Dancers showcase their skills. Photo: Nondumiso Ntsengentsu

Many South Africans have dreams, desires and interests that they are unable to pursue, due to the limited availability of information in their community. Faced with this challenge, they often lose hope and begin to believe drugs and alcohol abuse as well as violence and crime are the only things that help them to feel fulfilled. With increased focus on personal development and access to information it would be possible for community organizations to help community members fulfill their dreams and avoid the pitfalls of substance abuse and violence in their own lives.

Dance for all, an Athlone based Outreach Programme, looked at the challenges facing community members and came up with a solution. They aimed to offer children in historically deprived communities with an opportunity for enjoyment, upliftment and promotion of self – esteem through the medium of dance, as well as training for young people who hope to become professional dancers. This has lead to the development of a unique, indigenous dance company that embodies creativity and culture. They also offer these classes at other service points in the surrounding townships of Gugulethu, Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Langa.

Eight dance teachers from the United States (US) are expected to come and share their dancing skills with participants.  The list of visiting teachers includes founder of the LEAP programme at St Mary’s College Claire Sheridan, a regular visitor to Dance for All, Kristine Elliot, Geren Scribner, Lucy Van Cleef, Olivia Ramsay, David Tamaki, Annie Colbeck and Alejandro Piris Nino. They will work with students over the next two weeks designing and producing an on-site dance that includes movement classes, repertory and choreographic workshops.

Anyone who is interested in this amazing dance experience is exclusively invited to two performances offered by this initiative from Friday 08 July at 16:30 or Saturday, 9 July at 11:30 in their Dance for All studios in Athlone.

The entrance fee of R25.00 for an adult and one of R15.00 for kids will help you to get inspired and assist you in finding your new hobby.

We can all rise above our current situations and become what we want to be in lives!!!

One of the biggest challenges is the continued failure to improve the quality of education. Although the government spends about 6% of GDP on education, the public education system is floundering, literacy and numeracy test scores are low by both African and global standards and a wide gap in schooling quality for black and white learners persists. The South African health system is in distress as well; life expectancy is lower than it should be and infant mortality rates are still high. Finally, corruption and irregular over-payment are also massive strains on the system, totaling about R30 billion a year, an amount which could go a long way if it was spent on alleviating poverty.

The document is realistic and convincing. It touches upon many other challenges such as unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, poor public service, class and racial divisions, myopic view of politicians and weakening state and civil institutions. The good news is that these problems don’t fully negate the progress South Africa has already made and they are not insurmountable as long as they are managed. Now, more than ever, it is important that politicians and citizens work together to fix these social problems to ensure a better future for all South Africans.

To read complete document go to: http://www.npconline.co.za/MediaLib/Downloads/Home/Tabs/Diagnostic/Diagnostic%20Overview.pdf

Adrian Gore

He funded Discovery Health, which is now SA’s largest medical support, which has provided healthcare for almost 2 million people. He is also the chairmen for Endeavor, a non-profit that provides entrepreneurial and business opportunities for emerging markets in economic development.

In short, he’s kind of a big deal and has made strides in supporting South Africa. I came across an Op-Ed of his from last fall that I thought was worth sharing.

In the Op-Ed he discusses the urgency for South Africa to become a leader amongst emerging markets and place its name on the map for economic and financial growth. He points to major countries such as China, Brazil, Russia, and India (CBRI) as examples of countries that have risen to become economic powerhouses, despite issues of corruption and poverty. Interestingly, he points out that what he believes to be South Africa’s biggest hindrance aren”t our fundamentals or resources, but rather our attitude…or skepticism.

He belives we are inhibitors of our own growth, allowing our insecurities and history to prevent us from believing that we are capable of growing and reaching a level of utmost success. While he does address issues in SA that one might consider to be majorly problematic, he also illustrates how the countries mentioned above face similar issues (and sometimes, worsely), but still manage to work past them.

Here are a few for thought:

•Brazil has similar levels of crime to South Africa, and shocking levels of corruption. Almost 30% of its Senate and House of Congress face criminal charges or are under investigation;

•Russia’s corruption levels are dramatically worse than ours and, owing to public health and demographic problems, the absolute size of its population is declining;

•India has serious infrastructural problems, and 45% of its massive population lives on less than $1.25 a day;

•China too has tremendous challenges. Between 45 and 50 million people a year move from rural areas to urban areas. Estimates show that China needs to build 35 000 skyscrapers and equip 175 major cities with mass transit systems by 2025 to deal with this exceptional mass of urbanisation

This isn’t meant to scare anyone, but it is the reality of the situation. So, though we’ve faced many struggles, we’ve already recently accomplished a great deal.

Here, Gore lists out some of our recent accomplishments:

To host a World Cup requires an inter-connected economy with sophistication in infrastructure, telecommunications, financial services, and more. Research after the World Cup showed that 70 – 90% of the people who visited South Africa rated us as “excellent” or “very good” across a range of measures, from accommodation to stadiums and even safety at the games. Our performance from an infrastructural perspective was even more remarkable. For the two seminal World Cups prior to ours, held in the USA in 1994 and Germany in 2006, almost no new infrastructure was required, whereas South Africa faced a staggering task. We needed to build six new stadiums, an entirely new airport (and do major upgrades on two others), the Gautrain, and other transport infrastructure. Yet we excelled, delivering more than we had committed to in the bid document. We built six stadiums simultaneously in around 30 months and at an average cost of $250 million dollars.

Compared to the Yankee Stadium, Wembley, the Allianz Arena and others, both the time scale and costs of South Africa’s projects were significantly lower. The same holds true for the building of King Shaka International Airport and the Gautrain versus similar projects internationally. Yet very few people give South Africa credit for its ability to roll out large infrastructural projects quickly and efficiently.

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It’s interesting to read these two components (the good and bad) side-by-side. It’s a bit oxymoronic, but undoubtedly proves to us the successes we’ve already had, and how we can continue to use those lessons learned and examples to grow, and improve. As Gore mentioned, this effort isn’t led solely by govermnent, but by people and public services, too. With a bit of optimism and leadership, South Africa ‘can and must excel.’

Thoughts?

community can work together to fight crime,Photo:Nondumiso Ntsengentsu

The Dewani saga (the “Tourist Honeymoon Murder” that has gained international media attention) has reinforced negative stereotypes about both Gugulethu and Khayelitsha townships.  As a response to the negative attention focussed on their community, the Gugulethu Youth Development Council (GYDC) has taken a stand against crime in their community by initiating an open dialouge for residents to voice their concerns and brainstorm about solutions.

The Council organised a press conference at the popular neighbourhood hangout, Mzoli’s Place, in Gugulethu on November 18^th to address the harsh reality of crime facing South Africans.

The aim of the conference was to encourage the people of Gugulethu to participate in a public forum where they could discuss possible solutions to prevent incidents of crime, like the highly publicised Dewani incident,  that have tarnished the name of their community.

The chairperson of GYDC, Sonwabo Ngxumza, said that it is important for his organisation to encourage all residents to become involved in crime prevention.  Residents are requested to challenge local business owners to participate in existing community safety initiatives.

He also said that to make their township better, young and old people must get involved with structures that fight crime like the Gugulethu Youth Development Forum,the Gugulethu Police Forum as well as the GYDC.

The secretary of Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF), Wandisile Ngeyi, added that stakeholders, businesses, government and civil society should all come on board to set up a statutory community structure that will fight against crime in these areas. He suggested that “a form of stipend [be paid] to those [residents] who will be patrolling at night [which] can be backed- up and supported by government and businesses” as one way to promote partnerships between businesses and residents.

 Ngxumza said he “is very delighted that they have reached a large number of people and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) is to be held next year”.

Children need to be loved and protected from violence to stop them from becoming perpetrators of violence themselves. Photo: Thetravellinged via Flickr

South Africa was recently shocked by the gang-rape of a school girl by three of her fellow pupils. The girl was drugged and raped while other pupils watched and filmed it on their cellphones. Why are some children in South Africa so violent and what can be done about it?

Some people have spoken about a “culture of violence” in South Africa, but implying that violence is inherently South African is not helpful. The cause of the problem needs to be found and addressed.

South Africa is not the only country that struggles with violent and dysfunctional youth. Safe Families Safe Children, an international group of renowned child rights organisations, including ACER Brasil, The International Children’s Trust, JUCONI Ecuador, JUCONI Mexico, New Life (South Africa) and Railway Children (UK, India and East Africa) “promote access for highly excluded children from violent homes around the world to the support and services they require to recover from their traumatic life experiences and gain sustainable access to their rights”.

In this organisation’s “Manifesto of Change” they site the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study which “found a clear link between the adverse experiences in childhood (including physical, emotional or sexual abuse and living in households with domestic violence) and a range of physical, emotional and social problems, including: heart disease, obesity, depression, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, rape and poor job performance”.

Children who experience violence in their families feel neglected and excluded from their community. They often end up on the street. Photo: Phil @ Delfryn Design via Flickr

The Manifesto also states that a study in the UK had found that 72% of children who have killed or committed serious, usually violent, crimes, have experienced abuse.

These children do not take active part in their community as they feel neglected or not part of that community. They often end up on the streets as they experience violence, rather than love, from their families.

Safe Families Safe Children believes that action must be taken on three levels to break the cycle of violence.

In the field the internal and external needs of the most excluded children from violent homes should be met. Not only must the violence be stopped and youths be given access to education and health care, but the youths need to be helped to emotionally recover from the trauma of abuse.

Secondly, community stakeholders must be able to recognise and work with the most excluded children from violent homes in the communities.

Thirdly, policies and guidelines should be drawn up that prioritise and address the experiences and emotional needs of these children in government and funding agencies.

New Life believes in working not only with the children, but also their families. However, this is a difficult process. Photo: Thetravellinged via Flickr

The aim is to ensures that vulnerable children are recognised and participate in society and can fulfill their goals in life.

New Life, the South African partner of Safe Families Safe Children,  does not only work with street children, but also tries to engage their families, taking a holistic approach. According to their website, their vision is “to empower out of school/street (most excluded) children and their families, living in violent and poor communities, to combat the problems of poverty, lack of schooling, family violence, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS”.

This is a difficult process as children cannot go back to dysfunctional families without the families first undergoing serious change. Not all families are open to this process. But often institutionalisation does not work for children either and they end up on the streets. How do you think the issue of most excluded children from violent homes should be addressed? Please leave your comment below.

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