Born Free to rock the stage again!

The Born Free crew

Born Free is set to rock the stage again with their latest production ’Be the writer of the story of your life’. The group started in 2010 with the help of a Katrin Grunwald-Delitz and South African professional actor George Van Rooyen. The two have handed the reigns over to Alice Mackenstein and Nicolene Louw who have managed to do a fantastic job with the kids with the little resources that they have.

Alice Mackenstein

Nicolene

Nicolene has a diploma in performing arts and teaches at Stage World and NMMU and still makes time to groom Born Frees 11 young actors. Alice, has been with the group since last year in September and has been loving every moment of it. With such an influx of interested learners its exciting to know that the programme has such an impact and following in the Township from the beginning with ‘Walmer Side of Love’ to the ‘Leave a legacy not a mess’ and now the upcoming play. Not only have the acting skills of the learners improved but so have their public speaking, and written work. Many of them have shown an interest in continuing with the art form.

Sonwabile and Siphesande act out a scene in the props and costume workshop

For this play each learner had to write a story or a scene that describes them the best, something that shaped their lives. The group then had to Put the scenes together in a collage with one main character who will have to go through all these scenes. The message of the play is that you should take the your life into your own hands and be the writer of the story of your life! Not only will the kids act but there will also be drumming, song and dance in the play!

Would you like to watch them perform:

1. Masifunde Prize Giving ceremony: 23 June, Venue TBA 
2. Masifunde Youth Day: 30 June, Venue TBA

Would you like to support the group?

You can do so by donating in cash or in kind through:

-workshops

-props

JOIN OUR TEAM

Would you like to join the diverse and dynamic team that steers Masifunde?

We are looking for three new team members:

 - Project Manager for our Lavel’ ilanga Educational Centre

 - Homework Club Supervisor

 - Management Assistant

Please, have a look at the detailed advertisements before applying:

We are looking forward to receive your application.

Togetherness: One Language: Many Identities

For two weeks, 5 of Masifunde’s learners travelled through Germany on a journey of a life time. Their aim: to conduct research on the many subcultures that exist in a country such as Germany which has only one language. The project was aptly entitled, Togetherness: One Language. Many Identities. Accompanied by two facilitators, Racheal Chikadaya and Zingisa Sofayiya they were welcomed at the Frankfurt airport by their team members, 5 German learners form the Ev. Stiftung Arnsburg (a children’s home in Liche, Germany).

Equipped with cameras and video equipment, the ten learners travelled to the cities of Marburg, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Berlin, Liche and Giessen and interviewed members of various subcultures to find out how their groups operate and to what extent their identity is affected by the clothing that they wear or to what extent the clothing that they wear is affected by their identity.

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The group met many interesting people along the way including a Punk named Mathias who told them that one’s identity is precisely what they make of it. If you want to wear bright pink clothing or nail polish like he often does, there is no one that can tell you that you can’t. Lunch with the grandmother of one of the German facilitators was very different. With oama the group learnt about how life was like long ago in the rural areas. They saw pictures of rural life and even rode on the back of a tractor through the country side. Oama was kind enough to show them the traditional German garb that very few German women wear today. She was nostalgic about days gone by and excited to share her memories with the group.

A trip to Berlin revealed a completely different face of Germany. As the melting pot of the country, there were immigrants from many parts of the world and stunning graffiti work on the walls of buildings. A trip to the German Parliament revealed tight security but they were still able to take a look through. It was a trip of a life time and besides covering their research topic and filming all the interviews with their interview partners, the group also created close bonds of friendship that will never be forgotten.

This was not the first time that they worked together. Last year they had the project Togetherness: Many Languages. One Voice. The 5 German learners travelled to South Africa and they interviewed people from different language backgrounds. The result of the trip was the documentary of the same name and can be viewed on the Masifunde Vimeo channel.

Similarly, the result of this trip is a documentary entitled: Togetherness: One Language. Many Identities and was premiered at the finishing event. Besides showing the film, the group modelled clothing that they picked up along the way including outfits for a punk, followers of Islam, soccer fans, skaters, hip hop dancers and the traditional German attire.

Look  out for the film which will be uploaded onto vimeo soon!

To view more pictures and get more information you can like the facebook page or read through the German and English blogs.

Masifunde Newsletter March 2012

Looking back at 2011 and walking into 2012, we are proud to share our learners stories of success and even more excited for what they will achieve this coming year. Last year they were kept busy supporting the establishment of an Educational Center in Walmer Township, acting as leaders among their peers at the annual, December Summer Camp and even graduating to high school. You can read about all these exciting stories in our March newsletter.

Click on the image to read the newsletter:

Masifunde choir perform at Harvest Christian School

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The Masifunde Choir consisting of 24 learners from Walmer Township performed on Friday as a guest performance at a lunch hour concert at Harvest Christian School. It was the choirs first performance this year. They performed three songs including their signature song ‘Go tell it to the mountain’. Kwande and Siphe, both members of the NMMU choir have been supporting the choir since its inception last year in October. Learners from Harvest Christian Church also performed.

Youth Celebrations: Pledging action

A learner signs a pledge to action made by our art group

The youth of Walmer Township have shown that they are ready to take action and make a change in their community. On 16 June they came together for a Youth Celebration with a difference – a day where they could pledge for action towards creating a better community! Simbonile Mvula of the Lavel’ilanga Youth Forum told the youth about the opportunities that are out there waiting for them to grab “It all starts with you, you have to make the effort to work hard”, he said. Guest speaker Mooki Cekisani, a former freedom fighter, gave a motivational talk on how things were for the youth before 1994 giving them a chance to reflect on how fortunate they are to be born free. A pledge to action designed and created by the Masifunde arts group was hung in the center for the learners to sign. In signing it, they all made a promise to use their education as a platform to reach for the dreams, a promise we hope they will keep!

Teaming up to warm the winter chills

Lubablo Valisa and Mary-Ann Dayzel of BVI

It was a chilly winter in Port Elizabeth this year, with snow falling in some parts of the Eastern Cape. There are a lot of crèches and Day Care Centres that are run in the Walmer Township, providing early childhood education. Some of these shacks offer very little protection from the elements-we all know that it is difficult to learn in such circumstance. This is why Masifunde worked with BVI Consulting Engineers to distribute 600 warm blankets to 13 Day Care Centres and crèches in the Township. Amongst those that benefited were Wabamkela Centre, Efundisweni Crèche and Pinkie Day Care Centre. Blomie from Penguins Day Care Centre was so happy that her kids received the blankets.

“The children sleep on the floor and as my crèche is a shack; winter with no blankets can be hard.” Blomie is not a stranger to Masifunde as two of her learners had already been selected for Masifunde’s academic sponsorship programme for 2012.

A big thank-you to BVI!