The Radio Workshop:
Giving Young People a Voice

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Welcome to the Radio Workshop podcast!

New Year in Cape Town would not be the same without the annual Cape Carnival which takes to the streets of the city on “twede nuwe jaar” – an unofficial, second new year’s day. The history of the carnival lies in the history of slavery at the Cape and is a celebration of freedom when, for a few hours, the city belongs to the marchers and minstrels. In this week’s Radio Workshop we go behind the scenes and meet some of the people who make the carnival possible.

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show!

Radio Workshop host Mbali Vilakazi welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAFM. Visit SAFM’s website for information about how to find their frequency in your area.

How the Kaapse Klopse – or Cape Carnival – began

We meet Melvin Matthews, the director of the Kaapse Klopse Carnival Association. He explains some of the features of the carnival and its place in the history of Cape Town.

Want to find out more about the Cape Carnival?  Click here!

Stitching shiny satins and sequins

Each troupe that takes part in the Cape Carnival chooses the colour combination of its own uniform. These colourful costumes are produced in small workshops across the Cape Flats throughout the year. In this segment we talk with some of the women who are hard at work sewing uniforms just a few weeks before the big parade.

The ghoema man

Mr Achmat Sabera has been making ghoema drums and tamborines for the past 30 years. When slaves first marched through Cape Town at New Year they played drums made from small wine barrels. In more recent times the ghoema drum has been made of thinner, lighter wood. We visited “Boeta Achmat”, as he’s known, in his workshop where he showed us how to make a ghoema.

Ghoemas at different stages of construction

Signing out

That’s it for this week, join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show!

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get new episodes delivered to you every week.

Listen to the entire show

Welcome to the Radio Workshop Podcast!

In November the world celebrated the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was on November 20, 1989 that almost all the countries of the world signed a treaty agreeing to protect the rights of children. In this final episode of our four-part series, we take a look at the rights of foreign and refugee children.

Article 22 of the Convention says that refugee children have special rights to protection, as well as all the other rights included in the treaty.  A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their home to live in another country.

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show!

Radio Workshop host Mbali Vilakazi welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAfm.  If you live in South Africa, you can listen live on air. Tune your radio to a frequency between 104 to 107FM to find SAfm.

Schools – a place to come together

We have to learn to live together, says Ntombi Mcoyi from Africa Unite, an organisation working to bridge differences between South Africans and foreign nationals. Schools are one place where teachers can set a positive example through fair and equal treatment of children from different backgrounds and nationalities.

Human rights belong to everyone

The Convention on the Rights of the Child says that foreign children have the same rights as South African children. We hear from Stephen Blight of Unicef, as well as Shirley Pendlebury and Lori Lake of the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town who explain what South African law says.

Xenophobia erupts in a small South African town

A learner from Esselen Park High School in Worcester, Western Cape remembers the outbreak of xenophobic violence in June 2008.

A Rwandan teenager in Cape Town: King’s story

Seventeen-year old Jafiya Kadende, better known as King, came to South Africa when he was seven years old. He remembers what it was like trying to fit in at school and learning to live in a new country.

Join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show!

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to receive a new episode every week.

Listen to the entire show

Welcome to the Radio Workshop podcast!

This is part three of our series marking the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child signed on November 20, 1989. Today we hear about the right of children to be protected from injury and abuse, as well as children’s right to education.

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show!

Radio Workshop host Mbali Vilakazi welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAfm.  If you live in South Africa, you can listen live on air. Tune your radio to a frequency between 104 to 107FM to find SAfm.

Children have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse

It is an abuse to neglect a child’s needs or to beat a child, but in many South African communities and even at home, children are treated badly by adults. Charmaine Smith from the organisation, Molo Songololo, tells us about the difficulties some children face, but says they need not feel alone. Help is available.

“Molo Songololo” means “Hello Caterpillar”. If you’d like to know more about Molo Songololo, click here.

Know your rights, protect your rights!

How best can children ensure their rights are respected? There are many things children can do. Unicef’s Stephen Blight, along with Shirley Pendlebury and Lori Lake from the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town offer some practical advice.

To find out more about Childline services in South Africa, click here.

Learning to live

All children have the right to education – no one can force a child to work instead of going to school. Teenagers from Esselen Park High School, in the farming town of Worcester, Western Cape, tell us about the choices that some children face. 

Signing out

That’s it for this week, join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show!

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get new episodes delivered to you every week.

Climate Justice

The Children’s Climate Forum is currently taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, where 165 youth delegates from over 44 countries are representing the young people of the world in the lead up to COP15. We gave young people audio recorders and asked them to document the experience.

In this interview, Zakaria Merdi, a 16-year old from Agadir, Morocco, speaks to 14 year-old Hamza Aaras El-Gouriti about global climate justice. Zakaria asks Hamza about “the role of developed countries” in helping out countries with less means to deal with climate change issues (in English).

Want to know more about the Children’s Climate Forum and COP 15? Click here to visit Unite for Climate!

Axam Maumoon

On the first day of the Children’s Climate Forum, fifteen year-old Axam Maumoon from Maldives interviews fellow countryman Mohamed Ansar about climate change concerns in their country.  The Republic of the Maldives is in the Indian Ocean, and consists of 1,197 low-lying islands.

Mohamed told Axam that “it’s not fair” that his country has to suffer so much from climate change. Listen to the full interview here.

The Children’s Climate Forum is currently taking place in Copenhagen, where 160 youth Delegates from 40 countries are representing the young people of the world in the lead up to COP15.  Want to know more about the Children’s Climate Forum and COP 15? Click here!

Listen to the entire show

Welcome to the Radio Workshop podcast!

November marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In part two of our series we take a look at children’s right to health. Article 24 of the Convention says that, “all children have the right to the highest attainable standard of health”. As we’ll hear, from both adult specialists and children themselves, access to health means much more than not being sick.

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show!

Radio Workshop host Mbali Vilakazi welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAfm.  If you live in South Africa, you can listen live on air. Tune your radio to a frequency between 104 to 107FM to find SAfm.

Children’s Commentaries on Health

Learners from Esselen Park High School in Worcester, Western Cape tell us what it’s like to be sick and what it means to be healthy.

What does it mean to be healthy?

Shirley Pendlebury and Lori Lake of the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute tell us that access to clean water and a clean environment are also part of children’s right to health.

Health rights and the South African Children’s Act

The South African Children’s Act gives important rights to children as young as 12-years old regarding their health. Prinslean Mahery, a senior researcher at the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute, tells us more.

Nonnie’s story

We close today’s show with a story recorded by Nonkhanyiso Mphanga. Nonnie lives at a St Joseph’s Home near the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. She knows almost everyone at the hospital because she’s been in and out so many times. She tells us why she needs permanent access to oxygen and what it’s like to live with a serious health problem. 

Join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show!

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to receive a new episode every week.

Listen to the entire show

Welcome to the Radio Workshop podcast!

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In the next four episodes of the Radio Workshop we’ll take a look at what this treaty means for children. Today we find out what some of these rights are, where they came from and who first campaigned for children’s rights.

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show!

Radio Workshop host Mbali Vilakazi welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAfm.  If you live in South Africa, you can listen live on air. Tune your radio to a frequency between 104 to 107FM to find SAfm.

What rights do children have?

Stephen Blight, the chief of child protection for Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund), tells us what rights the Convention on the Rights of the Child gives children.

Eglantyne Jebb

Who pioneered children’s rights?

It took the world a long time to agree that children’s rights should be protected by a worldwide treaty – that’s why the United Nations only signed the convention in 1989. Let’s find out who were some of the people who championed children’s rights many years earlier.

Rights and responsibilities

The learners from Esselen Park High School, in the beautiful town of Worcester, Western Cape, take us through the rights children have – as well as some of the responsibilities!

Signing out

That’s it for this week, join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show!

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get new episodes delivered to you every week.

Listen to the entire show

Welcome to the Radio Workshop podcast! On today’s show we’re talking politics. As young people we often don’t have the opportunity to give our opinions about the issues we face.  But today, we meet some young people who recently made their voices heard—and the world was listening to what they had to say.

UNICEF sent four young South Africans to the Junior 8 Summit in Rome last month. The J8 is a yearly meeting where young people from across the world gather to share their views on global issues, and make recommendations for how to deal with these issues. We’ll meet the J8 delegates, and find out more about the summit a bit later in the show.

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show!

Radio Workshop host Lesedi Mogoatlhe welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAFM. Visit SAFM’s website for information about how to find their frequency in your area.

The Junior 8 Summit

UNICEF sent four young South Africans to the Junior 8 Summit in Rome last month. The J8 happened at the same time as the G8 summit, which brings together the heads of state from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The summit was an opportunity for these young South Africans to make their voices heard—and to represent young people worldwide.  The goal was to get world leaders to hear their concerns.

Today we meet the four South African UNICEF delegates: Aletta Dhlamini, Yumnah Jackson, Richmond Sajini, and Refilwe Tsumane. And yes, that’s Richmond in the photo next to President Jacob Zuma, shaking hands with US President Barack Obama!

For more information about the J8 Summit, visit UNICEF’s J8 website.

My view of the world

Aletta, Yumnah, Richmond, and Refilwe were all winners of last year’s Albert Luthuli Young Historians Oral History Competition. The competition gets learners to do oral history research on a topic that interests them, and to present their findings. For more information about the competition, click here.

We asked each of the J8 delegates to give us their thoughts about things that matter to them. Here are their “audio commentaries.”

Richmond Sajini, 16: “Ordinary people like me can make a big difference…”

Refilwe Tsumane, 18: “You are who you are because of those who came before you…”

Aletta Dhlamini, 17: “The one moment he was around, and the next, he disappeared…”

Yumnah Jackson, 17: “Why does poverty exist?”

Signing out

That’s it for this week, join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show! 

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get new episodes delivered to you every week.

Aletta Dhlamini, Yumnah Jackson, Refilwe Tsumane, and Richmond Sajini (Photo courtesy of UNICEF)

Listen to the entire show

Welcome to the Radio Workshop podcast!

This week’s episode celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday!  Mandela was born on July 18th, 1918, in the Eastern Cape.  We bring you an audio birthday card from four South African teenagers who just returned from representing South Africa and UNICEF at the Junior 8 Summit in Rome.

And, what does it take to learn how to play a musical instrument? Find out as Anele Mhahlahlo introduces us to his violin. Then there’s this week in history.  Stay tuned!

No time to listen to the entire show? Pick and choose what you want to listen to below! Or subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get full episodes delivered to you every week.

Welcome to the Show

Radio Workshop host Lesedi Mogoatlhe welcomes listeners to the show.

The Radio Workshop broadcasts every Saturday at 12 noon on SAFM. Visit SAFM’s website for information about how to find their frequency in your area.

Learning the violin

What does it take to learn to play a classical musical instrument?  Today, seventeen year-old Anele Mhahlahlo introduces us to his violin.

MIAGI (Music is a Great Investment) promotes music education for children and youth as an effective tool for social upliftment. For more information about MIAGI, visit their website.

Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela!

Today is Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday!  Mandela was born on July 18th, 1918, in the Eastern Cape. To celebrate Mandela’s birthday, the Radio Workshop spoke to four young people who just returned from representing South Africa and UNICEF at the Junior 8 Summit in Rome. Aletta Dhlamini, Yumnah Jackson, Richmond Sajini, and Refilwe Tsumane recorded this audio birthday card for Madiba.

For more information on the Junior 8 Summit in Rome, visit UNICEF’s Voices of Youth J8 Website.

This Week in History

In this week in history, we have an important birthday, an anniversary, a visit to outer space, and some great local music!

To see video footage of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, visit the Washington Post’s 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Mission website. As Armstrong declared, the landing symbolized “one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

Signing out

That’s it for this week, join us next week for more from the Radio Workshop. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show. Feel free to leave a comment below.  We’d love to know what you think!

Click here to listen to previous Radio Workshop podcasts. And click here to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to get new episodes delivered to you every week.