The Youth of Today

-Special report by Friends of Chintsa Social Media & Community Correspondent Odwa Shaun Mtshini

30 June 2013 marked the end of Youth Month which was commemorated under the theme 'Working Together for Youth Development and a Drug Free South Africa'.  To many, the commemorations were a reminder about the challenges such as unemployment, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, the increasing number of school drop-outs, among others, which continue to affect young people post-1994.  But June was also the month we remember what happened during the Soweto Uprising: on the 16th June 1976 many children were killed in Soweto when they protested against having to learn in Afrikaans, the mother tongue of the then apartheid government.

the film crew AMAMFENGU

Odwa Shaun Mtshini, documenting the film process

So we want to swing the focus to what some of the youth of today are trying to do to inspire themselves and others to yearn for achievement and success in life.  Last month I travelled to Dimbaza in King William's Town, a town inland from Chintsa on the way to Grahamstown, home of the National Arts Festival, where myself and a group of young film-maker friends were shooting a documentary-style movie in order to raise awareness around life as experienced by the majority of youth in the townships and informal settlements of South Africa.  

some shots of the filming taking place

Sadly, many of our youth live in environments where there is little family structure and hence poor role models, and there is also a high rate of crime and alcohol and drug abuse, and teenage pregnancy.  Because of this kind of living environment many of the youth do not have a vision for their future, and so the temptation to resort to hanging out at the nearest shebeen for a drink, or a little fix from a drug to get high, is very strong.

We have been working on trying to enlighten our brothers and sisters, to inspire them to see that no matter where you were born, were you come from and who your parents are that you can be whoever you wish to be in life, and achieve whatever you have in your heart if you are only willing to work hard on those dreams.  And we do this through the medium of film.  So let me tell you a little about the film we are making now.

INJONGO (vision or the foresight and wisdom in planning things) was locally written, filmed, directed and edited by Msingathi Hlazo who is currently studying Information Technology at Walter Sisulu University at Berlin campus. The film is based on a young boy who grows up staying with his elder brother, who is a drug addict and hangs out with his gang of drug-taking friends. A quick synopsis:our main character, who goes by the name of Mfundiso (which I play in the soon-to-be-filmed second chapter), is doing a school project with his neighbours' daughters, when the children's father, who is a social worker, asks if he can talk to him about his home situation. The neighbour/social worker has been giving Mfundiso and his family support in the form of clothes and food, and gives Mfundiso a form to fill out which needs to signed by his brother and must be returned in order for them to receive their monthly supply of groceries. He goes home but is locked outside, and so has to wait for his brother to come home with the house keys. But when the brother comes home he brings his friends and they tell Mfundiso to wait outside for them while they smoke (Mandrax), and then he can come inside when they’re done smoking. His brother refuses to let him inside the house because he wants to first get high with his friends! But Mfundiso is persistent because he wants to wash his school uniform and make some lunch. He comes inside with the form he has been given for his brother to sign, his brother asks him about the paper, and one of his brother's friends recognises this form as his family is also receiving support. 

 'Mfundiso' having a quick read-through of his lines

The brother signs the paper, and then leaves, but forgets some of the drug paraphernalia behind as they go. Mfundiso had seen how they were smoking when he came inside, and so he tries to smoke a little of the drug himself.  As he is doing this one of the brother's friends comes back to collect their 'stuff', sees what Mfundiso is doing and tells Mfundiso that he will teach him how to smoke properly. Mfundiso agrees, but he smokes too much and overdoses.  The friend panics and runs away, leaving young Mfundiso to his fate...  Mfundiso's school friend luckily comes by and discovers him passed out on the floor, foaming at the mouth, and calls for help.  The first chapter of the film ends with Mfundiso been taken away in an ambulance.

Disturbing stuff!  But we have to portray the reality of how easily it is to come by drugs, and what the effects are, in order to educate the youth about the dangers of gangs and drugs.  Our film crew has filmed five other similar movies, all with harrowing storylines and harsh outcomes, and we believe that shock treatment works to scare the youth into waking up and becoming aware of the temptations out there, what they look like, and how prevalent they really are.
About the equipment that we are using to shoot our movies: we borrow it from some of the friends that we know, and also from people we know who we tell about our movie, hoping that the movies we make will bring some change in young people out there who are maybe faced with some of these problems for e.g. living with people who are using drugs in their presence.  Some of our films have been aired on VUZU, a DSTV (satellite TV) station, and we have also sold hard copies in and around Dimbaza.  

The relevance to Chintsa East?  Well, our next plan is to hold public film viewings, and perhaps launch this new film, INJONGO, right here in Chintsa East.  If we can organise a public film evening this would be a great platform to educate our youth!  If you have any ideas in this regard please leave your contact details in a comment.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Our Daily Bread - Pt. 2: Growing your own food is the best way to nourish the self

I find it alarming to watch the workers walk up to the village shop at lunch time.  Often working for as little as R100 a day, they seem to see nothing wrong with spending some of that money on a two-litre bottle of some fizzy soft-drink and a loaf of cheaply made 'air' bread.  This is a daily occurence and one that you will see anywhere in the country.  The question is, if you are working for so little, why spend what little you do get on really unhealthy foods that do not sustain you?  The answer: because it is cheap, it is instant, easy and requires no preparation, it can be shared among a group, and it hits the spot, even if for a short while.  Also, in a world where we are bombarded with advertising that directly sells emotions such as 'happiness' and being 'cool' as soft drinks and ready-to-go packaged foods, why would anyone bother with water or fresh fruit, when buying something sweet and colourful is a whole lot more fun and 'tastes' so much better?

But malnutrition ('mal' from the French word for 'bad') is by no means a problem for people on the lower financial rungs of society.  The more affluent nations of the world are battling with very poor diets and unhealthy 'lifestyles' that in many cases far outshadow the ways of life of the poorer nations.  And the human body is really beginning to show signs of this poor health and nutrition: cancers, heart disease and diabetes are only a few on an exhausting list of disorders and diseases that are directly caused by malnutrition.  In an age of information and advanced science it may be a puzzle as to why we are on a nutritional backslide, but not if you take into account the effect that mass advertising and branding have on the way we feed our bodies in this fast-paced survive-or-die world.  Because it is not exactly food that is being sold to us, but the idea that the food we eat reflects exactly the type of person we are, another one of those elements of consensual reality that is measured by the amount of money we earn or the type of job we have (readers might remember the cultural anomaly I evoked in last week's blog about a family's fear of failing to provide at least one meat dish a day for the table being wrapped up with issues of self-worth, especially that dictated by finances).

If any of you have ever encountered Naomi Klein's chilling book NO LOGO you will be familiar with the advent of the Brand as taking over from the Product in the mind of the consumer over the last 20 or 30 odd years, and how this manifests in people buying what they are told by the media to buy, rather than perhaps being educated about how to properly feed themselves, all in the name of profit and the globalised pursuit of the 'American Dream'.  It's a book that exposes corporate greed and mind manipulation of the masses through branding and shock advertising, and shows the bleak, slave-race reality of the world of manufacturing and trade.  In short, not a book for the faint-hearted.  It outlines the relative speed with which humans have left the reliance on and constant battle with nature for our food for a reality where, so long as we can keep down a solid income with a 'real job', we never have to worry about where our food comes from, a world where all we really need to concern ourselves with is looking good and making sure we own all the essential goods that make us a 'someone' in life, namely clothes with designer labels, a car, a house and a large television screen.  All preferably made by the big brand names.

So the challenge to feed our bodies with the kinds of foods we really need to be healthy, active, thinking members of society becomes ever more important within the context of a 'developing' nation, where perhaps the need for reassurance of self-worth may be even greater than in a nation where 'wealth' is a given.  In a society that is still struggling for the basic needs of life it is a fact that there is often a lack of decent quality education among the members of that society, and therefore the effects of mass media on the identity constructs of these people is very heavy.  The link between a brand name and a feeling of self-worth can be so strong that it may even eclipse the older value systems of a community, sometimes even replacing them.  Naomi Klein gives the example of how in the 'ghettos' of New York City's Bronx district there has been a total revolution of style and music that revolves entirely around poverty, lack of education and breakdown of social systems, in the form of the rap and hip-hop culture where the only way to get 'noticed' or accepted was if you owned a $400 pair of Nike Air's and an expensive gold chain - items that far out-price a week's worth of family meals! 

 
The need for acceptance among members of one's own community is a strong instinctual urge that goes back as far as human evolution first began, so one can understand the modern day struggle for acceptance in terms of being seen to be wearing the right words on your clothes.  But how is this affecting what we eat?  In the very same way!  If a person aspires to transcend his upbringing and background by wearing expensive brands or buying a nice television or car, what are the chances that he would be inclined to grow a family food garden, or be a farmer, something that perhaps his family in the rural areas have always done, indeed the very thing that he is maybe trying to transcend in order to attain a measure of wealth prescribed by 'Western' culture?  Similarly, if the new trends of organic and 'green living' are only now taking hold as bona fide lifestyle alternatives in the minds and lives of the more affluent nations, how long will this take to filter down into lands where people are still struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis?

By the same token I would safely say that in many South African villages the art of food-growing has not at all been 'lost', merely sidelined, perhaps, for 'bigger better' jobs that generate a more immediate and more tangible income.  On many levels I believe that efforts to stay 'close to the land' in our country supercede those of the more affluent nations, who are almost having to be turned back 180 degrees from consumerism to the old values of self-sufficiency.  But one thing is clear: all signs point to a Grow Your Own philosophy as a time-honoured method for nourishing not only the body but the soul too.

  
That is why we are excited about Thuba Bamboo Weaving Co-operative & Nursery, a Friends of Chintsa initiative to bring back food gardens to the community in a move to creating a platform for re-thinking self-empowerment, self-employment and self-sufficiency.  At Thuba Nursery the growers love their soil and try to stick to the Permaculture method as closely as possible.  They grow their own seedlings in a shadehouse and then plant directly into the beds.  They sell trees and plants for the more ornamental garden, and they also sell seedlings to the Chintsa East Primary School which, by the efforts of Nokuphumla Pakamile (see our 22 June post) has two of its own food gardens (these two food gardens have been designed to grow produce which feeds the children at the school, and until these gardens are running at full force the school relies on the Friends of Chintsa Feeding Scheme - see our 5 July post, as well as our webpage describing the Feeding Scheme).  And now they have started marketing their fresh produce, with a market day planned for each Tuesday.

May...

...July!

Thuba Bamboo Weaving Co-operative & Nursery is growing in leaps and bounds!  Located on the Chintsa East main road right next to the Chintsa East Cultural Village, the gardens are easily accessible and give a lovely, encouraging sight to road-tired eyes upon arrival in Chintsa East, what with their busy and happening gardens growing green and lush.  They started out small but have since grown into a large fresh-produce garden and now there is a second garden being started right behind, next to the Ntuthukweni Creche, another Friends of Chintsa project.  The biggest challenge so far is logistics, but the Co-operative is putting in the finishing touches right now with a sign on the road advertising opening hours and produce available for the day, as well as proper fencing to keep out the marauding village goats and pigs...  Friends of Chintsa has begun advertising to all the local restaurants and we hope that soon we will set up a permanent supply system, so that you will almost be guaranteed to be eating the gardens' organic produce from any table at any restaurant in our village - how fantastic!  And very soon Thuba will start a weekly market so that residents can get their fix of good, healthy, body-nourishing produce.





Come down to Thuba!  Come and take a look some of the 'real jobs' our community is creating, and the positive change we are making, all just by working with the soil.











Thanks for reading!

Our Daily Bread - Pt. 1: The Difference That A Decent Daily Meal Can Make To A Growing Child

Watch our Friends 'I EAT HOT LUNCH' video

If you are reading this you probably had a childhood where you went to school with a lunchbox crammed shut against a bulging sandwich, or even had a cafeteria where you had the option of buying a slice of pizza or maybe a chocolate bar and a cola from a vending machine.  If you went to boarding school you had a tray of peanut butter and syrup or apricot jam sandwiches provided by the school at the very least, even if you found yourself turning your nose up against this yukky mid-morning fare.  Food was never really a concern for us, not until we learned that we were growing up completely oblivious to the fact that there were children out there who maybe got this kind of 'food' as their only meal for the whole day.  And then we realised, perhaps, that having two or maybe three hot meals a day actually made us lucky in the greater scheme of things, especially in the more affluent countries where, if a mother does not put a meat dish on the table every day, it is generally perceived that something is seriously wrong with the family's finances.

Do you remember ever going hungry?  Can you remember a day where you went without food?  Consider the idea that many of the children growing up in the informal settlements of South Africa (and in countless other developing nations) do not know what hunger is because this is their everyday reality: can you imagine that you would be able to concentrate on your school work, listen attentively and have the strength to think, analyse, calculate or compose if your brain was not powered properly?  Do you think you would even have the will to imagine, to turn yourself on, to access the more creative and ambitious side of yourself if your very basic needs were not being met?  Some might argue that hunger can often drive an individual to strive for something greater.  But for a primary school child between the age of 5 and 13 this is completely unrealistic.  When your body is growing and your brain is taking in information, learning about yourself, your world and your environment, you really need to have a happy, full belly to fuel that growth.

Here in Chintsa we recognised that before we can even begin to address issues such as social transformation, education, and health and sanitation, we had to face the hunger crisis.  None of our projects were going to be successful if we could not first see to the basic needs of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community. So one of our biggest drives so far has been to find funding for our Feeding Scheme - an initiative that aims to give children at Chintsa East Primary School a hot, nutritious lunch every school day.  

With the funds we receive we are able to run a kitchen at the school, employ a full time cook and purchase the foods that are needed to cook properly balanced meals.  The most successful means of raising funds for and spreading awareness of this endeavour has been the Fortnight Fast, in which a participant gets sponsorship from friends and family to test themselves in an experience of what it is like to go without hot food for two weeks.

The support we have received thus far has been staggering.  From the bottom of our hearts we thank you, Friends, for your incredible effort in helping us face the challenge of providing this important link between a child's ability to process her education, and her impoverished growing-up environment.


Read more about The Friends of Chintsa Feeding Scheme here, and LIKE us on Facebook for inspiring updates on what can be accomplished by a community spirit!

Please contact Friends of Chintsa at admin@friendsofchintsa.org for more on how you can make a contribution to this cause!

Thanks for reading - please join us again next week for Part 2 of Our Daily Bread.