the aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people & their culture

inspired by this excerpt from the freedom charter, kgantsa calls out from our circle of love and faya, that not only life but quality of existence is our birthright. that our children entitled to dream, play and experiment.

from this insistence a number of inspiring moments have been birthed that we would like to share:

• on 14 february, we were visited by rui sousa, a young children’s book illustrator who presented a workshop to two groups of grade 4 learners at thabisang primary, orlando west. presenting his work to the students rui began to lift the vail of majesty from the printed word. as the kids imagined unthinkable story lines he turned their words into picture before their eyes teaching the young students that knowledge does not only need to be consumed, but it is in our power to produce it. rui’s trip was organized by the portuguese government.

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• the friends of the circle continues to grown; individuals or organisations that believe that the work that we do is important. Ulrich Katte, an individual who came to know about the project has made a personal cash donation to the passage project. we are now working on securing the outstanding material so that the project can be completed.
• we submitted a very detailed proposal to the National Arts Council on 2 March and we are awaiting their response to our proposal.

more information to follow!

reaching the level

thunder began to roll as we reached the Makabeni Street end of the passage. encouraged by eminent rain the pace of digging, raking, gathering, collecting, sorting and transporting of rubble, gained momentum so that all that you could hear was the grating sound of moving earth.

a day spent digging, with pick axes, spades and rakes was being acknowledged by mother earth who never forgets to say thank you. and as we offloaded the last rubble-filled wheelbarrow, the heavens opened and blessed the earth with fresh rains.

another day of a life worth living.

this Saturday, like all the Saturday’s to come, kgantsa ho ganye was on the ground, finding the level. having last week completed with the passage that stretches from Nkadimeng to Makabeni, we now began with the second block from Makabeni to Mampuru Streets.

as we work we remember that this is what we are destined to do. to use our bodies to build. to carefully uncover what lies in the sand, what has come before – to use these a guide for where we are going.  to smash inertia and skepticism with each strike of the pick axe. and replace these malice’s with a living, vibrant hope that believes because it is…it does…it must be…

to the people of Orlando West who stepped through, together we are stronger than anyone would have us to believe. sisonke.

this week (11 february) we will be at the passage stamping the ground with a roller and preparing for paving. everyone is welcome to not only add their hands but to learn and take from the experience.

to light, and be lit.

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spring klean epasejini

7 january 2012

creating beautyful places out of forgotten spaces

showing love for our community, kgantsa ho ganye lit up the lite epasejini, kona nkadimeng street, orlando west, soweto, on saturday 7 january 2012…

a years worth of planning culminated in the roll out of south africa’s most honest, creative and activism driven arts initiative…

a group of young orlando west street artists delivered the message that we have the tools, abilities and knowledge to do for ourselves what needs to be done.

our plan is to beautify the ghetto, transform our neighborhoods into inspirational places to play, learn and grow old….

to write our stories on the walls that surround us, so that we’ll walk through our townships and see all of our beauty, potential and light.

about the passage

the passage is a popular walkway that runs from nkadimeng to mampuru street. it provides a valued short cut for pedestrians, mothers with prams or people transporting goods with wheelbarrows.

due to poor urban planning that is characteristic of south african townships, the passage has never been anything more than a rubble-lined, littered alleyway.

kgantsha ho kganye has begun the work of cleaning this passage and developing the infrastructure so that what is now an urban nuisance becomes a public art gallery.

on saturday we cleared all litter and rubble and are preparing the ground to begin laying out paving bricks. at present 3000 bricks have been donated to the project by the goethe Institute in a demonstration of their commitment to community-based initiatives.

after paving we paint the walls and decorate them with a mural that celebrates the history of our community. the mural’s prodcution will take the form of a workshop equipping our youth with the skills to take part.

currently we are in conversation with our ward councilor, pikitup, city power and the environmental management department to ensure that we have their support with the implementation of sustainable waste removal and lighting.

ons het a trap geler…die spear gevind…phambili…

contact us to be a part.

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