DFL scholars get involved in human rights campaign for 2010
Human trafficking is one of the greatest challenges and major human rights violations of our time and with the coming of the FIFA World Cup™ to South Africa, there were concerns within the NGO sector that there would be an upsurge in activities related to human trafficking, such as prostitution and forced labour of adults and minors.
As part of the “Together We Can End Human Trafficking” project funded by Gender Links and other partners, Community Media for Development (CMFD) arranged for current and former Drama for Life (DFL) scholars to act as voice and radio actors and translators.
As the campaign was targeting African countries, it was important to get as many African languages within the radio slots and reach as many vulnerable groups as possible. Scholars involved included Benne Banda from Zambia; Benard Bongkisheri Wirsiy and Shella Ngefor from Cameroon; Tonderai Chiyindiko, Cletus Moyo and Natasha Mazonde from Zimbabwe; Pearl Mbolekwa and Ithateleng Sesinyi from Lesotho; Ookeditse Phala and Tshiamo Petersen from Botswana.
According to the CMFD website where the spots are available for listening, “The radio spots were produced to raise awareness about human trafficking and provide information about where to report suspected cases of trafficking during and after the FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa.” The messages were recorded in English, seSotho, isiZulu, Afrikaans, Nyanja, Chichewa, seTswana, Shona, Portuguese, French and Tsonga.
DFL provided the bulk of the actors because of the diversity of countries represented every year on the programme.
“The ‘Together We can End Human Trafficking’ radio spots and guide are designed to help radio stations join in the fight against human trafficking leading up to, during, and after the World Cup. By raising awareness about how human trafficking can be prevented, recognised, and reported, [the] media can help save lives, and provide individuals, families, and communities with information needed to stay safe,” argues the CMFD website. The recordings done in South African languages were distributed to community radio stations around the country, while those in other African languages were distributed to radio stations across the continent according to the languages spoken in any one country.