1 June 2012
Here is a picture of Monica and her son from Itekeng project in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Monica is such a wonderful woman helping dozens of orphans and vulnerable children every day; she was always warm and helpful and became a good friend during my time in the Eastern Cape. The reason I have put this photo up is because Monica narrates one of the videos that I produced for African Solutions to African Problems (ASAP). You can see this and other videos by going to the African Solutions Youtube page or visiting my website and looking for a video called “Itekeng”: www.houseonthehillproductions.com. To find out more about ASAP visit: www.africansolutions.org.
21 May 2012
This is a picture of Yvonne, one of the youth who came to the Mamohau community project in the Eastern Cape during her school holidays. At the project young people get involved in singing, drama and poetry competitions, and learn about sexual health and career opportunities. Yvonne is a really enthusiastic member of the group, and as you can see from the video we made with the young people there, a great presenter! You can see a video of her showing me around Mamohau by going to my website and looking for the video called Mamohau: www.houseonthehillproductions.com. To find out more about Mamohau and African Solutions to African Problems (ASAP) visit the ASAP website (www.africansolutions.org).
17 May 2012
The videos I have been working on for African Solutions to African Problems (ASAP) and their partner organisations in the ASAP Alliance are now online! Each of the community based organisations that are in the alliance now have a video that they can use to promote their work, and use for marketing and fundraising purposes. Community members were involved in all parts of the production from generating story ideas, through to script writing and filming. At the screening events, that have been held so far, there has been unanimous agreement from community members that the videos are a good representation of their organisation. Pictured here are some girls enjoying watching themselves at the screening event that took place at Fakisandla in Nyanga township in Cape Town a few weeks ago.
All of the videos are available to watch on the ASAP Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/africansolutions
7 April 2012
I am making steady progress with my editing - I just have moments of madness. I am based in Cape Town for the next few weeks while I finish off the edits for the African Solutions videos (www.africansolutions.org). Wish me luck. Looking forward to sharing my work very soon!
8 March 2012
I have finished filming in the Free State, and have started my descent to Cape Town by car where I will start with post-production of the African Solutions to African Problems (ASAP) videos. I have already driven over 1,000 km and have about 500 km to go. I could have flown back, but there is still so much to see and my time in South Africa is rapidly running out - so I thought a real road trip was in order. So far I have stopped off at some wonderful places - including Cradock and the Zebra Park in the sparse, windmill strewn Karoo, down to the Elephant Park at Addo. Now I am winding my way down the Garden Route stopping off at the seaside town of Plettenberg, and the green and forested town of Knysna. Next week will be very busy again, so it is great to unwind a little before the last big push on this project. To find out more about ASAP and the work they do, have a look at their website (www.africansolutions.org) or befriend them on Facebook.
Here is a picture of a White Rhino I saw at Schotia Reserve near Port Elizabeth. This is the first chance I have had to see some of the Big Five on this trip. Most of the kids I have been working with have not seen any of these animals either as it requires traveling to game reserves which are costly to get to and can be costly to get in. I just googled “safari for income deprived people in south africa” and the first thing I got back was “Exclusive Safaris, Amazing Wildlife”. Says it all!
Tuesday 21 February 2012
The second organisation that I am working with while I am in the Free State is called Kakaretso. The team is made up of four women who have been great fun to work with, and who have been looking after me well! Moi, Johanna, Puleng and Mamasole. They help set up creches in remote areas, and provide training to women who want to set up their own creche. The creches are called Early Childhood Development Centres - and follow the HighScope early childhood education approach that was originally developed in the US. I am no expert but the model seems to revolve around a daily routine that incorporates a range of activities that encourage the children to be sociable, creative and motivated to learn. So for example in a well set up centre there are different zones such as an art zone, a building zone, a reading zone, and a play-house zone.
These centres provide a welcome respite to kids from impoverished backgrounds who may have no toys or books at home, in particular to AIDS orphans who may live alone or with a grand-parent who is stretched, physically and financially, just to put a basic meal on the table each day.
In this picture you can see a little boy at Tiisetsang ECD Centre tucking in to a meal of Pap (a porridge made with maize) and vegetables.
You can find out more about Kakaretso on the ASAP website (www.africansolutions.org). Soon Kakaretso will have their own video and Facebook page which I am helping them to set up.
14 February 2012
Back at last! Since mid-January I have been based in the Free State near the Drakensberg Mountains. I am working with two organisations - one is called Bolata AIDS Project and the other is called Kakaretso. Bolata provide home based care to people who are suffering from HIV, TB and other debilitating diseases that leave them largely home bound, or in some cases, bed bound even. They also do health promotion outreach in schools and around the community. It is great to see their energy as they engage with people on the street - educating people about HIV and AIDS.
In this picture you can see April, who was my fantastic assistant, and part of the child and youth care team, asking a teenage girl about what she has learned from the health promotion session. You can see the health promotion session in the background. It was set up spontaneously in front of a telephone cabin, because there is a captive audience there waiting to go in to the red container / telephone box. At the session members of Bolata talked about HIV/AIDS, how to protect yourself from infection, how to put a condom on, the importance of getting tested, and how to look after yourself and your loved ones if you are HIV positive. They got quite an audience, and as the vox pops interviews will testify - people learned a lot!
9 December 2011
I have been a little under the weather recently so my inpsiraiton to wax lyrical about my wonderful adventures did fade there for a while! Various diagnosis had been suggested from tic bite fever, to mysterious tropical hemorrhaging diseases, however I expect it might have been a bit of a tummy upset combined with a bad dose of man flu. In all seriousness I am feeling much better now and am happy I have managed to stay out in the field, as leaving early would have meant going back to Cape Town with my tail between my legs. In celebration of my new found energy have a look at this great photo of the children at Itekeng drop in centre dancing around. They get so excited when a camera comes out. I am half way through the community development / video project with ASAP. Please check out their website, and like them on Facebook for a chance to find out about all the great projects they support to help orphans and vulnerable children: www.africansolutions.org
Sunday 20 November, Mount Frere, South Africa
I have been very bad about updating my blog recently. As I stay here longer things begin to normalise and things which at first seemed remarkable - and worth writing about - become ordinary….the beautiful mountain ranges I drive through every day to work, the kids playing on the dusty roads with tyres and homemade toys, the stubborn bull who refuses to move over, the wild boar suddenly making a beeline across my path. That is not to say that I find the work of the women who run the drop-in centres for orphans any less remarkable than I did on day one. I guess I am just beginning to “fit in” (a bit!) and get on with day to day life and work.
Apart from the great people I hang out with at work, my social life is limited to Skype and Facebook. It is strange how used to my own company I have become - in London I would hate to spend all of these evenings and weekends on my own. Today my highlight was driving nearly 100km to get a coffee and a newspaper from a petrol station, and some treats from a supermarket. I have tried to get in to the local media, but I am not yet familiar with all of the big names in the papers (political or entertainment), and East Coast Radio is a schmaltzy mix of Capital and Heart FM in London (bluuugghhh). So one of my extravagances is to use my weekly internet quota to listen to the Today programme every morning on Radio 4. Other good things to look forward to of an evening? Great South African wine, and a stack of DVDs I brought over from the UK. They are all a bit heavy going - I guess I wanted to use my spare time to watch, read, and listen to all of the things I never get round to at home. Fortunately I managed to pick up a stack of lighter material featuring Reece Witherpsoon, Ashton Kutchner, and Cameron Diaz at the petrol station so tonight I will have a much jollier time!
The picture is the view from my studio here in Mount Frere.
