A Salute on Youth Day

Some of the young people who spent their December holiday
building water storage tanks for a village in Thailand

I cannot help but admire the many young people (18-23) who traipse in and out of our house to visit my son and daughter. They're bright, confident and pro-active, they don't carry any baggage, generally respect each other's differences and want to contribute to our country. 

Shen Winberg with Malala and the group of SA musicians who
performed at the World's Children's Prize in 2014

I have noticed there's a generation of young, energetic people across the world like this - I've seen them at the World Economic Forum among the young global leaders and shapers, met the gold recipients of the presidents award, engaged with the young people who make up the jury of the World's Children's Prize ... champing at the bit to bring about change. I am optimistic that their generation will get it right, if we haven't messed up too much already. But I realise that the youth I generally come into contact with are often more privileged or those who have overcome dire circumstances through intervention by extraordinary people. 

Kai Fitchen Making Mountains Metaphors 

On the other side of the coin, I am constantly humbled by the overwhelming obstacles that the youth of the different projects I am involved with, have to overcome to lead "normal" lives. Too often I am floored by the day-to-day realities that present stumbling blocks - the meeting that has to be cancelled because a young man couldn't leave the township because taxi-drivers were shooting at each other and the police had put up roadblocks at the exits, the teenager who gets accepted at university and then has to find a job because his girlfriend is pregnant, the one whose father can't see why he should be wasting his time at band practice when he could be earning a pittance cutting plastic for a few cents or the young man whose parents live in a shack in someone's backyard and try to make a living driving a taxi which breaks down every other day.

Saxophonist inspiring youth in Delft

A friend is renovating a place in Woodstock. all the workers are from Manenberg, a township in the news lately for the ongoing gang warfare. She's trying to do everything by the book and has provided them with hard hats, masks and boots to wear on-site. They push the masks up onto their heads and laugh at her protestations - why should they worry about getting hurt at work when it's more likely that they will get killed in the cross-fire walking home?

One of the problems is a lack of organisation and forward planning, e.g. not thinking about applying to study further because you don't believe that you're going to do well enough and then missing the deadlines. But then, how can you blame them when no one in the house or even the neighbourhood has finished school let alone gone any further. I know that we cannot hold their hands but many of them need a hand UP, not a hand OUT. It's a tough world and no one said it would be fair, but we have a responsibility to help them face in the right direction. 

Adelia in Delft 

This photo of Adelia Douw, vocalist for the Delft Big Band, in her vibrant purple dress and high heels against the backdrop of the township, is a reminder for me of the potential of our youth and what they can achieve with hard work and encouragement from someone who believes in them.  

WCP photos from www.childrensworld.org
Kai Fitchen's photo supplied by him for a previous blog.
Photos in Delft by Jac de Villiers for the Delft Big Band 

Making Mountains Metaphors

Kai at the summit of Mt Kenya

I am constantly amazed at the calibre of youth the new South Africa is producing - environmentally aware, socially responsible and enthusiastic and motivated. Like our young friend, Kai Fitchen who at just 18 years of age has recently returned from a five-month trip from Cape Town to Kenya, ending with the summit of Mount Kenya.

Kai in conversation with local kids

The aims of the trip were to travel sustainably, raise awareness of environmental issues among school children, and to climb Mt Kenya, the second highest peak in Africa. 

Sustainable travel involved using public transport as far as possible - buses, taxis, trains and at times bicycles. Although he had some hair-raising experiences (drunk bus drivers, fights breaking out on trains) he found the public transport at least 90% reliable and was able to get there and back in one piece. 

washing hands - water sanitation program
in Malawi

In the various villages where he stopped he visited schools, engaging with children creatively, spending time outdoors and discussing the way environmental issues were personally affecting their lives. Living in a town like Livingstone with Victoria Falls as a background makes it easy to engage with nature. Deforestation is a very real problem for them and Kai had Greenpop (a social enterprise involved in urban greening and reforestation) as a support.  In Malawi, sanitation was the burning issue.

Mt Kenya, although not quite as high as the very popular Kilimanjaro, is technically a much more difficult climb. Added to that was the sleet, rock falls and cold winds to contend with while living on a diet of peanuts and bananas. But Kai describes the experience as "humbling, the best experience I have ever had...to see the potential in Southern Africa...". He is already talking about the next trip...what an inspiration!

For more about his trip, visit:

 KAPE 2 KENYA 2012

http://www.kape2kenya.com

http://greensparks-kai.blogspot.com/

Pictures are courtesy of Kai Fitchen

Go For It

Towards the end of last year I came across a great school diary filled with ideas to "change the world", called "Go For It".  It starts off with a little quizz to check your eco-score, so that you can check your own lifestyle before you take on the problems of the world. It looks at the things you do, like turning off the lights or filling up the kettle with only as much water as you need,  picking up rubbish in the street when you see it,  performing random acts of kindness and using the political process to voice your concern on issues.

With two days a page it has suggestions of simple actions to help make a difference. I like the entry for 20/21 February which quotes Mandela's saying:

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. if you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." 

There is then a suggestion to learn one of South Africa's 11 languages - even if it is only 20 phrases that you could use as much as possible. 

Another entry for 13/14 June talks about the many changes that are still needed in our country and encourages the youth to join up with other youth activists to make themselves heard. There is a suggestion to visit a website: www.youthnoise.com. 

The diary is only available in KwaZulu Natal this year but I hope that it will be available nationally next year. The positive message is inspiring but it is the practical information that is of enormous value. So often we want to do something but don't know where to start. 

The diary is based on Michael Norton's book, 365 Ways to Change the World.

Contact Lynn at lynn@goforitdiary.co.za or Kim at kim@goforitdiary.co.za

A Celebration of Music and Poetry

My son's school has for the past two days been buzzing with culture - music has been ringing out from different venues across the school campus, boys are walking about either on their way to compete, or to support their peers and external examiners are having a tough time awarding points. 

I popped in yesterday to listen to the boys perform in the Junior Woodwind Classical, Light and Jazz section and was very glad to be part of the creative energy that prevailed. They delivered pieces from composers as diverse as Scott Joplin and Franz Danzi. 

The Eisteddfod is in its 25th year at the school. The boys compete in  five sections - Speech, Performance, Visual Arts, Music and a group Singing competition (which is the culmination of the two days). The singing competition involves every boy in the school. What  a wonderful opportunity for young people to explore their creativity and to appreciate the talents of their peers. 

An "eisteddfod" is a celebration of music and poetry. It has its roots in Wales and goes back to the 12th century to a certain Lord Rhys who decided to have  gathering of musicians and poets from all over the country, at his castle. A chair at the Lord's table was awarded to the best poet and musician. Over time it became an annual event, alternating in North and South Wales - it lasts for about a week with people camping in tents on fields, dancing maidens and men dressed in flowing costumes and meetings around a circle of white stones that is the mark that an eisteddfod has taken place.