Ronald Eissens and Suzette Bronkhorst, Magenta Foundation
In May and June 1996 we were working on a project and we wanted it to involve communication, diversity and international contacts between students, preferably between Iceland as the oldest modern democracy and South Africa as the youngest modern democracy. In the end other countries participated and Iceland never did, not due to lack of interest, but because of the national school holidays during the period we were doing the project.
In search of contacts we chanced upon Pretoria Education Network. Shortly thereafter contact with them was established and plans were made.
The Project itself in Holland was called Door Elkaar Voor Elkaar, which translates roughly as "through each other for each other". It was done in cooperation with Schools Without Racism (SWR), a Dutch organisation promoting diversity and anti-racism in schools.
Door Elkaar Voor Elkaar involved a boat as an instrument to take an educational package from town to town, setting up shop and receiving students from several schools in each town.
From 20 May through to 22 June the Zeester sailed to 25 cities in Holland. Our aim was to inform and educate junior high-school students, 12-18 years old, about racism. We spent one day in each city and we received about 200 students a day. On the special Internet homepage for the boat-tour, visiting students posted information and a daily journal about the project.
This also enabled students in the whole country and around the world to participate in the project and exchange thoughts on democracy, freedom, anti-racism, learn something about each others cultures and compare notes with their counterparts from schools in other countries (South-Africa foremost).
On board the boat we had two multimedia computers hooked up to the Internet through mobile uplinks. We later found out that this was the first sailing mobile Internet connection. We made contact every day with schools by E-mail, chat-sessions and last but not least, through the special mailing list that was set up for us by the Pretnet. Digital shipmasters were Chris Masemola and Ruth Mosley who came over from South Africa to work with us on behalf of Pretnet. Chat sessions were hosted by Channel Moonbeam, an International chat channel on Efnet, which is hosted by Moonbeam productions on a strictly non-profit basis and is aimed at communication and learning about each other.
Another main part of the boat-project was the Eye to Eye Exercise.
The results of the Magenta boat tour were extensively discussed with members of the Pretnet committee and with the South African participants, Chris Masemola and Ruth Mosley.
From all this input originated the idea to organize a similar tour in South Africa, not by boat, for although I believe the Orange River is quite long, it does not always hold water :). If you are interested in a more in-depth report on the boat project, it is online on the South African mirror site of the projects homepage: you can find a link to it on the Pretnet website and the Moonbeam productions website. Also I strongly recommend the report on the project compiled by Yorke Rodda and written by Chris Masemola, Ruth Mosley, Yorke Rodda and Dianne Faktor.
Before even considering taking the project to SA, we asked ourselves: what do they need? And can we, coming from a totally different society, bring South Africa something that is needed or useful. Organizations we have talked with so far concluded that we can, and also the conclusions in the final report on the boat project suggest this. There are of course a lot of differences between Dutch and South African society, and although the mechanics of discrimination based on physical characteristics work the same all over the world, there is a strong need to recognize what need exists and which adaption of methods to counteract discrimination and promote a truly diverse society will work. This is what needs to be done first in cooperation with South African organizations.
The Internet will play an important part in the project. Reports of all workshops which are happening on the various locations during the tour will be brought online and participating schools in South Africa foremost but also international will be stimulated and aided in trying to use the information in a constructive manner. We want a daily Internet Newsletter & chat sessions between students on a national and international level. Contributions by students to the daily Internet newsletter (web & mailing list), telling the world about what is happening during the tour, how they feel about South Africa, racism etc. During the chat sessions topics like democracy, how is it here and how is it in your country, can be discussed as well as: should people have school uniforms or whatever students want to talk about with their peers in other countries. In charge of this segment will be Dr Mellouki Cadat, political scientist.
Although the Internet part is of course very interesting and will built on the experiences we had with the boat project, we will have to be very careful not to use it and present it as a miracle-working thing. Internet is, amongst others, an instrument, an information tool, a big library and a communication tool. The advantage of communication through the Internet is that you do not see who is on the other end, if that person is male or female, black or white, old or young. This makes for very objective communication based solely on the content of what is being said. The drawback is that it cannot take the place of real-live experiences and although it can bring people from a very diverse background together and advance a better understanding of each other's cultures and backgrounds, it can also act as a barrier. It is not, as some people tend to think, an equalizer. It cannot take away all the intricacies of real life and the way people of different colour or cultural heritage react when meeting IRL.
For online learning it is fundamental that at both ends of the line there is also something more than information coming through, that is, the information has to be taken and discussed IRL, in the classroom, and things learned over the Internet will have to be tried out IRL. If not, it stays on a very abstract level. We hope to enlist the support of several South African school-networks in promoting the Full Colour Tour and aiding schools in and outside their networks. Also we want to involve I*EARN, the International Education and Resource Network. For hardware/software and connectivity we will approach computer and software companies and Internet Providers, for donating computers, software and free Internet accounts. The more schools in South Africa taking part in the online activities, the better. In this way also the number of schools with access to the Internet can be boosted.
So our goals using the Internet are:
Our starting point is that cyberspace and its new technologies set challenges for people looking for positive change and that computer networks (Internet) can be seen as powerful tools for individual and community change and solidarity. Internet permits interactive communication at the local, regional, national and international level. The Magenta Foundation has acquired expertise in this area by involving Internet in its projects and by developing autonomous internet projects geared toward the welfare of the community. The costs of the infrastructure are relatively low and the use of the medium is quite easy. It is our aim to also demonstrate those points during the Full Colour Tour.
A strategic objective for the long term could be to increase the participation and access of all South-African students to expression and decision-making in and through new technologies of communication.
Magenta Foundation
Amsterdam - The Netherlands
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