“Unlock the room that you are”: LitNet’s first Youth Indaba a success.

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The first ever LitNet Youth Indaba, “Inspirational stories of success”, took place at the third consecutive Karoo Writers Festival in the cold but sunny Karoo dorp, Cradock, last weekend. Learners from the Cradock school community gathered to listen to the stories of acclaimed writer EKM Dido (who holds an honorary doctorate for her contribution to the literary world) and two acclaimed scholars, Russell Kaschula (head of the School of Languages, Rhodes University) and Peter Mtuze (former head of African Languages, Rhodes University). Mtuze has authored and co-authored more than 30 books and translated Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom into isiXhosa.

Kaschula, Dido and Mtuze, all three trilingual (Afrikaans, English and Xhosa) speakers, encouraged learners to consider the following:

  • You first have to know where you want to go; the rest will follow.
  • Keep on track today, as you do not know about tomorrow.
  • Choose your role models wisely.
  • Take the good that you can from people and be your own best mentor.
  • Unlock the room that you are and then you can do anything you put your mind to.
  • Live minute by minute and you’ll have the power to push through every day.
  • If you love, appreciate and value yourself, you will automatically value and respect others.
  • Be passionate.
  • Be proud of your language and culture.
  • Be yourself, believe in yourself and be proud of who you are: “We are all one entity, one body, all in a circle.” “We are all part of a circle in different spaces; no one is at the top and no one is at the bottom.”

See the following links for biographies of EKM Dido and Russell Kaschula.

Left to right:

Nomtha Nabaso, Lisa Antrobus-Ker (organiser of the festival), Basil Mills (from the National English Literary Museum [NELM], Grahamstown), LitNet’s Bibi Slippers (chair of discussion), Russel Kaschula, EKM Dido and Peter Mtuze
 

Left to right: Phindile Jacobs, Charlton Kieviet and Raylene Jansen
 

Left to right: Nomtha Nabaso and Joslin Goosen

Left to right: Lorenda Pieters, Jerome Peters and Zandile Stale
 

Russell Kaschula, EKM Dido and Peter Mtuze sharing their personal life stories.
 

Sibongiseni Seybokwe (left) and Zandile Stale (right) on either side of their representation of the heritage of Cradock. They are remembering Pastor James Arthur Calata, the grandfather of murdered activist Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four. These two learners remarked on the Cradock Four: “They fought for us.” On the poster the monument commemorating the Cradock Four can be seen (four stone columns).

See the following link for the photo gallery of the Cradock Four Heritage Route as part of the 2011 Karoo Writers Festival.

Left to right: Basil Mills with Nathan Flynn, Lorenda Pieters and Jerome Peters standing on either side of their representation of the heritage of Cradock. The poster depicts the role of the Holy Rosary Convent.

EKM Dido, a former pupil of Holy Rosary Convent.
 

Basil Mills handing over Olive Schreiner – an introduction by Tina Barsby (part of NELM Introductions Series, 1995), which was a gift to all the learners attending.
 

Left to right: Nathan Fynn, Basil Mills, Lorenda Pieters, EKM Dido, Peter Mtuze and Jerome Peters
 

Left to right: Nathan Fynn, Lorenda Pieters, EKM Dido, Peter Mtuze and Jerome Peters
 

Peter Mtuze signing Olive Schreiner – an introduction.

Peter Mtuze: “The future is in your own head. I give you the future.”

Click here to read Clinton V du Plessis launches Flitse at Karoo Writers Festival.

Klik hier om "Kiekies van Cradock" – die Karoo Skrywersfees 2012 te lees.

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