Twelve schoolchildren from different areas of the country gathered in Cape Town recently for the launch of this glossy new book.
The volume — comprising text and photographs by the 12 children — is the brainchild of compiler Han Lans of Amsterdam, and has a foreword by Nelson Mandela. The latter writes: ‘Whether they come from humble backgrounds or live in comfort, each child has clearly taken pride in what is his or hers.”
The various contributors — aged between 10 and 13 at the time of writing — reflect the cultural and religious diversity of this country, and generally demonstrate tolerance and respect for other traditions. For instance, Avanthi Sing, who attends the School of New Jerusalem in Durban, writes, ‘It is a Christian school and we are Hindu, but I like going there because I like to learn about different religions.”
Neela Bamberger, a Jewish girl from Greenside, Johannesburg, says pupils at her government school, Emmarentia Primary, are drawn ‘from as far as Soweto and Alexandra Township”. She adds, ‘It is a great mix of cultures and religions. We have Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu kids, as well as kids speaking all nine black official languages.”
Bukekile Banjwa, whose family share four shelters in a south Soweto squatter camp, is proud that, although her home language is Xhosa, she speaks many languages at school. ‘I want other children to understand me when I speak to them,” she stresses.
The authors are certainly a charmingly diverse clutch of kids and one of the most unusual is Warren Mills, who lives on a farm near Grahamstown. A grandson of ‘Cowboy” Mills, who ran a circus in the 1960s, Warren’s passion is for unlikely pets. ‘I have a big ox called Tora, and I like riding him,” Warren writes. ‘Not many people ride oxen,” he says, ‘but in my family we do. We have specially trained Tora to carry people.”
His other favourite pets have included Timon the meerkat and Pumba the warthog, who both used to sleep on his bed. ‘But Pumba is with Jesus now, and I miss him,” writes Warren.
As far as favourite pastimes are concerned, watching television is predictably high on the children’s lists. Rather disappointingly, few of them express a liking for reading, an exception being Tendani Makwarela who lives in a village near Thohoyandou in Limpopo. Both Tendani’s parents are primary school teachers.
Neela Bamberger does ‘ballet four times a week and Irish and Highland dancing twice a week”. And Fernando Luwango, from a tent-dwelling San community in the Northern Cape, has photographed girls at his school ‘doing traditional dances during break. They clap their hands and sing while they dance.”
Organised sport is frequently referred to in The Story of My Life; but, reading between the lines, it would appear that not all schools have the requisite facilities. However, the young authors of this engaging book never complain, and are almost unanimous in communicating a love of school — and a burning desire to learn.
The Story of My Life is also available in Afrikaans, titled Ek en My Mense; and Annari van der Merwe of Kwela Books says they are currently seeking funding to publish the volume in various African languages. A Dutch version, Ik Woon in Zuid Afrika — published by KIT publishers, Amsterdam, in March is already into a second print run.