20/09/2005

2007-06-04T04:34:00.000-07:00

Beste ouders en leerkrachten van het Trappenhuis,

Vorig jaar in september vloog ik naar Zuid-Afrika, om er twee maanden in een school te werken aan een theaterproject met kinderen.
Lekang school ligt in White City Jabavu in Soweto, ten zuidwesten van Johannesburg.
Soweto is zeer uitgestrekt, er wonen 4 à 5 miljoen mensen. Soweto is stoffig. Soweto is arm. Er is veel werkloosheid, er zijn veel bandieten en het is er soms gevaarlijk. Maar in Soweto schijnt de zon, rijden weinig auto’s en vliegen veel vogels. In Soweto zijn de mensen vriendelijk, er wordt veel gelachen, gedanst én gezongen. Er is een sterk samenhorigheidsgevoel, de mensen hebben een optimistische blik op de toekomst en hopen op een beter leven voor hun kinderen. Er zijn véél kinderen in Soweto.
Lekang school telt 700 leerlingen. Het schoolterrein, omgeven door vier zandwegen, omheind door hoge prikkeldraad, is een groot groen veld, met gras, bomen, moestuinen, drie langwerpige gebouwen met klassen, één gebouw met bureaus en vergaderzaal en één conciërgewoning waar elke dag honderden boterhammetjes gesmeerd worden.
Het is er overdag altijd erg druk, ook na schooltijd. De school is een ontmoetingsplaats; sommige buurtbewoners verbouwen groenten op een stukje grond van de school.

De kinderen komen naar school in uniform; de meisjes in een bruin kleedje zonder mouwen met daaronder een witte bloes, de jongens in wit hemd en grijze lange broek. De kleren zijn vaak versleten en gescheurd, maar altijd netjes gewassen.
Theateropleidingen zijn in Soweto quasi onbestaande. Ik kwam hierheen om een aantal leerkrachten elementaire basistechnieken bij te brengen en samen met hen een methode uit te werken om, op een speelse en eenvoudige wijze, de basisbeginselen van theater aan de kinderen over te dragen.
Ik werkte met een groep van 120 kinderen en tien leerkrachten. In de voormiddag gaf ik les aan de kinderen, samen met enkele van de leerkrachten. In de namiddag was er workshop met de voltallige groep leerkrachten.
Die twee maanden waren voor mij een heel intense, vreugdevolle, boeiende, leerrijke ervaring. Ik werkte nauw samen met Juf Martha, verantwoordelijke voor kunst en cultuur op school, en werd ook geheel bijgestaan door de heer Thomas Mafoko, de directeur.
Aanvankelijk verliep alles nogal stroef en moesten we van beide kanten wat aan elkaar wennen maar algauw groeide wederzijds het vertrouwen en begon het project te lopen als een treintje door de savanne.
Twee maanden zijn vlug voorbij maar ik denk toch dat we heel wat bereikt hebben.
Beste ouders van het Trappenhuis, in maart komen tien kinderen van Lekang school naar Gent, meer bepaald naar jullie school. Geen van hen is ooit buiten Zuid-Afrika geweest.
De meisjes heten Tumelo, Karabo, Given, Mpho, Busisiwe en Portia; de jongens Thengiswe, Thabang, Andile en Selekane. Het zijn schatjes! Voor hen, voor hun ouders én voor de hele buurt is dit een grootse belevenis. Zij zullen, samen met juf Martha en dansleraar Pa One, een week te gast zijn op het Trappenhuis. Laten we er allen samen een leerrijke multiculturele feestelijke belevenis van maken. De taal zal misschien een obstakel zijn, maar via tekenen, toneel, spel, ritme, zang en dans kunnen we werken naar een happening op vrijdag waarin we allen samen zijn. En ook met pannenkoeken natuurlijk!

Hartelijke groeten en tot binnenkort,
Tom Roos.

16/09/2005

2007-06-04T04:29:00.000-07:00

The history of black townships south west of Johannesburg that would later form Soweto was propelled by the increasing eviction of black Africans by city and state authorities. Black Africans had been drawn to work on the gold mines that sprang up after 1886. From the start they were accommodated in separate areas on the outskirts of Johannesburg, such as Brickfields (Newtown) [1]. In 1904 British-controlled authorities removed black African and Indian residents of Brickfields to Klipspruit (Kliptown) outside the Johannesburg municipal boundary, following a reported outbreak of plague [2]. Two further townships were laid out to the east and the west of Johannesburg in 1918. Townships to the south west of Johannesburg followed, starting with Pimville (1934; a renamed part of Klipspruit) and Orlando (1935) [3].
Industrialisation during World War II drew thousands of black workers to the Reef. They were also propelled by the implementation of legislation that rendered many rural black Africans landless. Informal settlements developed to meet the growing lack of housing. The Sofasonke movement of James Mpanza in 1944 organised the occupation of vacant land in the area, at what became known as Masakeng (Orlando West). Partly as a result of Mpanza's actions, the city council was forced to set up emergency camps in Orlando (1944), Moroka, and Central Western Jabavu (1946) [4].
Soweto's only hospital came courtesy of World War II. The Royal Imperial Hospital, Baragwanath, was built in what today is Diepkloof in 1941 for convalescing British and Commonwealth soldiers [5]. John Albert Baragwanath owned a hostel, The Wayside Inn, from the late 19th century near the hospital's current location [6]. Field Marshall Jan Smuts noted during the opening ceremonies that the facility would be used for the area's black population after the war. In 1947 King George VI visited and presented medals to the troops there [7]. From this start grew Baragwanath Hospital (as it became known after 1948), reputedly the world's largest hospital [8]. In 1997 another name change followed, with the sprawling facility now known as Hani-Baragwanath Hospital, in honour of the African National Congress leader who was assassinated in 1993 by white extremists [9].
After the Afrikaner-dominated National Party gained power in 1948 and began to implement apartheid, the pace of forced removals and the creation of townships outside legally-designated white areas increased. The Johannesburg council established new townships to the southwest for black Africans evicted from the city's freehold areas of Martindale, Sophiatown), and Alexandra. Some townships were basic site and service plots (Tladi, Zondi, Dhlamini, Chiawelo, Senaoane, 1954), while at Dube middle class residents built their own houses. The first hostel to accommodate migrant workers evicted from the inner city in 1955 was built at Dube. The following year houses were built in the newly proclaimed townships of Meadowlands and Diepkloof [10].
In 1956 townships were laid out for particular ethnic groups as part of the state's strategy to sift black Africans into groupings that would later form the building blocks of the so-called "independent homelands." Spurred by a donation of R6-million to the state by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer in 1956 for housing in the area, Naledi, Mapetla, Tladi, Moletsane and Phiri were created to house Sotho and Tswana-speakers. Zulu and Xhosa speakers were accommodated in Dhlamini, Senaoane, Zola, Zondi, Jabulani, Emdeni and White City. Chiawelo was established for Tsonga and Venda-speaking residentsThe history of black townships south west of Johannesburg that would later form Soweto was propelled by the increasing eviction of black Africans by city and state authorities. Black Africans had been drawn to work on the gold mines that sprang up after 1886. From the start they were accommodated in separate areas on the outskirts of Johannesburg, such as Brickfields (Newtown) [1]. In 1904 British-controlled authorities removed black African and Indian residents of Brickfields to Klipspruit (Kliptown) outside the Johannesburg municipal boundary, following a reported outbreak of plague [2]. Two further townships were laid out to the east and the west of Johannesburg in 1918. Townships to the south west of Johannesburg followed, starting with Pimville (1934; a renamed part of Klipspruit) and Orlando (1935) [3].
Industrialisation during World War II drew thousands of black workers to the Reef. They were also propelled by the implementation of legislation that rendered many rural black Africans landless. Informal settlements developed to meet the growing lack of housing. The Sofasonke movement of James Mpanza in 1944 organised the occupation of vacant land in the area, at what became known as Masakeng (Orlando West). Partly as a result of Mpanza's actions, the city council was forced to set up emergency camps in Orlando (1944), Moroka, and Central Western Jabavu (1946) [4].
Soweto's only hospital came courtesy of World War II. The Royal Imperial Hospital, Baragwanath, was built in what today is Diepkloof in 1941 for convalescing British and Commonwealth soldiers [5]. John Albert Baragwanath owned a hostel, The Wayside Inn, from the late 19th century near the hospital's current location [6]. Field Marshall Jan Smuts noted during the opening ceremonies that the facility would be used for the area's black population after the war. In 1947 King George VI visited and presented medals to the troops there [7]. From this start grew Baragwanath Hospital (as it became known after 1948), reputedly the world's largest hospital [8]. In 1997 another name change followed, with the sprawling facility now known as Hani-Baragwanath Hospital, in honour of the African National Congress leader who was assassinated in 1993 by white extremists [9].
After the Afrikaner-dominated National Party gained power in 1948 and began to implement apartheid, the pace of forced removals and the creation of townships outside legally-designated white areas increased. The Johannesburg council established new townships to the southwest for black Africans evicted from the city's freehold areas of Martindale, Sophiatown), and Alexandra. Some townships were basic site and service plots (Tladi, Zondi, Dhlamini, Chiawelo, Senaoane, 1954), while at Dube middle class residents built their own houses. The first hostel to accommodate migrant workers evicted from the inner city in 1955 was built at Dube. The following year houses were built in the newly proclaimed townships of Meadowlands and Diepkloof [10].
In 1956 townships were laid out for particular ethnic groups as part of the state's strategy to sift black Africans into groupings that would later form the building blocks of the so-called "independent homelands." Spurred by a donation of R6-million to the state by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer in 1956 for housing in the area, Naledi, Mapetla, Tladi, Moletsane and Phiri were created to house Sotho and Tswana-speakers. Zulu and Xhosa speakers were accommodated in Dhlamini, Senaoane, Zola, Zondi, Jabulani, Emdeni and White City. Chiawelo was established for Tsonga and Venda-speaking residents.

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