JL Zwane people

Perhaps it is overdue, but I wanted to show some pictures of people I work with here at JL Zwane, although a few faces are missing from the pictures I have on hand. First is Yvonne, who heads the programs assisting needy children, especially AIDS orphans; and also helps to provide counseling for members of the support group and gay and lesbian members of the community, both groups often being ostracized . Yvonne is very busy delivering food parcels and blankets, and training others to assist with the work. In this picture she is standing next to a woman who runs a care center and home for developmentally disabled children, one of whom is on Yvonne's back. I will post more about this place later.



Next are the two ladies who run the kitchen and cook meals everyday for staff, Siyaya, HIV/AIDS support group, and children from the Rainbow Afterschool Program. That is more than one hundred people a day. They are Nqo (right) and Mama Katoni (left), and they feed me very well and joke with me whenever I come into the kitchen. They will often treat me with baked goods like vetcoeks, which are contributing my gradually increasing weight since I have been in South Africa. I may have to become a vegetarian again when I return home, but I am enjoying myself now.

Next is Nonkguthalo (Nonki), the pastor's daughter, who is in her first year at Stellenbosch University. She was born in Scotland when my supervisor was a student there, which makes her eligible for dual-citizenship, and she grew up speaking Xhosa and English as more or less joint first languages. By her accent, I would have thought she was from London, and you only pick up that she's South African with certain phrases. She also speaks Afrikaans, which is the official language of instruction at Stellenbosch University. This university was the intellectual base of apartheid, and the language policy is a continuing source of animosity. However, Stellenbosch also handles all of JL Zwane's accounting, is active in other ventures to improve life in the townships, and has significantly diversified what was only fifteen years ago still a whites-opnly institution. Nonki chose Stellenbosch over University of Cape Town, in part because Stellenbosch gave her a fat bursary (scholarship). I have hung out with her and her brother Khlalumi (Loomi) a nuber of times, and am to hang out with her and her friends in Stellebosch sometime soon. She is pictured here with Mr. Mzoli himself last time a group of us went to the restaurant.

Next is Isaac, a young guy who works around the church on the weekends, and is studying to be an animator. We have hung out in Cape Town a few times, and he is very involved with the children at church. Recently he took a small group of them to town to see the new Harry Potter movie. This is a big deal for a township kid, who never goes into town, let alone goes to a movie. He really believes in doing fun things like that with the orphans, not just giving them food and things, but giving them a chance to just be a kid. He also does some DJing and is a budding producer, setting up gigs with Loomi for artists in the township. I offered my car and company if he wants to take kids out again while I am here.

This isn't "everybody" of course, but it's all the pictures I have for now. I will introduce more of my friends and coworkers soon.