The Poor People´s world cup will take place from the 13th of June until the 27th of June. Every Sunday soccer games will be held and there will be action days besides the soccer days. For more information about the events please get in touch with the AEC:
aec@antieviction.org.za or phone Ashraf on 0027 76 186 1408
The AEC is also in urgent need of some funding for this event. If you can help you can find their account here:
http://antieviction.org.za/donations/
or you can transfer some money into a German account and we will forward it to the AEC account. Please send us a short e-mail to : people@dok-werk.de stating AEC donation and we will send you the account details
Thanks very much!
Before I had the chance to see this documentary I received several long-distance calls from old friends from the former German anti-Apartheid Movement, saying, that by all means I should try to see this extraordinary film. Indeed, when I attended the screening of this documentary I was very impressed and deeply touched. It was so different campared to other films and reports with regards to South Africa or other African countries. Usually when showing people`s problems and poor living conditions,commentaries are made talking about those concerned but this documentary is giving a voice to the voiceless.We meet them and listen to what Ashraf, Mne, Zoliswa and Arnold have to say when talking about their traumatic experiences during Apartheid times, deep wounds that would never heal, engraved into mind and soul. People in the townships are explaining how their hopes and visions got disppointed, because their poverty conditions have not changed much in the new democratic South Africa. When talking about eviction methods of CapeTown authorities that reminds them of similar evictions during Apartheid times, they are not only expressing their sufferings, frustrations and anger.We get to know from first hand how actively they are engaged in their anti-eviction campaign, and of course power women are in the frontline. It shows how the spirit of those is still alive who once sacrificed their lives for the liberation of their country. Listening to what people in the townships let us know, one can identify oneself with their anti-eviction campaign .
As a sociologist I would like to propose that this documentary:” When a mountain meets its shadow”, deserves still more awards besides the nomination for the Max Orpheuls prize. This documentary makes aware: together people are strong to fight for their basic rights in life. It delivers the very important message: it is quite easy to break a single stick, but it is impossible to break a bundle of sticks tied together.
Dr. Ruth Kadalie-Kronenberg, Germany 8th May 2010
The Ladies in District Six had their trial on last Wednesday. The letter from ver.di was handed to the judge. The case got postponed again- a good result for the meantime. We keep you posted!
After a 4 day wait in Stuttgart we all arrived safe back home.
We would like to thank you all for the amazing time we had with you! Please stay in touch with us and no good-byes but see you the next time!
ALUTA CONTINUA!
The flight to Cape Town was cancelled on Sunday due to the volcano eruption in Iceland. It is still uncertain if the flight will leave on the 22nd. In the meantime we are staying at Danielas moms house- thank you Zsuzsa!
Since Oslo was cancelled due ti the volcanic ashes in European airspace we were invited by Ivo to Mosbach were an extra screening was held in ver.dis seminar space for members. The topic was social justice so our documentary fitted in nicely. We managed to connect Mosbach with Oslo through the internet in a videoconference – so the group in Mosbach and the audience in Oslo took part in the discussion which was a very exciting experience. Thank you David, Magnus, Ketil and the others in Oslo who made this possible.
Sanele from South Africa was attending the screening in Olso asked about the psychological help situation for the population at large. she conformed what we also explained- rich people can afford this kind of treatment, but it will be impossible the access by the poor.
Thank you for the greetings from a special friend to AEC coordinators.Please also join us by becoming a fan on facebook. Thanks Tanja for the interview.
After the video conference we had very fruitful discussions with the ver.di members and they came up with a letter to the president, the major and the national heritage foundation and others in support of the ladies in the remaining part of district six, who are facing another eviction hearing for the fifth year.
Mrs George, the organiser of the older ladies in District Six send their love and warmth and an embrace for everybody and is thankful to know that there are people over the oceans thinking and supporting them to try and stop this eviction instead of getting support of their own government.
You can call Mrs George on this number: 0027 (0)21 4616303.
And there is a promise of more solidarity actions in support of the poor in South Africa.
Thank you Kurt, Simon, Ruth, Lars, Tanja, Roland, Sandra, Nils, Martin, Jens, Dirk, Thomas! And of course Ivo! Aluta continua!
We were met by Klaus, Bernd, Erika and Brigitte at the cinema Corso in Stuttgart. We are very grateful in their participation that our voices are heard. There were many older persons attending the screening.
A lot of questions were raised and we would like to continue the conversation for the benefit of everyone. We are also in solidarity with the K21 campaign for social spending of taxpayers money.
We were excited to have Anne, a member of the German parliament present. It was really good to meet Line and Joy – special people in the life of Daniela. Also it was great to have Ivo there again- this time with Anja. They hosted us also for the night- thank you!
We arrived in Göttingen and were welcomed by Patrick, Regina and Rieke for dinner. Patrick spoke a bit about the political situation in Göttingen which was very informative. It is good to hear that even in the smaller towns there are social struggles being fought and we want to congratulate the IFA workers for their victory in their workplace.
On the question about how to support us we once again replied that we do not need sympathy- we need empathy – we need to work together as equals. We are all in the same boat- neoliberalism kills. However, we do need some resources for our actions.
There were many different questions asked and we would appreciate if you would keep on communicating with us and with each other.
Please do not forget the ladies that will be having their court case on the 21st of April.
Thanks to Annike from the Lumiere cinema for the good assistance. Thank you Irm for being there and giving birth to Romin. Also thanks to the Utes and Thomas for being there. A special thanks to Patrick, Regina and Rieke for the nice welcome and the good organisation.
Anja, Julia and Nadine waited for us at the cinema. They took us for lunch and after that Tina and Nicole showed us around town.
In the night many people attended the screening at the Metropolis cinema. Eckes joined us also and it was great to see him again.
Like in most of the screenings someone asked about the “illegal actions” in the film, we have spoken about this earlier in this blog but we must stress again that what we are doing is not illegal- for us it is legal because it can´t be illegal to have water! So we are prepared to face the consequences.
Someone asked about the situation in district six. There will be a courtcase on the 21st of April in Cape Town. We would like everyone to support the ladies in their struggle against their eviction. One way of supporting them could be in writing comments to the youtube clips which they will try to use in court. You can also write letters and comments to the newspapers in Cape Town like the Argus, the Cape Times, the Daily Sun, the Burger, the Captonian, Vukani, City Vision etc.
The youtubeclips:
When The Mountain Meets Its Shadow – District Six 1
When The Mountain Meets Its Shadow – District Six 2
Tina and Nicole – good luck with the community struggle in St Pauli against gentrification. Nice to see Jens after a long time and to meet Theo. And of course to see Ramses again- a special moment for Alex. Many greeting to Anne Britts and Jan Oles parents.
Thanks to all of you for making this happen!
We arrived in Vienna by plane and Sandra picked us up from the airport. Lutz cooked us a welcome-soup in his apartment and after that he showed us his local favourite hangout. The next day Lutz and Sandra took us to some historical sights so we got a feel of the city and its ancient buildings. It was very cold so we decided to take the tram around town. In the evening we went to the HTU Cinestudio in the university of Vienna- a very impressive big lecture hall cinema.
Someone mentioned that prepaid systems can sometimes be beneficial because companies who have previously not been interested in delivering services would do it under these circumstances. This is monopoly. Poor people can not afford to play this game. If you understand the rules of monopoly it is only the players that can participate and not the onlookers. Prepaid systems do not work in the context of South African poor families.
We hope that the first AEC will be started in Vienna with Oswald and all the groups attending. We are looking forward what comes out of the discussions about the prepaid system being introduced in Austria soon. It showed again that it is not “them and us” – we need to work as equals on these issues cause they affect us all.
The support was tremendous- not to talk- but to have actions. We are looking forward to supporting their plans.
Thanks to Sandra and Lutz for accommodating us, playing table soccer with us and for the “seesighting” around town. Thanks to Stefan from the cinema and thanks to Pyrx and his friends from Grundrisse and Oswald from the GBW and his comrades. Thanks Iva for spending your time with us and Franziskus from “Perspektiven-Zeitung für linke Theorie und Praxis” magazine for the interview- we are looking forward to the article.
Klaus met us the next day to get us more information about the idea of the “empowering unconcitional basic income”. An issue we would like to look into and have more information about to discuss it with our communities.
