07 October 2014
I still feel like there’s not enough being done to develop Eastern Cape underprivileged residents. Almost all activities end up going to places like Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Durban. Talent scouts of all kind focus 'mostly' on those places, and exclude many Eastern Cape cities and townships, except in some instances Port Elizabeth.
I feel like there’s a lot of talk and no action, all you’d see are writings in websites, newspapers or listen to government officials talk nicely that there are plans that are going to be implemented aimed at developing the youth of today. In the end only a few places get to benefit from all of that. I see no change in the area that I live in and in the Eastern Cape in general.
Not all schools even participate in sports, even singing competitions and others that could encourage youth involvement in activities. The involvement of the youth in these things helps them learn many skills they could use in life. They learn to work in teams, they learn to accept one another for who they are, they learn to get along with each other. They also learn to respect their teachers, instructors, the general public and leaders of their communities. Besides all that, they get to feel passion for what they do, and have a sense of belonging as they would have peers and parents or siblings away from home. They also get a sense of feel of travelling to many places and enjoy the experience whilst learning to be champions and in the process forgeting about their difficult home situations and upbringings.
These activities are scarce nowadays, only a few schools and communities still practice them. This all results to the youth easily influenced by bad things they would see in the media and be encouraged to drink, smoke drugs, ‘have fun’, or spend money on expensive clothing like there’s no tomorrow. Instead, they should be paying attention to useful programmes, ones that could make them responsible adults some day. There isn’t that much change I see, all I see is people that I grew up with going to jail, dying, or being involved in wrong things. Another alternative from the government and communities is in serious need, a different approach. The government of today hasn’t really been that successful, as crime is still on the rise, there’s less transformation and more crime.
I think you may be right about many things you said here...Eastern Cape has been left behind in many developments in the country. And that has led to the Youth not choosing the right path in life one way or another. However, I would like to add that even though the Government is not playing its part in fulfilling their promises to the people of the eastern Cape. The People, themselves, are not doing much to ensure that they are progressing in life. I think people growing up in that state of environment where everything just goes and no body really cares, The youth themselves end up not caring much. And I also think we can not always depend on what the Government has to offer. This is coming from a person who grew up in Mdantsane, people there more that anything else, they lack knowledge. Knowledge in terms of what the world can offer for them, Knowledge in terms of how to progress in life and how to get out non-progressing mentality. People Need to be educated about the opportunities available to them.
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