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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
March 10, 2006
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| January 24, 2006 |
The Chanting Children of Soweto – Zola Youth Choir |
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| Performance by the complete Zola Youth Choir. Photo: courtesy of Zola Youth Choir. |
Back in the late 1940’s, the apartheid regime of South Africa began developing low income housing projects in order to segregate the black population from the minority white settlers. Such regions, known as townships, provided the cheap labor force needed for industrial work and mining projects. On the outskirts of Johannesburg, the Soweto Township – an acronym for South Western Townships - flooded with displaced settlers. Having reached a population of half a million residents, Soweto would eventually take center stage in the struggle for social equality against the apartheid system. The 1976 Soweto riots struck a global wake up call which brought attention to the atrocious human rights violations which were being carried on against the black population. |
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| Sandile Mthimkulu (left) and Mbheki Hadebe perform onboard the Peace Boat. |
Sandile Mthimkulu was born in Soweto a few months after the riots. Fear dominates his childhood memories, as police brutality and repression towards township dwellers reached its zenith in the 1980’s. Sandile recalls a period when he “wasn’t allowed to play outside and random night raids by the police where quite common.” Fearing for his life, Sandile’s parents utterly prohibited his involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle. As a result, he became involved in his Church Choir at a very young age; an activity which provided an escape valve from the harsh reality which surrounded him. Meanwhile, in a rural area of the eastern province of Kwazulu Natal, Mbheki Hadebe was living under similar conditions. He, however, witnessed the death of an older brother and decided to head for Soweto as a teenager. Today, both Sandile and Mbheki perform pivotal roles for the renowned Zola Youth Choir. |
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| Sandile and Mbheki lead a dance and choral rehearsal with Peace Boat participants. |
First established in 1986 as a church choir, the name Zola stems from a district within Soweto. The original choral group contains roughly 85 members of all ages. But in 2002, Sandile and Mbheki organized a smaller group of younger members in order to form the Youth Choir, which performs in a variety of styles such as choral, African, and gospel, with a focus on South African protest songs. As music has played an important role in the South African struggle for social equality, both young men feel a spiritual calling with regards to music which provides their communities with hope and healing. |
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| Sandile expresses himself during the farewell session. |
Having joined our current voyage from Mombasa to Cape Town, Sandile and Mbheki have been responsible for disseminating magical sense of strength and hope onboard. They have shared their life experiences with the Peace Boat community, led choral workshops, and delighted audiences with their stirring chants and songs.
On the farewell evening before descending on South African soil, Sandile was asked what he had learned from his week onboard the Peace Boat. His moving response marked a special moment on our voyage: “For once in my life I have spent a week without hearing women scream, without seeing children cry, or witness violence… I have seen Peace and will go back to my community and try even harder to apply there what I have experienced here onboard.” A short yet inspiring reminder of how our actions have deep repercussions on others. |
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