This project began in March 2003 and Phase 1 was completed in December 2003. The Centre for Popular Memory mentored two young residents from Guguletu, Sibongile Mtini and Andiswa Gidana, in aquiring oral history skills, archiving best practice, training in equipment use, transcription and translation. The interns then went into their community in the township of Guguletu and conducted 40 interviews with long time residents. The core theme was looking and listening to peoples stories of unrest experienced during apartheid, especially the 1980's - when Guguletu and Langa were once again political hotspots for tension between police and students. All interviews were conducted in Xhosa and transcribed in the first langauge, these recordings were then translated into english for extended use.
Phase 1 ended in November 2003 with the launch of the multi lingual/multi media exhibition at the CPOA hall in guguletu. Interviewees and their families were invited to celebrate the launch.
Phase 2 began in January 2004 with outreach and education initatives being explored in high schools both in the township of Guguletu and in schools within the region. The hope is that we can provide each school with a complete 14 panal exhibition set (in english and xhosa) and a CD rom of the residents voices for use within their curriculum.