We’re still looking for a few additional newsroom and issue sponsors to assist in the relaunch and long-term plans for the monthly news publication in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, South Africa. If you’re interested in helping out (as a sponsor or equipment donor) or have any questions, please contact Maggie at maggie@maggiemessitt.com.

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.

It is our hope that during 2009, we will be able to gather a small amount of funding so to assist the Amazwi School of Media Arts 2007 graduates and the Amazwi Villager Journalism Internship Program Participants (2008) with further professional development.  This can be in the form of conference, further coursework, or funding a long-term writing project.

Please e-mail Maggie Messitt to learn more about how you can help give further voice to the women of Amazwi.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in the past from companies like BigFoot Productions, The International Academy of Film and Television, and Thanda Private Game Reserve -to- organizations like The Lonely Planet Foundation and the Media Development & Diversity Agency.  Without their help and the generous donations of private individuals in the US, South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, and the UK, we would never have accomplished as much as we have.

And a special thanks to all of our volunteers (2005-2008) — on-site and virtual — for giving of your time, resources, and self.  Amazwi has been a unique volunteer-driven organization.  We and the benefactors of Amazwi have gained so much from you personally and professionally.  We hope you feel you’ve received as much in return -and- taken a little part of South Africa with you back to your home country.

We hope to find our way back again, helping African women raise their voices and find platforms from which to share those voices, in the future…

-The Amazwi Team.

About: 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.

After workshopping theme, the women compiled their own essays on themes relating to daily life in rural South Africa, which were then transformed into multimedia presentations in imovie. Continue to check the Amazwi news site to read these articles and see their imovies.

* * *

Your most marked characteristic?
Idealistic. Creative.

The quality you most like in a man?
Honesty. Determination. Moral sense.

The quality you most like in a woman?
Honesty. Determination. Tenderness.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their openness. Their time. Their presence and willingness to share. Their love.

What is your principle defect?
I can be scattered.

What is your favorite occupation?
Daydreaming – coming up with new ideas and figuring out how to realize them.

What is your dream of happiness?
Being authentic.

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
To live a life not according to one’s true self, or as one wishes. To be apathetic.

What would you like to be?
Remembered.

In what country would you like to live?
Anywhere, as long as I feel at peace within myself.

What is your favorite color?
Violet.

What is your favorite flower?
Fragrant ones: Easter Lilly, Orange Blossom, Jasmine.

What is your favorite bird?
Dove.

Who are your favorite writers?
Helen Keller. Diane Ackerman. Rainer Rilke. Pablo Neruda. Sara Teasdale.

Who are your favorite composers?
Bach. Chopin. Ludovico Einaudi.

Who are your favorite painters?
Children.

What is it you most dislike?
Dishonesty.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Flawless verbal expression.

How would you like to die?
Having truly lived.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Self-criticism. Oversleep.

What is your motto?
“Instead of seeing the rug being pulled from under us, we can learn to dance on a shifting carpet.” — Thomas Crum

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller

The Editors and Journalists of the Amazwi Villager would like to congratulate Linky Matsie, The Villager’s Education Journalist, for being awarded the Vodacom Community Media Journalist of the Year for the Northern/Southern region of South Africa ( a region that includes Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Guateng, and a portion of Northwest).

The Northern/Southern Region winners of the prestigious Vodacom Journalist of the Year 2008 Awards were announced at an awards function in Johannesburg on 13 October. These regional winners, who each receive R7 500, will now compete in the national finals, which will be held on 7 November.  Linky Matsie will compete against five other journalists from across the country for the national award.

The Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award has fourteen categories across print, broadcast (television and radio), and web journalism. The category that Liky has been recognized within is Community Media, defined as “independent grassroots community media focused on community issues across all media.”

Specifically, 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.” The judges said: Linky Matsie raised a very important subject that goes to the core of the fabric of society, about the kind of society we want to build. Her piece about taverns next to schools is extremely important in that it brings awareness to the community about the dangers of such practice.

Linky: Something that would take the children off the streets. You find that under eighteens are getting pregnant, so maybe if they could do something after school to keep them busy.

Cosi: Be a volunteer caregiver. I would like to look after vulnerable children and teach more people about HIV/AIDS.

I hope that in future years “Do It Day” becomes a well-known and fully celebrated South African holiday.

Name: Jeanine Boulay
Home: Brooklyn, New York

About: 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.

* * *
Your most marked characteristic?
I am undecided between optimism and indecision.

The quality you most like in a man?
Loyalty. Empathy.

The quality you most like in a woman?
Empathy. Loyalty.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their ability to make light of my crises.

What is your principle defect?
Procrastination.

What is your favorite occupation?
Ice Cream Scooper.

What is your dream of happiness?
I’m not sure you need to dream it; I think you know it when you have it.

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
I don’t really want to think about this one. (Are you trying to jinx me?!)

What would you like to be?
Or rather, who would I like to be?

In what country would you like to live?
South Africa!

What is your favorite color?
Orange.

What is your favorite flower?
Queen’s Lace.

What is your favorite bird?
Red-billed Hornbill (especially the one that flies into Maggie’s kitchen window every day).

Who are your favorite writers?
Too Many! Virginia Woolf, JM Coetzee, Mark Strand, Charles Simic, Philip Roth, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Elizabeth Bishop……

Who are your favorite composers?
Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood soundtrack)

Who are your favorite painters?
Mark Rothko

What is it you most dislike?
Green Olives.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Flight.

How would you like to die?
Quickly.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Wasting Time.

What is your motto?
“Oh-oh child, things are gonna get easier. Oh-oh child, things’ll get brighter.”

The anthem of the march was the song ‘If you strike a woman, you strike a rock.’ In accordance with this idea, the march was not stopped from proceeding; on the contrary, it was a big success. On that day in 1956, South African women proved that they had the courage to stand up against an oppressive system and a voice that was powerful enough to bring about positive social change.

Sadly, the stories of many women who have played an important role in South African history have gone untold. An exciting new project by South African History Online (SAHO) aims to discover and document information about these women, in particular those that participated in the 1956 March. SAHO is developing an online resource of the ongoing political struggle for South African women.

Likewise, Amazwi has dedicated itself to empowering the voices of women in South Africa. Through journalism education, Amazwi has provided rural Shangaan and Sotho women with the tools to tell their stories, as well as the stories of their communities, in a form that can be preserved for generations to come. Amazwi commends its five current journalists – Thandi Mkhatshwa, Constance Rahlane, Linky Matsie, Bongekile Mhlanga and Lydia Ngomane – for their courage and perseverance in pursuing a profession that can be extremely challenging albeit critical to their community on many different levels.

Daniela Cohen, NPO Manager
info@amazwi.org