Merry Christmas!

End of term!

Community Journalism

As journalism students, we were told to go out into the townships surrounding Grahamstown and practice "community journalism". We were to engage with the community, address the issue of crime, and find ways to help the situation. At first this was just a project. By the end of it, it was hard to leave. Going out to the township on a regular basis opened our eyes to the fact that there are people living about five minutes away from us who are about a million time less fortunate than we are. They have nothing. And they have to deal with crime on a daily basis.

Over the past six weeks, our group of twelve interviewed residents, photographed them and their homes, and produced tv documentaries. Some days were peaceful, with people willing to talk to us and work with us to find solutions to the crime in their area. Some days were not so peaceful, with mobs of people surrounding us, throwing stones and telling us to leave. But on the whole, we felt we did make a difference. The community, through watching and reading what we had produced, realised what the core problems were, and listened to our suggestions for a resolution. It is now up to them.

But as I sit here typing this on my own compter, in my own safe room, after just taking a hot shower, I think about the people who have nothing. People who would do anything for a little money, food and clothing. And I think, who are we to invade their homes, interrogate them about their personal strife, photograph their private spaces, and point a tv camera in their faces whenever they open their mouths? Who are we to tell them what to do?

See an overview of the whole project on our group blog, "Xhasa" here.

A note to cyberspace

Does anyone know how to get the picture in my header to move to the center?

Spoilt?

Rain, I don't mind

On the job

So I should probably explain this picture.

We're doing this project in journalism which requires us to go out into the wider community and investigate crime. (I will go into more detail about this, and hopefully have more pictures later).

Well this morning, three of us were sitting outside the Magistrate's court waiting for people who said they were coming to protest. (They were basically protesting for someone who was arrested to be released, even though he was arrested for murder, but again, I will get more into that later). So we were waiting. And waiting. And eventually after two hours, we decided to sit down on the curb. Shortly after we sat down, this big shiny car parked in front of us. We could see our warped reflections in it, and I was quite amused. (I was also very tired). So out of sheer boredom, I took this picture.

So, to cut a long and rather pointless story short, we were waiting, I was bored. The protestors came two and half hours late. The life of a journalist (to be). I guess it's the little things we remember.

The year that everyone turned 21

Twenty-one years

Watch out for spiders

I woke up the other morning with this on my leg.
After a course of antibiotics and lots of ointment, my leg is now back to its normal size.
The scary thing: I have not yet found the culprit...

The day of the moths

'Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?'