A Stellenbosch University (SU) research project aimed to reduce violence in schools was recently launched in Kayamandi.
Named the Kayamandi School Safety Project, and led by Dr Bapiwe Gobodo, a postdoctoral fellow at SU’s Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ), the initiative called members of the Kayamandi community to include the boy-child in conversations about school safety and violence.
The Kayamandi School Safety Project is putting the “boy-child” at the centre of conversations around school safety, violence and the challenges facing young people, according to Dr Bapiwe Gobodo,a postdoctoral fellow at the Stellenbosch University’s Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, the lead researcher of the project PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
The aim of the project is to bring together young people, teachers, community members and leaders to discuss long-term safety in Kayamandi, said Gobodo, who leads the project in partnership with the SU’s Centre for the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ).
By also involving faith-based institutions and initiation schools, the initiative aims to create an open dialogue about the underlying issues causing the violence, said Gobodo.
“What we are seeing is the high rate of students that are dropping out, predominantly young black men, and especially when we look at the perpetrators of the violence, it happens to be young black men. And if we look at the victims of the violence, it also happens to be young black men,” said Dr Gobodo.
“We are seeing a cycle of black men being stuck, and either having no choices or having no better decisions to make so they end up being caught in the cycle,” he said.
Dr Bapiwe Gobodo, the organiser and lead researcher working with the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, behind the Kayamandi School Safety Project. According to Gobodo, this project aims to address school safety and violence in the Kayamandi community. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
During the launch event, Zenande Mbini, a therapist and area manager at Community Keepers, a non-profit organisation (NPO) dedicated to improving the well-being of learners and their caretakers, said that it was essential to involve young people in these conversations.
“Usually when it comes to such initiatives, we tend to discuss, strategise, and come up with solutions without the boy-child being present. Hearing from them will give us a new shift in perspectives of the whole thing,” said Mbini.
Students from Makupula High School and Kayamandi High School gathered at the recent launch of Stellenbosch University’s Kayamandi School Safety Project at AmaZink in Kayamandi this previous weekend. According to organisers, it was important to create spaces where the boy-child can be heard and supported. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe
When discussing the importance of schools in fostering such change, Paul Khambule, a parent who attended the event, said Kayamandi teachers are overworked, because classrooms have become overloaded with students.
“As parents, we work 12 hour shifts. We are away from [our] children for a good 14 to 16 hours [a day],” said Khambule. “Who is raising these children? […] He has a teacher but the teacher is overwhelmed.”
Khambule called on the Kayamandi community to live out the proverb “it takes a village”, and to collectively raise children as a community.
Community members, including parents, teachers, students and law enforcement, came together for discussions on school safety and the well-being of young people at the launch of the Kayamandi School Safety Project at AmaZink on 1 August. PHOTO: Amahle Thabethe