Children's Rights

On 5/30/08 the SA Police Department in collaboration with the schools threw a very successful braii in celebration of Child Protection Awareness Week. After a month of planning and talking with several different villages and organizations, the event took off and was an amazing thing to participate in. I arrived at 7:30 in the morning in Rasibilu Primary School in my Village. When I arrived, there were lines of women preparing the cook. They had over ten caldroun kettles lined up over fire to cook porridge. In one corner, women were cleaning, another area women were cutting and preparing cabbage and onions and in a large open area, there were dozens of men standing around with large machette's, knives and other gigantic tools used to cut open "the beast." When I walked over to see what happened, I nearly gagged. What I originally thought was a mat they laid the meat on (remember all this is done outside in the dirt with no kitchen, no stoves or ovens and no real form of utensils) I quickly realized the "mat" was actually pounds and pounds of cow shit that had been released from all the intestines. The smell was overpowering and the amount of blood mixed with fluids and parts of a slaughtered cow was really unforgettable.

As much as I struggle with the slaughtering of animals here, it's become a regular occurance for me and I no longer cringe each time. I understand how desparate people are for meat and I appreciate that every single body part of the animals are used for food. However, seeing such a large animal laying in it's own filth with it's head and four legs sitting in a separate location made me turn my face. Despite the filth, it was almost mesmerizing as well to watch a group of young men so quickly cut up the meat and cook it. The intestines are cooked on the ground over ash and the many chunks of different types of meat were cooked in large pots. The smoke from the fire swirled from the air and everyone was singing and dancing. This is the essence of a true Braii in South Africa.

I watched as children spilled in from every direction. Myself covered in red dirt, food and sweat from setting up large event tents and cooking looked completely unpresentable for such an occaision. The kids, however, praise me as unfaliable no matter what. As they came for the event at 10am when it was meant to begin, the officers approached me and said, "Lethabo, you're on the program! What will you say?" I looked at him, laughed and said, "Nobody told me I had to speak. I'm here to watch what you've created." "No," he says, "You must entertain the kids. You see, they are all coming now but we are not yet ready. Can you do this." I looked at him, gave him a thumbs up and said of course. He eyed my jeans and stained shirt, shrugged, and said, okay, you must speak. So, again, without thinking or any preparation, I once again was off and running with ways in which I can potentially influence that one person!

We had enormous tents, chairs from all the schools and a large sound system put in place. All the children were lined in a half circle playing in the dirt and waiting, for what they don't know. Events here function differently. There is always dead time and a lot of waiting. However, here it is a time of peace. As so much revolves around work and labor, when there are times to relax and "wait" it is taken as a precious moment. As I walked up to the site with my bag in tow, having a loss of words in my mind, they kids all yell, "Lethabo!!" over and over. The music was playing loud and I threw my bag down and had them all clap and stand up. Music here is a large part of life and they really love American R&B or rap music. Sounding in the air was mixed American music with African dance music. The kids here all have rythem and can all dance and it's a great way to pass time.

In ways in which I still don't understand, I managed to have a few thousand children ranging in ages up, dancing and performing in front of their local peers for one hour, while they were clapping and dancing. As I moved to the background, it was enchanting to see the children take on leadership roles on their own, dancing for their friends and finding some organized strategy in the mix of chaos. I've never seen so many children smiling and laughing at one time.

The event began, the children were taught to say "Stop Abusing Us!" in English and throughout the event, chanted in unison to the adults all there watching. The teenagers in Love Life performed poems and drama about child abuse and HIV/AIDS. On this day, the children shines as hero's in each other's eyes. My village Makgato is said to have the second highest child abuse rate in the entire district. Seeing these children, many of whom are potentially living in unsafe situations, stand up for themselves and hear their rights as Free Children of South Africa is something that I will not forget. The SA Police did an amazing job of catering to the needs of the children, keeping them entertained and empowering them, even if it's for one day only.

Afterwards, an amazing amount of food was served and herds of children swarmed throughout the streets. Being a hot Friday afternoon, of course the odds of the children finding their way back to school was impossible and watching them shove pap and meat into their small bodies was worth it. Once again, I felt mesmerized by how quickly South Africans come together, enjoy each other and truly celebrate their gift of life. An event such as this one does not happen often and for the children to both attend as well as participate is something that I hope they will experience more of. I'm thankful that I was able to participate in such a gift that these young kids received. And perhaps one of those children heard our words and will find strength to speak out and protect his/herself as they all have the right to do so as the children, the educated and the future of South Africa.

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