A BAD DAY AND A GOOD DAY THAT TURNED BAD

Yesterday was our first Monday at Bootcamp, renamed Lekgotla (meeting place), by the participants. By 9:15am, 6 stragglers had shown up. I simply cancelled class and said if they didn't bother to pitch, I wouldn't bother to teach.

Today was a brand new day: 18 out of 20 showed up more or less on time. The other two contacted me in advance (one via sms at 5:50am!). We talked about show ratings and whether their show fell into the Top, Middle or Bottom Ten of the ratings (we produce 30 shows a week-- even I can't understand how we do that with such limited resources!). The discussion was lively and engaged and solution oriented! Amazing!

The class ended on a high note: Terry Mokoena had followed up my suggestion of organizing a pay day raffle. We agreed that class would end with the draw. Phumelele won the jackpot of R220 (about $35) and shouted "god is great!. Even more excitement ensued when Terry presented each Lekgotla team member with a name tag for tomorrow's event-- by the cheers, you'd thought they'd all won the lottery! The photo is of Terry wearing his nametag

SADLY, THEN IT TURNED BAD…. About an hour after we broke for the day, Derrick assaulted Phumzile. She has charged him, as she should. In class we had just finished a short time previously, the two of them had be leaders of a fantastic discussion.

All in a day's work in Soweto…..

You are my Dog

Yesterday was Day #1 of a 12.5 week Bootcamp that I proposed and created for young Producers at Soweto TV. I l found an unused room at the station with a collapsed ceiling and after a certain amount of arm twisting convinced our parent company to spend the money renovate it into a sparkling clean freshly painted space-- by far the nicest space at dumpy overcrowded Soweto TV. Twenty excited young Producers filed in and despite the power outtage leaving the place very chilly, they were keen and excited. The big bosses arrived from the city and to their credit, gave inspiring talks about the future of the station and the focus on individual development. The Bootcamp was up and running and everyone was on a high! What a grand way to start!

Later in the day, Titi, a fellow who has the saddest face in the world, greeted me with what sounded like "injaiyam" but told me I had to ask someone else what it meant. When I did, I was informed that it meant, "You are my dog" and felt rather disturbed to receive such a message from such a kind and mellow fellow. My interpreter then told me that in township language this means, "you are my hero". Gawd, I now I have to live up to that....thank you, Titi. I will do my best

Here's are pics of our sparkling new room filled with sparkling faces.

I heard voices.....

I came in early to work today at Soweto TV to catch up on a few things. The place was nearly deserted-- only a few keeners had arrived. As I sat at my computer, the most amazing mournful music came floating in through the window-- there was a funeral taking place at the church next door. The place was full and everyone was singing in a powerful slow manner-- it was sad, but not dirge-like, and carried with it a thin underpinning of hope.

I had to leave my desk to go outside for a few minutes and just listen. The voices were so unlike what I'd grown up with in the Catholic Church where a few worshippers stumble half-heartedly through hymns. Here in this modest yellow Sowetan church, every single person was singing. And it was beautiful.

Amazing things like this happen everyday here in Soweto and I must make time to record them before they evaporate.

SOWETO TV

I have been working at Soweto TV for just over two weeks now and it's one of the most interesting and refreshing jobs I've had in ages! Soweto was the first community station in South Africa and is currently watched by over a million people. A new transmitter is due to be installed in the next few months and our transmission area will increase tenfold.

We operate out of a portion of the former Tlhoreng Primary School and our facilities can best be described as "basic". Attached are a few pics. Down the street from the historic Mandela House, it's a lively neighbourhood with a mixture of locals, tourists, cafes and souvenir stalls. Each day, I promise myself I am going to stroll the immediate neighbourhood, but haven't yet managed to do so as I get absorbed by the work day. One of the lovely things that happens is that local kids tend to gather and play on the premises after school-- on Friday afternoons, there are art classes in one of the rooms to which we don't have access. They are friendly and curious an help make one feel part of the community.

Although the facilities are "no frills", what happens here far exceeds our limitations: 6 cameras, 2 edit suites and one car (the other is in the shop after a recent car accident) and yet 28 origin programs are produced each week!

The mood is what makes the place-- people are young and welcoming to this white middle-aged foreigner. For me, it is an entry into a new culture as opposed to the mostly white very middle class bubble we live in in the northern suburbs. Each day is a revelation as I get to know the Producers who work under me.

For example, Phumi, who produces our health shows, who only discovered she was HIV+ when her young son became ill and both were diagnosed. She is now on ARVs and is half of a "discordant couple" meaning that her husband remains HIV negative and their two year old was born free of the disease. One of the shows she in now working on is about how popular male circumcision has become in the townships-- yes, we're talking about ADULT MALE circumcision here (yikes!)-- as it reduces HIV transmission by 60%.

Each day there is a new revelation and I must start to jot them down as they occur, but as you can imagine, the past two weeks have been focused on figuring out this new job. It's a new position, so I am pretty much making it up as I go along-- I oversee 17 shows and am trying to raise their quality as well as the professionalism of the staff. Not sure what I can accomplish in three months, but I'll give it my best shot! Am enjoying it despite the tiring commute.

SUCCESS!!!

Not only did I start a new job this week but my SA Residency Permit finally arrived in Joburg today!! It had taken months to process and then over a month to travel from Pretoria (45 minutes away) to Joburg! So I actually am now legal to work. Tomorrow we celebrate-- we just got tickets to see SA jazz great Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) tomorrow night!

The pic was taken last weekend at a brew pub in the village of Clarens where we spent last weekend.

DAY #1 OF NEW JOB

Last night, Glen and I joked as I packed my lunch and a few basic office supplies that it was like getting ready for the first day of school-- it was exciting getting ready for my first real job in South Africa since 2006!

It was my first day at Soweto TV and everything about is as different as it could be from Canadian tv. We work out of an old primary school in Soweto-- it's dark and dingy and it's hard to imagine how this rundown building ever inspired learning in young pupils. And I won't even discuss the bathrooms! The location reminds me of how deeply architecture and design affect one's well-being. I will have to take some pictures to post to give you a sense of the place. However, it is just up the street from Mandela's tiny house, now a historic monument and down the street from the Hector Peterson Museum which documents the student uprising of the 1970s-- it's a great Soweto neighbourhood (not that I've had a chance to explore it-- only to get lost in it.)

Yet, there is an incredible spirit here-- the majority of crew are young and enthusiastic and incredibly friendly. None of them have been to film school but have learned by doing. A couple of them have been here since the inception of the station about five years ago. The facilities have only the absolute bare essentials to produce television shows, but somehow they manage to run a 24 hour station with Soweto-centric programming. The titles of the shows that I am now in charge of range from Mbokodo to Tsedimosetso to Mabindzu but fortunately everyone speaks English and some of the shows are broadcast or partially broadcast in English (whew!) I am in charge of 17 shows that range from sports to cooking to current affairs. There is a show where people come to get help with their problems from Dr. Love and I am afraid that I have already fallen in love with Dr.Love!

I share a small dingy office lit by a singular fluorescent tube with three other producers and there is a steady stream of people in and out. Headphones will become essential……

Tomorrow are official meetings with Board and management and then next week, I'll getting to the meat of production. But if anyone had told me on Aug 23rd of last year when I arrived back here in South Africa that I'd be commuting to Soweto six months later, I NEVER would have believed them!

I GOT A JOB!!!

I start a 3 month contract tomorrow at Soweto TV as Head of Current Affairs & Lifestyle Programming. YEAH!!! I'm sure there'll be lots more to tell!