FJP Alumni motivating 2011 FJP

By Wendy Ngcobo

Sihle Siyabonga Mthembu took some time to motivate the 2011’s FJP’s (Future Journalist Programme).

He described his experience at FJP as one that was very interesting as it became a unique networking platform and learning experience. The workshops that were offered during his FJP year took his writing to another level. Initially, Sihle disliked writing hard news but he told FJP’s to pay attention to their writing workshops. He acknowledged the fact that the writing workshops made him more comfortable in writing especially feature stories.

Currently, Sihle is at the National Arts Festival, doing reviews for BBC. He is also doing an internship at the prestigious Media 24. These are valuable contacts which he made during the Highway Africa Conference, through the exposure offered by FJP. He advised FJPs to use this opportunity as a stepping stone to bigger things. “I met MathataTsedu at Highway, who told me about the cadet school  at Media 24,” he said. Ironically, Mathata has since taken Sihle under his wing.

He credited the programme for his success and the opportunities since derived from it. Sihle encouraged the FJP’s to take full use of this opportunity not only to build networks in the industry, but also amongst themselves.”The colleagues you have now will help you should you need to interview someone in Johannesburg and you are in Durban”.

He emphasised on professionalism as he believes it is what brought him to where he is now.” Remove the mentality of being a student”, he said. “That way you don’t leave room for mistakes.”

Sihle Mthembu checking shows that he will be reviewing

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Sihle encouraged the FJPs to spread out and think beyond politics, stressing the industry’s dire shortage of quality journalists, particularly in the field of arts, environment and business.

In the midst of story-chasing and meeting deadlines, Sihle motivated FJPs to always be prepared, take initiatives but also enjoy themselves and have fun.”This is a great opportunity” he said. 

For now Sihle’s he’s busy working on his first documentary called The Uprising. Asked on what    lies for the future, cinema was no doubt the next invasion space!

My insparation behind becoming a excellent feature writer

 By Wendy Ngcobo

As a young  upcoming journalist and feature writer I knew in order to be the best at what I do ,I needed to have someone I can gain knowledge  from, study their style of writing so I could be able to develop my own style of writing.

That day came in February when I first met Shelly Seid who is a journalist and feature writer for the Times .It was the beginning of a New Year and semester for me as a second year journalism student. Shelly came in  oozing power and skill which made her quite intimidating .I looked at her with panic as she pondered on us on what makes an excellent feature writer.

 I knew then that this was a woman I could learn form from. My first article to her was a profile which I ended up having to rewrite four times. Ever since then I have learned a lot form her and my writing has also improved.

Shelly emphasised that she was not a born writer but she has had to master and constantly learn .Something that was quite encouraging because as somebody that was new in the field I realised that I too could master this trade. She has inspired me to become a good feature writer, always stressing out that one should always have in mind who you’re writing for.”People don’t want to hear your opinion”, but the way you write can steer them in that direction without using the word ‘I’.

The day I write about a boring topic and make it interesting in a way that people read and say “wow that is an attention-grabbing article”. That will be a day that I know I would’ve made Shelly proud because I know I would’ve used everything that she has tried to instil in me .That is what makes Shelly Seid my inspiration.

Art in the context of Christian faith

by Wendy Ngcobo and Cindy Mthembu

“Nobody who comes to Grahamstown has to ask for directions to the Cathedral”.

This was the highlighting at this year’s spirit Fest .The Cathedral is one of the ancient buildings in Grahamstown. Spirit Fest is an item presented at the Grahamstown National Festival of the Arts. This is art in the context of Christian faith and items such as gospel music, lectures, worship and dance are offered.

 One of the highlights this year was a book Grahamstown Cathedral: A Guide and Short History by Charles Gould that was launched. Jeanette Eve introduced the new guide which is a continuation of the older guide. “I dedicated myself to the rewriting of this guide” said Eve explaining the hard work she did putting together the second guide. She thanked everyone including Dean Andrew Hunter who played a fundamental role in bringing the book to life.

She has been sceptical at first as she already had many projects that she was doing but was happy and excited about the finished product. Local is Lekker “, she said .She emphasised  that she was happy to say that this book was written ,updated and now released in Grahamstown . Eve gave a vote of thanks to the Cory library for preserving a lot of the archives about the Cathedral.

She described this as a part of Spirit Fest and a beautiful work of art. This book is being updated the first having been updated in 1927 ,”It will help regular worshippers as well as visitors” said Eve. It was done as the Cathedral has seen so much, even those who think they know the Cathedral will find some things that are new in this guide.

               

With many people coming to Fest, Christians who want to worship and ask God for guidance and people from other religion that are interested in finding out or just want to listen to gospel music can come to this historical and sacred place.

Artists showcasing their art at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival

Rus Judda  showcasing shoes he makes by hand

By Wendy Ngcobo

photo by Wendy Ngcobo

The Grahamstown National Arts Festival has attracted many artists to come and showcase their arts including Rus Judda who is a designer specialising in shoe making.

Rus has been coming to the flea market at the Festival since 2005 to sell his shoes. His normal day starts off early in the morning as he has to set up his stall and be ready for business.

He grew up making shoes and has used this as a way to make money and support his family. Coming from Port Elizabeth, the Festival has received him well as his merchandise sell like hot cakes amongst the locals. ”I have to pay a fee to set up my stall but its nothing compared to what I make”, he said.

He started out repairing shoes and now he designs and makes them.Rus's  shoes are made from scratch by hand with leather he purchases from PE Leather. This is a talent that he has had for many years now and it gets better as he grows older.

His only complaint is the many of the stalls that don’t sell anything that has to do with art.”They take up a lot of space and it’s supposed to be an art festival”, he said. But for now he is just happy to be at the festival.

FJP REUNION? Yes, please!

I miss this blog. Its one of the first outlets that I had to use to get published and as I watch it being in active, I become sad as this was such a great platform for young writers to get their thoughts, writings and talent to the world.

I miss the Future Journalists Programme. Its been two years and I remember that two years ago this time we were all prepared and super amped for the upcoming challenge that was the Arts Festival and seeing Grahamstown coming alive. Not only did I shock myself by writing my first tongue-in-cheek article and also interviewing Xolela Mangcu, who turned out to be a nightmare, very rude and unkind to young journalists, but I stood my ground and got the response I needed.

I miss YOU guys. We may chat on Facebook, twitter and everything, but you all made a HUGE impact on my life and I would do anything to see you guys. What I'm saying really is how about we have an FJP reunion, just so we can see where we are now, whether we all have jobs, and share how FJP made our lives better or improved our chances of being accepted in the industry?

So I'm posing a request to everyone who is FJP alumni? Can we meet up soon and reminisce about the good times that we had as FJP's? I know that FJP helped ME secure the job I have now and so interested was my editor about it, I spent a good 15 minutes talking about it, mind you this was on an impromptu interview on my graduation day!

Me and colleague, Charmel Bowman

 So how about it Boss Lady? Can Highway Africa and Open Society pull it off???