news
Plans to relaunch The Villager in late 2010
Stay tuned for details as Maggie Messitt, founder of Amazwi, plans to relaunch The Amazwi Villager…
Amazwi Closes for 2009
Due to the economic crunch and Amazwi’s ongoing difficulties in obtaining reliable funding, we have decided to close all Amazwi projects in 2009. During this time, however, Amazwi’s founder Maggie Messitt who is still based in rural South Africa will be looking for donors to assist in funding journalism scholarships and professional development grants.
Volunteer of the Month: Kate Simonelli
Kathleen Simonelli, American writer, singer-songwriter and artist, joined Amazwi for the month of October to workshop with Amazwi writers on deepening their knowledge of theme by looking at how one can express the deeper meaning through a variety of mediums, including: prose, art and poetry.
Vodacom Community Media Journalist of the Year 2008 (Northern/Southern Region) is awarded to an Amazwi Journalist!
Linky Matsie — a graduate of the Amazwi School of Media Arts (2007) and participant of Amazwi’s 2008 on-the-job journalism program– was judged on her April 2008 article titled, “Taverns and Schools: a Dangerous Combination.”
“Do It Day” – September 19
September 19th is dedicated to fostering a spirit of volunteerism across South Africa
Volunteer of the Month: Jeanine Boulay
Jeanine Boulay, American teacher and poet, joined Amazwi for the month of July to teach a Travel Narratives workshop titled “Postcards from Acornhoek.” Jeanine’s work with Amazwi and travel to South Africa was supported by a ‘Fund for Teachers’ Fellowship (www.fundforteachers.org).
National Women’s Day – 9 August
The past Saturday commemorated the 52nd anniversary of when over 20,000 South African women of all races and ages participated in a national march against pass laws, restricting women’s freedom of movement in the country.
The Villager newsroom moves to Acornhoek!
The past two weeks have been an exciting time for Amazwi. The organization has just moved its newsroom to Acornhoek! We are now located in the building behind Anjo’s Chicken & Car Wash. We hope that being within the community we serve will enable us to build up a strong presence for the Villager, and [...]
Villager 07 – July 15, 2008
Click here to download a pdf version of the Amazwi Villager 07.
Get your own – Open publication
Journalist of the Month: Thandi Mkhatshwa
Meet July’s Journalist of the Month — Thandi Mkhatshwa, the Villager’s Government and Special Projects Reporter.
Volunteer Application Call: Guest Editor/Mentor (Short-term, On-site)
GUEST MENTOR & ISSUE EDITOR: Amazwi is looking for South African and International writers and editors interested in working as a short-term volunteer with Amazwi’s community newspaper, the Amazwi Villager (print and web editions).
Quarterly newsletter – July 2008
Download Amazwi’s Quarterly Newsletter.
Writers Wanted: Interview Series
Looking for writers (internship or volunteer position) to assist with the production and content development of an online interview series connected to a.magazine: nonfiction narratives of africa, the first nonfiction literary magazine focused on the continent of Africa and written for North American readers. We would like to add ten writers to our team [...]
Villager 06 – June 15
Download a PDF version of the Villager’s print issue 06.
Volunteer of the Month: Briget Ganske
Briget Ganske, The Villager’s Managing Editor, grew up in a political family in Iowa, where she traveled around the state, perfecting her parade wave, and listening to rural constituents voice their complaints and hopes. Her love of hearing stories and witnessing the details of “ordinary” life led her to connect with literature and photography, which [...]
Journalist of the Month: Linky Matsie
Linky Matsie is the proud new mother of Neo who was born in December of 2007. This 24-year-old reporter hails from the Brooklyn community in Acornhoek. She loves to write about entertainment and enjoys Gospel music, though she admits her singing voice leaves something to be desired. Linky graduated from the Amazwi School of Media [...]
Sponsor-A-Journalist
She wants to tell the world her story. You can help her voice be heard. Sponsor an Amazwi journalist today.
Have you seen the new Villager Online? Click here to go there right now!
The Villager 03 hits the streets of Acornhoek!
Issue 03 of the Amazwi Villager hit the streets on 15 March, 2008. It was an exciting day of each of the Villager’s journalists and editors. With teams spread throughout Acornhoek and a vehicle dropping off and distributing throughout Thulamahashe, 3000 issues went fast.
This is our first issue in 2008, marking our start [...]
a.magazine Interview Series
a.magazine: nonfiction narratives of africa is preparing to launch an online interview series through which emerging and established artists, writers, and leaders of change will be profiled, twice-weekly. Keeping in line with our quarterly publication, all of our interviews will be with African and non-African individuals who focus their work on the continent [...]
Volunteer of the Month: Lou Manzo
“I have two great passions in life: social justice and writing,” says Lou Manzo, The Villager’s new Senior Editor and Online Content Manager. Amazwi is thrilled to help him unite those passions as he takes on Amazwi’s group of 2008 Villager interns! Lou earned his Bachelor of Arts in History, with honors, from Boston College [...]
The Villager Online launches!
Amazwi has just launched the online site of the Amazwi Villager, a welcome addition to the monthly print newspaper. This new development will allow the stories written by local journalists about community issues to also be read by a global audience. People all over the world will thus have an exciting up-to-date medium to gain [...]
The Villager welcomes five interns!
Thank you for your patience while we update our website.
Have you seen the new Villager Online? Click here to go there right now!
Amazwi Students Visit Lowveld Media
Second Issue of Amazwi Villager Rolls off the Presses
NELSPRUIT, South Africa – 24 Oct. 2007 – “You won’t be handled with gloves out here. You have got to be tough in this industry,” Irma Green told a group of journalism students from the Amazwi School of Media Arts (SOMA).
Green, editor of the Lowveld Media [...]
The Amazwi Villager goes paperless–buy a copy online today!
Go paperless and purchase The Amazwi Villager on www.lulu.com. For 3.00 USD you can purchase the first issue of Amazwi SOMA’s quarterly (regional) publication in electronic form (pdf/ebook).
Click here to purchase a copy.
Amazwi SOMA educates & empowers rural South Africa n women in nonfiction storytelling, ensuring their voices are heard & recorded. SOMA offers [...]