sydafrikaprojektet

Nu var det ett tag sedan vi var aktiva här på vår blogg. Det kan väl bli så i sommar och semestertider, men vi får försöka bättra oss. En gång i veckan ska vi försöka uppdatera vad som händer i projektet. Här kommer nu en lite rapport från John med lite reflektioner om sin första tid som koordinator för MESP. John skriver helst på engelska (alla bokstäver finns inte på Sydafrikanska datorer) men det går utmärkt att kommentera på svenska för den som vill.

Cape Town in july 2009

It's been nearly 3 months since I started working for MSEP. The tempo has been fast and I have spent most of my time meeting people from all sections of the community with a view to future engagement and involvement in our project. Time does not stand still and new and innovative forms of empowerment must be considered. With education as the watchword we have been considering which training needs should be pursued and what the possibility is of creating courses with international involvement and how would they be of benefit to the people of Mbekweni.

The biggest problem is the level of income in the community and the continuing movement from the Eastern Cape of people searching for a better life. There not much here but in the rural areas there is even less! The question I keep asking myself is how can we create empowerment in these conditions? The only feasible answer is skills training directly related to small business creation and the availability of risk capital to develop these businesses.

The youth are trying to create a social environment which is beneficial for young people growing up in a society where HIV is common, where child abuse and sexual exploitation is usual, where drugs run freely and where all the usual symptoms of poverty abound. Their object is to create events which keep the children away from the Shabeens, drugs and sex whilst giving them hope for the future. Keep it up and well done!

It's winter now and everyone is cold, especially when it rains. People tend to stay indoors huddled around fires trying to keep warm.  Funerals become the main social event, and there are many of them. Life moves forward with an ever increasing fear of what will happen tomorrow. Questions are asked concerning the new South Africa and people wonder when empowerment will reach them. We know we cannot reach all but we also know that the ones we do reach move forward into a better world than the one they came from. This is the dream and it is also the reality of of life in Mbekweni.

Perhaps I am feeling too serious at the moment but I think that it is necessary to reflect on the realities of life in a township in South Africa so as not to lose sight of the object of our work and involvement in this country of two worlds. When it gets warmer we all feel hope flowing back into our lives. Let's hope the South Africans coming to Sweden in September can bring back warmth and positive change to Mbekweni.
John Veitch