Monday, June 6, 2011

Good Night and Good Luck

So there it is. After weeks of frustration, complications, hard work and eventual success , Refilwe and I have finished our Upstart on Radio project. In looking back at my first blog post all those weeks ago, it’s fair to say that the project hasn’t gone as I’d hoped. I was hoping for a series of shows produced by our Upstarters that combined entertainment with informative content for the youth around Grahamstown. In the end, we were happy to settle for a series of live interviews, each performed by the Upstarters, which only really benefited their own personal radio experience. On top of this, our main aim was to create a platform from which Upstart on Radio could continue once Refilwe and I had gone. My feeling now is that this is a long shot.

Refilwe and I hosted a debriefing session- a final evaluation of how the project has gone and how it can be taken further. The good news was that the Upstarters seemed to have really enjoyed the experience; they learnt a lot and made some new friends along the way. The bad news was what Shireen had to say after the Upstarters’ evaluation. She didn’t realistically see Upstart on Radio continuing once Refilwe and I had left. She made sense too. There will be no-one to host the workshops for generating content, and no-one to organize what the Upstarters have to do, where they have to be and when. But just when I was about to admit defeat, I learnt of the news of Buhle’s departure as Producer of the Yung Amplified show…and her potential replacement? Refilwe.

Buhle had been one of our main causes for concern throughout the project. She never really seemed interested in incorporating Upstart into the Yung Amplified show. She would never come to meetings and it was difficult to stay in touvh with her. In the end, we were made to feel like we were intruding into Yung Amplified’s space. Now that Buhle has resigned from her position (with the sudden occurrence to me now that her heart was never really in it), Refilwe has stuck her hand up, and is keen for the role. When Shireen heard this unexpected news in the session, a new hope formed for Upstart on Radio, because if the producer of the Yung Amplified is also involved with Upstart, a partnership might just be able to form, which will allow Upstart on Radio to continue.

My concern is that Refilwe won’t (understandably) have the time to put the sufficient effort into this role. If this is so, it seems pointless for next years fourth years to do the same project again, because a familiar pattern will form, where for 6 months of the year every year, Upstart on Radio will be forgotten, only to be re-launched and retaught to new Upstarters for the other 6 months. This doesn’t seem to match the concept of in-service learning that we learnt about at the beginning of the year, because who will this really be benefitting on a large scale?

When I dropped the young Upstarters off at Grocotts after the debriefing session, Batha asked, “so will we be seeing you again?” “Hopefully soon,” I responded, which really sums up my feelings about Upstart on Radio- with a bit of luck, Upstart on Radio still has a future. While I’m still at Rhodes, I will do what I can to make sure this happens, and Fifi’s new and unexpected role might go some way towards aiding in this.

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