The clock is ticking for 17-year-old Nonhlanhla Mashabana. For months, she’s buried herself in her textbooks. Now, instead of enjoying her matric dance like any teenager should, she can't shake her anxiety about the make-or-break final exams. They're just weeks away. In South Africa, the odds are against her: just 12 out of every 100 students who start Grade 1 will ever reach university. As Nonhlanhla prepares for her greatest challenge yet, the question is: Can she overcome a broken education system, or will it bring her down with it? Show Notes This is episode two of a series from Radio Workshop that explores the transition to higher education in South Africa. Listen to Episode One, Finding the Right Words.Support the work of Radio Workshop by donating today.Sign up for Radio Workshop’s newsletter on Substack, and connect with us on Instagram and LinkedIn.Sources: Youth Capital Education BriefPublic Servants Association of South Africa - Fixing Higher Education in South AfricaBusiness Tech - University FeesStats SA - Income and Expenditure SurveyNews24 - Campus crisis: 337 158 matrics qualify for university admission but there are only 202 000 placesAcknowledgements:Luminate, the Constitutionalism Fund, the Shin Creek Trust, the Anne Levy Charitable Trust, the SCP Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Pam and Bill Michaelcheck. Special thanks to Rob Byers, Clotilde Angelucci at Youth Capital, and to Hindenburg for supporting our projects across Africa with audio editing software.
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Finding the Right Words
In honor of Youth Day and the enduring resilience of South African students since the 1976 student protests, we're re-releasing Finding The Right Words. Meet Nonhlanhla Mashabana, a spelling bee champion and high-achieving high school student who has the odds stacked against her. Growing up poor in post-Apartheid South Africa, she carries the weight of her family's hopes for a better life. As she walks down a road that has caused so many to stumble, how will Nonhlanhla navigate a broken education system? Find out what happens next in episode two, Adulthood is Knocking, dropping soon.
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Greener Pastures
Ruby is a 30-year-old mother of three, and she’s ready to do whatever it takes to give her kids a better life. Even if it means leaving her family in Zimbabwe to become a live-in care worker in the UK. Now, halfway across the world from everyone she loves, Ruby works around the clock to make enough money to bring her family together again. But can Ruby sustain the punishing routine long enough to pull it off? Acknowledgements: Veryus Studio in Harare, Hindenburg, The Ann Levy Trust, The Shin Creek Trust, Luminate and The Ford Foundation.
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Unholy Treatment
Bana Mwesige was 12 years old when he joined the church choir. Singing was his sanctuary. But now, at age 28, Bana can’t bring himself to sing gospel anymore. It’s not his faith in God that has wavered, it’s his faith in the church. When his pastor tried to "cure" him from what needed no curing, Bana felt something inside of him break. Sources: Human Rights Council - The Lies and Dangers of Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Human Rights Watch - Dignity Debased: Forced Anal Examinations in Homosexuality Prosecutions International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 - Uganda Open Democracy - Anti-gay ‘therapy’ offered at Uganda health centres run by aid-funded groups Outright International - The Fight To End Conversion Practices in Africa Ugandan Parliament - The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 Victory City Chuch, Kampala - “If God Did It For Others He Can Also Do It For Me” Acknowledgements: The Stephen J. Hendrickson Foundation, the Ann Levy Trust, the Shin Creek Trust, and the Ford Foundation.
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It's Complicated
Dating is complicated. Not to mention dating on the apps! And for LGBTQI+ folks on the African continent, where many countries criminalise queerness, it’s even MORE complicated. We asked reporters in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Namibia to share how they navigate the highs and lows of seeking romance, community and friendship online. Despite all the pitfalls, love calls out to all of us. Sources:Amnesty International - Africa: Barrage of discriminatory laws stoking hate against LGBTI persons Acknowledgments: Produced by Radio Workshop and Context News. This episode would not have been possible without the support of the Free To Be Me program at Hivos.
Forget the Africa you think you know. This is Radio Workshop. With real stories about young Africans. From Freetown to Cape Town, hear the world’s youngest population. One story at a time.
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