ACP-JOURNAL / PILOT-PROGRAM 002

CHILDREN OF AFRICA


MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World" - "Senzenina"

KJS:
"Bridging the Gap"

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World" - "Senzenina"

KJS:
A multimedia-project of Radio Bremen with partners in Africa and in Europe

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World" - "Senzenina"

KJS:
These are pupils of a primary school in Bremen / Germany, and this is one of the songs they recorded on a CD in order to assist fellow pupils in Africa through results of the sale.

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World" - "Senzenina"

KJS:
They are singing in the language of the Zulu people. "Senzenina" means "What have we done?"

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World" - "Senzenina"

KJS:
In South Africa, this old song has different meanings: traditionally it will be sung during funerals. "What have we done to carry this burden?" However, this question has been used, later on, for the song of liberation against apartheid. In 1992, the song received international acclaim when composer Hans Zimmer used it for the German-American-French movie "The Power of One". It tells the story of a white boy of British descent who, in the late Thirtees, fell victim to the brutalities of Nazi-Boers in a South African boarding school.

MUSIC changes to male voices

KJS:
It is not a common attitude for German pupils to acquaint themselves with African history, or to make contact with children of their age some 10.000 miles away - or is it?

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World"
"Alle Kinder dieser Erde sind sich ähnlich überall" (All children of this world are similar to each other everywhere)

KJS:
Many of these kids of 12 to 14 years of age are living in Osterholz-Tenever which is a suburb of Bremen in Northern Germany where - according to a local newspaper - families may not have a tradition to treat their children with an early musical education, and some of them don’t have the financial means for it.

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World"
"Alle Kinder dieser Erde sind sich ähnlich überall" (All children of this world are similar to each other everywhere)

KJS:
With their CD, these kids in Bremen are building a bridge to some 70 children and youngsters who love music as well and live in Oshikuku, in the Northern region of Namibia. Some of them are street kids, others are orphans. They receive training by some volunteers who study music. The location is a small centre made of simple huts and a provisional stage. As a fee, the students receive a meal prepared in a solar driven oven.
In 1999, the children in Bremen joined Lionel Richie when he performed a show for UNICEF in Bremen’s soccer stadium. Their teacher, Wolfgang Richter, trains with them for 4 hours per week. As a result, they experience something which reaches beyond the building of a musical bridge.

MUSIC faded out

KJS:
For 25 years, the relations between the European Union and countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region have been marked by the treaties of Lomé.
These most important agreements of cooperation between industrialised and developing countries were geared towards the economic, cultural and social development of the so-called ACP-countries. With the approach of the new millenium, the change of global structures made it necessary to adjust the cooperation between the two groups of countries. This was achieved in June 2000 with the signing of a new treaty between the 15 members of the European Union and ACP-countries whose number has grown to 77.
The treaty of Cotonou is based on 5 pillars - 4 of them deal with democarcy, with fight against poverty, with regulations of trade and with financial cooperation.
The fifth pillar is of special interest to us, it calls for participation of groups of the civic societies within the European Union and within partner countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region.

"Development will only be successful once the whole society is benefiting from it," this is a quote from the treaty of Cotonou which continues, "the starting point for an efficient cooperation shall be the decentralisation of decision making and the acceptance of responsibility on a local level."

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World"
"Wir sind Kinder einer Erde, die genug für alle hat" (We are children of one globe which offers enough for everyone)

KJS:
"I am settling here on the floor listening to what these pupils sing, and I am happy, even my stomach is a bit more satisfied". This is what Gabriel of Oshikuku in Northern Namibia wrote in a letter to pupils at the Gesamtschule Ost in Bremen.
Namibia in the Southwest of Africa, the Northern neighbour country Angola, and Tanzania in East Africa are targeted for todays travel to people in the South, a travel which can also be undertaken on Internet. I am going to give you the relevant web addresses at the end of this program.
Today, colleagues of Radio Bridge Overseas are going to report about different ways of assistance for children.

INSERt / RADIO BRIDGE OVERSEAS
Feature 1: "Where young offenders receive a new chance - 'The Bridge' in Mariental, NAMIBIA"

KJS:
Dadirayi Chigoya of Radio Bridge Overseas worked on this material from Namibia. From Angola, Namibia’s northern neighbour, Fortune Ncube reports, again for Radio Bridge Overseas.

INSERT / RADIO BRIDGE OVERSEAS
Feature 2: "About war and street kids in ANGOLA"


KJS:
Together with Radiobridge Overseas we are now visiting Tanzania in East Africa, where school children are wating for us.

INSERT / RADIO BRIDGE OVERSEAS
Feature 3: "No money for schools in TANZANIA"

KJS:
The international community of creditors decided in April 2000 to write off Tanzania’s debts to the tune of 2 billion US-dollars. Until 2003 the debt-service of Tanzania will be halved, afterwards it will be reduced by a third. This would enable Tanzania to invest money into her educational system.

MUSIC
school children of Bremen / Germany, CD for Namibia: "We are the World"
"Tsche Tsche Kulé"

KJS:
The circle is closing for today with this song from the CD of the school children in Bremen. "Tsche Tsche Kulé" - This is a song about colourful birds, and it is sung in one of the 75 languages spoken in Ghana in West Africa.

More about music and stories on the Internet, and this is the web address:
www.radiobridge.org/links/multimedia.html

My name is Klaus Jürgen Schmidt, and I am inviting you to join me on another travel, visiting our partners in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific - next week at the same time.

ENDE