The Question Pot keeps boiling over

Today I received feedback from my Radio Production class regarding the oral exam/presentation we had to give at the beginning of this term. One of the general themes which seemed to emerge was that there was enough clarity on my choice of elective “Women in the Military” and that I do not allow myself the chance to incorporate my identity into my work. I took these comments in and sat for close to an hour mulling over these aspects and asking myself questions as to why I am doing what I am doing? Why women? Why the Military? What is my identity and how do I represent myself? So here goes...

I am a coloured woman. I was born in a time where I can study anywhere, use the same toilet as a white, Indian or black person and kiss any guy I like not because of his skin colour but because of his cute smile or his engulfing laugh. I have had to struggle, fight and work damn hard to get where I am today. I believe that I am a feminist as I have no issues with working one day while my husband buys groceries and cleans the house. I am a strong and independent woman. I was raised by a mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, stepmother, multiple aunties and a few uncles. I am a product of my community’s efforts and for that I am forever grateful. This afternoon saw me come up with these identifiers and I am satisfied with them. Have they influenced my choice of elective? Definitely.

When I decided to choose an elective, I remember saying to my lecturer, Jeanne, that I wanted to focus my sights on gender roles being “switched”. Possible story ideas such as ‘Single Fathers’, ‘Women in Military’ or ‘Women Who choose their career over a family’ interested me immensely and after touching base with Jeanne, she recommended I choose one and focus on it throughout. I chose ‘Women in Military’, and today, I found myself asking “why” multiple times? I came up with two simple answers: I am interested in pursuing stories which see women defying the set roles that society has created for them and watching them succeed in these new and changing roles. The second reason: I still believe that women are not truly equal in society and the Military proves to be an excellent case study considering that men still dominate the SANDF (South African National Defence Force) hands down. This is evident from the women in 6 SAI I have interviewed thus far. It has been reassuring to know though that the Defence Force is taking steps to change this- even if it is still a distant vision.  

I find myself interviewing these women and letting them know that they may fight for our country as a whole but they are also fighting for the rights of women. They are silent heros, deployed to countries like Berundi, DRC or Sudan on Peace keeping missions. I had never heard about their work until my time at 6 SAI. Then I wonder, is a month like “Women’s Month” even necessary if we don’t pay tribute to these women? Then again, perhaps we shouldn’t even have a Women’s Month at all as it shows that women are still not fully appreciated as equal and therefore need a month to fight for what is lacking. So a documentary highlighting these women’s roles in the service of our country is needed to ensure that the conversation surrounding women’s struggles continues until we can prove Captain Windvogel wrong when she says that “Women will never be equal to men..”. 

This blog post has taken a different stance from my usual reflective processes regarding the interviews I conduct. It is my chance to remind or rather keep questioning my decisions, a chance to make myself responsible for the stories that I record and the manner in which I choose to represent them. In representing them I have to also remain true to what it is I stand for and I think that is what I need to not lose sight of- the tension between the two and how I manage to make the two ends meet. 

Nadia

Paperwork VS Deployment

Week two. Week two at 6 SAI and I am starting to itch for stories that I feel these women are not telling me. Then again, I could possibly be trying to find stories that shock, scare, or bring tears to not only my eyes but the eyes of my listener. As I type this though, I find myself asking: “Is that all you care about? Shouldn’t the stories rather be true- a snapshot of these women’s lives?” I guess I arrived at the Grahamstown base with my expectations 100km away from where they should be. Listening back to these interviews though and creating follow up questions, I feel like I am slowly starting to lessen that gap.  

Week two saw me arrive at the base with my recorder at my side, pen and paper in my hand and a smile on my face- I was ready for interviews. But like today (Tuesday), I sat for a few hours waiting for one of the women Royden had organised to chat with me. At one point, I was ready for ANY woman to talk to as I was tired and started to feel disheartened. Then out of nowhere, I was told that Nombulelo Zuma who works in Human Resources (HR) and Sio Morodi who had worked in the Infantry section were willing to talk to me and I was ready for action. 

What I found most interesting about these two women is the difference in the experiences they have had thus far in the army. Zuma works in an office, she only joined the military as she needed a job and the Military welcomed her and her expertise. She hasn’t as yet been deployed. Then you get Morodi who said, 

“When I grew up, I used to tell my mum, you know what, one day I will serve the Country. I’d like uniform when I grow up…it was my dream to be in the army….”

Morodi has been deployed and working as infantry saw her on the ground, keeping peace in countries like Burundi and fighting with her team when conflict arose. I was intrigued by her dedication to South Africa, her interest in the countries she has been deployed to and her empathy towards the people who were suffering that she saw there. This clearly worried her as she spoke about it and then didn’t continue after I asked a few more questions. 

These experiences she talks about have an honesty that I appreciate. I also understand that there is only so much these women can tell me. Life of a soldier I guess. You leave certain privileges of being a civilian behind when you answer the call to be a soldier and that for me is still one aspect of these women’s lives that I find hard to understand. It’s like becoming a nun or a priest- you give away the life you knew for the calling.

Plans for this week? I’m going to watch a marching parade at an ungodly hour in the morning and I might even be able to watch some of these women in action with a gun! And I have follow up interviews with the four I have worked with thus far. There is one soldier who I am dying to interview- she is the only female mechanic at the base and she seems to be quite cautious of me. I am working on it though- I reckon she has some great stories to share. Until the next blog post! 

Nadia  

Attention! About turn! At ease!

The 30km Route March of which I only did 5km...

My ears are now becoming accustomed to commands while working at 6 SAI. Attention! About Turn! At ease! While I am gaining more knowledge about this structured workplace, I am also starting to find gems in all my audio collection. My last blog post spoke about my frustration at not being able to have easy access to the women with whom I want to speak. But after a full week at the Fittest Soldier Competition, at least I have some really great audio to compliment the interviews that I will be having with these women. I am feeling ‘at ease’ :). 

Interviewing female soldiers taking part in the competition

On Women’s Day- 9^th of August 2012, Mike (my fellow radio student), accompanied me to the competition with a camera to practice his photography. We were up at 6am, and at the 6 SAI base at 7:15am! We thought we were early enough to begin the ‘Route March’ with the competing soldiers, but we weren't- the soldiers started their march about 15mins earlier than we had expected. The 'Route March' saw the soldiers march over 30kms with a bag on their backs filled with sand and their water bottles. We were at the back, following them as they walked- we only managed 5kms and then turned back. I recorded my own experience of walking this terrain and I definitely want to include this in the documentary as it shows how fit these men and women are in comparison to us. It also shows their dedication, again as opposed to ours. The audio gives great insight into the competition and my experience of this new world. For me, it is a highly demanding world, and yet it is one which many these soldiers treat as their norm.

Women's Day and yet these soldiers are on a Route March. A 30km Route March!

Coming over the first hill- the soldiers march on...and on...and on...

I had another interview this week, this time with Ntomboza Kobekitcha. She’s a Privateer and works in the Logistics section of the military. I only just realised that I didn’t know what a ‘privateer’ is so that is another question I plan to find the answer to along with my many others. The interview with her was very impromptu, and I feel that I could have got more out of it, but it was a start. One of the things Ntomboza spoke about which I would like to ask the other women as well, was her family’s reaction to her working in the military. She told me about how her family were not happy about her decision to become a soldier. In her words: 

“my mother was against it, she even called the family and everything... she said it was dangerous and what what. Being a soldier is a calling, so I went....” 

A calling? I keep asking myself how strong that calling must be if it means joining a workforce in which there is the likelihood of being shot, being hurt and yes, dying. But for her it was about the calling, about proving to her family that “as a woman, I can make it. There’s no difference between a woman and a man... if a man can do it, I can also do it...”. 

I’m at the point of my research where I am starting to uncover similar themes between the stories these women tell. Captain Windvogel and Ntomboza talk about being women in a man's world and being able to work as well as any man. They sometimes mention a struggle to get where they are currently. 

Next step? I want to know what it means for them to be women in the work they do. Does this make any difference? I guess in this whole process I am finding out what it means for me to be a woman too and how I, like them, place myself in male dominated spaces. I feel like I’m finally getting somewhere.

Nadia

One Casspir at a time!

 

I’m frustrated. I am also grateful.

I am frustrated at the pace that this week is taking. It is already Tuesday and I am not as far as I could be regarding my interviews with the women at the military base. I thought I would be talking to these women about their lives in the military, about what their experiences are, why they chose the military and where they see such a career/job going? But instead, I feel like I’m just recording the Fittest Soldier Competition. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed being given the opportunity to be a part of the competition - the audio I have been collecting is fantastic! I have recorded some action audio with the soldiers marching,  jumping over *Casspirs, carrying logs and running with breast plates. They all have to prove themselves in a competition where fitness and good health matters. I am grateful to be here and feel quite free as I walk around between soldiers to get the best audio I can. 

But nevertheless, this week has  begun with a sense of tension. Tension which I have to start resolving.

In all of this action, I have to keep reminding myself of what I came for – which is to explore what it is like, for women, to serve in the military.  What does it mean to work and live in such a highly structured environment? I feel foreign watching these soldiers listen and follow through with orders in such a quick and controlled manner. No doubt, no questions. I am learning though- one command at a time.

Thus far I have only had one interview with Captain Windvogel and as I mentioned, she was great! She leads a team in the health care of soldiers at 6 SAI (6th South African Infantry). She is a strong and focused woman. She wears her uniform with pride. As we spoke, she began to open up to me, letting me  know that she believes in her work. But the time spent with her was so very short. I know that there is so much more that she can tell me! I have asked Royden if I can go back to  her for a follow-up interview.  I am in the process of transcribing my interview with her  and this has allowed me to pick on questions which I still want to ask her, or things I left out. For example, I didn’t get a chance to ask her more about her family life, and how she balances this with her  work. She is quite busy, so I have asked to talk to her next week some time. I would also like to go around with her when she works with her patients.

 

For now, I will continue my work with the Fittest Soldier Competition and see where it takes me. In terms of talking to women who compete in this competition, they are quite shy, and I barely get out their names. But I guess I have to take a cue from these fit soldiers and grow some muscle and carry on!

 

The 'Casspirs'  which the competing soldiers had to scale

One question which has been fluttering through my head in this whole process is: should I use my own experience of  the nilitary as content for the documentary? I initially wanted to come to the military base having these women speak for themselves, but could this documentary possibly become a platform for these women as well as myself to say something important?  Something about what it means to be a woman in South African society?  Maybe I could say that the struggles that women generally face are mirrored by these women who  work in the military and who serve our country? An idea which I am still thinking about…

Nadia

P. S. One more thing! I’ll also be recording my adventures in this new wonderland and will upload them in-between my blog posts. You can then hear my thoughts and how I react to these situations on the spot! :)

* The Casspir is a mine protected vehicle used in the South African National Defence Force. Follow this link to read more about this vehicle: http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product1130.html

When the road gets rough… follow through!

 

I drove through the boom gate at the Grahamstown military base at about 2km/h and waved nervously at the soldier lifting the boom.  Although he waved back and didn’t stop me, he also  didn’t return my toothy smile. “Right… where to now?” I asked myself as I steered the car left and parked outside what looked like an office for guests.  I asked the soldier that I found inside this office where I could find Mr. Flotman – the communications officer whom I had been in touch with regarding the research for my audio documentary on women in the military.  He hopped in the car with me to direct me, and I drove slowly to Royden’s office. I was relieved to find Mr Flotman smiling and very welcoming, happy and  willing to help me. Why had I been so nervous in the first place?

The first week with Mr. Flotman made me aware of a few things. One: For a journalist who wants to do stories that involve the military, there is clearly always masses of bureaucracy involved.  Royden, as I now called him, had to complete a large stack of paperwork ensuring that everybody knew I was there and what I was there for. Two:  Having someone at your side who can help you to jump through the necessary bureaucratic hoops is valuable, yet could also hinder it in some ways.  I discovered this soon enough when I started interviewing. Royden was present throughout, which had real advantages, but also posed some problems. It made me feel uncomfortable having someone watch the process, as there is the possibility that the women won’t open up to me the way I hope they might. Yet I was also grateful that he was there because everyone knows him and I get in places quicker and easier- especially as he has planned well for my arrival.  

Take, for example, my interview with Captain Windvogel, the head nurse at the base. I conducted only one interview with her. The first question that she asked Royden was: “Is she allowed to be here?” and I wiped my brow knowing that I didn’t have to deal with that. At the same time, I became conscious that I need to establish a careful balance in my relationship with Royden. On one hand, I need him to help me understand the proper protocol  regarding my interaction with these women I interview, so that I do not step out of the boundaries of my agreement that has allowed me to gain access to them.  On the other hand, I want the women to have a space in which they can open up to me, without feeling constrained by presence of another officer. 

I guess I need to build a network of trust with the people I work with for this project – and that includes both the women whom I need to interview, and Royden.  So I will dedicate my time to also building that network. I have never worked with such a large institution before and I can see that I will face challenges.  My ability to overcome them it depends on my relationship with Royden, and also with the women with the women who will be at the centre of my story.  

For now, Royden and I get on well.  He has even placed me on the “The SA army Infantry Formation Fittest Soldier” Competition guest list. The 6th- 10th of August will see me following this competition, which has women in its teams and tests/promotes healthy and fit soldiers. I am keen to talk to women taking part in the competition and finding out more about their stories in the military as a whole. Until next week…

Nadia

Boob Lift

This Sunday, my digsmate and I came to the conclusion that as women with bigger busts, we have the upper hand. When buying shirts, we are able to fill out the shirt quite well and this essentially makes sure that it looks even better than it did on the coat hanger lookalike mannequin in the shop window! In a strange and yet fully logical manner, the analogy can also be applied to Upstart and the show we produced this week and are trying to plan for future shows. Let me explain: like the running order that I referred to in my blog post last week, and to the shirt that I refer to this week, these two are the structures that hold or arrange the show or the mentioned body parts. And the ‘filler’, be it  boobs or programming content is what counts in the end. I think our show this week was in the ‘C-cup’ range of bra sizes, resting in a medium sized shirt: a good fit but more could have been added to make it that much of a better fit. 

Freedom Day was the decided theme for this week and a good theme it proved to be. We had two guests in studio- Mr. Maqanda, a history teacher at Ziphozihle’s school and Mr. Richard Pithouse, the Politics lecturer here at Rhodes. Both were led into discussion by Anesipho who at times nearly got overtaken by the passion with which Maqanda and Pithouse spoke about Freedom Day, the country’s 18^th birthday and how the youth can come to appreciate a day that they didn’t experience (the first democratic voting). The content of the interview was well guided by Anesipho’s questions which were sculpted by BK well before hand. I think this is quite an important aspect of the show prepration that  BK has picked up on;  that is, making sure that the questions used by the Upstarters when conducting live and recorded interviews, are structured and focused. I was so grateful for BK at that point because Anesipho had no worries what-so-ever while sitting next to these two well-spoken men. (Girl Power!)

During the debriefing session after the show, Ziphozihle and Thobani spoke about the interviews they conducted this week with regards to Freedom Day. Ziphozihle had experienced technical difficulties and her interview couldn’t be aired, but it was clear that for her, the experience of talking to her interviewees had nevertheless been positive. She explained that the  general reaction of the people she spoke to in her community to Freedom Day was quite good. Something she said about spending her Freedom Day at home and talking to her family about the holiday struck me. The mere fact that she was discussing this holiday with her family was amazing to me because my family and I don’t do that at all! I enjoyed listening to her retelling some of these stories and the experiences her family had for them to appreciate Freedom Day.

Thobani’s interview which we edited and could air, had me (and hopefully people at home and in studio) thinking quite seriously about what Freedom Day means to him and his community. Norman, the elderly man he had interviewed, retold a story about the days of Apartheid. I found his descriptions really contributed to the meaning of the show:

“There was a certain siren that would cry… each and every black man must move out from town because there was a time when if you were in town, you had to produce a certain paper, where are you coming from- to and from, the paper… it was so embarrassing that time…”

This was a  man who has lived through Apartheid and who can appreciate a day like Freedom Day because he now has the freedom to walk the streets without that piece of paper.  Listening to him  made me reconsider this public holiday and its worth. I think I may ask my family about their Freedom Day experiences now and try make it more important than a day of sleeping and movies. But in my defense for this year, I did help with the creation of the Upstart show on Freedom Day, so I think that counts :).  

I would say that currently, even though we still have glitches such as transport, no presenters being in studio (long story which I don’t feel like talking about really) and having to bring Steve in as anchor this week, our show went as smoothly as it could. We still had laughs towards the end, people listening at home (as we saw on twitter but still not Mxit as I had hoped). And there was an email from Masi, the Rhodes music Radio station manager, saying that he tuned in and thought it was really good content. So all in all, we’re getting there. Next week we talk Worker’s Day! Watch this space as our Upstart Radio bra size hopefully gets that well deserved boob lift and goes to a perky D-cup!  

Nadia

The Running Order

The running order used in a radio show is like the Bible to a Catholic person. We stick closely to the contents, allow for some changes to suit the show and expect everyone to treat it as special. What exactly is it, you ask? Well, it’s a piece of paper with a table on it. It is numbered and there is content (be it live or pre-recorded) written in this table. The running order also informs all those involved in the radio show as to:

• Who is going to say what and when during the hour long show
• When each item will be played 
• How long each item is, be it music, discussions, recorded packages etc.
• And it ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Does the running order take a lot of prep beforehand! Oh you bet! Did Nadia have timing for each package/piece this past week? Nope. And did the show work out? You can bet your grandfather’s socks it did! 

This past week dear reader was amazing! For the first time in... forever, the show finally had some form of structure. It had a legit running order, everyone had different parts to play in the show and yet came together so well in the end! We had guests in studio, both presenters were present (YAY!!) and the theme, “Hitch Hiking” proved to be a fantastic one.

So yes, there were many positives that came out of a show that nearly fell apart in the 5 minutes before we were to go on air, but I think there was a lot to learn from it and from, as I have titled my blog post today: the running order. 

The collaboration between myself, BK, Steve and Mike as fourth years and with the six Upstart members is finally starting to bear fruit. I feel that, in the same way that a running order provides guidance and security, we have established a safe structure for the Upstart members, beginning in Term One. This term, we have said that yes, we are the support structure , but Anesipho, Ziphozihle, Roche, Thobani, Anelisa and Sinovuyo need to fill in this running order with ideas and plans, so that they can use the show to their benefit. I think that is what they still need to know fully, is that they need to USE us and this show as a platform to discuss, highlight and take control of issues in their communities. They are slowly starting to fill these spaces for themselves, but we still have lots of work to do.  

With these structures in place and gaining momentum steadily, Anesipho, Ziphozihle, Roche, Thobani, Anelisa and Sinovuyo are gaining confidence not only on air but in the field. We have now placed the responsibility on them to take recorders home and interview people in their communities about the topics we decide on together. 

Sinovuyo and Anelisa took control this past week by producing two strong interviews with pupils in their school about their experiences with hitch hiking. One girl even spoke about how she sometimes worries that she may be killed when hitchhiking, but what can you do when you need transport? They took this topic seriously and applied it to their communities who responded through a few Facebook messages, an sms and general comments made to the Upstarters themselves.

For now, I am happy that we have these structures in place and we have a rough plan for the term as I would like to focus on good content for each show. Otherwise, our ‘teamwork running order’ can only get stronger, one second at a time! 

Nadia