300613, Hole in the Wall

300613, Portraits of my neighbors

The Reading Hut got broken into a couple of times now.  The weekend before last, someone got in and stole the pvc pipe that I'd just bought for the long drop.  They got in by wiggling the window from the outside in such a way that the lever came loose on the inside and they could open the window.  When I saw what happened I secured the window just a little by hammering in some bent nails so the lever won't lift so easily.  

This just gave me more problems because the next time they came, they simply broke the glass and got the window open again.  And stole my little bookshelf that I brought all the way from Cape Town.  They also took the only chair in the place and the special alphabet carpet that was the only warm spot on the floor for the kids.

Anyway, I'm sure it must be someone that stays not too far away, for them to come back almost every day to steal something else.  So I decided to take a little walk around in the village to let everyone know what happened and let them keep their eyes open for any of the stolen items.  So far no-one has seen a thing but who knows.  

Either way it was a nice walk and good to see all my neighbors again.  I've also decided to call my next exhibition 'Makhelwane' (My neighbour). 

210613, A visit to Mama May's house

The view from her house.

Here Mama May (Mavis) is just finishing a fresh layer of cow dung for the floor.

I really liked her house, such a colorful and happy place.

One of the guys also staying there.

Some of her grand kids

The mother goat

Mama Mavis in her church outfit

061713, Monday - Youth day

  

My 'adopted kids' Snooks and Asefika.

This is my friend Lucy.  Here she is collecting sand for building.  She has already built a rondavel and a flat building and now she is building another flat building.  She does most of the work herself in between selling beads and working as one of the 'mentor mothers'.   She is possibly one of the most hard-working people I know.  

16 June, Youth Day in the Transkei

Tomorrow we celebrate what we now call ‘Youth Day’.  Here in Coffee Bay, rural Transkei, previous apartheid homeland you can sense a little something in the air.  It is long weekend, some tourists have arrived at the backpackers and we also expect the 'shebeens' to be pumping tomorrow and won't be surprised to hear of some stabbings or other violent acts happening amidst the drunkenness.  

But how many of us actually remember what Youth Day is about.  37 years ago, during the apartheid regime, Afrikaans (together with English) was introduced as the languages in which children be instructed in all black schools in South Africa.  In fact, they were forced to use these languages.  Indigenous languages would only be used for religion, music and physical culture.

This meant that black children would rather have to focus on the understanding of the language than learn much about the subject taught in it.  English as international language was of course preferred over apartheid associated Afrikaans, but because the government was Afrikaans dominated it wanted to reverse the decline of Afrikaans among black South Africans by enforcing the 1974 decree that recognized only Afrikaans and English as official languages.

This sparked much rebellion that eventually grew to the mass rally of June 16, 1976, when between 10 000 – 20 000 students walked in protest to Orlando stadium.  The protest, which was intended to be peaceful, turned violent after students took another route when their intended route was barricaded off by the police.  The first shot was fired by a policeman, who said that some of the children were throwing stones.  This started panic and the police let their dogs loose on the children who retaliated by throwing stones at the dogs.  Then the police started shooting directly at the children.  23 People, including 2 whites died on that day.

Following this event, The ANC was established as leading party in the liberation struggle and the Soweto uprising was a turning point to white rule in South Africa that eventually led to the release of Mandela and the end of apartheid.

I think it is important for us to remember our history and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.  I also ask myself what can be done by us and our government to help the people, that were previously oppressed by our forefathers, because I find it ironic that now, 37 years later, they are still being taught in English (no longer Afrikaans) and mostly the rural people don’t understand English, so after all these years their education has not improved much.  

110613, Thanks Nal'ibali

A big thank you to Nal'ibali for the books we have received from you!  It is much appreciated!

040613, Port St Johns, The Pont