STUDENTS LAUNCH TOWNSHIP PROJECTS

DRUGS such as tik and cocaine are being used in Grahamstown schools,
township residents toss their rubbish in the streets because they
don't know where else to throw it, and a restaurant promoting street
children's art could be linked to American cafes.

These were a few of the research findings and suggestions presented
by 23 American and 23 African students at a press conference in
Grahamstown yesterday.

The group, which included NMMU students Anelisa Ngcibi and Andiswa
Nikata, attended a three-week research course which resulted in the
launch of nine township-focused community projects.

The course, backed by the New Jersey-based Global Partnerships for
Activism and Cross-cultural Training at Rutgers State University New
Jersey, saw students from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe
and South Africa pair up with American students for a course led by
Rutgers International Affairs academic Dr Denise Horn.

The NMMU students were chosen by the Ubuntu Educational Fund to
attend the course. Ngcibi said there had been a bit of cultural
miscommunication at the start, but they had become good friends with
the Americans.

Students in the Isiko group said their project was aimed at marketing
arts and crafts created by Eluxolweni Shelter kids through a
restaurant which would be linked to cafes in the US.

The Sisonke project found that township residents were not informed
about municipal refuse removal procedures, where to dump or what
could be dumped.

"People feel they can't change anything. They feel alone and there is
a lack of motivation."

Home owners who cleaned their yards were said to be overwhelmed by
litter from neighbours. The project said residents needed to be
inspired to take collective responsibility for removing waste and
promoting alternatives such as trading packets for meals from the
Grahamstown Feeding Association, and bottles and their own scrap
metal for money.

Apathy and a lack of community discussion led to a situation where
residents did not think about how they disposed of their litter.

The president of the 20/20 project, Jonathan Simpson, said their
research into drug and alcohol abuse among the youth revealed a
"serious problem" in schools.

They spoke to teachers, administrators and teenagers who said "tik,
weed and glue" were being used, and there was mention of cocaine
being brought in from Johannesburg and Cape Town.

On the positive side, they felt Grahamstown was too small to allow
for the drugs to be marketed and this had an inhibiting effect.

The 20/20 project discovered that schoolchildren found their life
orientation teachers "too boring". to heed their advice. The project
concluded that young, hip anti-drug campaigners, such as American
"The New Dare" group needed to be brought to the schools.

The Galela Amanzi (Pour the Water) project said it wanted to raise R2
368 for 5 000-litre community rain tanks to be put up at schools
which would provide water for school gardens and flushing toilets
when water supply failed.

Other projects promoted the teaching of English to second-language
speakers in a bid to provide access to jobs, and for clothing to be
donated to the poor.

Global Pact site director Paul Kuehn said the projects would be
handed over to the community, but if the students wanted to continue
with them, supporting funds would be found.