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| Decorating the Board for Monday's Celebration |
Today,
I learned to dance. Or, at least, I tried to dance. Anyone that knows me
realizes what a big accomplishment this is – I’m someone who can trip over air
without trying. Our group – Arlene, Carolyn, Ben, and I – began the day at
Yabonga sitting in on a planning session for the weekend’s Youth Day
celebration. In commemoration of the June 16th protest that began
the Soweto Uprising of 1976 in South Africa. The protests were a response of
people discriminated against under apartheid’s Bantu Education Act. Among other
methods of segregation in schools and reinforcement of a substandard
educational system, this government mandate required Afrikaans, the language of
white oppressors, to be the medium of education in schools across the country.
Education in an unknown language effectively blocks students from gleaning the
most they can from their classes. They become educationally stunted and cannot
reach higher education, relegating them to lives of manual labor that lead to
cycles of families in poverty. While the apartheid government intended for this
to be the fate of all Africans who were not white, the people of South Africa
would not accept it. Up to 700 people are estimated to have died in protests
sparked by the Bantu Education Act. Many victims of the violence were under
eighteen. The youth of 1976 fought for their right to education and freedom and
the youth of today now celebrate the freedom they’ve been given and remember
those who worked to give it to them.
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| Gap Year Students Demonstrating a Xhosa Dance for us |
Many
Youth Day celebrations, including Yabonga’s annual commemoration day, feature
songs, dance, and poetry. These artistic expressions are energetic and full of
anger towards apartheid, sadness about past tragedies, and celebrations of
current freedoms. For the past few months, the youth groups at each of
Yabonga’s eight centers have been preparing presentations for the 16th.
This year, Yabonga’s Youth Coordinator Nandi, wanted the youth to focus on the
era of freedom from 1994 into the future. This year marks 20 years of freedom
and she wanted to demonstrate and instill positive attitudes about South
Africa’s future in the youth. Rather than focusing and becoming stuck in the
injustices of the past, Nandi wants Yabonga’s youth to actively participate in
shaping an ever-brightening future. She gave the gap year students who work
with us at Yabonga an empowering speech about taking hold of their own future
and voting in governmental elections. Part of today’s youths’ responsibility,
as Youth Day reminds us, is to take advantage of the freedoms that the Soweto
Uprising’s participants fought to give to present-day South Africans.
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| Simon and Ben learning to Drum! |
When
the gap years were done planning the event’s schedule and soaking in Nandi’s
multiple inspirational speeches, they moved on to creating a performance of
their own. Dance and song are integral parts of the Xhosa culture and it seems
that every Xhosa person has a wealth of musical talent. Within 30 minutes, the
group had put together a fully-fledged musical show. A few rounds of practice,
some explanations from certain members, and a drum seemed to be all that our
talented colleagues needed. Carolyn, Arlene, Ben and I had been sitting and
watching the piece come together when Lucina, one of our instructors at the
University of Cape Town, came and asked the gap years if they would teach us
some moves. There was a resounding response in the affirmative and everyone got
into a large circle for a dance lesson. Large amounts of laughing, clapping,
singing, and, – on my part – flailing ensued. A few of the gap years
demonstrated some traditional Xhosa dance then we all tried to do the moves
together. We were the students and I was most definitely getting an education.
Later, Lucina remarked that it was nice to see the whole group getting along
and sharing this moment mingling freely as equals. It seems to me that sharing
the spirit of celebration between youth of mixed backgrounds through dance is a
wonderful way to commemorate Youth Day and 20 years of freedom from apartheid.
-Rachel Kassler
*Thanks to Summer Rak for generously letting me use her photos!
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