Addressing the
problem
While it remains true
that
South Africa has celebrated 14 years of democracy, it is equally true
that the prejudices, tensions and lack of tolerance still remain within
the lives of many South Africans. This project is directed at starting
to eradicate these negatives, and replacing them with attitudes of
understanding,
reconciliation and working towards common goals.
Activities
The
Diversity Programme began in 2005 as a response to the
race-related killing of a learner at a high school on the Cape Flats.
Eleven years after the advent of democracy, it was clear that racial
prejudice
was still alive and well in South Africa.
The
Diversity programme started off as a pilot programme in
a primary school in Delft
which targeted both Grade 6 learners and teachers in parallel workshop
processes. After the first year it had become clear that children took
their
cue from the adults around them, and thus it was decided to focus on
teachers.
The prograrmme
takes as its starting point the hard truth
that with our painful history of institutionalised racism, every person
growing
up in South Africa inherits attitudes
about other cultural groups to a greater or lesser extent, and that
there is no
quick fix for overcoming racial prejudice. In 2008 the invaluable
experience and knowledge gained from
piloting the programme in two primary schools in Delft was put to
creative use:
recognizing that discussion of racial issues remains a painful and
uncomfortable experience for most South Africans, it was decided to
write a
drama as a way of capturing attention
and focusing on issues which otherwise are very hard to talk about – or
indeed
to think about. The drama features two young characters, Carmen
and
Thando, who have to grapple with and confront racial prejudice in order
to
develop a relationship in the face of the struggle for scarce
resources, like
housing, which divides their communities. The
story’s job is to imaginatively project
that the kind of racism which has coloured and black communities in its
grip,
can be overcome. Recorded as a radio drama and broadcast on
Bush Radio, the
CD, “Carmen and Thando”, has been being introduced to teachers in the
Non-Violent Schools’ Train the Trainer Course in 2009, for use in their
classrooms with accompanying worksheets. The next episode, "The Further
Adventures of Carmen and Thando", which deal swith xenophobia,
corruption and democratic practice, has now been recorded. Teachers in
our Non-Violent Schools Project are being trained to use this material
in their schools, and it is proving to be a great success with the
learners. You can listen to both episodes on our website. A third
episode,
dealing
mainly with gender, is planned. All three episodes on CD, together with
worksheets and other exercises already piloted, will comprise a
diversity
“manual” for use by teachers who have been trained through the Train
the
Trainer Course, and teachers in training.
Target groups
High school learners
and teachers
Listen to Carmen
and Thando ...
Click
here
Listen to The
Further Adventures of Carmen
and Thando ...
Click
here
Carmen and Thando
More about the
work of
the Diversity Project (publications) ...
Click
here
Contact
The Manager at the
details
on the index page.
