Karnagie Sharp's diary Day 7
Today was the day we were all looking forward to… the day BBC Radio Berkshire and six schools in the county join Nonhlevu Secondary in celebrating ten years of Democracy…
Even though slightly apprehensive as to how the day was going to turn out, I was really looking forward to seeing the children again after their Easter break. I couldn’t help wondering how many of them wouldn’t have had something to eat in the morning and how many would be looking forward to today’s meal… the food was after all only a one-day provision of food… what would happen to them after today? I had to remind myself that these children were used to going without regular meals and today was a celebration of their freedom and in a way what the future might hold for them.
 | | Children returning from their easter vac. |
Driving into Nonhlevu Secondary, I immediately sensed a feeling of excitement and later asked children what they were most looking forward to…quite a few of them said the meal, whilst others said they were looking forward to seeing members of the South African group Ladysmith Black Mombazo and meeting Ghandi’s grand daughter. I was looking forward to many things… one was to tell these children that because of this project, Kwa Zulu Natal’s flagship radio station, East Coast radio will be presenting them with two computers to add to their IT room and the other that, there was a possibility that some of these six Berkshire schools would twin with their school... AND… what the process of twinning would mean to both this school and the schools in the UK.
 | | The Marquee and East Coast Radio's broadcasting van |
Even though I’m aware that as journalists we need to remain objective at all times and it’s essential to report about stories without personal emotion… that is, in this particular situation, difficult for me… here I am eight years later representing the country I now live in… to return to the country of my birth, to tell them people in developed countries care and more importantly, that children in Berkshire are interested in learning about their way of life and that this project may perhaps be a start to encouraging them to continue working under extreme conditions because people have taken an interest in them and that their lives ARE significant… how could I not feel any emotion?
The day went off superbly…judging from the way in which the children were behaving, they seemed to be having a wonderful of a time…I was pleased, this project was a huge success here but more importantly these children were given an opportunity they never thought was possible. Their gratitude was heartwrenching, my work here was done for the time being… I remain hopeful that these children will not be forgotten, that we need to find ways to try and help them believe in themselves. I don’t think that that’s going to be difficult… after all, how could we possibly ignore the plight of these hopeful children?
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