Monday 11th June 2007

Arrive in Cape Town

Visit to Robben Island cancelled due to bad whether. Although we did spend time in the museum ‘Gateway to Robben Island’ in the port at Cape Town, reading about the history of the struggle against Apartheid.

Tuesday 12th June 2007

South African Houses of Parliament

Tour around South African Houses of Parliament - visited the National Council of Provinces (this chamber has a system of proportional representation and consists of representatives from each of the 9 provinces in South Africa) and the National Assembly (the legislative body where MP’s sit) The National Assembly has over 400 members, over 75% of which are members of the African National Congress (ANC) the ruling party of SA.

We visited a committee room to observe the committee for Sports and Recreation. Our delegation was formally welcomed into the public viewing gallery by the Chairperson

Outside the Houses of Parliament we witnessed a small demonstration by a group of pensioners from COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions). The demonstration was calling on the government for a 12% increase in public sector wages. The following day there were demonstrations all over the country and a national strike by many public sector workers, led by COSATU. A taste of South African democracy in action!

District Six museum

The visit to the District Six museum gave the delegation a feel for the massive injustice caused by the legislation that enshrined segregation throughout the Apartheid regime in South Africa from the 1950’s to the 1990’s- the legacy of which is evidently still felt today.

We were guided around the museum by a former resident of District Six. This area was deemed a ‘white area’ and anyone who did not fit into this category was ‘relocated’ outside of Cape Town. Relocation was based on an individuals race/ ethnicity, depending on if they were deemed ‘white’, ‘black’ or ‘coloured’. Families were separated and relocated to different parts of the Cape. The area was bulldozed to the ground and until this day, remains largely barren. Those who were ‘relocated’ were not compensated in any way for their loss of property or for their segregation from their family.

It was very interesting to learn first hand accounts of the relocation of the people of District Six and the legacy this still carries. It would prove to be a very useful starting point for our delegation to think about as, later that day, we visited District Six.

Journey of Remembrance with DACPM (Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory)

We were met by representatives from the Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory (DACPM), who were to take us on a tour of District Six, and later in the afternoon, to the Langha Township. First, we visited the centre to be briefed on the programme for the afternoon - the Journey of Remembrance.

We were asked to leave the centre in silence on our journey to District Six to reflect on the brief we had been given and to think about what we had learnt in the District Six museum. Our hosts, Mike, Solomon and Des, all lived through Apartheid in Cape Town and wanted to place in our minds what it would feel like for those people who sacrificed, and in the end, succeeded in bringing an end to Apartheid in South Africa. We were taken to District Six and, still in silence, told accounts of the process by which people were forcefully removed from their homes and separated from their families.

We then drove to visit one of the largest townships in Cape Town- Langha.

Plans are in motion to begin to return those who were relocated from District Six back to the area.

Having driven past a number of townships on the way from Cape Town Airport on Monday 11th June, we had witnessed the conditions many people live in. Members of the ACTSA delegation were keen to visit the township to get more of a feel of how people’s lives operate within the townships of South Africa. We visited memorial sites of a number of people who had fallen victims to police brutality in their struggles for liberation. Our hosts knew personally some of the victims, whose memorial sites we visited, and gave their personal accounts of their losses. We were very grateful for this insight and for them sharing their experiences with us.

We ended the day at the DACPM centre, were we debriefed and shared our own experience of how what we had seen had impacted on us

For more information on DACPM see www.dacpm.org.za

Wednesday 13th June 2007

National public services sector strike across SA. COSATU calling for 12% pay increase for its workers.

Visit to Table Mountain to see views over Cape Town.

Flight to Johannesburg.

Apartheid Museum

The delegation was taken to Apartheid Museum on arrival in Jo’burg. The Museum is surrounded by 7 large pillars- representing the 7 pillars of the SA Constitution: Diversity, Respect, Reconciliation, Equality, Responsibility, Democracy and Freedom.

The museum hosts exhibitions of people’s accounts of living through Apartheid as well as more specific exhibitions on struggles for peace around the world, including a modern art exhibition on from Northern Ireland about Bloody Sunday. The piece was called the weight of justice - see my facebook profile for pictures!

The museum also hosted a temporary exhibition detailing the role of women in the struggle against Apartheid and in the liberation of SA.

We visited the museum with a guest, and friend of ACTSA, Tabeth. She is the daughter of a prominent trade union leader in Zimbabwe and is studying in Johannesburg.

Thursday 14th June 2007

Coca Cola caning plant

Coca Cola funded the ACTSA Youth Delegation trip to southern Africa. We were invited to see the work Coca Cola are doing on supporting workers who have contracted HIV/AIDS. We visited the plant and attended a session of ‘peer tutoring’. Peer tutoring programmes educate workers on the causes of HIV, challenging cultural stigmas and myths and presenting the reality that HIV is not an immediate sentence to death. It was very interesting to attend this session- myself and others in the youth delegation learning a number of things about the virus- including that re-infection can occur once someone has already contracted HIV, making their condition worse.

It was encouraging to see such programmes in operation. Coca Cola South Africa provides ARV’s (antiretroviral drugs) to workers contracting HIV and to 3 of the ‘dependents’. Although this could be improved (as the spread of HIV through families often exceeds 3 members- and there are obviously ethical questions to raise over which 3 members of your family you would support in such circumstances), programmes like this are of such importance in a the current circumstances of South Africa, where many people would otherwise not have any access to ARV at all. Such issues can be raised through the channels of constructive engagement.

Men as Partners programme

Over lunch, our delegation was introduced to Wessel van den Berg, who is an academic working for an organisation called Hope World Wide South Africa, and Willy of the Men as Partners project. We were briefed on the Men as Partners programme which operates in many of the Townships around Johannesburg and across South Africa. Men as Partners mission statement reads ‘Healthy families and Responsible manhood’. The programme was set up to over come challenges faced by those living in Townships on issues like gender equality and HIV/ AIDS. There are many problems, cultural, social and economic facing the people who live in the Townships of South Africa, that Men as Partners attempts to address and overcome. Through work shops and street intervention projects, volunteers within Townships are trained and educated in confronting these challenges and encouraging others within their communities to do so.

We accompanied a ‘street intervention’ project around the Alexandra Township. This involves groups of talented and enthusiastic young volunteers walking around the Township and talking to people about sexual health awareness and HIV/ AIDS. The street intervention teams carry booklets with them which contain pictures of sexually transmitted diseases. This approach is very hard-hitting and attempts to engage people in thinking about the consequences of not using condoms. The teams also take condoms to distribute and educate young people on how to use them.

We returned to the Men as Partners community centre. The centre plays host to a number of community initiatives and activities for young people to participate in. On our return to the centre we were invited to join a work shop the volunteers were hosting to discuss issues of gender equality and HIV/ AIDS. The work shop allowed our group to interact with young people from the local community and share and challenge each others ideas. The debate did not become polarized between our delegation and the local young people, despite some differences of opinion. It did however provide us all with an opportunity to challenge and educate each other on cultural practices and discuss issues effecting young people in South Africa and in the UK.

The debate highlighted one thing for me- the importance of programmes like the Men as Partners programme in educating young people about issues effecting society and how they, as individuals, can make a difference to the challenges their communities face. It was truly inspiring to meet Phumlani (a leading volunteer of the programme) and his colleagues and we were left speechless after hearing a poem read out to our group by Blue Star. The poem was titled ‘changes’ and epitomised the faith and hope that many these young South Africans have for their future.

I knew this day would be one of the days that impacted on me the most throughout the trip, although I could not digest all that we had seen and experienced there and then. We drove back to the hotel to meet with representative’s form the Zimbabwean National Union of Students- Washington (National Coordinator) and Promise (National President). It was an honour to meet with these two leaders, who continue to sacrifice so much in their fight for their countries liberation from Mugabe’s regime.

Friday 15th June 2007

We spent the morning in a meeting with the senior representatives from the South African Union of Students (SASU) and the South African Students Congress. It was interesting to see the parallels we can draw with the student movement in South Africa, as we face similar challenges around education funding and wider student welfare issues.

Saturday 16th June 2007

South African Youth Day Celebrations

We were invited, as guests of SASU, to visit the national Youth Day celebrations at Johannesburg Stadium. The Youth Day celebrations are an annual event on 16th July, with mass gatherings all over SA. Young people gather to celebrate the role the youth played in fighting for liberation and in their role in development within South Africa.

The atmosphere was amazing- the speakers rallied the crowds of young people before the live music kicked off! We couldn’t stay all day for the celebrations as we were flying to Manzini for the next exciting leg of the trip in Swaziland.

Flight to Manzini- Swaziland.

Sunday 17th June 2007

Swaziland is a country facing many significant challenges. Around 40% of the population are HIV positive. The country is governed by an absolute monarch. Political parties are illegal and the practice of men having many wives is accepted by the ruling elite- the King himself has 13 wives.

Having read such information before getting to Swaziland I could not have anticipated the positive experience that we were going to have. The ACTSA youth delegation accompanied SWAPOL for a day visiting the rural communities of Swaziland taking food aid to orphans and interacting with Swazi people- some orphans, some widows, some on their death beds- all however, positive, inspiring and truly amazing people.

SWAPOL was established in 2001 by five Swazi women. The organisation was set up to support people who have contracted HIV, challenging cultural stigmas attached to the virus and supporting the many orphans who have fallen victims to the epidemic. Siphiwe Hlophe, who was one of the founding women of SWAPOL, was kind enough to take us around for the day. A truly inspiring person, Siphiwe has oversome personal challenges of monumental scales to offer those within Swaziland hope for their future. SWAPOL works with ACTSA and other NGO's and internationl bodies, including the United Nations

Siphiwe's story is detailed in a recently published book '28, stories of aids in Africa' by Stephanie Nolen. 28 represents the 28 million people infected with HIV/ AIDS across Africa

For more information on SWAPOL see www.swapol.net

Monday 18th June 2007

Meeting with representatives from the Swaziland National Union of Students.

Flight to Zambia.

Tuesday 19th June 2007

Our day was kindly coordinated by Adam from the ZUFIAW (Zambian Union of Financial Institution and Allied Workers). This is a sister union of AMICUS.

Meetings with the Zambian National Union of Students and representative from an FE college in Zambia.

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