Opportunity to tell one of my stories on TV?

It looks like opportunities are like trouble: when it rains, it pours. So, on Friday afternoon I had an email, and later a call, from an insert director of a TV programme, asking if I'm interested in working on one or two episodes with them using my children's stories.

I couldn't say YES fast enough!

The first season of the series is already being broadcast on a national TV station , so my story would be used for season 2. Sorry, I can't give details about which series, until details are finalised and i'm sure the production company is cool with my blogging about it.

The insert director has already sent a short brief, and I'm supposed to send her the chosen story I want to work with. Ideally, the story should have some strong visual opportunity.

Anyway, wish me luck, so this opportunity goes very smoothly.

Thank God for Exclusive Books/Seattle Coffee Company

I’ve previously mentioned that I love shopping at Exclusive Books? Well, today I decided I HEART them even more.

I knew that some of the bookstores had the Seattle Coffee Company attached to the premises, but I’d never gone into the coffee shop (opportunity never arose, and I don’t drink coffee at all).

Anyway, today I went to Pretoria for a series of meetings, and I needed a base of operations in-between going to people's offices.

The outlet at Brooklyn Mall was fantastic. They kept the tea coming, and the service was excellent.

Best of all, they did have plug points for me to connect my laptop, and offered me wireless for 10 minutes. Apparently the name and password I got entitled me to 10-minute usage everyday.

Next time I’m in a mall needing a base of operations, I will check them out. Pity the Exclusive Books in my suburb doesn’t have the coffee shop.

And the world keeps getting smaller

Work on a new blog for the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering is going well. The cache of articles that I said I wanted to build in preparation for the launch of the site are progressing well.

Domain name is registered, template selected, and now we’re doing a bit of customisation and branding of the site.

Launch will be in July, when the students are back from the winter holidays. Of course I'll invite you to view the site and give some input on what you love/hate/despise/like etc about it.

Another social blogging project?

Later this year I’m going to start work on another big blogging for social change project. It will be something similar to the OneLove campaign, but bigger in scope, and will possibly work out as a network blog.

Details are still being ironed out. But the wonderful thing is that the issue is not whether the project will get done, or if I will be involved, but when it would be best to get started on it for a February launch.

I’m sooo excited! It’s the kind of work I enjoy – where I get to use tech to make a difference.

Teenage friend back in the picture

Meanwhile, another old friend contacted me through Facebook to say “howzit” and “will you friend me on Facebook?”

We were really close when I was in my late teens/early twenties, but life was not kind to her during that time and she moved away for a new beginning. I guess I became a part of her life that she needed to forget, so we didn’t keep in touch.

Now she’s back, and I guess, we’ll have to see if we can be more than Facebook friends or not. I'm looking forward to it.

Blast from the past

I was going to a meeting that was due to start in 10 minutes, and I was more interested in mentally preparing myself rather than watching the people in the lift.

That's why I almost missed connecting with Simao Kikamba, an old friend from the mid-90s, when we both lived in Yeoville.

Luckily Simao noticed me when I was getting off the elevator, and his mind made the connection despite not seeing me since 1996 or so ( I think?)

In the seconds it took to close the elevator, he gave me his office suite number and suggested that I come see him after my meeting.

Of course I went, and we had a wonderful time trying to condense the past decade and a coupla years into a couple of minutes of conversation.

That didn’t work out too well, so we’re planning to keep in touch by emails. And when I’m in the building, I’ll make an effort to pop in to say hi.

The great thing about meeting Simao is that it reminded me that dreams do come true, even it they take time, and the road is tortourous.

Back in the day, Simao and I were aspirant writers with more dreams than track record, devouring books, writing every spare moment we had and knocking on publishing doors.

Now I work as a commercial writer and he has published his debut novel, Going Home, and won awards.


Going Home was published by Kwela Books in 2005 and was based on these events and on his experience as a black immigrant in South Africa.

The book won the Herman Charles Bosman award for English fiction in 2006. The book is also going to be translated into Italian.

If you want to buy it, Going Home is available through Amazon and Exclusive Books.

Keeping things fresh

Spent most of the afternoon doing monthly client reports ( traffic reports, recommendations on how to improve impact of media tools), and refreshing the OneLove web site design.

Didn’t really add new elements, but I grouped content so that similar content /tools were in the same region of the web site.

What do you think?

Does the new arrangement make it easier to navigate the site? Internet was very slow late afternoon ( as is becoming irritatingly usual), so I had to work offline a bit. Will have to catch up this evening.

New Poem Online; Rest In Peace Amos

Sometimes I get so absorbed that I don’t notice things going on around me. I didn’t realize my teenage nephew, Agisanang (aged 18) writes poetry until this past Christmas holiday.

While Baby was playing in his computer, she found the poems. Many were written in collaboration with his friend and schoolmate, Obakeng Phiri.

Today I posted one of the poems, "I Miss You" in my free stories blog. The poem provides a very disturbing look into the feelings of a teen boy. I hope that my nephew does not sound as alone as the poem intimates; that it was a momentary feeling that soon passed.

Over time, I will post more poems. Most of them are love stories, and he and Baby are having fun harmonising them into songs.

Rest in peace, Amos

Meanwhile, a colleague of mine who helped me connect with former Zimbabwean freedom fighter Amos Nobele shared some very bad news with me today. Late last year Amos died in a car accident. He was riding in a taxi when it crashed.

One of the reasons I stopped posting Amos’ story was because I needed additional information from the notes that he provided. My colleague couldn’t get hold of him; and later found out he was dead.

I am however going to finish the rest of the story. There are some gaps in it,but with his passing, I will just have to work around them.I still think that Amos' story has to be told.

6 Things I Appreciated About Phokeng This Christmas Season

The road to Tshufi Hill, the source of inspiration for my stories. View is from our small gate.
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

1. The Christmas Celebrations

Christmas celebrations in Phokeng were wonderful. As my sister's husband is American, and his mother was also staying with us through the holiday, we had a combination of African and American Christmas Day.

The menu was primarily African - we reckoned the American menu works for a winter Christmas, not a sweltering 34 degrees
Celcius :-)

But Eileen (mother-in-law) baked a number of cakes and pies and cookies usually prepared for Amerian families.

Eileen's berry pie
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

We also had a gift exchange session early in the morning.

2. Being Close To Things That Inspire Me

When I was little, my mother made up many a story about this road, the dam and the hill out there in the horizon. I also made up a few stories.

3. Working With The Environment

Summer weather in Phokeng is hot and dry, usually staying in the mid-thirties. So most people wake up at dawn so they can finish their chores before the heat saps their energy.

The trees, a combination of indigenous and those planted by the villagers, provide the shade which allows people to walk around the village at certain times of the day.

trees
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

Most people also sit in the shade outside during the day, so they can enjoy the resultant breeze.

4. My Mother's Garden

Facing the small gate
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

My family, especially my mother, loves sitting on the stoep, facing the garden and the road ( see view in the pic).

Sitting there, you can chat with another family member, listen to some music from the livingroom behind the stoep, or even work off a laptop if you are so inclined.

You can also exchange greetings with neighbours as they walk/drive past. Local custom dictates that you greet the people you meet (we know not to greet when we are in a different environment,like an elevator in town:-). Those you are friendly with stop for a moment if they are not in a hurry to share news.

Warning: If you do not want to be disturbed, do not sit out front where the neighbours can easily see you, as that will be construed as an invitation to socialise!

Mma's front garden
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

5. Plenty of Fresh Food

Most people in Phokeng grow maize in summer. They also grow a variety of vegetables and fruit which grow easily in the area and don't require much care.

Watermelon
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

These include beans, pumpkins, watermelon and spinach

Because of the heavy rains in spring/summer, you can keep as big a garden as you like. All you have to do is make the soil ready and plant the seed. Later, you just have to keep weeding the garden.

Phokeng does not have a garbage disposal system (as in, no one comes to get the garbage bins), so throughout the year people dig holes in their gardens, bury what can be buried ( peels etc) and burn what they can. This system nourishes the soil for when they plant.

6. A Place To Relax

This is one of the places where I can completely relax. I can sit around all day doing nothing, or work if I want to. These past holidays I even had the opportunity to photograph some flowers, and chase a couple of birds ( and butterflies) in my mother's garden.

yellow flowers in Mma's garden
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

Disappointed in Setswana Translations

Let me start by stating that I am not a Setswana language expert. I'm a business journalist, struggling children's book author, mother and blogger with a keen interest in communication technology and the Internet.

Setswana happens to be my mother tongue, and as I had much older paternal grandparents (born in the 1890s), I learnt their language rather than the modern version.

Many people in my village (Phokeng) also speak Setswana among themselves, with very little integration of SA's 10 other languages in their sentences, as happens in the speech patterns of many urban-based South Africans.

And I understand that language is a dynamic thing. Really, I do:-). I welcome new words that add to the vocabulary of this very old, descriptive language, enriching it for modern use and ensuring that it remains relevant.

But these summer holidays, as I work through my stack of children's books to review on this blog, I have been disappointed by the Setswana translations.

The translator(s) keep using Sesotho/Sepedi words and phrases, and at some stage I had to look through the publishing credits to make sure I was reading a Setswana translation.

"What's the difference?" Baby asks when I yell and throw the book down in frustration. "It's just little things that don't make a difference to a story. And the languages are similar and most kids reading the book won't know the difference."

My point exactly: most kids won't be able to tell the difference, which means these errors could become part of institutional learning.

And in the great scheme of business and education, it doesn't really matter, because South Africans mostly communicate in English in those spheres.

Yet, I can't help but think that I want Baby to be comfortable in the international arena,communicating quite easily and fluently in English without having to give up the beautiful language of her ancestors.

I also keep wondering why SOMEONE did not tell the publishers (of the books I've got) of the translation problems? Where are the academic language squad, which I assume is ever-vigilant about language use? Why didn't the Department of Education, language experts, teachers or parents say something so the faulty translations are recalled and fixed?

I'm not very well-informed about developments in the local publishing industry, so I don't know if I'm talking about a subject that was discussed among the publishers and language experts and resolution found. If so, I apologise for "pulling off the scab on a healing wound," as Batswana would say.

For now, I've decided to stick to English language book reviews, as they represent a fair reflection of the story the author and illustrator told, and the publisher issued.

I'm also going to write the publishers involved to let them know of what I think is a problem ( they may disagree:-)

I haven't worked with them at all ( the ones I'm contacting) and they may feel I'm just talking through my ears. Or my emails may end up in the slush pile/eaten by a spam filter, but it doesn't hurt to try and say something.

If all else fails, they are bound to bump into this post. That's why I love blogging: your voice is heard sooner or later.

Below is a two-part review of The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Dakota Blue Richardson, I also did a social commentary on it, I suppose because of the religious controversy.

The reason I wrote about it, in the context of this blog is because:

- Some of us are parents and therefore the issues affect us
- African stories, especially folktales, are littered with gods who influence destinies, teach, reward and punish our characters.

But the controversy got me wondering if, for Christian families who feel strongly that children's fiction should not conflict with their religious beliefs, whether the presence of gods in African folktales is an issue.

Read my review, and social commenntary.

The history of storytelling in my family

The blog post outlining the history of storytelling in my family is now up on Riehl Life.

For my grandfather, storytelling was a way for him to share our history as a family and community. Born in 1890, he and my grandmother saw a different world to the one I grew up in.

I hope you enjoy this two-part article.

What/Who Influenced Me To Become A Writer

Janet Riehl, of Riehl Life, and I had so much fun guest blogging for each other that we decided to do it again.

So I’ve written a blog post for her, chatting about the stories of my childhood and how they influenced me to become a writer.

The article starts out with the kind of stories my grandfather told, and the lessons we learnt.

It also touches on my father’s love for English literature, and my mother’s ghost stories and legends of communities living in the dam near our house.

If you’ve always wondered who influenced my writing, here’s the short explanation:

But the greatest storyteller who influenced my writing is my mother. She has never written a book; and to my knowledge, doesn’t contemplate writing one. In the beginning she didn’t even understand why I would want to work as a writer. To her, telling stories was what you did to entertain your children; it was not a reliable way to earn a living.

Janet and I don’t have a date yet as to when the post will go up; I’ll let you know as soon as it goes online.

This weekend I was also guest blogger at The Fine Art of Blogging. Blog owner Diogenes was kind enough to invite me back after I’d done two previous posts. Thanks Dio.

Last night I had to make makgabe

I’d forgotten that today Baby’s class has to do a “show-and-tell” on traditional clothing. I was supposed to buy her a pair of makgabe [a fringe skirt worn young Batswana girls] for her class.

But after a couple of shopping expeditions I couldn’t find it and time ran away from me. I think part of the challenge was that most people think traditional African dress means colourful Zulu outfits, with beads on them.


Zulu skirt from Wathorg.co.za


This one looks great, doesn’t it? But it’s not what I was looking for. Then there are the beautiful Ndebele skirts made from fabrics with colourful geometric prints. They nice, but still not what we were looking for.


The Xhosa skirts don’t fit the bill either.






And neither do Shangaan skirts.



Unlike their cultural cousins, makgabe have no visible beadwork or decorations. I’m not implying makgabe don’t have any artistry. They are usually one colour but if you use wool [ you can you leather too, or sackcloth], the fringe has to be unraveled first, and then intricately plaited into a fringe.





I took one of my favourite brown woven shawls and made makgabe out of it. It was not ideal, but it gave a fair representation of what Batswana girls used to wear.

Sorry, no pictures of makgabe I made.I took some good ones, but I still haven’t figured out how to download them from my Samsung P910.

Finding relatives in unexpected places

Today I found out Baby’s two closest friends, who regularly spend a night/ weekend with us, are actually relatives of sorts.

The girls’ mother mentioned in passing she had a tenuous link with my village. Her uncle (father’s brother) was adopted by a family in Phokeng, she said.

When she mentioned him by name, I realized she was talking about one of my father’s cousins.

My father was very fond of his cousin, and would have gotten a big charge out my connecting with his biological family in this way. Both of them have since passed away, so they'll never know.

A second letter from Flic en Flac, Mauritius

I'm still in Flic en Flac in Mauritius and enjoying my visit immensely. As I mentioned previously, I'm attending a conference there till Thursday.

One of the things that struck me though is how similar Mauritians and South Africans are in some ways. For example, on the chalets we're staying in are thatched (see pic), just like African huts.

Different kind of shape of hut, different kind of grass, modern and sophisticated structure rather than the primitive, traditional African hut, but the basics are still there.

This afternoon I walked past a group of workmen, rethatching some of the huts. It brought back childhood memories of watching my grandfather do the same thing.

Dancers performing at the welcome function(on Sunday night) also brought back memories of childhood. They moved to the sound of drums, and I could have sworn I grew up to the same rhythm. And tonight, I heard a few waiters ululating during a dance show, just as my grandmother used to.

I expected this similarity, as we're part of the same continent. But it also reminded me that sometimes people from different countries place too much emphasis on how different they are ( and there we are in a lot of ways) rather than focussing on similarities. And yes, I am aware that I'm not being original in my thinking - many people have come to this same realisation at different times in their lives. I hope more people do so.

If you're interested in the conference proceedings, read my articles here and here. More articles about the events will be published on ITWeb tomorrow and Thursday.

One side of the story

Baby’s heritage project got me thinking about the traditional versus modern families and how we portray families in books.

Each week she’s to make a presentation about some aspect of her culture (maternal and paternal) to her class, and bring items (like food, clothing or piece of art).

It’s been easy for me to tell her stories, answer some questions and help her do additional research on the Internet about Setswana culture.

But my knowledge of her paternal culture is mostly intellectual, and we’re relying on the Internet to fill a lot of gaps. Somehow that part of the presentation doesn’t have the same richness because it lacks personal anecdotes and experience.

It got me thinking about the fact that:

- Kids from single parent families get a skewed sense of identity as they live and learn about the culture of the custodial parent and little about the other party.

- Single parents have to make an effort to teach their kids about the other half of their heritage. This is difficult if the separation was acrimonious/the child is adopted and you have no clue. School projects like this one go a long way to get the process started.

- Local books portray different permutations of what a family is, and that is a good thing. Sure there are still traditional families abound - I grew up in one, my older brother raised his kids in one and I hope my younger sister will too. But there are times when that is not possible, and our children's books should tell that story too.

Anyway, Baby and I discussed the menu for the presentation. She decided to take bogobe ba mabele (brown porridge) to school. This is a traditional Setswana staple.

You can eat mabele with savoury dishes like meats and vegetables or with milk and sugar.


To cook mabele, you boil water, mix it a fermented mixture of the porridge + water mixture to make porrdige the consistence of cooked cereal, let it simmer for 15 minutes, then add more dry porridge for stiffening (not too hard). Cook for thirty more minutes in low heat, and mix it together every ten minutes. Serve.

Baby says she wants to try this dish.


She's familiar with the white porridge, which we eat regularly, but she has never tried the traditional morogo ( wild leaves). Morogo looks like spinach, has a harder texture and slightly more bitter. Cooks very well with onions and tomatoes, a dash of salt and pepper, and a spoon of oil.

Or you can salt it a little bit, add spoonfuls of peanut butter to flavour and serve. If you have ground nuts, throw in a handful or two. Goes well as a side dish.

Setswana culture is over 1000 years old

Baby and I are doing research on Setswana culture. It’s part of her school project for the month, as it’s Heritage Month.

She’s thrilled to discover some interesting bits of old culture about the Batswana people. “Our culture is over a 1000 years old!” she exclaimed, putting up a hand for a high-five.

I think it's going to be a very interesting journey for both of us, because there's so much for her to learn.

Today, she found out that Batswana folded the arms and legs of a dead person in a squatting position and are buried that way ( see pic on the side).

I also introduced her to Sol Plaatjie (1876-1932) - journalist, editor, linguist ( translated the Bible into Setswana), first general secretary of the ANC. He founded at least 3 African language newspapers. "

Old Man Moseki

I’m not sure how this story, which I finally called Old Man Moseki, came into being. All the kids I grew up with knew it. It was the classic story you told if you couldn't think of an original/interesting story to tell in class.

Anyway, this version is told from the perspective of an adult. Enjoy.

If you speak/read Setswana, read the original versionhere.

Africans should be sterilized or bombed (This is not hate speech)

Africans should be sterilized and troubled regions of the continent, like Zimbabwe, bombed off the face of the earth.

This is a sound strategy for the developed world to deal with the population explosion, food shortage and the many problems that the continent brings, says a writer I came across on the Internet.

The man, who has written over eleven thousand articles and generated four and half million hits (at that particular portal) also argues against attempts to revitalize the continent, especially the slums.

He says Africans are essentially a waste of food. The world is already overpopulated, and the last thing the developed world needs to waste its resources on keeping the lazy sods fed.

Slum areas in Africa should also not be rehabilitated, because once you’re done with the work, more poor Africans will move into the improved regions, breed like rabbits and ruin your good work, he says.

I CAN’T IGNORE HIM

My gut reaction was to dismiss this writer as an ill-informed crackpot few people will take seriously. But, I couldn’t ignore his huge body of work or the sheer commitment that he demonstrated in writing articles and getting them into the public arena. (The articles are free to republish by anyone who wishes to do so)

Also, we know who we are, what we stand for and what life really is like in Africa. Why worry about an ill-informed person who has no way to influence our lives?

I couldn’t ignore him because there is too little information on the Internet telling the real story of Africa. There are too few Africans chatting on the Internet, sharing about their life experiences, doing just as people from developed countries are doing through blogs and forums. There are too few fictional stories, based in Africa, published on the net and many African writers don't even bother to build web sites or to blog.

So even if ordinary citizens from developed countries disbelieve this writer and others like him, they have no accurate information to replace the misinformation. They still end up with the mental picture of the African as a poor, lazy, starving individual in need of intervention, whether benign or aggressive.

MY CHALLENGE TO AFRICAN WRITERS

My nine year old daughter spends a lot of time on the Internet, learning and playing. This weekend alone, she researched:

- Racheltjie De Beer (1831-1843)- a 12-year old Afrikaans girl who sacrificed her life for her brother’s survival (she learnt about Rach at school)
- Madeleine McCann - a 4-year old girl who was snatched from her family a month ago. ( been following story since etv broadcast a news segment on Madeleine)
- How to polish silver – a school project due Tuesday ( really bad luck she pulled that topic)
- Ethiopia – I mentioned the country and Baby was curious, so one thing led to another
- The Frog Princess – a Russian fairytale we’d never read before.

It will be very difficult for Baby (and African children in general) to gain a positive self-image if most of the online accounts of Africans are of victims or a people too lazy to help themselves.

So, my challenge to African writers is this:” Are you using the Internet to tell Africa’s story to the world, the continent, your country, your community, your family, your children? If you’re not busy showing the world that we’re more than hungry mouths to be nuked or fed, who do you think is doing your job?”

For as long as African writers have excuses not to use new media like the Internet to get their stories out, someone else will define who Africans are using this medium. In the absence of our stories, our own account of life in this continent, their truth will be the only truth net surfers read.

So I suggest that African writers be as prolific as this man is; that they let their work be distributed as much as possible, so for every article this man (and many like him) writes about Africa, there are a hundred more giving a more accurate portrayal of life on this continent.

I’m not talking about disputing what he said, or even trying to convince those who think Africans are a waste of good resources that we too are human beings entitled to life and dignity. Why bother?

I’m talking about Africans doing just as everyone is doing on the Internet and saying “this is who we are and this is how we live.”

Lest some writers come up with excuses why they can’t use this media, let me say I am a technology journalist and am aware of all those reasons already. All I’m asking is for you to work over/under/around those problems and get the job done.

Let me remind you that ONE man, not yet 45 by the way, wrote more than ELEVEN THOUSAND articles in a couple of years. In some them, he suggests that you and your family be sterilized or bombed. If that’s not motivation enough to put forth your perspective, I don’t know what is.

P.S. For obvious reasons, I didn’t name the writer I was talking about or hyperlink to his articles.

Hello Old Man Winter

The weather changed dramatically over the holiday weekend, and winter is finally making his presence felt.

So I spent a couple of days doing last minute shopping ( warm sweaters, thick socks, shoes, beanies, scarves) and preparing for Baby’s new school term (new blazer, track suit, black shoes, running shoes, more beanies and scarves…).

MY MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY

Mma turned 68 on the 28th, so I spent some time looking for a gift and eventually bought her a big tan and black scarf. Lately I seem to see scarves everywhere, begging me to take them home...

We didn’t have a big celebration for Mma's birthday, but my older sister suggests that we plan a biggish party for her 70th. Sounds like a good idea.

Mma is still youthful and active, and I dearly hope 70 finds her still enjoying a measure of good health.

WRITING NEWS

I didn't do much writing over the holidays. Wanted to get some real rest, spend time with friends, relatives, loved ones.

But I did manage to write an article about “Content that speaks to readers.” The article was inspired by my decision to unsubscribe from one of my previously favored writing newsletters (see post below).

Don’t feel comfortable submitting it though. I worry that the article over-promises, or that I’m not really saying anything unique. Will keep it percolating for a couple of days, then reread it and make whatever changes are necessary.

Rewrote “I’m not a baby” as planned and it’s ready for submission. Will give it final read through tomorrow and then send it along.

WHAT (SOUTH AFRICAN) PUBLISHERS WANT FROM WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS

WHAT PUBLISHERS WANT, WRITING NEWS, A STORY IDEA AND SOME ACTIVISM

The Gauteng chapter of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is holding a meeting on the 8 May at the Sandton Library in Johannesburg, where a number of local editors will introduce themselves and explain how their submission procedure works.

The editors will also explain what they are looking for, common mistakes made by illustrators and writers submitting their work and briefly describe the type of books they publish.

Email: bookings at scbwi dotza dotorg by 30 April at the latest (Written out to avoid email address harvestors). Non-members pay R80 while members pay R40 (includes tea and lunch). The event will be from 10h00 – 14h30.

WRITING NEWS

The deal with Writers Weekly has been finalized. Now I wait for payment and publication. The owner/publisher, Angela Hoy, makes the process easy, doesn’t she?

I submitted “Thandi o tshuba moriri wa gagwe” to the Stories Across Africa initiative. It’s my second submission to theinitiative.

I’m still well ahead of the end of July deadline, but I need to get moving on other stories to meet some comeptition deadlines.

I also rewrote “I am not a baby!” The story reads better, but unfortunately the winter coat, which had a touching theme, has lost its central position in the story. But I have an idea of how to fix the problem, so I’ll do another major rewrite and it will be done, ready to be sent out. I might submit the story to Macmillan’s Write For Africa Competition

SINDI SAVES THE SNAKE PROPHET

I’ve decided on the theme for my children’s story based on the snake prophet saga. To read more about the story idea, click here.

To read the real news report, read an article by the The Mail and Guardian.

1100 TEDDY BEARS TO PROSTEST AGAINST CHILD MURDERS

Trade Union Solidarity's Helping Hand Fund today displayed 1 100 toy bears at the Regional Court in Pretoria to symbolise the 1 100 children who are murdered in South Africa every year. The trial of Sheldean Human’s alleged killer was resumed in the court today.

According to Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity and chief executive of the Helping Hand Fund, it is tragic to think that our country sees 1 1 00 Sheldean cases every year.

“It is awful to look at the large pile of bears and to think that every one of them symbolises a murdered child.”

Hermann said that the decision to collect the bears was prompted by the fact that a teddy bear is all that remains after the death of a child “We plan to hand out the bears to children who had been the victims of crime,” he says.

If you'd like to support children's charities, go through Sangonet's PRODDER database (www.prodder.org.za) to find one that meets your criteria.

Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa (www.cafsouthernafrica.org) is also available to help identify and validate organisations you can support.

The snake prophet– a modern tale of lies, fear, betrayal and violence

PARENTING NEWS

Baby is back from Durban, although school holidays only end on 2 May. The first few hours are always difficult, as she never seems sure about whether she’s happy to see me or sad that she’s not going to see her bio mother for a while. I usually do something silly that distracts her and gets her into the flow of her normal routine.

We spent the weekend visiting my family in Phokeng, which I hope grounds her even further, reminding her that she has a lot of people who love her and she doesn’t have to choose only one.

THE SNAKE PROPHET

While visiting my family, my mother and older sister told me a very strange story.

Some month ago, a woman many people in the area regard as a prophet said the Rustenburg region, which includes Phokeng, would be devastated by a large, mythical snake called Moepa. It is beleived the snake helps prophets such as herself to foretell the future.

The devastation would be manifest as a tornado, she said. To appease the snake, residents had to fork out protection money of R2 per person, which would be used to offer a sacrifice to the snake. She gave residents until the 18 February to pay the protection money.

The money was to be thrown into the Olifantsnek Dam, Hartbeespoort Dam and a river in Zakhele at a date to be indicated to her by the snake.

What I found very interesting is that:

* Hundreds of people, many of whom do know better, chose to pay up. My mother says the prophet offered an exemption to the residents of Phokeng village, claiming that they were already protected by their own snake.

She also argues that R2 seemed such a small amount to pay for guaranteed safety, just in case there was some validity to the prophesy. And the fact that Rustenburg never had a tornado, ever, could be discounted as evidence that the so-called prophet was a scammer?

* The debate about whether the prophesy was legitimate or not generated huge local and national interest, with radio talk shows devoted to the subject.

* If my sister were to be believed, Rustenburg’s mayor was either a believer or a fool. She says he paid an undisclosed amount, by cheque, to the prophet.

What did not surprise me is that the anger boiled over, and an angry mob of about 800 people attached the prophet and her children and burnt down her home and her next door neighbour’s house on the 15 March. The snake prophet is now under police protection.

Read a brief report by the Mail and Guardian.

I’m definitely going to do a children’s story based on this story. Watch this space!

WRITING NEWS

Wrote another article about writing – specifically about using events as an avenue to find article ideas – and submitted it to Writers Weekly.

As usual, Angela Hoy, the co-owner and publisher of Writers Weekly (a weekly email newsletter which boasts over 76 000 freelance writers worldwide) and Booklocker, (ebook publishing company) responded promptly, expressing interest in the article.

This is my third article to be published by Writers Weekly. I love working with Angela. She’s very professional and always responds promptly to writers, even though she's actually busy running a highly successful business. Add nice to the package, and she makes the publishing process, which is sometimes fraught with stress and uncertainty, very pleasant.

WORLD BOOK DAY

What did you do today to encourage young people to rea?

The Royal Bafokeng Nation's ICT Plan

EXCITED ABOUT PHOKENG’S ICT PLAN

Today’s post is a tad long – I guess it’s because I’m climbing on my high horse about some of the things I think should be included in developing communities.

Part of it is that I’m very excited about the Royal Bafokeng Nation’s plan to roll out network infrastructure and to provide free phone calls and cheap Internet access for the community I call home.

It’s going to take a while before the man in the street begins to feel the impact of the project, but administration people are making a lot of headway on the project.

To find out more about the project, read an article that I wrote for ITWeb Online.

Sort of gives you a glimpse for the possibilities that exist for African rural communities if they could access resources, doesn’t it?

The African story is not just about war, disease, hunger and tyranny. It’s also not about holding onto traditions and cultures that no longer serve the people.

The African story is also about holding onto the essence of who we are, learning from our tradition and culture, and using whatever resources are available to us to improve the lives of our people.

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS

A lot of media hype Bafokeng as the richest nation in Africa, with the money accounted for by shareholding in the platinum mines. And I can’t deny royalties have boosted the community’s development in recent times.

But we didn’t always get the royalties. For years, the money went to an apartheid government appointed institution, which was supposed to be safe-guarding it for us, seeing that we were “too stupid/immature” to manage it ourselves.

Sorry, they didn’t actually come right out and say it, but it still infuriates me that it took a protracted legal battle for the money to be paid directly to us, and in the meantime, we had to do without important resources like running water, electricity, health facilities and school buildings.

For example, my older brother walked about 7 kilometres to the nearest primary school (alone or with other school going children). The community later decided to launch another school close to where I lived, so I spent my first school year under a tree and learnt to write the alphabet with my finger on the soil.

My point is, I still have a memory of people in the community pooling money to build a make-shift school building, which was really four walls, a door, windows and a chalkboard. They later paid more money to build a proper school building, which we moved into in 1976 (I think).

The same system was used to build other schools, clinic etc. The reasoning was that we couldn’t wait for government to provide the resources for us – who knew how long it would take before they’d get round to us? That is, assuming they would even get round to providing us with resources.

Today, the school building where I attended Primary School is structurally sound and is still standing, more than 30 years later. That’s a good return for individual investment of R10 - R50, don’t you think?

PLOUGHING BACK

In addition to collecting money from individuals, young people were also encouraged to get an education and experience of the world, but to go back home to use their experiences to advance community development.

There is saying that if you are thirsty, you shouldn’t travel great distances to find water; you should dig the well close to your home. It’s not a Setswana proverb (to my knowledge), but it perfectly encapsulates the philosophy that is drummed into the children of Phokeng, and we are fortunate that it has largely worked.

Even diaspora community members like me largely see themselves as belonging to the community and take a proprietal interest in its activities.

Getting back to my point, having access to large resources helps, but every little thing communities do for themselves adds to the final result, and young people should learn as much as they can, travel as much for as long as it is possible.

The community should be the final beneficiary of this world experience. That’s part of what will drag Africa out of some of its development challenges.