Spreading the word

May 25th, 2010

Yesterday saw final touches added to the report from the Gugulethu group on the funeral of their aunty. We drove to the graveyard where students Linda, Alutha, Mangaliso and Thanda recorded intros to their report. Tutor Lukhanyo Calata gave guidance notes on the footage they shot on Saturday at the burial and the wake. We’re going in for a re-cut and adding a voice-over too. The report should be ready for viewing by the end of the week, so watch this space!

The Khayelitsha group goes from strength to strength. Students booked out phones over the weekend and will be cutting their news reports together today. We watched their intros to camera yesterday and they’re absolutely brilliant. Pelisa and Sisa in particular were straight out of SABC (The South African equivalent to the BBC). Students clapped at the end of these reports, astonished at how quickly they could look and seem like reporters, the reality of what they were preparing to do finally sinking in,  their confidence rising.

Our Producer here, the canny Simcelile Kalimashe, appeared on Khayelitsha community radio yesterday to spread the word about WFC, and to warm up our potentially huge township audience. He called me straight after he left the studio to tell me he was being inundated with calls from interested participants. So it looks like we have our next workshop set-up thanks to Simi’s sales techniques!

The weather is holding and we’re making real progress. I remain overwhelmingly impressed by the talent of these young people. During a conversation with workshop participant, Manez, I learned the students in the Khayelitsha group are pleased to be participating. They’re hungry, Manez tells me, and they see the value in this workshop. Now I just hope we live up to expectations!