This project was a collaboration between Other-Wise media and CRED/ creative education with youth at risk. Two non-profit organisations committed to the upliftment of troubled youth through engaging them in creative and communication skills. Ground/Floor comes out of materials produced during workshops in creative writing, radio and video literacy, visual art and graphic design offered to groups of sentenced and unsentenced youth in three correctional institutions of the Western Cape between 1997/2000. Visual artists, writers, radio and video producers introduced creative, out-come based activities to stimulate a positive dialogue with the communities and particularly with other children and youth at risk, in an effort to make a difference and prevent crime.
This project was implemented in an attempt to demistify the myth of: “If you dont belong to a gang, you are nothing”. To inspire and motivate youth caught up in the spiral of gang violence in the steel and concrete jungle that they call home. They die for nothing or end up in prison where they lives are changed forever. We have made it our mission to lead them out of the shadow of their misdeeds, and the stigma of prison and poverty that has become part of their heritage. It is our responsibility to listen to the silent scream of frustration, despair and repentence coming from young people searching for recognition and guidance.
it,s like that Incarcerated by overworked and underpaid administrators of justice, burdened with heavy case loads, these youth languish on awaiting trial for months on end. A generation of voiceless youth lost in the prison system, forgotten and shunned by a society that seldom or never forgives. Most of them are abused, robbed and stripped of their dignity. They join gangs again’st their own better judgment for protection and survival. In their many hours of idleness even the most positive of these, gets tattooed. On their release, their tattoos and gang membership gives them status in the ghettos where the dynamics are drugs and gangsterism. Nobody cares or seem to have the capacity to curb the crime in the townships where a hungry stomach knows no laws. By engaging youth creatively and displaying their talents,“to let them look at them self differently”, an attempt is made to expose other young people to the dangers of living recklesly. Ground-Floor is an anthology of poems and short stories written by inmates of three different youth prison and a reform school for girls during workshops in creative writing, visual art, radio and video literacy. Reading between the lines, we recognise the frustration, loneliness and utter despair endured by these youth. Some of them have died for nothing leaving behind a legacy of heartache and grief, others could be rehabilitated if given a second chance.
NOW WHAT? With who lies the responsibility to educate young people that have found themselves on the wrong side of the law? They have payed with their freedom, their youth and their dignity. How can they fit back into society after being incarcerated for long periods of time? What are the alternatives to prison? How can we avoid them becoming repeat offenders, after their release? Contributing towards the upliftment of their neighborhoods rather than perpetrating crime and violence. How will they ever learn, to be role-models, responsible members of society, if we the community, do not heed their cry for a second chance. Our spirit must soar above all cultures, to reach out and touch the heart and soul of these forgotten youth.
Ground/Floor going up
special thanks to facilitators creative writing John W. Fredericks, Bulelwa Nontshinga, Michael Wentworth, Shameema Williams, Kali van der Merwe visual art/print making David Hlongwane, Kali van der Merwe radio literacy Richard September, Felix Grove, Kali van der Merwe, Davide Tosco video/photography/layout Davide Tosco translation/editing John W. Fredericks This first edition of Ground/Floor was made possible by the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NIZA) Very special thanks to all the people who have actively supported this initiative with their time and expertise as volunteers and advisers. A special word of thanks goes to Loit Sols, Valda Lucas, Ridwaan Adams, Bob van der Winden, Themba Lonzi, Churchill Naude, George Hallet, Keith Adams, Pepsi, Russell Dudly, Roger van Wyk, Cheryl Frank, Maya Weley, Doorje’t Hart, Don Pinnock, and all the others we have forgotten to mention. They know who they are.
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