Breathing again thanks to Noncendo Pre-Primary School

Stepping out onto the dusty pavement I was greeted by a sea of tiny little snotty faces smiling up at me. Their arms out stretched asking to be lifted onto my hip. Being a student in Grahamstown we are confronted daily by people who have less than us, I think this is a huge understatement as they basically have no material possessions.
Gtown have many outreach programmes that help the upliftment of the location that contribute towards but I am ashamed to admit, have not. Maybe I was afraid to see what true poverty I would be forced to realise if I did help but last weekend I made the decision to get out of my tunnel vision and immerse myself in what would be one of the greatest memories of my life.
This was me now, stepping onto the pavement of Noncendo Pre-primary School. 60 little children aged three-six were pushing up against the wire fence which surrounded their quinte little school next to a Shabeen in thee location. Their excitement could be felt. They were adorable! Unloading the paint and brushes out the car I realised my own excitement.
The plan of the day was to paint the peeling walls around their play area. Taking their tiny chubby hands which by now were full of paint and pressing them against the cold walls and listening to them giggle and laugh while the played was one of the most enjoyable and grounding experiences of my life. Watching their eyes grow as we filled the table with sweets and biscuits. Standing around the table unsure what they were meant to do and eventually not one push or shove was made, each child shared with the next, no one got more than the other. This tiny community of children free of greed or jealousy humbled me.
As some kids played others came to get their hands washed of paint. Thorough the screaming and playing of the other children I felt relaxation and calm as I sat washing them. Before leaving a little girl, whose hands I had washed before, started washing the paint of my own hands.
Driving away I felt deeply connected to this new town I now live in. I realised that any expectations I might have gone there with would not have been met, they would have been way way way out done. In a way that can only be experienced emotionally.

Purple Knickers Back at You

The blog Purple Knickers is created by four female journalism students at Rhodes University. They blog on controversial issues surrounding the life of being a woman and students. The amusing name and the array pink in the blog give it a light hearted feel. But don’t be fooled, this blog addresses issues in an upfront and personal way. There is no fooling around; their opinion pieces address rape and the sexuality in the media. They have a no tolerance view towards males who dictate towards women.
Although they address the topics in such a serious manner they use satire in their writing which helps the reader not become to depressed and low down. The blog is easy to read and gripping. The pictures included in the blog are relevant and fun.
The post Rape Me Metaphorically is the deepest thought provoking post far overcrossing the line of acceptable conservative writing, and even so it deserves awards though and through. Tackling straight to the heart of representation of rape in the media, the depersonalisation of one of the most personal violent acts. The metaphors used to represent her feelings would touch anyone.
All in all the blog is a though provoking insightful look into the girl’s minds. The addition of a few light-hearted posts helps lit the mood. The blog is written to open the minds to feminism and the emancipation of women’s true sexual freedom. Read this blog for a deeply honest crucial look into the world of young woman and their brutally honest feminist opinions.

A Blog in a Billion

By Philippa Bradbury

The Number 42 is purple? How intriguing. The rather eccentric and allegorical name caught my eye immediately and I quickly followed the instruction, “Ctrl+Click”, and found myself transported to another world. The members of the group have formed an intoxicating maze of journalism topics and I found my eyes drawn to their array of headlines such as “What a load of Twitter!” and “When did beauty need a beast to be fashionable?”. Their posts portray their different personalities perfectly and, let us be honest; they are the most articulate bunch of girls! I was overwhelmed with the use of phrases such as “through beads of sweat and strained breathing” and “her Hooker high heels on display create a dubious persona”. It was hugely refreshing to see the English Language used so masterfully and I hungrily read on, and on, and on.

I was particularly engaged by their rather philosophical take on life and how the writers questioned what was going on in the world around them. They looked at people and the role they play, such as the infamous “fence sitter” who thinks that they are, in every way, brilliant. They seem to have taken new angles on what the word “Journalism” implies and have turned arbitrary observations into newsworthy articles. Needless to say, I am very impressed by their originality.

One can almost say that the blog welcomes a reader. With the bright colours and posts that seem to address the reader with the inclusion of “you”, one feels as though they wrote it just for, well, you. Indoctrination, I tell you. Or is it propaganda? Oh, what the hell, I will ask the writers of this blog, they are bound to know.

Enjoyment seems to shine through their blog and they have taken every effort to make it an opinionated, original and very “quirky” read. Good for them. To employ some of the writer’s words, “Fucks sakes, this blog is good!”

Zimbabwe Governmental Crisis

Kelley Wake
For the past couple of years or so I have been following the Zimbabwean crisis just above our boarder. The shocking stories of the humanitarian crisis and the disregard for human rights have deeply angered me. When the media began covering the crisis, farms where being taken from farmers and given to Zanu PF supporters. Now years later the country is in ruins and the leading party, Zanu PF along with their gracious president, Robert Mugabe, neglects to see the horror they are causing. As of February this year the rival party, MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, had talks and decided on a coalition government after MDC won the elections. This sparked the dreams of many around the world that Zimbabwe would finally begin its path to recovery. On Friday the 15th October Morgan announced that he would be leaving the joint party, but remaining is parliament as there is a disregard to respect and the joint government. This I think could be a good thing for the future although MDC may just be doing it for their ego. Talk Zimbabwe describes it as breaking the constitution and supporter trust. All they are doing it staying out of the Zanu PF but still in parliament. Tsvangaria needs to stand on his won feet and lead his country. Mugabe is keeping him back, but maybe this is a waste as it won’t make a difference to Mugabe, as All Africa. Every sign of recovery and progress is disdained by the corruption that seems to be in all sides of the ‘war’. I do not agree with The Zimbabwe Times , I believe the arrest of Bennet was the cause of the split. BBC describes the same way as well as Talk Zimbabwe who describe is more as a racists act than good.

Who Kelley Is

My name is Kelley Wake. I’m in first year journalism at Rhodes University South Africa. I’m here to learn how to use the tools I have been equipped with. I want to learn to use these tools to open up a world that has not been visioned yet. I love life and see opportunities at every turn. I believe that everything happens of a reason. I love people and analysing their cause and on world phenomena. I love to laugh, have fun and try to accept people as long as they are happy. I want to live life to the fullest.
I see the world as a hub of knowledge. I believe the world is created by ideologies of the power elite. These ideologies are used to control the majority who are less powerful. I believe that even though we are the less powerful majority in society we have the decision and knowledge to make the best of the world we live in. I believe that people make their world what they want it to be. We are constantly given opportunities and faced with decisions. We need to choose what is right for us and grab opportunities. When we make bad choices we must make the best of it and never live with regrets.
I believe that journalism in the world is a tool that should be used to open the minds of people who are controlled and manipulated in believing harmful knowledge. A journalist has the ability and the power to do this through mass media. Journalism is the pressure that can stop negative world forces and give knowledge to those that do not have so that may learn to live in the best way possible in the society and uncontrollable situation they are in. Journalism can also have a negative presence in the world when it is used the wrong way to manipulate those into believing the values that only benefit the power elite not the people themselves. I want to use journalism to uplift and share knowledge with those who do not have. My first passion is the continent I live on, Africa. I want to help free Africa from the manipulative power elite of the world.
Our blog is about the study of journalism to acquire a degree. We will be discussing how the world of journalism is changing. It is no longer in the hands of the well educated elite but is been given to the public. People can become journalists without a degree and we will be discussing our point of view on this as journalism students and how it is affecting us.