Word: townships
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...unlicensed, unnamed mine near the village of Zhongzai, a bedraggled corps of 25 workers doesn't wait for the cover of night: even though the mine is illegal, no one has bothered to come check this remote corner of Bijie township. Blackened, sinewy men pull massive lumps of coal from a slimy tunnel. The miners disappear for up to five hours at a time into the cramped, disorienting dark, crouching low to heave their pickaxes into the crumbling blackness. To pass the time, some light cigarettes, risking a deadly explosion. The pay for a day's work...
...Villagers have heard horror stories of illegal mining companies intimidating victims' families who speak out. In a village in Bijie township, a woman complained to neighbors last month that mine owners didn't pay compensation for her husband's death. The next day, she disappeared. No one has heard from her since. A boy leading his mule past Heguantun village instinctively shakes his head when asked about coal mines in the area. Yet just meters away, in the center of this dusty hamlet, men haul bits of coal out of a narrow shaft. "This is not an illegal mine," insists...
...Soul City' reflects the life and hard times of people in a typical South African urban black township. In fact, most of the series' location shots are taken in Alexandra, one of the oldest and most squalid of South Africa's black slums, just outside Johannesburg. And 'Soul City's clinic, where much of the drama is centered, is based on an actual clinic in Alexandra...
...That medical theme is not surprising, since the idea for the show came from two young white South African doctors, Garth Japhet and Shereen Usdin, who had studied and worked in township hospitals and clinics, including in Alexandra. They envisioned a dramatic program that would highlight the social and health problems - particularly HIV-AIDS - in the townships. They convinced a long list of donors - which today include the European Union, Britain's Department for International Development, unicef, British Petroleum, the mobile-phone network MTN and the South African government's Department of Health - to put up the money, and 'Soul...
...What makes 'Soul City' so successful is not merely its authentic portrayal of township life but also its intimacy with viewers. Many of the actors live in the townships. "That sometimes presents a problem," says Lebo Ramafoko, producer of the latest series. "Our actors are seen as real people. They have to become the advocates and counselors they portray on the screen." Some of the cast members have been discovered through 'Soul City's annual "Search for a Star" initiative. Among them is Doreen Kotsedi-Pitse, a blind woman who will play the part of a radio talk-show coordinator...