I am not sure what to feel anymore. Hearing a colleague telling of 16 year old girl being brutally raped and killed near her home in Gugulethu. A good friend of mine that has received the news of his cousin being found after being washed out by the sea. Reading a headline of a 11 year old being raped after coming out of a heart surgery, a 7 week old baby being raped by her uncle..
And the list goes on... etc. You see where I am getting at?
What is our society coming to? what is this country to? and even on a global perspective?
Then reading what had happened during Apartheid, the brutality, the murders of men, women and children. The same thing is happening today, people are just being plain evil with one another. Why are we afraid of reporting an incident when we see it happening in front of us? History repeating itself.
What is your response to taking Action?
Then listening and witnessing young people from various communities who are driving change. Reason why they wake up each morning is to see change, when they say Enough is Enough..Being inspired by positive role models to drive change.
Witnessing high school learners graduating from a project called Community Youth Parliment and seeing their parents celebrate this achievement with them. Also seeing youth from Mfuleni High School being part of a project called Burden Free Generation; where university students mentor these youth and simply say" We believe in you, and you can achieve anything in life"
And then you get the silent activist in his community who recycles and saves his money to buy books for the library in his community.
There are many positive stories that need to be heard and spoken about. However, it is hidden and the media simply clouds our minds with all these negativity. And as a result, citizens react in an aggressive way to break down their own community.
I encourage all of you, even if it is just a small piece of positive news; like someone getting a job to someone going back to school. Spread the Good News!
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Which "Change" are you part of?
Having struggled for the past few months to read the book "Country of my Skull" by Antjie Krog, couldn't get by one page without weeping. It speaks about what the country went through during the Apartheid era and how human beings treated one another. The book is about the Truth Reconciliation Commission and how the perpetrators and victims spoke about the experience and what happened.
The reason why I say "human beings" and not South Africans is because despite where you come from you are still human.
When I look at how this is currently happening in our country, the xenophobia attacks, the street mobs, the way gangs are wiping out one another, infants being raped and many other examples that are currently happening in our communities.
Where has Humanity gone? does it still exist? I believe it still exists but it is not being mentioned enough. Media has played such a role that we tend be manipulated by it. Only the bad is being exposed. But hold on, let me highlight a few of what ordinary people are up to.
A 19 year old man has started a projected in his village in the Eastern Cape, providing kids with school shoes, then it shifted and has added activities like mentorship, parents involvement, sports activities. You have to meet him; Dumisa Thethiwe.
Young social entrepreneurs from in and around Cape town who have businesses in Agri-farming, Recycling and Entertainment. All of them have an element in social upliftment and giving back to their communities. They are just ordinary young people who have said "Enough is Enough, we cannot rely on government anymore.."
Then we look at young activists in their communities that are involved in educating youth about politics. Understanding it, practising it, and engaging with politicians and councillors in a way that both parties could understand one another.
You also look at adults and elders who are still continuing to bring about positive change. It could be a gogo in the community feeding hundreds of kids daily or an ordinary parent/ adult that simply tells a young person " I believe in you!"
Yes I know Rome was not built in one and yes I know the "adults" of this world is depending on "young people" to make the change, but are they given enough platform to bring about that
change?
The youth that fought for the freedom of this country had a different vision to the youth that are currently fighting this struggle. Are you part of this struggle?
The reason why I say "human beings" and not South Africans is because despite where you come from you are still human.
When I look at how this is currently happening in our country, the xenophobia attacks, the street mobs, the way gangs are wiping out one another, infants being raped and many other examples that are currently happening in our communities.
Where has Humanity gone? does it still exist? I believe it still exists but it is not being mentioned enough. Media has played such a role that we tend be manipulated by it. Only the bad is being exposed. But hold on, let me highlight a few of what ordinary people are up to.
A 19 year old man has started a projected in his village in the Eastern Cape, providing kids with school shoes, then it shifted and has added activities like mentorship, parents involvement, sports activities. You have to meet him; Dumisa Thethiwe.
Young social entrepreneurs from in and around Cape town who have businesses in Agri-farming, Recycling and Entertainment. All of them have an element in social upliftment and giving back to their communities. They are just ordinary young people who have said "Enough is Enough, we cannot rely on government anymore.."
Then we look at young activists in their communities that are involved in educating youth about politics. Understanding it, practising it, and engaging with politicians and councillors in a way that both parties could understand one another.
You also look at adults and elders who are still continuing to bring about positive change. It could be a gogo in the community feeding hundreds of kids daily or an ordinary parent/ adult that simply tells a young person " I believe in you!"
Yes I know Rome was not built in one and yes I know the "adults" of this world is depending on "young people" to make the change, but are they given enough platform to bring about that
change?
The youth that fought for the freedom of this country had a different vision to the youth that are currently fighting this struggle. Are you part of this struggle?
Monday, November 18, 2013
Different ways of teaching!
From an article I read today about the importance of teaching a child from the basic levels. Made me realise that I need to shift the project that I was planning to implement next year; The Brick Campaign.
The article illustrated that we need to tackle the literacy and numeracy in our country. The importance of teaching that at a young age, not to make it sound boring to the child but fun and very engaging. Education has and will always be one of my passionate areas that I would be an activist for. Yes, "we" referring to the government that Education is the Key to Success, but how can you say that and not implement programmes that would improve the pass rate in literacy and numeracy. I do not think it costs millions of rands, but it takes a simple someone to make the first move.
I write this from the perspective of going to a "model C" or priviledged school to finishing my school years at a "no fees" school.
Having had all the resources, received the best teaching from the educators and then having to adapt to a school that teachers just never had any umph to be in the class. I think there are many players in this scenario; the teacher, the parent, the child and the government. Each one has a role to play and has to have some responsibility.
The shift in my project has landed on an opportunity that would change the way we look at education now, especially for those who depend on government. New project name; The Lit & Num Campaign.
This is basically providing learners from grades 1-6 with numeracy and literacy classes. Making it fun and entertaining at the same time.
We have seen how schools that are "no fees" simply do not give much attention on the seriousness of a child's grades. Then when they come to matric, the child struggles to pass their final exam.
Simply get a couple of friends together and start reading and numeracy clubs. Have competitions and prizes. Have monitoring and evaluation tools in place so that one could track the individuals progress and spot their strengths and weaknesses. I absolutely do not think that government should get involved, would just complicate things. Involving parents most definitely. They are most welcome to join the clubs and learn from their children too.
Now this is the difference that I want to make. Lets go Back to Basics!
The article illustrated that we need to tackle the literacy and numeracy in our country. The importance of teaching that at a young age, not to make it sound boring to the child but fun and very engaging. Education has and will always be one of my passionate areas that I would be an activist for. Yes, "we" referring to the government that Education is the Key to Success, but how can you say that and not implement programmes that would improve the pass rate in literacy and numeracy. I do not think it costs millions of rands, but it takes a simple someone to make the first move.
I write this from the perspective of going to a "model C" or priviledged school to finishing my school years at a "no fees" school.
Having had all the resources, received the best teaching from the educators and then having to adapt to a school that teachers just never had any umph to be in the class. I think there are many players in this scenario; the teacher, the parent, the child and the government. Each one has a role to play and has to have some responsibility.
The shift in my project has landed on an opportunity that would change the way we look at education now, especially for those who depend on government. New project name; The Lit & Num Campaign.
This is basically providing learners from grades 1-6 with numeracy and literacy classes. Making it fun and entertaining at the same time.
We have seen how schools that are "no fees" simply do not give much attention on the seriousness of a child's grades. Then when they come to matric, the child struggles to pass their final exam.
Simply get a couple of friends together and start reading and numeracy clubs. Have competitions and prizes. Have monitoring and evaluation tools in place so that one could track the individuals progress and spot their strengths and weaknesses. I absolutely do not think that government should get involved, would just complicate things. Involving parents most definitely. They are most welcome to join the clubs and learn from their children too.
Now this is the difference that I want to make. Lets go Back to Basics!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)