Interview With Ali Of The Imonti Jazz Band

Some serious drumming has been going on at the Mdantsane Arts Center

During our last unannounced visit to the Mdantsane Arts Center we met Ali and sort of hi-jacked him by dragging him into a music room and forcing him to give us an interview. Ali stands for musician, music instructor at the Mdantsane Arts Center and founder of the Imonti Jazz Band.

Ali Of The Imonti Jazz Band

"This chair," Ali said by pointing on something that looked like a mixed media art piece, like something that is still work in progress," this chair is not supposed to be here".

"Ah, OK."

"No really, this chair is not supposed to be. It is one of my friends chairs and he wants to upholster it. But he still has not collected it. You know how it goes!"

We had not even paid attention to the chair, but here it was and it obviously bothered Ali. But it did in fact look cool. It belonged there in that room with the seriously beaten up drum and the micro.

This Chair Is Not Supposed To Be Here! Says Ali!   

The chair, the micro and the drum were the first three things when we entered the music room and Ali, they all belong there! 

The Drumming Station

"Tell us a little bit about your music Ali".

"I have my own band, I founded the Imonti Jazz Band," Ali says.

"Why Jazz Ali, that's unusual, you are still a young guy and the whole township is into house now. Is Jazz not the domain of elderly guys?"

"That's right, but you know, I found my way into Jazz because I had to find something that is compatible with my soul and with me as a person. I was listening to Kwaito and to Hip Hop but I am a sort of mellow person. When I wake up in the morning I can not listen to Kwaito. I have to get up and hear some soft soothing sound. I really came to love jazzy bluesy music. And I begin my day, every day with it."

"How is the work with the Imonti Jazz Band going?"

"We are practising as often as we can. As often as we can, we come together and we make music. We did not succeed in getting a record contract yet. In this sense the township is underdeveloped. You have to make it first somewhere else, even in Europe or in the US before people recognize your talent here in South Africa.

We have heard that before from other musicians!

Teacher And Student At The Mdantsane Art Center

"And what about your work as a music instructor at the Arts Center here in Mdantsane?" 

"I have been involved in music my whole life and since a while I am a teacher here at the center. The students come after school to learn how to play different instruments and to make music".

"Do you think that music has a healing effect"?

"Music is such a powerful thing. Living and growing up in a township, young people are exposed to many bad influences. I am not talking bad about my kazi but although things are changing here, there is still the danger lingering that young people might be influenced in the wrong way and end up in criminal activities. 

Jobs are scarce, money is scarce and so... what do you do as teenager? You have been stimulated and manipulated by the media and television day and night, that you need certain things to be considered acceptable in society but you do not have the money to buy them and worse looking around you - it looks everywhere the same. 

And then there is the question, where do you go after school. You do not really want to go home. So, the shopping mall is a place where you can be happy. But only for a short time because more desires are created, that can not be fulfilled."

Making Music Is Healing And Prevents Crime

"Is your music class frequented a lot"?

"Oh yes, that is what I am saying, the Arts Center is a place where you can come to after school, it is an alternative to being on the streets. It is a place where you can develop your talent. It is just because of the rain today, that students are coming late. 

We have an open mind to practising. You have to feel music first before you can make it. So we talk also a lot about music".

The Specators

"Will you play something for us now, Ali?"

"Oh, I don't have my guitar with me".

"There is one in the corner".

"But it has got only four strings", Ali said.

"Come on Ali, give it a try,.....please!

"Oh, my god with only four strings".

"Come on please".

"Ok, if you want me too".   

And the students love his song played on a four stringed guitar

Ali played for us one of his own songs, a love song called Wasuka Wandishiya. He played it on an out of tune (that was very hard to tune), four stringed guitar and it still sounded beautiful! That is what you can call a full blooded musician!

Of course we taped it and it became part of our documentary movie Mdantsane Another African Story.

Ali And The Four Stringed Guitar

And we made him listen to his own song!

Ali surprised about the quality of his music

Ali and LordAxHooper

Thank you Ali for your time! 

The Chair

The Value Of Education For Young South Africans by Vuyolwethu Mbatyoti

Today's article was written by our new volunteer Vuyolwethu Mbatyoti. It is her first article for the magazine. Vuyo does not have permanent access to the Internet. Every time she wants to contact us she has to go to an internet cafe. She tried three times to send this article through to us! We value her effort to write for us under "not so easy conditions". 

She has started he article with a sentence once spoken by Kofi Annan.

“Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rests the corner stone of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development”. 
Kofi Annan

One Of Campuses Of The University of South Africa in Southernwood East London

Gone are the days of being labeled as Black, White and Coloured, we are no longer separated by the color of our skin, we are all disadvantaged and most of all we have the same dreams and goals to improve our lives. We are no longer alone, foreigners also want the same opportunities and we are aiming for the same goals. We cannot hide behind excuses anymore and its time we put an emphasis on the value of education.

We live in a society where there is a high level of unemployment, inequality and we are faced with poverty. Not only are we faced with the challenge of uneducated youth but we are faced with increasing number of unemployed graduates. Can we confidently say education is still a solution to a better life?

Are We All Having The Same Dreams?  And Is Education Still Perceived As A Means To Improve Our Lifes By Young South Africans? 

According to Jay Naidoo “education is most powerful tool against poverty and injustice. Through education dreams become reality, the gap between the rich and the poor can be closed and most importantly education certainly improves the living standard of people. Education gives us opportunities to unlock our greatest potential, choose the career path that suits our personalities and helps us become who we want to be. With education we are able to empower and develop ourselves and we are able to provide for our families."

Education Helping Us To Develop Ourselves And Providing For Families? Street Scene in Southernwood

Street Scene in Southernwood East London

Education guarantees us a better tomorrow.

Education A Tool For A Better Tomorrow? Street Children begging at a traffic light in Berea in East London

It is a tool to fight against poverty and injustice, a solution for sustainable human development and most importantly a better foundation for freedom. Education is a tool to encourage and empower young people to do things for themselves and make a difference in the world. However the youth in our communities seem to care less about education. For example very often we come across young people who lack a sense of direction and vision of who they want to be. Education seems to be the least of their worries or should I say the last thing on their minds, even those who are already in Universities seem to enjoy the life of being in the university than what they came for that is education.

100% Pain Free And The Same Day

Pain Sometimes Is Not Immediate, But Comes Later. Abortion is a service in great demand with the high number of teen pregnancies in South Africa

We have many opportunities at our disposal and it is important that we make the most of what we have. The government is doing so much to improve our education, for example we have youth advisory centers across the province that provides necessary skills, career advice for young people and unlimited access to the Internet free. These youth centers provide necessary information and knowledge to lead young people to the right direction.

What Is The Right Direction? And How Will You Get There As A Young South African

We don’t have any excuse not to use these services to develop and empower ourselves. To those who believe in the value of the education like myself should continue to do so and our success stories can encourage and empower others to do things for themselves.

Success StoriesCan Empower Others To Do Things For Themselves

Article written by Vuyolwethu Mbatyoti, Images by The Mdantsane Way Magazine

The Mdantsane Arts Center

The Mdantsane Arts Center is situated in NU 1 and is funded by the Department of Arts and Culture. It has had its ups and downs in the past.

We paid a visit to the center the other day to see what is happening at the moment.

A Mural Painted On A Container At The Mdantsane Arts Center

The best visits for us are the ones that are not planned and not prepared because then we get a real feeling for a place. This day the heavens had opened their flood gates and a very fine and thin rain was pouring down on us and left us soaking wet withing seconds. The sky was dark and the light dressed all the buildings and everything else around us in an uniform grey. The cameras had to be hidden and carried under plastic bags. It felt like an end-of the world day. A feeling of wanting to go home, crept up inside of us.

But we found artists there! And not only one or two!

A Dance And A Music Instructor At The Mdantsane Arts Center

The Arts Center has a couple of fixed buildings, that host several rooms. We were able to see amongst others a dance room used by drama and dance groups for their practice, a larger workshop that hosts a women's pottery group and painters and a musical room. The other rooms were closed that day. 

On the property outside containers are set up, that serve as workshops for artists and crafters, like Welile the basket weaver whom we have already introduced to you.

Container workshops in the yard of the Mdantsane Arts Center

While we were there more artists were coming to the center instead of the heavy rain. The fact that the center was frequented so much on this day, when we paid an unannounced visit, makes it clear how important art is for every society and especially for Mdantsane. 

Art is an extremely powerful instrument not only in expressing society, but also in reforming the society from the inside. South Africa is a society that has more stories to tell than anyone can perceive. 

South Africa is a multi-cultural society in constant transformation, with a rich base of different and interesting people. The artists are the ones that can tell the stories of South Africa to the rest of the world.

We need the writers, dancers, poets, musicians, actors and filmmakers! We need them! We need them to express our lives and the times we live in!

Mural on the wall of a container

For a place like Mdantsane an art center is a necessity. That day there were so many artists but there was little space. South Africa is a country with a very high crime and unemployment rate and the townships are the spots were the left overs of the misery that South Africa's history of segregation has created can still be found in concentrated form.

What alternatives does the youth have in Mdantsane? The Art Center is an outlet for creativity and a counter measure to crime and boredom. But it could be much more than that. It could be a powerful instrument in the development of the youth. Of everyone in fact! You do not need to be young to become an artist.

There are great discussions going on concerning the number of residents, that life in Mdantsane. The official number after the last government census ranges at 400.000 and something. In our opinion this does not even come close to the actual number. But we are just speculating. 

So how can a small space like the Mdantsane Arts Center cater and accommodate the talent of the people in the township. The answer is: it cannot! 

But it could.

The rule with promoting artists is, that there has to be a certain continuity in funding. It takes a long time to develop an artist. An artist needs first of all the peace of mind to work on his talent and become better in his skill until he reaches a certain level, that satisfies him. When he reaches this level, only then is he confident to expose himself and his work to the world. 

Peace of mind you can only have when you are not hungry!

If there is no continuity in funding the process of grooming talent is interrupted and to start all over again is much more difficult. This is the story of many art centers.

Some things do not bring money but they bring good for the society at large and money has to be spend on them.

Creativity in a container

It could be a place not only to occupy the youth but to seriously groom Mdantsane's talent

The talent that walks the streets of Mdantsane can not be counted! The talent we met in one day at the arts center was impressive. We will be publishing a couple of articles about our encounters with the artists!

But we will be back for more in depth interviews and recordings.Today you are getting some impressions from the outside, especially of the beautiful murals, that decorate the outside of the containers.

Drama and Dance Group at The Mdantsane Arts Center

The way we see it is that the government should not only see the arts center as a place to keep young people occupied and keep them from the streets but to really start understanding the importance of an arts center as a place to groom seriously the talent of Mdantsane. Amen!

Sakhile Graphics Project At The Mdantsane Arts Center - Graphic Design From A Container

What It Takes To Develop A Child - In Africa, In South Africa, In A Township In South Africa

One Of South Africa's Beautiful Children

Most educational systems all over the world have come to agree over the years, that to develop a child physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually, the child has to be stimulated, educated and guided constantly and patiently in all the four areas. The guidance has to start as early as possible and no means have to be spared. 

The first five years of a child are the years that leave the strongest impact on the child's development. That is the ideal. And this ideal supposes, that to do this the necessary means are available in each school, preschool and in each creche. Parents and teachers work together for this ideal (in the ideal case). Both parties have at least agreed on the way forward.

In Europe parents will tell you it costs approximately 180.000 Euro counted from the birth of a child until the day the young adult leaves university and is ready to enter the working world and to stand on his own two feet. Given the fact that everything goes well! Sometimes you have to support your kid a little longer.

Europe has its statistics and many people do nowadays base important life decisions on these statistics. Meaning, there is planning and budgeting involved at what point to have children and how many. Most parents want to give the best to their children right from the start. It is a fact that to raise the necessary money for education of your child can be a challenge.

This again accounts for the fact that many women become mothers for the first time after 30 years of age in Europe, at a point when money is available. And then there are mother and child care programs, children's grants etc, etc. So we know it takes a lot to develop a child into a responsible adult in Europe.  

What does it take to develop a child in Africa? In a Township or in a remote rural region? The same?

Job Description Of A Teacher In  Mdantsane: We must know that we are here to develop a child physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually!

Body, mind, spirit and soul make a human being. To help someone develop spiritually and emotionally is probably the most challenging part of the educational process because here values are formed.

We are sharing with you today a look inside a preschool in Mdantsane in NU 1. Like many educational institutions in South Africa this creche has to make do with very little educational material.

If there is less material available to work with the children, teachers have to be more inventive, more creative and they have to improvise a lot more. There are voices in South Africa saying that the South African government is failing the people by not providing the support to the communities in terms of educational material and teachers, that was promised.

School Children in Mdantsane

Is enough invested into the future of South Africa - the youth?

We are asking this question, because although denied by many politicians South Africa is experiencing what is called by the media an educational crisis. 

If school books have not been delivered six months after the school year started and the curriculum could not be followed due to this negligence can it then not be called a crisis? At what level responsibility has to be taken for failure to deliver.

The Music Area

Asking the question again: what is needed in South Africa to develop a child? Is not more effort needed and a more serious attitude from the stakeholders involved in the process?

The most important thing at this point in time is to develop, to invest the maximum into the youth to allow this country to become what it deserves to be. An aggravating factor that we are experiencing is the fact that many young people have lost interest in education and drop out of school.

Handmade drums, material used old tins covered with animal skins!

It is a good thing to recycle!

And still you find so many positive teachers who do an excellent job and come to work every day with passion thinking of ways to teach children if there are no books, no tables, no chairs and no pens.

Future leaders

Some interesting delicious food items!

The classroom

Where Do You Go For Lunch In Mdantsane - The Red Star

Sure, you can go the the Mdantsane City Mall for lunch and sit at one of the many franchises like Wimpy, Debonairs, Chicken Licken  and some other known fast food chains. But long time before the mall opened in Mdantsane The Red Star has been there. The Red Star is a legendary place today, known for its huge vetkoek's and other home cooked meals. 

 

The Red Star is only a couple of hundred meters away from the Mdantsane City Mall but it is still going strong. - probably because the food  really tastes good.

There is more than one cook preparing the Russians, bread rolls, cooked chicken and the in Mdantsane well known vetkoek's.

 The doves also find their fair share just around the corner.

The owner Mzamo is the manager of a soccer club as well and he promised us an interview and a good look into his kitchen the next time.