A New Lease on "life": Love Life Gives Hope to SA Youth

A NEW LEASE ON “LIFE”: LOVE LIFE HELPS SA YOUTH TO ACHIEVE

On July 10th, 2007, I had the opportunity to visit with representatives from the non-governmental organization – “Love Life” which is the largest NGO in the world dedicated to HIV awareness and the reduction in new HIV infections - particularly new cases in South African youth. After talking with these representatives in their “rainbow colored” offices, perhaps a not so subtle indication of the organization’s commitment to promoting self esteem and individuality, I visited one of Love Life’s youth centers in the township of Orange Farm.

Love Life maintains youth centers, is involved with public health centers, and runs a purple Love Life party train in rural areas. While, on the surface, the eradication of HIV and parent/youth dialogue are main goals of Love Life, this organization does so much more in providing its youth volunteers and other children in the community with skill development that often leads to jobs. If it were not for Love Life, it would be difficult for youth in townships to break the cycle of poverty. Indeed, after having met and talked with youth involved in spreading the message of safe sex in their communities, it is clear that these young, innovative and ambitious people are the future of the country. Former skilled volunteers have become involved in the computer programming, marketing, and radio communication industries as skills in all of these areas are necessary for “Love Life” to carry out its marketing vision -particularly in rural areas without wide TV access. For instance, many of Love Life’s radio broadcasts are scripted and edited entirely by unpaid youth volunteers, known as “pinchies” (friends), and/or groundbreakers, former pinchies, now on stipend, who manage the various dance, theatre, sports, gender empowerment, poetry writing, physical wellness, computer, and radio programs. The focus at Love Life’s various youth centers is programming for youth by youth. In addition to this, Love Life brings in corporate partners - such as SABC, AVIS, and BMW, who have agreed to hire on former groundbreakers as full-time employees in their companies.

SABC, as part of their public service agreement with the government, has also agreed to broadcast TV spots for Love Life at no cost and to pay half of all development costs for these spots. Love Life covers all costs related to the production and airing of radio programming. Love Life also has an arrangement with several publishing companies thereby allowing free placement of Love Life’s teen magazine “Uncut” -published in both English and Afrikaans – in national newspapers. Bulletin board placement is also crucial to Love Life’s marketing strategy. Drawing upon research that demonstrates that “safe sex” lectures and sermons do not change youth behavior, Love Life aims to brand its message to the youth demographic used to being media savvy.

The future looks bright for Love Life. Originally expected only to be funded until 2010, the SA government has agreed to fund Love Life beyond this date. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also agreed to help fund Love Life’s latest initiative – the Go-Go (grandmother) volunteer program.

THE MANY FACES OF SOWETO

JULY 9th, 2007

Soweto has a land mass of approximately 150 square kilometers and is home to over four million black South Africans; 90% with electricity. Although no longer forced to remain in Soweto, many upper middle class Black South Africans are opting to remain in the area to be close to businesses which are encouraged by the government in the form of financial incentives. Soweto also houses middle class and informal settlement sub-communities. While many informal settlers have been registered to obtain government housing/homes, since the later 1990s onward, these informal settlement communities continue to grow as skill-development and job training programs seem to be lacking and housing development is not keeping pace with demand.

While I provided a donation to talk with members of one of these informal communities and to take photos, I found it to be deeply unsettling to provide money to view intense poverty in such a voyeuristic way. Very few individuals stated that they had employment. Of course, one must ask disturbing questions such as to what level is the government responsible to remediate the evils of Apartheid, for how long, and how much initiative should come from the people themselves? Hopefully, Soweto will benefit, in the form of construction and service -related jobs - from the building of the 2010 World Soccer Cup Stadium and hotels already being built in the township. There also seems to be revenue generated through the international popularity of Wandie's Restaurant and tourist class Bed and Breakfasts run by the likes of Mama Lolo - a former school principal. Both of these places were also recently featured on Lonely Planet specials on South Africa. Some businesses in the Soweto tourist industry are also being run by White South Africans and foreigners but few/none of these individuals live in the Township. Given the significance of Soweto to the rise of the anti-Apartheid movement, and the international interest in this subject, Soweto should be able to continue to capitalize on its history.

I also was lucky to be the only patron on a tour organized by Soweto Tours. I took advantage by asking many questions. Like most tours, my tour guide and I went to the Roman Catholic Regina Mondi Church where Soweto youth took refuge during the 1976 Uprisings. Their hope that church was a sanctuary was soon to be dashed when the South African police raided the church and much destruction resulted. One can still see the damaged alter to this day. The church was also used for hearings associated with the Truth and Reconciliation Trials. We also went to Nelson Mandela's home and the Hector Pietersen Museum which memorializes the 1976 Uprising which resulted when the South African government forced Soweto schools to have instruction only in Afrikaans, the language spoken by most South Africans of Dutch/German descent. As most teachers in Soweto could not speak Afrikaans well, it was difficult to instruct students in all subjects especially the maths and sciences. Over 600 mostly young people lost their lives in this uprising, such as Hector Pietersen. However, one silver lining to result was a growing international impatience with Apartheid.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY: SA DEPT. OF ED STRIVES FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL AWARENESS

On Friday, July 6th, I had the opportunity to travel to Pretoria, some 70 kilometers from Johannesburg, to meet with representatives from the South African Department of Education; specifically, representatives from the Office of International Affairs and the Office of Diversity. It was a rather informative meeting and, while an incredibly daunting task, I came away impressed with the commitment shown by the government to address these issues.

Considering that, during Apartheid which only ended 13 years ago, there used to be 19 departments of education, now 11 official languages, and outdated different curriculum from the days of Apartheid - one for whites, coloureds, and blacks, it is remarkable that the government has had the ability to consolidate education initiatives. Indeed, it is the DOE that now mandates a single educational standard while the prefectural departments (9) are in control of carrying out the national mission and implementation. DOE priorities include: 1) establishing a national identity; 2) integrating the different ethnic groups within South Africa; and 3) to form a bridge with the rest of the African continent, and, by extension, a continental identity.

In terms of the celebration of diversity and looking at the legacy of Apartheid from a multicultural perspective, the DOE has established several interesting programs in its over 30,000 public schools. First, it has been collaborating with the Institute of Justice in Cape Town on developing curriculum materials on the Truth and Reconciliation Trials. The DOE also has formed partnerships with Project Citizen, a leadership building competition program for/by youth, and other values promotion organizations such as valued citizens and the SA Human Rights Commission. This is being done by concentrating on involving the whole school community (i.e. parents/community) in values education, providing teacher development, engendering whole school reform iniatives that involve the principal, teachers, parents, and youth representatives on SMTs - school management teams, engaging prefectural executive councils of education, and promoting whole school celebrations of national days. The DOE is also committed to helping both students and parents in understanding that along with rights, students still have responsibilities to the home.

One of the most interesting innovations was establishing a 2 year pilot program/advanced certificate training for teachers in values which then be recognized by the school system as a valid teaching credential. 72 educators from each of the nine provinces participated. Although the program has ended, many universities, now all desegregated, have established values degree programs. It is hoped that educators trained in these new programs will bring South Africa forward. Equally interesting, the DOE is encouraging prefectural departments of education to develop community centres of social development and health, in particularly poor areas, to empower local community members and to develop a network of community resources.

These model reforms must succeed as the public is becoming increasingly frustrated, as demonstrated by the recent strikes, over continual poverty and disenfranchisement after fourteen years of freedom from Apartheid.

The meeting concluded with a discussion on the possibility of follow-up educational visits to both the United States/South Africa for educators and students from both countries.

A Memorial to White Rule in Africa

On July 6th, after meeting with the South African Department of Education Offices on Race and Diversity and International Relations, in Pretoria, I went to the Voortrekker Monument lying just outside the city on a bluff overlooking the town. Built in the 1930s-1940s, at the beginning of the National Party's growing power (ultimately, this political party instituted the system of Apartheid) , in the art deco style, the monument pays hommage to the Afrikaaner pioneers who trekked from the Cape Provinces to the area of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the 1800s in order to remove themselves from British/foreign influence and to form their own nation. These ambitions would eventually be squashed with the British victory in the Boer War of 1898-99 when the South African republics were unified under the British Crown (1910). While it might seem imperialistic for those of European descent to lay claim to this land, at the expense of the local inhabitants, it is interesting to note the parallels between the memories and heritage seen in the Great Trek and Migration west in the United States.

Equally interesting is to note how indigenous peoples, in both countries, were portrayed in the memory of history during the time of the building of the monument. Views of race and gender are equally revealing as African warriors are seen in frescoes, at the Voortrekker Monument, murdering white women and children only to be ultimately overcome by white male power. In the United States in the late 1800s/early 1900s, the black male was also often seen, in overally violent and sexual terms, as a threat to white womanhood and, therefore, the continuation of a "pure" white race. The saving grace in both instances, and in both countries, is a growing interest in the study of history that looks at memory from diverse perspectives and in a way that allows the learner to analyze incidents rather than to be merely fed facts.

For these reasons, it is necessary not only to study the history of a certain time period but to look at history at various times in the retelling. As such, examples of memorialization, such as the Voortrekker Monument, continue to serve an important purpose in youth education.

The Promise and Reality of Museums of Tolerance in South Africa: Constitution Hill and the Apartheid Museum

On July 5th, again in Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to meet with two pioneering museum educators - Solly Sethako, Education Coordinator at Constitution Hill, and Lynn Abrahams, Education Coordinator at the Apartheid Museum. The Apartheid Museum focuses on the segregationist Apartheid policies of the National Party from 1948 to 1993/94, and precedents, specifically in Johannesburg, while Constitution Hill includes remnants of the old Awaiting Trial Blocks, Section 4 - the jail that housed black and South Asian males (including Mohatma Gandhi during the years in which he lived in South Africa), the womens' prison under Apartheid, and the old Constitution Fort which housed white male inmates during this same time. Many of these prisoners, such as those accused during the Treason Trials, were political prisoners and had not committed any crime other than to oppose Apartheid.

On a more promising note, Constitution Hill is also home to South Africa's new Constitutional Court which aims to protect the rights and responsibilities of citizenship guaranteed in the post Apartheid-era South African Constitution. The Apartheid Museum uses video and photography to good effect, while Constitution Hill has an emphasis on artifact collection and, obviously, uses the site itself as an historical monument.

From speaking with both educators, it is clear that both museums keep strong the hope and promise that the memories of those who endured miseries, during the Apartheid era, can be preserved, not to exploit these individuals once again, but to honor them, their legacy, and role in demonstrating to today's youth true the concepts of leadership and a more truly democratic South Africa for youth of all races. Indeed, while both museums occasionally have survivors act as tour guides, there seems to be agreement that the promise of healing is far from over as many victims of Apartheid remain poor and in need of counseling services and, therefore, there is also a need for greater involvement with both museums of those who experienced this important period in South African history. It is, indeed, one of Ms. Abrahams' goals to investigate grant possibilities for this purpose in the hope that survivors can both heal their wounds and tell their stories without fear of retribution and/or the reopening of still recent wounds. Both organizations have also reached out to other tolerance-related museums in South Africa including the South African Holocaust Centre in Cape Town. The Apartheid Museum also has a traveling exhibit on the parallels and divergence of America's Brown versus Board of Education decision and the state of public education in South Africa today.

Both museums also wish to diversify their educational programming to target young learners, middle learners, and secondary level students. Here, the problem remains funding as township schools are often unable to afford busing and the price of admission, eventhough both museums highlight this population's specific heritage. Each centre could also benefit from having more technology, such as distance learning equipment, so that each museum, still in their infancies, can benefit from dialogue with international museums be it through staff interaction and/or the offering of teacher workshops. This will become increasingly important since the South African Department of Education has mandated not only Apartheid and Holocaust curriculum but curriculum that uses both in a comparitive study on human rights issues. We then discussed possible outreach strategies and contacts in the United States whom might be helpful as to strategies/ideas.

The Workers Museum to Reopen in Future

In addition to visiting the Museum Africa and seeing a very visual display on the Treason Trials of the 1950s and 1960s when over 100 anti-Apartheid individuals, including Mandela, were tried on anti-loyalty charges, I had the opportunity of walking over to the now closed Workers Museum. While in operation a few years ago, Khanya College's Education for Liberation Project shut the museum down for upgrades and much needed funding. Originally the Johannesburg city power station and operating through the 1980s, the barracks for colored male workers were unfortunately modeled after conditions set for workers at the diamond mines. Workers slept on concrete bunks, had primitive sanitary conditions, and were often detained for brutal interrogation on charges of theft. University tours are sometimes given but repairs will be necessary to the facility before exhibits can be placed in the museum once again.

A Visit to the Center on the Study of Violence and Reconciliation

On July 4th, in Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to meet with Dorothy Khosa, Program Manager of the Youth Violence Prevention Program, and Muzi Tshabalala, Trainer/Facilitator also of the Youth Violence Prevention Program. We discussed many things; mainly the state of public education in South Africa, progress towards racial integration and equality, the specific work of CSVR in terms of youth education, and the impact of HIV/Aids on overall South African society.

CSVR was established in 1989 as a non-profit, independent non-governmental organization dedicated to preventing violence in all forms, heal its effects, and to build sustainable peace and reconciliation both in South Africa and internationally. CSVR is well-known in South Africa for its work and has also received an Oprah Angel Network Award for their work in gender issues.

We started our conversation discussing my impression, from afar, that South Africa has been making much progress in the above regard since the fall of Apartheid. Indeed, there have been successes but many challenges lay ahead for South Africa according to Khosa and, by extension, organizations such as CSVR. As the poor become frustrated with continual inequitable balances in-country, "the dream of freedom is becoming a nightmare". Continual poverty, an incredibly high HIV infection rate, and high levels of domestic crime continue to plague the nation while the Truth and Reconciliation Trials only scratched the surface in dealing with perpetual racial issues.

In addition, many governmental institutions are still not dealing with the issue of race head on nor on an intrinsic level as single incidents, such as the kidnapping of Lee Mathews, can spark racial hatred. Still, racial profiling in crime investigation is rampant. Alsio, while there is a growing black middle class in South Africa, the majority of black South Africans, and a significant portion of women- 54% of the population, remain poor.

CSVR attempts to address these racial issues by educating members of South African society to look at the systemic and long-term reasons for ingrained negative stereotypical beliefs associated with race, promote opportunity for all, and to end discrimination/bullying. In an effort to positively affect the next generation of South Africans, CSVR's education programs conduct a significant amount of outreach in public schools - both Model C Schools (integrated, formerly white schools) and township schools. In conducting their "40 Safe Schools Project", "Safe Start", and "Smart Skills" Programs that incorporate the use of workshops, dialogues, and role-plays, Khosa has found that it is necessary for program participants, such as school administrators, teachers, and learners, to first recognize their own tacit stereotypical attitudes towards race before actual change in behaviors can be seen. For example, students have to begin to see teachers of color as equally competent as those whom are white while white teachers must also be able to see the equal potential of students of color. Tshabalala adds that it is for this reason that diversity programs must be funded long-term, over a year, in order for a change in attitude to be seen. While many more likeminded programs must be created, Khosa and Tshabalala see hope in CSVR programming in that whole school communities can begin to see their own responsibility in changing South Africa for the better. Indeed, one school in their studies changed the school name to that of "Diversity High School".

Yet, much needs to be done in public education in South Africa, especially in township schools. Low teacher salaries and the professional turnover and instability over this, as seen recently in the national strike, state financial commitments to other "mixed" schools over that of many township schools, continued problems with low literacy rates in the townships, violence in school and, for example, sexual violence against young girls, high absenteeism, the impact of broken families and the increasing number of disabled educators due to the scorge of HIV/Aids, principals being overwhelmed with surviving today as opposed to thinking long-term, and a lack of business networking resources continue to undermine both the current education of township students and their future long-term opportunities. CSVR does, however, continue to work with the South African Human Rights Commission as well as other likeminded NGOs such as LoveLine (HIV awareness) as a means by which to mitigate the effects of these crippling societal problems.

I will be visiting Love Line later in the week. My meeting concluded with a discussion on how CSVR and I might partner in exchanges between South African and American educators and students. CSVR representatives were also interested in understanding why, given the apparent availability of resources in the United States, our two countries share similar problems in public/urban education. I stated, in my opinion, this could be the result of educators not knowing how to best use resources, a disconnect between those purchasing resources and those using them, a misplacement of resources, people being placed in positions of authority over curriculum issues who may/may not be political hires and/or competent, and minimal educational follow-up in the home.