A vision jeopardised by struggle

The poverty stricken community of Happy Valley situated in Blackheath face many struggles to accomplish the vision that they set out for themselves.

This informal settlement is faced with many problems like unemployment, HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. Alcohol and drug use is also rife in this area and the bunch of liquor stores in the area does not make it any easier for the problem to be solved.

Rosy van Wyk, a resident in the area says that ward councillor, Bertus van Dalen, is doing no justice to this informal settlement. "In a recent meeting with van Dalen in the Blackheath Civic Centre we brought it to his attention that he is doing absolutely nothing and we wanted to know who is sweeping our streets if they can't even provide us with jobs," said van Wyk.

David November, pastor and community worker, says that the evils of this community is out of control. At the moment he is currently serving this community. "We came here 9 years ago and we started having church, later we discovered that we can't just feed the people with the word of God but there are people who are hungry," November said. He started a soup kitchen to bring improvement to the lives of these residents it has now grown to feeding a big percentage in Happy Valley.

Health workers in the area say that they are there to help where they can because usually there is no transport or money for the ill to go to the doctor.

According to November, the things that are said by the Minister of Social Development and promises made by them is never seen coming to grass root level and there is no evidence either.

However the residents of  Happy Valley still are faced with other difficulties, even though some sort of help has been put out there. November also says that being chairman of the Oostenberg Development Forum progress is slowly being made as they are working together.

November has a vision to build a multi-purpose care centre, where social workers, health care facilitators and a help-line that should be available 24 hours of the day and where the soup kitchen can be open on a regular basis.

"My vision is that these young ones get a good education and come back to improve this area where they grew up, be qualified lawyers and ward councillors because they know the circumstances here and they should come back and make a difference."

By feeding this poor community through the soup kitchen might be seen as a breakthrough, the real concern is: when will ward councillors and government step up to the responsibility that they have towards the residents of Happy Valley and the circumstances which they are troubled with.

Dedication and commitment, key qualities that a community newspaper seeks in a journalist

"You haven't been a journalist if you didn't work for a community newspaper". These powerful words came from Theresa Olivier, editor of Worcester Standard, where she addressed the 1st year Journalism students of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology on 27 September 2011.

A lot of people think that working at a community newspaper is somehow a disadvantage but it actually provides the opportunity to be part of the people who lives in the community. The community put their trust in journalists to inform them and keep them informed about matters that concern them. The Worcester Standard has been in existence since 1880 and they are growing by the day.

Oliver who is a former student of CPUT started at Die Burger in 1991 and has been an editor for 10 years. " Dedication and commitment are the key qualities that we look for in young journalists"' says Oliver. She also mentioned that she has a "soft spot" for students who come from CPUT and she will not hesitate to employ students from this institution seeing that the University of Stellenbosch only focuses on the theoretical aspect of Journalism. This newspaper gets distributed in 16 towns and they also cover issues in Robertson, Tulbagh and Ceres.

Ken McIntyre who is a journalist at Worcester Standard says that journalists are not specialists but they cover a lot of things. They generate their income through funding from local businesses and advertising.

Eikestad News in Stellenbosch is also one of the newspapers who helped with the growth of the community to engage in reading their newspaper. This newspaper has been around for 60 years.

Elsabe Retief, editor of Eikestad News says even though they are situated in a poor community they strive for the upliftment in the community and they cover most of the things that lies in the interest of the community.

To be able to excel young journalists should not lack enthusiasm that is expected of them

Golden opportunity to brighten the future

"I have a vision for the future so that I can accommodate more children and I would like to cater for the less fortunate", these were the words of Aldie Wilskud on 27 September 2011, the project manager and owner of the Haas Das Daycare in Villiersdorp Road, Worcester.

Haas Das is one of the five finalists in Die Burger and Boland College's competition in which a pre-primary school out of the region of Boland College stands a chance of winning a classroom in the form of a container to the value of R80 000 and learning material to the value of R20 000.

Haas Das is a registered school which has its existence since 1985 until now and they are currently looking after sixty children. Wilskud also said that she is very passionate about children and she says she is very excited that they are one of the finalists because she believes that children must have enough resources for them to receive the rights that they are entitled to.

Morne Meyer who is not only a celebrity PR but he also manages the marketing and corporate communications at Boland College in Worcester. " When they had to select a creche they looked at the management of the school and if the principal meets the requirements of the Department of Education", said Meyer. Specifications that are looked at for the container is if the ground is big enough for a truck to enter the premises.

Another school who is one of the finalists is the Teletubbies Play School in Klapmuts. The initiative started with three ladies who were jobless. They saw the children running around in the street and that's how they ended up opening a creche. At this moment they have 45 children at the school ages one to five.

According to Cheryl April they deserve to win the container because they have a limited amount of space to offer a wide range of activities to the children.

The pre-schools are in need of this container and the public can vote for them by sending a SMS for the pre-school of their choice to 34282

Naz and Eldo

Voluntary efforts of 1st year Journalism students paves a future with the IEC

Their voluntary duties during the management of the country's Local Government Elections [2011] involved setting up appointments, digging up information that was required and ushering guests which included VIPs.

The debriefing session with the 1st year Journalism students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Bellville) took place on 2 September 2011 in the comfort of their classroom. The room was filled with smiles and brought back memories of the week they spent with the IEC staff. Reverend Courtney Sampson ( Provincial Electoral Officer of the Western Cape), Ms Kate Bapela ( Manager: Communication and Spokesperson of the Electoral Commission), Chris Balie ( Assistant Manager: Outreach), Noluvo Plaatjie ( SAO - Communication and Stakeholder Liaison Officer), IEC staff, lecturers and all the students who volunteered were present.

Week of Elections

2 September 2011 (all students with Reverend Courtney Sampson, Ms Kate Bapela, Trevor Davids, Chris Balie )

The students were handed a debriefing document which included a letter of recommendation written by the PEO.

The journey with the IEC does not end here for the students. The IEC wants the students to be part of their Youth Engagement project which involves students accompanying IEC staff to events and activities and to write articles and reports, write short announcements and advertisements for community radio and newspapers and to have democracy information sessions with students.

The journey with the IEC was a memorable one. Not only to work together as aspiring journalists but to build that special relationship with people who work hard to ensure that the country is able to have free and fair elections.

2 September 2011

The exposure and preparations to the students were a glimpse of what awaits them. The IEC surely found a place in the hearts of the Journalism students of CPUT.

Reflection of transparency

"I'm growing up; I need to shake off this Colored accent."

This is how Asiphe Nombewu shed some light on some of the interesting things in her life. She speaks Xhosa, English and Afrikaans but she is not fluent in any of the three languages. Asiphe is a resident of Delft South in Cape Town.

This 18 year old reflects positive energy whenever you are around her which makes people even more curious about her life. Asiphe is a 1st year Journalism student, says she has doubts about the course yet she takes it day by day; really trying to find her true calling of where she wants to go with her career.

Even though she regrets shaving her head bald, this young aspiring journalist also makes good use of her spare time with her hair salon at home. She plaits, braids and weaves hair. This is not only her way of making extra money but also to interact with members of her community.

Asiphe had quite a few embarrassing moments. In Grade 11 she fell from the stairs in front of a crowd of people. She regards that as one of the most embarrassing moments so far.

Asiphe doesn't see herself as a "hardcore journalist" because her interests lie in talking to people about issues which involves young people. She aims to become a presenter of a current affairs programme.

"I don't see myself being the next Debora Patta. Being a journalist has its advantages and disadvantages. I see myself being transparent with people." Asiphe Nombewu

If only things were different...

He unexpectedly shows up in front of her house
He gives her a phone call: "Come out!", not even a please
He gives her a hug, but she feels no butterflies like she used to.
"Why are you like this?", he asks her as if he was expecting her to melt on the spot.
She looks at him with hate in her heart... "I can't believe he allowed us to drift apart."
They stand and talk, she's actually listening to him but her mind is somewhere else.
"Give me a kiss?", he asks her
"No"
They sit outside and talk, she wants answers.
Why? why? why?
He thinks its a joke
She says something wrong, he kicks her, punches her in the stomach and there she slams against the wall.
"You shivering, come we go and sit in my car."
She walks to the passenger seat with slight pain.
She pulls herself together and gets in the car.
He's trying to show off with the new sound system in his car.
He says that he missed her.
Those words means nothing to her.
"I still can't believe you did that."
She then thinks back to the few seconds ago that she felt the kick he gave her.
She sits there wondering why he came in the first place.
After all the blame and hurt, she thinks to herself...

"Things will never be the same again...."

Life goes on...

This is the part where I seriously wonder why things always go wrong or when something sudden happens when you expect it the least

There's no use going into detail about it because it really hurts. Ok fine there are people out there who went through alot worse but seriously its the first time that the hurt is so bad. Yes people tell me there will be better days but seriously they weren't there when all of it happened or there when those promises were made.

Picture this...

You meet someone and you think, ok fine he's cool, I like this about you and I like that. Then he comes with all the sweet talk and he promises the sun, moon and the stars to you. Obviously you going to melt on the spot but then reality hits you after a few months. After months of perfection, after months of smiles and laughter, after months of saying we going to stay together. In a split second things fall apart and what hurts the most is when you ask yourself: "Is this the same person I met a few months ago?"

Well after all of this it is time to take a break and figure out where I want to be, where I want to go and what I want in life

CIAO!