 5 guys in his community he was the highest-rated pupil at primary school and for that reason he got sponsored by the government and was able to continue his

‘it happens quite often since this kind of activity is very attractive for a lot of people living in the townships because if you look at those drug dealers, at their clothes, you can see that they are the wealthiest people in those areas.’

No-fee schoolThe School Fee Exemption Policy says that each school must

determine fees and inform parents or caregivers about the

exemption policy. In 1998, the Exemption of Parents from

the Payment of School Fees Regulations set out a mandatory

minimum means test for the granting of exemptions that stated

that ‘if the combined annual gross income of the parents is less

than ten times the annual school fees per learner, the parent

qualifies for full exemption.’ The means test also said that partial

exemptions were available for those whose income is more than

ten times but less than thirty times the annual fees. In October

2006, new regulations were released, modifying the formula

for calculating exemptions: now, it considers the number of

school-going children supported by a caregiver. Moreover, certain

categories of children are automatically exempt from paying fees,

like Child Support Grant beneficiaries and children in foster care.

When education becomes a luxuryEducation at high school level is usually more expensive than

primary school education and the No-fee Schools policy can be

Kuyasa, one of the primary schools in Khayelitsha, with about 1,300 pupils.

5

studies. While talking to him, I learned what is likely to happen in poor areas if you can’t get a proper education: the other 4 guys from his community have become drug dealers; ‘It happens quite often since this kind of activity is very attractive for a lot of people living in the townships because if you look at those drug dealers, at their clothes, you can see that they are the wealthiest people in those areas,” Dachmal said.

What is interesting is that education is actually one of the main areas of focus in the South African budget. What is the problem then? Isn’t there enough money or is it spent in the wrong way? Whatever the answer might be, the Dachmal story tells us that a government should provide a proper education for its citizens not only because it is supposed to be one of their constitutional rights, but also because this is the only way to build a safer country.

Some students taking a break inside a highschool in Khayelitsha

Some school-going age children playing in the streets of Khayelitsha, the biggest township of Cape Town.

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Cape Chameleon Human Rights Issue 5 2010

Freedom of Press a RigHt unDeR tHReat in soutH aFRica?

the Protection of information Bill is a large and ongoing debate amongst academic circles and activists within south africa. When looking into this bill one is immediately hit with many separate perspectives, however there is one similarity amongst most of them, this bill should not be passed.

Sitting in parliament on Friday, 17 September, 2010, was a strange, strange experience.

The Minister of State Security Dr S Cwele gave a speech on the pros and cons of the bill,

however the arguments were fundamentally flawed through and through. There were

some viable arguments raised, however they were not discussed in any seriousness – it

was quite the spectacle. The best way to describe what happened at parliament that

day was when a question arose afterwards from one of the ad hoc committee members

about amendments which the human rights committee believed necessary to make.

Cwele’s immediate response was ‘this is not a human rights issue.’ I will allow you to

draw your own opinion from this.

WORDS Stefan Bedard

PHOTOS p. 6: © 2010 Zapiro - Reprinted with permission - For more Zapiro cartoons visit www.zapiro.com;

p. 7: © Jon Hrusa, South African Tourism; p. 8: Right2Know Campaign; p. 9: © Armin Hanish, www.sxc.hu

‘Our liberty depends on

the freedom of the press,

and that cannot be limited

without being lost.’

– Thomas Jefferson (3rd president of

the United States)

This Zapiro cartoon published in The Sunday Times on 15 August, 2010 gives a vivid idea of the broadly held opinion surrounding this bill.

7There are many separate arguments against the bill, which do not include the issue of the freedom of the press; there are even arguments that say it won’t have any effect on the press. The regulation of press freedom, however, will affect free media in this country and mandatory minimum sentences for possession of classified information will definitely scare journalists into silence. Fear mongering should not be the goal of any democratic nation however it is happening all over the world to a certain extent. Putting limitations on freedom of the press must not be the ambition of any so-called ‘democratic’ government. The only way to have anything close to a democracy involves constantly working towards it, not slowly moving in the opposite direction. A free press is needed in any country to keep the populace informed of the motives and decisions of their government so they can vote accordingly.

The danger in this bill lies within the vague definitions of classification, public interest, and unauthorised disclosure. The whole thing has a strange air to it, allowing imprisonment for something so blurred and undefined is extremely dangerous. The opinion held by many journalists is that the ANC is trying to illegalise most forms of investigative journalism, by making the collection of information more hazardous and difficult than in the past. To a serious extent this is true and the repercussions are more far reaching than many realise, as without access to information the government will be in a position to get away with much more than they currently can. Any government should be made accountable for decisions because without accountability there is no need for thought.The real question is can the people of South Africa really trust their government with this type of power, should anyone be trusted with this type of power?

An image of South African parliament where the ANC currently reside, this

is where a large part of the Protection of Information Bill is being discussed

and passed.

‘…a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth

and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid

of its people.’

– John F Kennedy (35th president of the United States)

‘The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for

it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of

exercising real discretion.’

– Henry Steele Commager (Famous and extensively published historian)

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Cape Chameleon Human Rights Issue 5 2010

The slogan of the Right2Know Campaign a large organisation fighting for freedom of press in South Africa.

Unfortunately, this bill goes beyond just limiting journalists. The other aspect that the bill is limiting is civil rights activism. The classification of documents goes beyond the needs of national security, here any government wing will be able to classify information ‘secret’ in the discretion of ‘national interest’. This, however, goes all the way down to even something such as service delivery which could possibly become classified. They will no longer have to explain intentions they will be able to regulate any documents at their discretionwithout any concern of the public finding out. Even commercial information may become classified making it nearly impossible to expose any links of corruption between government and business. In this case, ANC funding may come from all sorts of companies in exchange for housing contracts without any one being the wiser.This will further push the issue of the predatory elite in South Africa; people who have abused their places of power to further their own wealth, mainly through commercial means.The ANC has acknowledged this problem of commercial corruption however they have done very little (if anything) to fix it. Now instead of working towards a solution for this problem it seems that they want to disguise it completely.Though there is no need to state the obvious, this clearly has a feel of an apartheid throwback no matter how many times Minister Cwele says that it is not even close. To elaborate on that, the ANC has preached change for the people, they have talked so much of freedom and constitution but this new bill is not in line with freedom or constitution.This is a whole new direction which has an odd resemblance to the previous regime. If this was nothing like the apartheid government, then surely there wouldn’t be any need for this type of extreme government regulation?

Do the people of South Africa want to keep moving in a direction of government control, when will it be time for the people? It’s time for some real freedom in this

‘Censorship reflects society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a

hallmark of an authoritarian regime.’

– Potter Stewart (Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court)

‘It was so shocking to see the ANC moving in exactly the same

direction (as the old regime).’

– André Brink (Famous South African novelist extremely opposed to the

Protection of Information Bill)

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country instead of moving closer and closer to countries like Zimbabwe with draconian law, it’s time for a move in the right direction, it’s time to change our path. As Ronnie Kasrils put it (former South African Minister of Intelligence) this bill is ‘a danger and distinct threat to democracy.’

Even pushing for a bill like this tells us a lot about the current government in South Africa; why a trust worthy government would be trying to up the secrecy is extremely worrying. This doesn’t make sense, the pieces of the puzzle don’t fit, this is the reason for so much political anger and, in many cases, hatred in South Africa. The educated populace is upset and some others have no idea what is going on, the amount of ignorance will only increase if a bill like this is passed, breeding an uneducated, uninformed generation with severely limited political ambition. This is most definitely not a direction the large majority of people want to go in, this isn’t what the people want and this isn’t an example of democracy in any sense of the word. Without a vigilant media there is not a chance that the population will have an at all accurate opinion on its government, without knowledge of such an important topic the people will be easily manipulated in any direction the government sees fit.

There are several different organisations comprised of people fighting for the open share of information in South Africa. One of the larger organisations is the Right 2 Know campaign; they have been fighting the bill since the beginning and spreading awareness to people around the country. They have staged protests and have been one of the leading influences in the battle against the secrecy bill. I urge you to check out the website and sign on your name as an advocate for the open sharing of information, go to: www.right2know.org.za

The continuing decline of the freedom of press and the clamp down on public access in South Africa can lead to nothing but trouble for the people.

‘If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we

despise, we don’t believe in it at all.’

– Noam Chomsky

‘A free press is not a privilege but an organic necessity in a great

society.’

– Walter Lippmann (Two time Pulitzer prize winner, reporter

and political commentator)

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Cape Chameleon green action Issue 5 2010

Houses of Sand tHe FutuRe oF eco-BuilDing

WORDS Katherine Barry

PHOTOS Lindsay Fitzgerald

a pile of charred wood is all that’s left of the shacks. the sand where they sat is littered with burned belongings: a blackened Bible, an office chair, clothes no longer usable. the metal sheets that had once been walls have been salvaged, taken for use in new shacks, the obviously burnt edges blending in amongst the rust.

The first fire broke out three weeks

before in the same shack that would

be the ignition point of the second fire,

which would tear through the informal

settlement of Village Heights in Cape

Town, depriving 15 families of their homes.

Fires in informal settlements – like Village

Heights – represent one of the biggest

Lutz, Andrew, and Alex (from left to right), all Projects Abroad volunteers, mix cement inside the sandbag house.

dangers of living in such a community. Even with attempts to build with space on all sides, fires such as the one that destroyed those 15 shacks can spread quickly since the materials used to construct the homes are highly flammable and unregulated.

‘It was better under apartheid,’ says Bernadine, the community leader who has

created and maintained the Village Heights library, and who is the recipient of the first Projects Abroad sandbag house in South Africa. ‘At least then we all had our own homes and jobs. Now we have nothing.’

Government responseAccording to residents, after the first fire the government offered four wooden posts, five pieces of metal and some grounding plastic as a replacement. However, the metal went to the construction of a roof and the residents were left to use plastic to create walls. During the second fire, a woman was badly burned when the plastic melted onto her skin.

Proper housing is something that many people living in South Africa lack, for a multitude of reasons, including long waiting times after application for government housing. ‘I’ve been on a waiting list for twenty one years,’ says one woman who lost her home in the fire. ‘My daughter is 20 now.’ She went on to detail her experience, saying that she makes regular visits to go check on the status of her application, only to be told that she is indeed still on the list, but that no further information can be released about the status of the application.While debates rage about governmental involvement and personal contribution for houses, the issue remains that people lack proper living quarters. Residents of the informal settlements around Cape Town and throughout South Africa are forced to create homes using materials that they can find, salvage, or buy, resulting in homes that often lack even basic features such as a floor. Security measures are an afterthought as well, allowing for criminal activity to flourish in the crowded neighbourhoods.

Where to go from here?Sand is nearly ubiquitous in Cape Town

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and the surrounding areas. It also might present a feasible solution to the problem of the shack homes in the ever-expanding informal settlements. Filling bags with sand and then stacking them within a frame can create a solid structure that is built both efficiently and quickly.

Beginning with materials, construction with sandbags can be a cheap alternative to traditional building methods. Since all that is needed to build a sandbag structure are bags, sand, cement and wooden and metal framing, the cost drops significantly due to the lack of construction equipment needed. No cranes, no stacks of bricks and no heavy vehicles entering or leaving the construction site.

20% of the materials need to be allocated for the construction of the frame of the sandbag building, but there is a certain amount of flexibility as to what those might be – including the use of wood or tin. Bricks can be used as well, but in order to maintain the eco-friendly atmosphere, they should only be implemented if they are within reach to avoid the entrance of trucks and other machinery in to the site.

Benefits of sand buildingThis cost effective creation is incredibly eco-friendly. Since most of the building can be done with materials found on-site, the need for waste is nearly eliminated. This waste elimination plays a large factor in the eco-friendly nature of the sandbag buildings.

Builders who choose to use sandbag building as an alternative to conventional construction methods also stand to gain carbon credits for their choices. Carbon credit programmes offer financial incentives for companies to build in keeping with the ‘green’ trends and for waste elimination and recycling of materials.

This waste elimination and recycling process, presents an opportunity for those who are economically disadvantaged. By being able to build effectively and also save money, they can increase community bonds and safety.

Structural soundnessBesides being fireproof, the sand structures also present an element of soundproofing not found in the corrugated iron structures, which currently make up most of the homes in the townships and informal settlements in the Cape Town area.

They are also not easy to deconstruct or demolish, in essence creating a lasting home that won’t be victim to natural disasters such as flooding or tornadoes. The solidity of the sand as it is packed and stacked neatly to create walls allows for an element of indoor climate control that supersedes that provided by the corrugated structures as well. The sand essentially insulates the home, keeping it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Spreading the word The surmountable caveat to sand building is that it is not well known as a possible method for creating homes. The newly homeless fire victims had never heard of sandbag building when asked about it, yet were curious as to how it might work. They eagerly agreed that the community would want to be involved in such a building plan, given the right materials.

Based on the readily available materials and the community mentality that many of the neighbourhoods have, it seems that if sandbag structures could catch on, they might make a wonderful improvement for communities who are underfunded and under protected.

Projects Abroad began constructing their first sandbag house at the site of the Village Heights Library in August of 2010. While normally the construction of such a building (one room) would take less than a month, due to staggered volunteer arrivals, the project has continued for more than three months. Nevertheless, the house is beginning to take shape.

Bernadine hopes to show off the building project as a model of sustainable building. As of the beginning of December, the structure was complete and the roof had been added and finalisation of the exterior decoration was beginning. The hope is that the building will remain a long-standing testament to the possibility of creation from local materials and community involvement.

The project supervisor – Deen Singh – remains optimistic that the sandbag building will be used for the betterment of the community. He explained that everything must be done to help the children. The building has been designated for use in a crèche, or a childcare centre, one that will hopefully create a safe haven for children from all over Village Heights.

Currently there are five volunteers working on the building. Rick, a German volunteer, feels that the building he is helping to construct will last, showing immediate change in the place that he came to volunteer. ‘It’s nice to leave something behind,’ he said.

Perhaps this sandbag building can be a model of change for a community that is desperate for change, but lacking the resources with which to create it.

The incomplete sandbag structure stands in Village Heights.

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TB: The Township Effect moRe cHilDRen Become Victim to tHe FoRgotten KilleRWORDS Zoe Dowsett

PHOTOS p. 13T: Loubna Serghini; p. 13B: Lucile Hervet

around a decade and a half ago tuberculosis (tB) was declared a national health crisis by the World Health organisation (WHo) and the apparently ‘straightforward’ task of inoculating around 14 million infected by 2016 was launched. However noble the initiative was and despite the billions of dollars western governments have pumped into tackling the epidemic, the task of curing the perfectly curable disease is seemingly impossible.

Cape Chameleon Health Issue 5 2010

The extent of the damageCold hard statistics explain how prevalent TB is in Africa. Around 9 million people contract the disease every year and over a third of them are from African nations. The number of cases is rising at a constant rate, most worryingly in the group of people most vulnerable and less able to fight the disease. Around 15% of sufferers in Africa are children, who once having caught the disease are rarely treated quickly enough, due to the symptoms not manifesting as TB. Often the disease is recorded as pneumonia on lung scans, or if the baby is too small to cough then medics cannot conduct tests that identify TB bacteria on the lungs and bronchi. The time taken from contact with tuberculosis to diagnosis is often fatal in children. If it is left long enough to manifest, the more dangerous forms of TB which are harder to treat (Multi-drug resistant TB and Extremely-drug resistant TB) become prevalent in their tiny immune systems. If not addressed effectively TB poses just as great a threat to the next generation of South Africans as HIV.

Why, despite efforts from overseas and the South African health services, is the disease continuing to grow at such an alarming rate and attacking sufferers at a younger and younger age?

An inescapable disease for the vulnerableThe answer is simple. TB is different to the other extensive killer in South Africa, HIV, in the way that it is airborne. Meaning that an innocent sneeze or a cough in the direction of an uninfected

person can be a life sentence. Once an area of Africa becomes infected, it can only be a matter of months before the rate of infection becomes widespread. Although to call TB a ‘widespread’ disease is somewhat misleading. It’s true that a district untouched by the infection is rare. However, what statistics regarding TB don’t reveal, is how concentrated high levels of the ‘widespread’ disease actually are.

Townships have notoriously high levels of TB; I visited Khayelitsha on an unusually sunny day in August to see for myself how conditions of the township affect the people who live there. On seeing how cramped and densely set a lot of the shacks were, our guide explained to us that new houses were being built in a more spacious part of Khayelitsha. However the people already living in the area were being forced to move out of their houses, either to live with relatives in already over-crowded homes, or else they would have to simply move to another part of Khayelitsha and build another shack. The lack of space and sanitary conditions make it obvious as to how high level of infection can spread.

Townships like Capricorn and Khayelitsha are hot beds for infections like HIV, AIDS and TB. What is worse is the diseases often work in tandem, creating an inescapable environment, as townships provide the perfect breeding conditions for the disease to spread. The rates of tuberculosis in townships are four times the level of what the World Health Organisation deems a national crisis. In conditions whereby people don’t have their own bed,

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There may still be hope for the next generation of children in Khayelitsha, if education on the TB continues and researchers find a new vaccine to cope with all different strains of the disease.

The closely confined houses and shacks of Khayelitsha offer poor conditions for the inhabitants to stay healthy and infection free.

toilets are shared with more than 100 others and meals and evenings are spent in close company, sufferers and non sufferers are rarely more than a couple of metres apart. Babies are often held close to infected relatives, meaning that their mothers are literally killing them with kindness, as approximately 55% of children with infected parents become infected themselves with TB. It seems that despite any organisations best efforts, the townships are suspended in a vicious circle.

The forgotten disease?In comparison to HIV, in European countries TB gets very little coverage or thought amongst popular media and public perception of the disease is skewed. Cases of the disease are relatively low, in comparison to Africa and treatment is accessible to everyone. The result of this is a widespread perception that TB is a relinquished disease, since the introduction of antibiotics and the relative ease it can be cured.

TB has also adapted as a disease due to the surge of HIV. If a person is HIV positive, the immune system is weakened, meaning a patient is more likely to contract TB. It has changed into a disease that not only affects the lungs, but any area of the body. Peter Saranchuk, a doctor at a clinic in Khayelitsha has described this new brand of TB as being able to ‘hit you anywhere between your feet and your brain’. Drugs and new research are ill-equipped to deal with the diseases manifestation, meaning that some new strains of TB are a mystery to treat.

Possible hope for infected childrenResearch shows that until recently, paediatric TB was neglected by health care development, due to the low risk of children transmitting it to others; therefore it is seen as less of a threat. However, research into childhood TB is now taking a more prominent role in tackling the epidemic. The Desmond Tutu TB clinic in Cape Town, a non-government funded medical facility works with health centres and sufferers of TB alike in Khayelitsha and the Townships of Cape Town to help reduce the rate of childhood TB. ‘The rate of childhood TB is important as it shows how well the epidemic is being controlled as recent transmission is indicated’ explains Anneke Hesseling, director of the childhood TB programme at the clinic. ‘The rate of tuberculosis in children shows how well your programme is working in a certain area’.

‘One of the ways in which we try to reduce the TB rate in children is to identify children who are at high risk, meaning that they have an infected relative they live close to and are under the age of five. We will then give them a course of antibiotics called chemoprophylaxis for six months which will prevent them from getting the infection’.

Anneke describes how important it is to educate about tuberculosis in urban areas with high infection rates. ‘Sometimes it’s sad to see that parents, who are infected with TB, don’t think to give their child the course of chemoprophylaxis. This is why we have a programme called TB-free kids, which aims to educate about TB prevention in areas of Cape Town and make people more aware of drugs that can prevent the disease. We recognise that there are cultural issues to consider when educating about TB, which is why we employ people from Khayelitsha as community health workers to help vaccinate and teach other residents about the disease’.

‘Urban Cape Town are high transmission areas, so we have various studies and projects set up in these areas. They are called ‘high burden communities’, 20 in total and there are around 200 people from the centre working in these areas. Health workers from the clinic go to Khayelitsha every day to conduct home visits and to work with clinics in the township’.

In regards to the future of tuberculosis in South Africa ‘TB will remain an epidemic, but rates of TB have been coming down over the last two years for the first time and less and less people are dying from the disease. Research is being conducted to find a new vaccine that can immunise against more strains of TB than just TB meningitis, which is what the current vaccine can prevent. The best way to manage the epidemic is to put an emphasis on preventing rather than simply curing’.

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The idea of Children’s Day started decades ago and continues today as a way of acknowledging and spending time with young children up to 14 years old. Universal Children’s Day takes place on 20 November every year to show understanding and respect for children.

In 1954 the UN General Assembly recommended all countries to establish and introduce an annual event known as the Children’s Day. The General Assembly advised every country to choose an appropriate date for this special day. Therefore, the date for Children’s Day varies between the countries. More than 30 states, like China and the USA, celebrate Children’s Day on 1 June. In this case, that date is regarded as International Children’s Day.

Many countries and other public facilities make an effort to inform the children about their rights, concerning to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989.

Cape Chameleon news arena Issue 5 2010

children’s Day is enjoyed and celebrated all over the world. its purpose is to make children happy, promote togetherness and acknowledge an understanding of young people’s rights.

Universal Children’s Daya celeBRation oF cHilDRen’s RigHts

WORDS Janna Meyer

PHOTOS p. 14 UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein, p. 15L: Stephen Eastop; p. 15R: Patrick Moore, both www.sxc.hu

Why 20 November?On this date, in 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and 30 years later, on the same day, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed. It has since been ratified by 191 states. The UN General Assembly wanted all countries to recognise the significance of this day. Therefore, 20 November marks the importance of these events.

What does the Declaration and the Convention represent?Both can be seen as a requirement of the basic rights or the human rights for children. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child therefore is a series of children´s rights that were adopted by the International Save the Children Union, Geneva in 1923. It contains basic conditions like the right to be nurtured, to be given a requisite for normal development, to be nursed, helped and protected against exploitation.

The UNICEF and other NGO organisations are making an effort to inform the children in poverty areas about their rights and are undertaking measures to ensure a better life for them.

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In some places, Children’s Day is also known as a ‘family day’ that offers the parents a possibility to spend time with their offspring.

Children’s Day is seen as a way of promoting togetherness and solidity and making young people feel special.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child consists of comparable basic rights. It details that children are entitled to protection and care, regardless of race, colour, gender, language or religion. It is founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual.

Measures takenIn 2000 all of the 192 United Nations member states and 23 international organisations agreed on the Millennium Development Goals for 2010. Although these are eight international development goals for all mankind, there are some which are primarily for the children.

These goals are ranging from halving the extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education all by the target of 2015.

In order to achieve the goals UN secretary Ban-Ki Moon has called the world leaders for a summit at the end of this year.

In conjunction, schools and other public institutions make an effort to inform the children of their right according to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. In countries were the children are generally well-respected the teachers point to other countries where it is not the case and draw the attention to their situation.

The UNICEF also plays an important role when it comes to aspect drawing the

world´s attention to specific areas. They are staging events and stimulate the interest of the worldwide media and therefore work towards improving children’s welfare.

In particular UNICEF has applauded the efforts the Nigerian government were making towards the children’s circumstances on their Children’s Day on 27 May. UNICEF representatives remarked that the government is making important advancements concerning the policies and legislation to protect children.

Why is it worth celebrating?Although some people might think that Children’s Day is more or less just a public holiday without any deeper sense, there are lots of instances to support this global celebration of young people.

As Nelson Mandela already said: ‘Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future,’ the Universal Children’s Day should be used as a day to reflect that our children are important members of society.

In the majority of the world, celebrations are fairly low-key and broadly encorporate a ‘family day’ that offers the parents the opportunity to spend time with their children and to make them feel happy and special.

Parents, relatives or everybody else can do various things for the children; one can

honour them by contributing money, time, attention or just patience. It is important to celebrate Children’s Day independently.

If people want to join in an organised event, there are often established programmes and fundraising activities put together by UNICEF to focus on building a better future for children in the need of help.

Over the past decades the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the Declaration of the Rights of the Child has proven to be a valuable instrument for promoting the rights of the children around the world. The near-global ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Children reflects acceptance to the basics of children’s right.

Nevertheless much works remains as it can be seen both in developing countries, where child labour is order of business and where formal education is rare, and in industrial countries.

Keeping in mind that children are a source of life, creativity, love and warmth to the world there is no question why children’s day is worth celebrating. Everybody should make an effort to support Universal Children’s Day to acknowledge that children are important members of the society who need security, opportunities and reliability to grow to their full potential and to help to make a better and safer world for them.

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Care, Notice & LovelenDing moRe tHan a HelPing HanD

as many already know, the townships are marked by poverty and extremely poor infrastructure. added to this problem, there are helpless children who are forced to live in these conditions. therefore, volunteers from all over the world sacrifice their time to help wherever they can, hopefully creating a sense of care and love for the children in the townships.

WORDS Lene Lund Andersen

PHOTOS p. 16L & p. 17T: Emma Graham, p. 16R & p. 17B: Apolline Chaize

Cape Chameleon spotlight Issue 5 2010

Vrygrond Capricorn Children CentreThe days at the Vrygrond Capricorn Children Centre are filled with smiles from the underprivileged children, their teachers and the volunteers working there. There are some people who might feel prejudice towards the children from townships, but this unfairly founded. These children are open, happy, noisy and energetic – just like all young and innocent children on this planet. Their physical appearance however,

Children enjoying the comfort of being with their friends in their little classroom.

The days at the Vrygrond Children Centre are filled with smiles from the underprivileged children, their teachers and the volunteers working there.

tends to express their poor lifestyle. With dirty faces, these children often lack personal hygiene –falling ill more frequently than those who don’t live in townships. Yet, the reason why volunteers risk contact with the children, is most definitely due to their absolutely adorable laughs and genuine smiles. According to Jonathan Riascos-Montoya, a volunteer at Vrygrond Children Centre, the children are taken on regular park visits. However, this is quite challenging due to the area and the dangers it poses for the

children. Nevertheless, the trip to the park is undoubtedly the best part of the day for the children. When the director, Cynthia Lewis, tells the children that they can go to the park, every child in the room jumps up and down with happiness. Therefore, just a short trip to the park can make the children’s day pleasant. But a child needs more than just a good time.

Just one volunteer’s work at Vrygrond Children Centre can make a big difference. Jonathan helps with a lot of different

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things when he works here, but his main reason for being there is for the children. His favourite thing about working at Vrygrond is being able to connect with the children. ‘One of them told me he loves me and kissed me on the cheek and another one called me his superman the other day,’ said Jonathan.

Jonathan is able to provide the children with love and care, something that many of the children don’t get from their families. His last words about the experience as a volunteer at Vrygrond Children Centre were, ‘Absolutely amazing.’

Where Rainbows MeetThere’s also an organisation called Where Rainbows Meet and they run an after-school programme with the help of volunteers. The main reason for running the organisation is to keep the children off the streets after school has finished. Besides the activities planned by volunteers, there is a library where the children can look through different educational books and practice their reading skills.

One of the new projects, planned by the volunteers, is a science project run by a few of people from the Projects Abroad’s Human Rights Office. Together with the kids they make volcanoes out of plastic bottles and old newspapers. To make the volcanoes erupt they use baking powder, water, vinegar and a red food colouring to create the effect of real lava. The children gather around the small volcano in fascination. All the children are thrilled about the project and it is definitely a success.

Besides these programmes and projects, there is also a dance group – who practise in a container at Where Rainbows Meet. They is a group of seven to eight year old children and although they only have the space inside a container to practice, they have a really skilled dance routine. This is quite amazing: as you can clearly see the how the children make the best out of what little equipment they have.

Volunteers’ impact on the childrenWith these projects the children are entertained after school and they have the opportunity to make new friends. All these children really want is to be loved, hugged and noticed. When you come into the room, they come to you and hug you unconditionally. They don’t ask for much just a couple of minutes of your attention, and that is really why the volunteers are there. They are able to care for the children the way their parents might not be capable of, or have time to do, on a normal weekday.

‘one of them told me he loves me and kissed me on the cheek and another one called me his superman the other day.’

Where Rainbows Meet provide fun activities for the community children in their afterschool programme.

The volunteers have a positive impact on the children, as they encourage them to keep giving love to other people around them. At the same time the volunteers have the skills and the desire to give the children those things they might miss out on. They care about the children and the children love them unconditionally for it. Volunteer work is an effective way to help the community, especially when their help can make others happy.

The trip to the park is undoubtedly the best part of the day for the children and outdoor activity is essential good fun.

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WORDS Shelley Smith

PHOTOS Shelley Smith

and africa will be savedand africa will be savedthe Holy spirit will come down and africa will be saved

Christine Booysen and Marta, a nine-month-old baby girl Christine has rescued from the streets and taken into her full-time care.

A community member and Christine’s ‘children’ smile outside Christine’s bungalow in Military Heights.

Cape Chameleon art & culture Issue 5 2010

Township TalentunDiscoVeReD Voices

These are the words echoing through the thin wooden walls of a bungalow in Military Heights, an informal settlement in the heart of Lavender Hill, part of the Cape Flats.

Two young girls sit on the shabby sofas within the shack’s confines, singing-singing-singing while fastening tiny braids of babies and tickling five other toddlers as they scamper past. The smell of warm porridge fills the room and the girls are summoned to help dish breakfast for ten hungry mouths and a handful more saucer-eyed ‘lighties’ poking their heads in the doorway.

This home in the ‘squatter camp’, roughly 2000m², is part of the Cape Flats, and holds approximately a thousand families, with the number of residents growing daily with foreign Africans as well as Coloured and Black South Africans, many of whom were moved there from District 6 during the later years of apartheid.

The former inner-city residential area in Cape Town was majorly populated by Coloured and Black Xhosa-speaking residents after WWII until the late 1960s, when apartheid government deemed it a ‘whites-only area.’ With the implementation of the Group Areas Act of 1966, 450,000 of the residents were re-located to outer rural areas over the next 20 years, known as the Cape Flats, or, ‘the apartheid’s dumping grounds’.

A Message for the worldAmongst the squatter camp, made up of flimsy shacks comprised of scrap tin and wood residents build themselves, live six

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‘Unity’ singers Abigail Kasper (19 years), Anthea Booysen (19) and Monique Kasper (13) spend their days caring and singing for children at Christine’s.

Two boys stand outside Christine Booysen’s bungalow in Military Heights where 25-30 neighbourhood children drop in daily for food, clothes, and a place to sleep.

voices, one family who despite living in squalour, have found something to sing about.

Their names are Abigail, 19, Anthea, 19, Monique, 13, Tyrone, 17, Tofiq, 22, and Yolanda, 21 but together, they are ‘Unity,’ an emerging gospel-singing group with powerful voices but even more powerful message:

‘We are against drugs. We are against gangsterism, prostitution. We are against racism,’ Anthea said. ‘Our goal and our vision is to get each one [of the youths] off of the street, to start getting our youth involved in good things,’ said Anthea, who routinely invites talented singers and dancers from the community to practice with Unity, most all, she says are disinterested in joining. ‘Half of the children is into doing bad,’ she said. ‘They just want to be on the corner and do their thing on the corner.’

Living in ‘Unity’Abigail says that their group’s name is not only a vision for uniting the community but also a way of gluing themselves together in a world where peer-pressure and violence can threaten to break them apart. ‘Our goal is that we are united and we are one. If something comes up then we stand as one,’ Abigail said.

Although the group only recently formed in May 2010, they have been singing and living together since meeting in Military Heights four years ago under the care of their ‘mother,’ Christine Booysen.

Although just two of Unity’s members, Anthea and Yolanda, are her daughters by birth, Christine is ‘Mommy’ to dozens of children from her neighbourhood.

For over 10 years Christine has been looking after the needy in her community, and since her arrival to Military Heights, has made her bungalow the community’s, taking in children off the street supplying them love not only through food, clothes, and bedding, but also through music.

‘I love music. It bring peace in my house,’ she said. ‘And just to listen to it makes you feel so happy. I think it also stimulates the brain,’ said Christine, whose tiny home has evolved from into a symphony of sound. At any time of day, rich, textured gospel notes from speakers soar in and out of the few rooms separated by curtains, accompanied always by the voices Christine’s six ‘children,’ who daily aid her in what she says is a calling on her life from God.

Whistle while you workWith mouths to feed, hair to braid, sheets to wash and trousers to fold around the clock for the 25–30 children who drop in and out of Christine’s daily life, the four members of the group who are not in school literally live the familiar saying, ‘whistle while you work.’

‘Our typical day we look after the children. Normally we play music for them and sing for them until they sleep,’ said Anthea, who manages to make a little money on the side with her sister platting hair for members of the community. What they

earn, she says, depends on what her clients can give, all of which goes towards payment for transport to church and singing gigs, or for food and necessities for Christine’s home. ‘It’s not really safe walking because of the gangsters and stuff,’ she said.

To reach people is through singing and through musicShe and her group say their dream is to ‘make it big’ in the music industry to provide for their family and the mother who’s given them so much. ‘We would like for people to see our talent and maybe someone sponsor us with a CD, said Anthea, who recently completed an I.T. course in hopes of one day, with a computer of their own, be able to create logos and designs for future Unity merchandise.

‘And why we would like a CD is if we get an income we can at least put our parents in a stable home and we can provide for our family. That is basically what our dreams is,’ said Anthea, who was a semi-finalist along with her sister in a nation-wide singing competition several years ago.

Anthea explains that music is more than a gift for themselves and their group, but is a means to reach their community and to reach the world. ‘This is the reason why I sing; to touch someone else’s heart,’ she said. ‘We sing to get people’s attention. To reach people is through song and through music.’

Cape Chameleon sport Issue 5 2010

Seeking a hockey club in South Africa is like looking for a tiny needle in a haystack! Yet, Hockey is actually a very successful and common sport in countries such as Australia, England, Pakistan and Germany. This unprejudiced sport has yet to become popular in South Africa.

BackgroundIt’s no secret that many of South Africa’s youth have little or no education. For example, Gansbaai – a rural city in Western Cape – has become a district with problems such as poverty, crime, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, unemployment, pangs of hunger and racial segregation. Many of the schools there are old and lack sufficient resources, and it is no wonder they cannot even think of concentrating on sports.

Furthermore, the schools have to handle the demographic transition. Besides the growing population, there is a large amount of people who are moving to the Western Cape hoping for a better life and employment. However, Gansbaai is unable to accommodate such a large population, as more children means that schools need more money. Sadly, not all these children are able to be accepted or they simply cannot afford school fees. Having said that, these youngsters have no way of learning and often end up taking the wrong path in life.

Hockey Foundation ProjectgiVing cHilDRen a BRigHteR FutuRe

a day structured by regular routines, duties and the simple understanding of what is appropriate behaviour in society can be the outcome of a youth who participates in sports. this is the aim of the alster grootbos Hockey Foundation – established in 2009 – by, the former german Hockey Bundes league player, Delf ness and south africa’s michael lutzeyer (grootbos Foundation) in gansbaai.

WoRDS Caroline Wegner

PHoToS Nicola Knaust

Hockey creates friendships and develops the kids capacity for teamwork.

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The light bulb for their problem A sport has the ability to help guide a community and its children in the right direction and give them the opportunity to learn how to make something of their life. Delf Ness knew this and took action. Therefore, Delf, with help from Michael Lutzeyer and Der Club an der Alster – a leading German hockey club – started an amazing project: The Alster Grootbos Hockey Foundation.

The Alster Grootbos Hockey Foundation got the idea from the Football Foundation of South Africa, which runs a very successful project. They look after over 500 children living in lower-class neighbourhoods from the southwest of Cape Town, by offering a daily sports programme on an artificial football pitch, arranging holiday programmes and giving them the chance to learn about significant events in history as well as social and environmental issues pertinent today. And not forgetting the fact that they give the children something to forward to each day.

The children get out of the dismal of everyday life and have structured days with clean fun. The poorest of the poor is given a chance for advancement and a better life, just because some people like

Delf Ness were motivated by other charity organisations.

Interview with Delf NessCape Chameleon had the opportunity to ask Delf Ness some key questions about the project and how it’s going.

What made you choose Gansbaai in particular? Ness: I went privately to the wonderful nature resort in Grootbos. The holder,

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Michael Lutzeyer, showed me how he helps people from the Townships, e.g. training them to gardeners, farmers or just helping children, by having constructed a football pitch and now offering training to the kids. As a passionate hockey player I thought immediately: We must do something for this community.

How much of your time do you spend on the project?Ness: That varies. It was a good piece of craftsmanship starting the project. Fortunately, there are many volunteers from Germany, who not only lead the training, but also teaching the children passionately. It is important for me, coming to the place only once a year, to make sure everything runs. I also talk regularly with those in charge of the programmes about the progress, the future.

Was it easy to join Den Club an der Alster?Ness: That was very simple. They did not hesitate and guaranteed financial support for the first year of my project, donations of goods and campaigns, which again made money. We are really lucky that other hockey clubs also started campaigns to receive gains for the project. On top of that, I managed to get some generous donations from private persons. And everything is financed through donations.

Missing shoes are no obstacle for the kids as long as they can play hockey for a bit.

Besides the daily hockey training in the Gansbaai Communcal Sports Centre, programmes for HIV prevention and language courses are arranged.

What are the children’s achievements? Ness: The greatest success is that all races are playing together. That is unique for sports in South Africa, due to history. Furthermore regular training occurs and matches are won in many cases. Besides that there are fabulous excursions for the children, we are searching for the first coach from the township. We want to build up to the ‘Local Hero’.

Have you spotted any talent?Ness: Yes, some of them are really good. They are very athletic, fabulous skills with the ball and very eager to learn!

How was the feedback to the project?Ness: Actually mainly positive. Of course certain things don’t always work and sometimes there are fewer children than on other days, but nonetheless every single child is worth helping.

For the Future ‘I absolutely think that the project has a future, I am even convinced that it will be staying successful in the future. There are so many people who dedicate their time, money and, above all, hearts and love to the kids and the sport education of them. Gansbaai is a great place to start an integration project, because it has the

perfect size, three communities, a lot of children and all of them are eager to play sports and meet friends,’ said successful hockey player, Nicola Knaust.

The project keeps the children occupied and it gives them a target to work towards, namely the games and tournaments .The project is still pretty young, so there are many plans for additional education plans in the future.

Alster Grotboos Hockey Foundation ends off saying, ‘We have a stable amount of children coming to the training session. All in all, we have about 50 hockey kids, but not everyone is participating in every training session. We equipped the children with boots, kits, socks and shin-pads, soon to come are tracksuits and rain jackets. The children are playing with the foundation’s hockey sticks and balls, donated by various German hockey clubs and players. We started to play our first games in the second quarter of 2010 and won most of them. We have a few really talented players, who can easily compete on a higher level and who have a great potential to maybe even get scholarships through hockey, if they keep up the good work. I think this can definitely be described as a successful story!’

a sport has the ability to help guide a community and its children in the right direction and give them the opportunity to learn how to make something of their life.

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Welcome to Canada, eh?Canada: frozen tundra, maple syrup, beavers, toques and beer? Not exactly! During my time in Cape Town, I’ve had many a comical conversation with a local resident about what it’s like to live in Canada. Sometimes they marvel at how cold it gets during the winter, other times they marvel that it actually gets hot in the summer. I’m usually met with dropped jaws when I try to explain exactly how big the country is, or heads shaken in disbelief

Africa in the SnowWHat caPe toWn can teacH canaDians

WORDS Leslie Wells

PHOTOS p. 22: Dimitri Castrique Ploegsteert; p. 23: Farhan Nasir, both from www.sxc.hu

High-quality primary and secondary education are provided free of charge by the government in Canada.

the country of canada means many different things to many different people, but it is widely regarded as one of the best places in the world to live. every year, thousands of people from around the world immigrate to canada with the hope of making it their new home and many captonians expressed to me a desire to move there one day. it’s true, canada can boast one of the highest living standards in the world, but i sometimes wonder if the south africans – so eager to move to my home country – take for granted the colourful personality of cape town that can be found nowhere else in the world, least of all in canada...

Cape Chameleon Faces & Places Issue 5 2010

at the number of people who have the opportunity to go to university. Just about everyone instantly assumes I can speak French. For the record, I can’t!

Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. We have just over 9 million square kilometres of space, but only 33 million people to fill it. In the ten days it would take you to drive from one side to the other, you would see temperate rainforest, snow-capped mountains, grassland, glaciers, fishing villages, and

modern cities of millions. The temperature can dip down below -40 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country, and up above 35 degrees in others.

Canada is also home to immigrants hailing from all corners of the globe who have brought their religion, culture, cuisine and language with them. The residents of Toronto, Canada’s largest city and one of the most popular destinations for new Canadians, celebrate Eid, Hanukkah, Christmas, Carnival, Chinese New Year

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Canadian citizens can maintain an acceptable standard of living, even if they

are out of work.

and Diwali together, and with equal enthusiasm.

Much is made of Canada’s social security system as well and, although it is far from perfect, it is definitely understandable why so many find Canada an appealing place to come to. High-quality primary and secondary education are provided free of charge by the government, as is health care. Social welfare provisions and unemployment insurance guarantee that Canadian citizens can maintain an acceptable standard of living, even if they are out of work. Government corruption is virtually non-existent and crime isn’t of particular concern for most people.

When you combine this all together, you get a country full of diverse experiences and diverse people; where you can ski and swim in the same province, camp in the woods two hours from a major city, have Indian food for lunch and Italian for dinner, and hop between salsa, hip-hop and jazz bars all in the same night. It sounds fabulous, and it is, but at the same time, it lacks a lot of the personality and flavour that you find in Cape Town. Sometimes, it can be downright impersonal; sterile.

In my many conversations with Capetonians, I get asked quite often why I chose to come to South Africa. Some people even found it quite confusing that I would come to Africa from Canada voluntarily, as there are many other places ‘more fun for young people’. At first, I found this somewhat difficult to respond to and I usually answered by talking about my work or my research for my studies back at home. By the end of my stay, however, there was no hesitation: ‘This place is like nowhere else in the world. I love it. I would move here in a second.’ I would usually be laughed at. And then I would explain.

Not enough fun, not enough flavourIn Canada, there are too many rules. There are rules about everything. Not just about what is legal or illegal, but what is

‘acceptable’ behaviour in a public place. What is ‘embarrassing’ versus ‘cool’. What is ‘proper’. After a while, you don’t even have to think about the ‘rules’ anymore, you just follow them.

For example, take shopping: in Canada, you go to a big chain-store and buy something that was most likely made in a factory far away. You get hassled by unfriendly sales staff trying to pressure you to buy something you don’t need or want. You pay the price listed on the sticker to the disgruntled teenage cashier and go home to grumble about spending too much on it. You can have exactly the same experience in South Africa too, but you don’t have to. The last time I went to Greenmarket Square in Cape Town, I was approached by a small, smiling woman who hustled me over to look at her table full of jewellery.

Before I knew it, she had her arm around my shoulders and was speaking to me in rapid-fire French as I had just revealed my nationality. Encouraged by my embarrassingly broken response in her native language, she went on to relate her life story and how she made her jewellery. Although I wasn’t intending to buy anything originally, I ended up making a purchase just because I liked her so much. At 40% of the original asking price, no less. After giving her a large note, she bustled off to get me change from another vendor. In Canada, if somebody made off with your money like that, you could be sure you weren’t getting it back. She did come back and, sure enough, had exactly the right change for me. Granted, this behaviour is a standard selling technique for many street vendors, but I left the market with a smile on my face nonetheless. I can’t remember the last time I left a Canadian shopping mall with a smile on my face.

Also, take transportation: in Canada, you hop in your car and drive from point A to point B. If you don’t have a car, you get on a bus or train and try desperately not to touch or make eye-contact with anybody

else for fear of being considered rude. If you miss the bus, you have no option but to wait for the next one. You sit quietly until your stop comes and get off, not having said a word to anybody. In South Africa, it could not be more different. The minibus experience is something I’ve had difficulty explaining to people at home simply because it’s so completely different from what we’re used to. Not only does the minibus stop and wait for you if you’re late, it sometimes even drives off the route to come pick you up. You hand your fare to complete strangers to pass on and always get the right change. In Canada, you’d get your fare stolen if you tried that. You cram yourself in right beside people you’ve never met, sitting closer to them than it’s acceptable to sit to your own family in Canada. On the minibus, I’ve talked about home, I’ve talked about work, I’ve been asked to deal drugs and I’ve been proposed to, all within a ride that lasts less than five minutes. I’ve been entrusted to care for a three year old child. It’s that camaraderie, that unconditional acceptance, that openness that we lack at home.

As a Canadian, I know that I am a member of the extraordinarily fortunate 1% of the world’s population that has had the life I have had, and has the opportunities that I do for the future. However, as a price for this, I’ve missed out on the vibrancy and community – the ubuntu – of life in somewhere like Cape Town. If you ask me, we need a little more Africa in up there in the snow.

24

Useful contacts

> PRoJects aBRoaD BuilDing PRoJectLetterstedt House

Newslands on Main

Cnr Campground Road

Newlands 7700

Cape Town

Supervisor: Deen Singh

(t) 082-490-9773

www.projects-abroad.org.za

Projects Abroad run the Building Project which uses sandbags

to construct eco-friendly housing.

> FootBall FounDation oF soutH aFRicaPO Box 148

Gransbaai 7220

(t) 028 384 8070

www.football-foundation.com

Football Foundation of South Africa is a non profit organisation,

which promotes sport and uplifts the people this country

> RigHt2KnoW camPaign(e) right2knowsa@gmail.com

R2K campaign is raising awareness for the Protection of

Information Bill, and represents a group of civil societies who

believe the bill is secrecative and detrimental to the public.

> santaPO Box 31339

Tokai 7966

Cape Town

(e) info@santa.org.za

www.santa.org.za

SANTA stands for South African National Tuberculosis

Association.

> soutH aFRican ReD cRoss cHilDRen’s HosPitalKlipfontein Road

Rondebosch 7700

Cape Town

(t) 021 686 7860

www.childrenshospital.org.za

Red Cross is a specialised children’s hospital in South Africa.

> VRYgRonD communitY DeVeloPment tRustVrygrond

Cape Town

(t) 021 788 9233

www.vrygrond.co.za

Vrygrond is a low socio-economic community and the Trust

works to improve the lives of the residents there.

> uniceF – soutH aFRica6th Floor, Metro Park Building

351 Schoeman Street

Pretoria

(t) 012 354 8201

www.unicef.org

UNICEF helps build a world where the rights of every child are

realised.

> WesteRn caPe eDucation DePaRtmentPrivate Bag 9114

Cape Town 8000

(t) 021 467 2000

www.wced.wcap.gov.za

The WCED is responsible for public schooling in the province.

> WHeRe RainBoWs meetC/o Trevor Siljeur Road & Vrygrond Avenue

Vrygrond 7945

(t) 021 701 0328

www.whererainbowsmeet.org.za

Where Rainbows Meet is an organisation helping the

community and especially the children of Vrygrond.

Cape Chameleon useful contacts Issue 5 2010