theTree-zine

www.thesongofthetree.com

Issue No.2 - Apri l 2012

w o r l d w i d e d i a l o g u e f o r p o s i t i v e c h a n g e

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Welcome to i ssue #2 o f the Tree-z ine !

The Tree-zine presents members and projects of The Song of the Tree Initiative (TSTI). You can read more about TSTI at www.thesongofthetree.com and learn how you can get visibility for your creative content and share you ideas with the world.

The theme for this issue is Knowing Yourself and we are featuring articles by film director Mary-Ann Mandishona (Zimbabwe), writer Janna Thorström (Finland) and Dr Ibrahim Saleh, University of Cape Town (South Africa).

We are also presenting our collaborators Global Academy (Zimbabwe), The Mothertongue Project (South Africa) and Nordsjö lågstadieskola (Finland).

The Tree of the Month-series features trees with a story from around the world, beginning with our very own TSTI Tree. And we will begin the process of revealing one of our best kept secrets regarding the theme song of TSTI and how it reaches two of the best known and most loved musicians in southern Africa.

Sit back, relax and enjoy. We are happy to have you with us!

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I ndex

2 Welcome to issue #2 of the Tree-zine!4 Editors Greeting5 TSTI in FINLAND5 TSTI in ZIMBABWE6 TSTI in SOUTH AFRICA7 TSTI and The Tune of the Tree8 Knowing yourself through the medium of film, by Mary-Ann Mandishona10 Presenting our collaborator: Global Academy Zimbabwe12 Expand Through Being Creative, by Janna Thorström14 Presenting our collaborator: Nordsjö lågstadieskola Helsinki, Finland15 Self Reflection 216 The Art of Living to Learn New Things, by Dr Ibrahim Saleh18 Presenting our collaborators: The Mothertongue Project Cape Town, South Africa20 Tree of the Month21 Self Reflection 322 Next Issue

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When I was a child, my sister Anki had a t-shirt with the text “I seek for my inner self like a song in search of a

voice.” I loved that t-shirt. A part of me understood exactly what it was saying and the other part of me desperately wanted to get it.

A part of being a little sister includes that eventually you get a chance to inherit things that your older sister doesn’t want any more. To my great joy, that was the case with this particular t-shirt. It was quite worn out and I added to the damage by making the neck opening bigger (I feel like I am choking if the collar is too tight). It was perfect.

During my four years of acting training I wore that t-shirt as often as I could. People would come up to me and read the text “I seek for my inner self like a song in search of a voice.” The responses were different, some would automatically say “Oh, that’s nice” and walk away. Others would think about it for a while, look puzzled and say nothing. And some would get that feeling of recognition that reveals itself through the eyes and they would look like a part of themselves just got a confirmation about what they already knew and the other part of them embarking on the journey to find out what it means.

During the past year I have begun to feel that my song and my voice are coming together. Not only as an idea but as a practice. Last friday I had one of those moments when I realized that this particular day I am living life the way I truly want to live. In the morning I had an inspiring first rehearsal for my solo performance (I’ve not been acting for 6 years but my love for it has returned), during the day I was working on this Tree-zine and TSTI and discussing with the universe about the next steps forward.

In the afternoon I spend two hours by the piano in the rehearsal studio working on the arrangement for songs that I’ve written. And in the evening I was reading about courage and the joy of living dangerously until I spend time with my family and went to sleep feeling that I am looking forward to waking up the next morning. Why? Because my song and my voice are coming together.

I am starting to know myself and most importantly I am feeling the courage to actually live my life. Due to our expanding nature it will be an ongoing quest and one morning I will read the sentence “I seek for my inner self like a song in search of a voice” and be puzzled again but this time it will not feel like a task to be completed, but like an adventure to be discovered.

Knowing Yourselfby Camilla Hellberg

Ed i to rs Gree t ing

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Spring has finally arrived in Finland. The snow is melting and the sun is

up longer every day. The sun, the light and the open sea are welcome after the long, dark and cold winter. Despite of the fact that I have been here in Finland during the cold months, a part of me has been down in Africa with the rest of the team. Thanks to today’s technology, our team members have many times worked together, in three countries, almost like being in the same room. It doesn’t matter where we are physically.

The work in Finland this past month has included negotiations with future collaborators and developing partnerships with existing ones, planning the frames for our activity and both coding and updating the site,

A greeting from Thomas Weckström Project Manager for TSTI

TST I in F INLAND

TST I in Z IMBABWE

A greeting from Dorothy MeckHead of TSTI in Zimbabwe

The month of March has been interesting as I had the opportunity to

meet with both a prominent african bank and a mobile giant about partnering with TSTI. The two organizations have high hopes for our project and wish to

partner with The Song Of the Tree team in the film and video productions to be done here in Zimbabwe. We will reveal who they are when deals have been signed. We are very happy about the progress!

www.thesongofthetree.com. We are very pleased to let you know that we are now ready for you to share your content on the site. It’s easy!

Just go to the site, register and read “How to share your content”. Your participation is what we’ve been preparing for.

The power of flow

I am processing other funds applications with several organizations that are funding the arts in Zim. I have just completed drafting two proposals to the Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe which funds such projects as ours.

Our Writer/Director Mary-Ann Mandishona and I are having discussions on the script development and Mary-Ann has completed the script research process.

I had a chat with our beloved still secret musicians who are ready to do the tune. Both of them have had a good chat and they are very passionate about this project and are in. I am currently working on other proposals as there are so many organizations likely to partner and participate in our project.

I urge all Zimbabweans to look out for this vibrant production. By visiting our website, it will give an insight of what The Song Of The Tree Initiative is all about.

Finding direction

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The past month in Cape Town has included hours and hours by the computer communicating with Thomas in Finland.

Updating the site, brainstorming about future plans, opening a Facebook page, following how many people have read the first issue of the Tree-zine, learning from our mistakes, compiling material for this issue and putting it together online with Simbirirai Solomon Maramba in Zimbabwe.

Kenny has been rehearsing The Song of the Tree play at Isilimela Comprehensive school in Langa and making plans for the collaboration with Welcome Primary in Heideveld. We have started a collaboration with Salty Dogs Studios in

Woodstock where we will have our first TSTI Cape Town office, wohoo!

We are in the process of starting a TSTI South Africa organisation that will be the anchor for activities happening here. The weather has moved from summer to autumn and our next step is to meet with people, organisations and companies who add value to others and invite them to share their passion with others on the TSTI site. And get funding. And enjoy the fact that we are doing what we love and allow it all to fall into place. It will. It is.

TST I in SOUTH AFR ICA

A greeting from Kenny Gibe, Head of TSTI in South Africa and Camilla Hellberg,Artistic Director for TSTI

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TST I and The Tune o f the Tree

An initiative like this needs income to be maintained. Therefore we decided to use the selling of a song as a

channel to raise the funds we need. We had many innovative ideas on how to do it, but we could never have imagined all the things that were coming our way to help us make it happen. We will now reveal some of the twists and turns that led us to amazing new opportunities.

Everything started in sauna on a small island named Kumlinge in Finland in July 2011. Our Artistic Director Camilla Hellberg had been writing the lyrics to the song The Tune of the Tree a few nights earlier. She was sitting in the sauna relaxing when a melody started playing inside her.

Camilla: “The melody just came to me, they way you hear musicians or writers or painters say that things just come to them and all you have to do is let it come and let it move through. And as it happens you know, or at least you have a strong feeling that there is something right about the whole thing.”

Camilla had her mobile phone (which she usually doesn’t bring with her) in the dressing room and she recorded the melody to her phone and sent it to her friend Kenny in South Africa. Kenny Gibe, Head of the Song of the Tree Initiative in South Africa and a professional musician listened to it and added the bridge to the melody and there it was.

When Project Manager Thomas Weckström and Camilla Hellberg arrived in Cape Town in November 2011 the plan was to record the song there. Camilla and Kenny worked on the arrangement and went to Andre’s recording studio in Mitchell’s Plain. They worked on it, but something wasn’t right. It didn’t sound right. Camilla and Thomas were leaving for Zimbabwe and time was running out. We decided that we would figure out a way for Kenny to join us and do the recording in Harare instead. Little did we know that the song had plans on its own and that our “failure” would lead us to two of Africa’s best known and most loved musicians... more about that in the next issue.

“The melody just came to me...”

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Film is a modern form of telling a story. Despite the glossy celluloid tape, technically advanced ‘high-definition 3D’

cameras and stereo-dolby sound systems, filmmakers are simply telling a story. So what is story?

Story is the oldest, creative embodiment of communication. It is powerful and is the reason African peoples have been able to preserve their oral traditions. Story is sacred and is the foundation for all cultures across the globe. Stories were told in time immemorial around camp fires in ancient cultures for a myriad of reasons; including the generational passing down of history, traditional values and cultural belief systems. Stories were passionately incited before battles to inspire warriors to fight harder. Stories were told to children in the form of nursery rhymes to warn them of impending dangers or sang as sonnets to teach the younger generations about ethical codes of conduct. Stories are the common thread in every civilization, new and old. They inspire, motivate, entertain, frighten and challenge us to expand our minds. The best stories push us; as humanity to know ourselves, to examine ourselves, to delve deeper, to scan wider and to search further.

Films are like a mirror, you can see yourself, or you can recognize some-one you know from a character. When this ‘insightful’ moment of instant recognition occurs, you are able to empathize with that specific character and feel a deep connection to the ‘hero’ or supporting cast member. It is a magical, intuitive moment that allows you to have an epiphany! Regardless of genre, your inner-child rejoices when you to live vicariously through the eyes of the ‘cowboy, indian, avatar, jedi, mermaid’ or whoever you choose to be in that hourly period, giving you a break from the mundane tasks of life. How refreshing and how pleasing it is, to be able to escape into a magical realm of make believe.

Film is about creative self expression with no boundaries or limitations. The beauty, majesty and wonderment of what your mind is able to imagine can be manifested through the medium of film. It may come in the form of special effects, a whimsical score, CGI graphics, outrageous costumes, lavish sets, animation or spectacular alien scenery. The imagination is a colossal palace of ideas and concepts, so film offers the perfect setting to implement your wildest dreams, deepest thoughts, fondest memories and broadest ideas about who you are and what you believe in. Film can also be used as a tool to question the status-quo, because knowing yourself involves examining your belief system or reaffirming it within the society you live in.

Films have the power to jumpstart innovative ideas which lead to inventions and industrial growth. A great example are the science fiction films from the sixties which propelled organizations such as Nasa to elevate it’s technology which resulted in space travel. The Star Trek series precipitated gadgets we use today such as ipads, iphones and laser technology. The MGM musicals infused so much positive energy, the romantic motion pictures motivated Americans to overcome the ‘great depression’ with song and dance. Documentary films about social ills ranging from child soldiers, human trafficking, domestic violence, refugees etc have motivated people and governments to make a change by protecting the vulnerable and amending the law. A musical film “Come Back, Africa” starring Miriam Makeba in the fifties provided international attention to the injustice of Apartheid in South Africa, which provided a human face to the repression of the black majority. Whilst it took many decades to free South Africa from tyranny, the ‘revolutionary’ seeds were planted. The seed of social films has the ability to grow into a monumental tree which represents the ideal of human growth, which I believe involve love, transformation, human

Knowing yourself through the medium of filmby Mary-Ann Mandishona

The film is currently in pre-production. Mary-Ann Mandishona from Matriarch Films in Zimbabwe is adapting The Song of the Tree script to five short stories about the life of five children in Zimbabwe today. The film is a collaboration between Afro Vision Entertainment (Zimbabwe), Matriarch Films (Zimbabwe) and

Nordpic Production Ltd (Finland).

The theme for this issue is Knowing Yourself and we are featuring three inspiring writers who reflect on the theme in relation to their area of passion. First up is film director Mary-Ann Mandishona from Zimbabwe.

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dignity, compassion and freedom. The symbolic branches are able to traverse beyond borders, through nations, languages, religions, cultures so that the ‘ideal’ may permeate the globe through story, without weapons or force.

Film in its truest form is timeless, the best films stand the test of time. They are viewed, remade, retold in various forms ranging from hollywood blockbusters, independent films, guerilla films, animation, documentaries, dvds and internet

What makes you laugh?What makes you c r y?

streaming by many generations and appreciated for their honesty, entertainment value and lessons. They are able to tap into the collective ‘universal consciousness’ to allow us to know ourselves and to challenge us to improve our ‘human journey’ called life. This is why I’m a filmmaker and this is why I believe ‘if you what to change the world’ make a film - tell a story.

Live in Peace and Love

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Global Academy is a visual arts and new media school. We exist to fill the gap between the demands of real life work

situations and the skills learnt through the traditional higher education system. By adopting a more hands on teaching system, we mould students equipped to take on practical world challenges. Through our commercial wing, Global Media, students and lecturers alike will build an impressive portfolio working with industry leaders to innovate and shape media in the country, region and beyond.

Our course portfolio is spread over five subject areas, Film Studies, Animation, Visual Effects, Design for the Web and Design for Print. We offer these courses on a full time one year basis at certificate level. Students have the option of sitting in on lectures from other courses to tailor make their course to fit their specific needs. Short courses and seminars are provided for industry professionals looking to polish up their skills and offer in depth study of specific subject areas within the broader media domain.

Global Academy draws its team of lecturers from the best and brightest in the industry. All our lecturers are industry professionals and academics devoting their time to mentoring students. Aside from our permanent lecturers guiding students throughout their courses, we will have guest lecturers and speakers from the local, regional and international industry. Whilst our preference is for direct contact with lecturers, we will also have online lectures from professionals at the cutting edge of international media.

We believe creative passion and vision should not be subject to technical limitations. Global Academy is committed to ensuring access to the latest and best equipment for all our media students including but not limited to overclocked high

end computers and HDTVs in classrooms, Cameras, lenses, soft boxes and other digital film equipment. Tablet computers will be issued to students during the school term, on which they can read reference books, research on the internet, watch tutorial videos and view eBooks, websites, movies, music videos and commercials for inspiration.

Given the nature of our courses, we at Global Academy do not rely on academic qualifications for our selection process. The A-level results of a prospective student give little indication of their abilities within the field of media, with the exception of an art qualification which may prove an advantage in the design for print or animation courses. Interested students fill in an application form which includes a questionnaire that tests their media analysis skills, this is what forms the basis of our selection criteria.

In most industries, academic qualifications are of prime importance, with the educational level attained and pedigree of the educational institution being critical factors in job placement. All Global Academy courses however are in areas where practical ability supersedes any academic qualifications. Our focus is on students building up portfolios that tangibly show their creativity and technical expertise. Whether you are planning to become a freelance artist or getting a job with an established production house, it is your portfolio that provides an accurate representation of your ability to perform and produce results.

With this in mind, we focus on ensuring students carry out as much practical work as possible, building a comprehensive portfolio covering the various aspects of our courses. We consult with industry to ensure assignments given to students are in line with skills requirements in real industry production

P resen t ing our co l l abora to r : G loba l Academy Z imbabwe

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situations and to focus on areas where the local, regional and international industries have skills shortages.

Our students will aquire the vision to conceive new forms of artistic expression and the technical expertise to bring their creations to life. Our Vision is to lead a media renaissance with African roots and global reach. Our mission is to empower the creative visionaries in the student body faculty that redefine artistic expression through media

In collaboration with industry practitioners in animation and visual effects, the Joint Afrikan Animation Group, lecturers and TSTI, the students from Global Academy will play a part in the TSTI anmation projects from conception through to creation.

Email: admin@globalacademyzimbabwe.comweb: www.globalacademyzimbabwe.com

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Creativity in different forms has been a part of my life since I was a child.

My mother being an artist our home was full of paints, materials, clay, a piano, sewing machines, buttons, glue, different papers, pencils, you name it. Creativity became just as natural as eating for me, and just as essential for my existence as food. It was not my first choice to become a writer, but something I had dreamed of when I read novel after novel as a young adult. While studying art I started to sit down and write every day without any specific goal. I was not trying to write stories or express something specific from my life. Instead I tryed to allow the writing to take form as freely as possible while ignoring the commenting mind that was jabbering in the background. I also tryed to view my texts in as open a manner as possible, to allow every combination of letters the same possibility of an existing on equal terms. During my little afternoon ventures texts with both a new feeling and expression than what I usually had written in my diaries started to take form. It seemed as if the words wanted to give shape to all sorts of things within me that had laid in the corners for all too long. As if material that had been unprocessed deep within me began to get a face and a cautious voice. What I had initially conceived of as a simple exercise to becoming more present began to evolve into something else. After a few years of almost daily periods of writing I became more and more fascinated with and curious about what was actually happening. It felt as if I had opened up to my subconscious and given it the opportunity to communicate with my everyday self. At times when I embarked into one of my writing seances it seemed as if my sense of time and space just disappeared, as if the writing in some miraculous way just appeared without me afterwards being able to explain what actually happened. These small exercises eventually turned into my first book.

According to professor Csikszentmihalyi,

Expand Through Being CreativeJanna Thorström

The second article in our Knowing Yourself-series is written by Janna Thorström from Finland and she reflects on the theme in relation to writing.

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a professor of psychology in Chicago, the creative personality can often be summed up in one word, complexity. According to him the creative person often shows tendencies towards both thoughts and actions which within most people are segregated, and their personalities often consist of many contradictory traits. The creative personality often has an ability to move from one extreme to another without experiencing and inner conflict.

”When I paint, my object is to show what I have found and not what I am looking for. To my misfortune- and probably to my delight- I use things as my passions tell me”.

(Pablo Picasso)

The everyday life of a creative profession is not always easy. To live with the uncertainty and the chaos at times of one´s own mind can be stressful, especially since there can be long periods of drought . Recently I experienced a period like this and was wishing at the time that I would be in a regular job and not be sitting frozen in front of a computer. During that period I came across the most beautiful pictures in a magazine of a playhouse that a father had built for his daughter. The playhouse was hexagonal, each window was of a different shape and consisted of many different colours joined together. The man that had built the house had spent hours of his free time building this miniature cottage. He, Jorma Helenius, said like this in the article : ”You should listen to your dream and not give up in the face of the smallest setback, or because you want an easier option. If you are always disgruntled and never dare anything, one day you will find yourself wondering where everything has gone, why nothing ever got done.”

To work with creativity is for me a continuos letting go, starting from the beginning, over and over again. If one is lucky and some days good at letting go while being creative then I believe life will serve an opportunity of experiencing a sense of bigger connectedness between oneself and one´s environment. In Lao Tzu´s ”Tao Te Ching” , an old favorite of mine, a term Te is presented. Simplified, one can say that Tao stands for the indefinable, from which all form originates; Te, again gives Tao a face. One of the most important things that Lao Tzu refers to in ”Tao Te Ching” has to do with the difference between an act that, independent of one´s ego emerges as a natural consequence of a deep belonging to one´s environment and that of the self-centered act that only seeks to fulfill the ambition of the ego. ”Te refers to action, virtue, morality, beauty and gracious behaviour. Te is the manifestation of the Tao within all things. Thus, to express the fullness of Te means to be in true harmony with the original nature of self and all things” (The secret teachings of the Tao Te Ching, Mantak Chia & Tao Huang).

Eminent action is inaction,For that action it is active.Inferior action never stops acting,For that reason it is inactive.Eminent action is disengaged,Yet nothing is left unfulfilled;Eminent humanness engages,Yet nothing is left unfulfilled.

(Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu 38:1-2)

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Presenting our collaborator: Nordsjö lågstadieskola Helsinki, Finland

Six years ago we started up a project with drama as a part of mother tongue teaching - in our case the Swedish

language is our mother tongue. We are a Swedish primary school in Helsinki, Finland for the Swedish speaking minority. After these first years of the project we have continuously drama, 10-20 lessons each class, because we had so good results in many different ways.

The first year we were having some difficulties in finding the right way how to do it like in every other project. After the first year there was one or two class teachers who really became inter-ested in drama and got hooked up. The drama teacher was a professional one and was really skilful but also had to try out what was the best way of doing it. It was a process the first year. It was also something new for parents and some also was of the opinion that drama is not any-thing good because the pupils don’t learn anything. It is not a subject like mathematics or history.

Now, five years later, I think there is nobody in our school who wants to skip drama in the teaching. We have had a lot of good experience and even the parents are happy with it not to talk about how much the pupils love it.

To the teachers it was very important that the themes in drama was connected to the themes in our general curriculum. We built up a drama curriculum for each year beginning with the first formers where they concentrate on group dynamics and building up confidence to each other and learning to know their own body. For the second formers we had “Space” as the theme and then thirds formers learn about their family and surroundings in Helsinki, forth formers do something about fairy tales or Vikings since that is a part of the curriculum. Fifth formers and sixth formers usually already know so much about drama that they want to build

up something from their own ideas together with the drama teacher. It has also become a success to perform these plays or acts for the rest of the school and parents.

Finally, what made our teachers and me so convinced about the positive effects of drama in teaching are the following things:

In drama the pupils learn to know their own body, to master it both physically and mentally, they learn about feelings and learn to cope with them, also about negative feelings. At the same time they learn much about body language and to interpret it because they have to use these skills as well. They also learn to respect others and that each of us is different and unique, in that way they also learn tolerance to each other. With all these tools they learn self confidence and self esteem. That means they don’t have to bully or tease other – they learn the limits and are confident in themselves. At last they also learn how to express themselves and how to perform and that we think and behave differently in different situations.

All these things help the growing child/youngster in the process of growing up and to become a harmonious culture person. Drama makes a difference for becoming a great and unique individual with humanistic values. That we really need in our society of today!

I think “The Song of the Tree” will help our children in growing up and learning about themselves as well as learning about another culture.

Ole Sandbacka, headmaster, Nordsjö lågstadieskola, Helsinki

Drama teaching in primary school

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Se l f Re f lec t ion 2

L is t 11 th ings about yourse l f tha t a re t rue .

L i s t 11 th ings about yourse l f tha t o thers th ink a re t rue .

L i s t 11 th ings about yourse l f tha t you wou ld l i ke to be t rue .

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Much of my current work emerges from my sincere intention to try to fill in the gaps of issues, topics

and fields that should be studied and analyzed within the parameters of political communication. I have been a ‘neo-institutional’ framework, which is now widely regarded as one of the core paradigms of my discipline.

For the last ten years, I have been working with students, educators and journalists, as well as media personnel with one goal of developing alternate forms of authentic self-assessment strategies. This academic context is changing rapidly and dramatically in a very complex and volatile way, where the role of the educator has been redefined on one hand and the educational environment has been transformed on the other hand. Yet I have to accommodate my challenges of research output, teaching, social responsiveness and fulfil our administrative duties.

The last three years marked a shift in my research interests from the traditional or conventional studies, which focus on typical media content, or technology-oriented studies into interdisciplinary studies and international collaborative research.

I have always tried to have good and sound choices of my research questions, which were reflected in both the volume and the quality of my research output in addition to the very high students’ evaluation in Egypt and in South Africa, though I am dealing with very heterogeneous students’ body in both cases.

I thus describe my research projects as very innovative, clearly focused, and with obvious time management skills. As I always try to maintain a balance between my fulfilling my academic duties with utmost possible performance, while maintaining a clear space for concession and eagerness to learn relevant skills. I also prioritize my devotion to collegial respect, appreciation for difference and respect for disagreement. Hence, I have developed a clear method to organize my information, and make additions, or even revisions in my plan when needed.

I believe that being bilingual (Arabic and English) has helped me to attain this goal and draw information from different languages in a more contextual way. Within my general interest in mass communication and society, international communication, and Middle East studies, my research focuses on political communication, public opinion dynamics, social impacts of new media, and the sociology of news in Africa and the Middle East, whose differences in social and political systems challenge any standard conceptual thinking and empirical analysis.

With time, experience and endless passion for research, I gradually moved away from typical media content and

Ibrahim Saleh, Ph.D.Convenor of Political Communication at the Centre For Film & Media Studies, University of Cape Town (UCT); Chair of the Journalism Research and Education Section in the International Association for Media & Communication Research (IAMCR);Co-editor of the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies; Editor of Global Media Journal African Edition, & Global Partner Organization of the UN Alliance of Civilization Media Literacy Education Clearinghouse.

The Art of Living to Learn New Thingsby Dr Ibrahim Saleh

The third article in our Knowing Yourself-series is written by Dr. Ibrahim Saleh from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

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technology-oriented studies into interdisciplinary studies and international collaborative research. My current publications attempt to analyze the mediatisation of regional political dynamics and the indigenous freedom agenda, especially within the new media spaces that kept abreast with the political changes and transformation that mark this time in history.

My real accomplishment in my research relates to the avoidance of being entrapped in any subjective assessment, regardless the sensitivity of the topic and its complexity in a meaningful way to create an original product that clearly answers my research questions with utmost accuracy, detail and understanding.

In the meantime, developing my approach to Teaching-by-Assessment (TBA) has guaranteed a bridge between the learning objectives and outcomes of the different courses at different levels to ensure the best possible connection between the faculty and the students, and it calls for finding new innovative methods in classroom participation that would maximize their engagement.

In my different research projects, I tried to the best of my mind to investigate further the correlation between political communication, on the one hand, and the possibilities of stipulating socioeconomic development in the developing societies, through enhancing cultural change and accelerating a coherent social progress that maintains the harmony of societies in transition, on the other.

Generally, my research attempts to explore the reciprocating relation between political communication and nation-building and how the available information processing facilitates key transformations for individuals and communities, especially in societies in transition and imposed democracies after independence. I have also explored the possibilities of international collaborative research as a means to develop a platform to support effective linkage and exchange between scholars in different countries with different journalism schools. I can relate my implementation of this approach to at least three research projects: I thus easily work at the international scale and can certainly meet my challenges in the most ethical and professional manner.

I have also co-founded the Arab-European Media Observatory to conduct audience study on the Mediterranean region, and cross many of the most complicated issues that can reflect on the public diplomacy and media literacy studies.

This collaboration among other successful attempts were stipulated by my keen academic interest to open new horizons of research excellence and dialogue between researchers,

media practitioners, journalism and mass communication students at each of the critical stages of development and setting priorities, doing the research, & sharing the findings. I strongly believe that my research agenda and interpretation of findings will help form the foundation for a more engaging key stakeholders in the field to ensure a ‘real world experience’.I am always keen on finding new ways to use Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) to help transform violent conflicts and strengthen peace, security and democracy. It is presumed that such a channel of information mediation is exceptionally effective in securing and strengthening human security as well as democratic institutions and processes.

My future research relates to comparative studies of the media and cinema in different African countries through an inter- and trans-disciplinary approach. The target is to compare the politicization of the media when it comes to war and peace, security and violence in different developing countries of imposed democracy during the initial dangerous phases after their implementation and study how these societies resist the political instability that might cause their failure.

I am interested to develop a better understanding of key domestic conditions: the persistence of the degree of democracy, the degree of social division, and the level of economic prosperity. I would like to consider how imposed democracy has affected the idea of “Nation” and “Pride”. This is in conjunction with the level of progress that the different African countries achieved in realizing civic engagement, social inclusion, and local self-development through three main constituent parts, namely environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and socio-political sustainability.

At the end, I pride myself to have always tried to improve my research quality over the years, which has granted me a well-recognized international acclaimed position in terms of research quality, productivity and relevance to enrich the literature of my discipline and have a respected contribution in establishing a better research culture. Nonetheless, I am always willing to learn new things that might ensure that this reputation is maintained.

Email: Ibrahim.Saleh@uct.ac.za,Isaleh@aucegypt.eduJRE site: http://jre.uct.ac.za/index.phpJRE Blog: http://jre09.blogspot.comPersonal website: http://jre.uct.ac.za/ISaleh/

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We are a collective of women artists, facilitators and healing practitioners committed to healing and transformation

through the employment of participatory theatre approaches that integrate arts methodologies. Our methodologies include Forum Theatre, Image Theatre, Physical Theatre/Movement, Storytelling, Visual Arts, Creative Writing and Expressive Arts Therapies.

We consciously create spaces for women, youth and LGBTI people located at the margins to speak their stories and share their experiences in order to gain power and credence within their bodies and communities. We believe that participatory theatre that integrates the arts as well as the expressive arts therapies are a valuable means of enabling those most left out, and providing them with an ongoing resource for negotiating social and political obstacles that they are faced with.

Research has proven all forms of the creative arts to be highly effective in intra and interpersonal communication as well as in facilitating self-exploration and expression. Theatre as a communication tool opens up possibilities for conversations across multiple differences.Our work using the creative arts over the past ten years has yielded positive results with beneficiary groups ranging from transgender groups, refugees, HIV infected and affected, LGBTI groups, children and youth. We are thus convinced of the value of integrated arts methodologies, with theatre as the container, as a means of activating personal and social transformation. The Mothertongue Project is the first all women collective in the Western Cape. We exist to promote the wellbeing of those most excluded, and have identified women, youth, and LGBTI people as groups consistently disempowered and silenced in society. Our vision is a society where we as women, young people, and LGBTI people have safety in our bodies and our communities and where we have agency over our lives. We work towards a society where (self) recognition,

(self) honouring and (self) celebration of women and young people is commonplace.

Our professional theatre productions have been toured both to South African and International festivals and have included cross border collaborations.

Mothertongue is also constantly developing our internship programme, and has a continuous flow of interest and participation. Through this contribution we aim to utilise our expertise to further the movement of the arts for social transformation.

LEGAL ENTITYSection 21 registered company number: 2002/025936/08Public Benefit Organisation number: 930015785

VISIONWe envision a society where (self) recognition, (self) honouring and (self) celebration of women is commonplace.

MISSIONWe arecommitted to offering theatre as a tool for activism and to fostering cultural exchange through integrated arts methodologies that celebrate and contribute to positively transforming the status of women, youth and LGBTI people in their communities. We seek to have a society where women, youth, and LGBTI people are able to assertively engage with the national rhetoric of “equity” through a gendered interrogation of their experiences.

PHILOSOPHYWe believe that the arts and exchange are central to the development and healing of communities.

OBJECTIVES• Toexplorekeystodevelopingpracticalprocessesof

Present ing our co l l abora to rs : The Mother tongue Pro jec t Cape Town, South A f r i ca

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healing and transformation through the arts.• Toexposecommunitiestoarts-basedmethodologiesas a means of resolving conflict and healing of past traumas• To integrate the arts in the creation of cross-community professional performances• To create a platform for performers and non-performers to share their own and others’ stories in theatrical contexts

METHODOLOGYThe collective employs a participatory approach utilising an integrated arts methodology, combining techniques such as Forum Theatre, Image Theatre, physical theatre, storytelling, visual arts, creative writing, breath-work, expressive arts therapies, ritual and music. The notion of story and storying is vital to Mothertongue’s philosophy.

EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS IN THE PAST FEW YEARS• SoldInside:TheMothertongueProjectcollaboratedwith the International Organization for Migration on an awareness raising project around the issue of human trafficking (2009-2010). The project trained 80 participants based in four South African Provinces (Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and kwaZulu Natal) in participatory theatre methods. These participants in turn created and performed over 20 plays through 71 outreach performances and reached audiences numbering 13000. The IOM received funding from the Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration: United States of America Department of State for this project.• InternshipProgramme(ongoing):TheMothertongueProject’s internship programme has been developed to increase capacity in the use of the Arts for Social and Personal Transformation as well as to develop capacity in Administration and Management of Arts Organisations. The project was devised in response to our continued commitment to knowledge sharing, capacity building and development of best practice.• Embodied Narratives (2011): Continuing ourprevious work utilising interdisciplinary arts methodologies as a vehicle for the development of performed stories, Mothertongue is further engaging key project members from Gender DynamiX, alongside one of our interns, in developing a work outlining their stories as advocates from the LGBTI community. Mothertongue blurs the distinction between professional and non professional theatre in assisting individuals to tell their stories.• The Lawrence House (2011): Mothertongue ranweekly self-exploration and poetry writing workshops with young refugee girls who live at the Lawrence House (Scalibrini Centre). This project was run by our interns, and was further developed by our artist-in-residence, Margaret Kemp, who collaborated with us for a period of 2 months.

This artist came from The United States. • Story-tellinggroup(2011-current):Incollaborationwith one of our ongoing partners SWEAT (Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce) we are facilitating the use of visual arts as a container for the extraction of stories. The intervention forms part of their ongoing “Story-telling” project to assist participants in developing a booklet of stories that will be used as an advocacy tool. Mothertongue’s Artisitc Directoris involved in this project as part of our commitment to their ongoing development as leaders in the field of arts for social transformation.• FlashMob(2011):MothertongueorganisedaFlashMob Against Violence in partnership with 4 civil society organisations in the city of Cape Town. We provided theatre performance skills training to the organisations’ beneficiaries, and organised for the flashmob that was staged at Cape Town Station in June 2011. The flashmob attracted the media, and was broadcast on a number of SABC television news channels.• ‘n Sak Vol Drome / A Suitcase Full of Dreams(2011): This project took place in collaboration with a number of stakeholders in the Langeberg Municipal region, to commemorate Reconciliation Day. This Youth project, which involved young people in an arts for reconciliation programme, culminated in the participants staging public performances in the streets of and specific sites in McGregor.

COLLABORATION WITH SONG OF THE TREEMothertongue is excited about prospects of establishing a partnership with Song of The Tree. We foresee this relationship to provide both partners an opportunity for the following projects• whereMothertongue will introduce our partnerorganisations to the Song of the Tree play. The intention would be for Mothertongue to direct the performance of the play, so that our partner organisations, who represent a variety of societal groups, can present the performances to their own constituencies.• Another source of collaboration is in a projectwhichMothertongue is partnering with Action Aid International with, and one that is specifically focused on young urban female dwellers. At this point the project is at scoping phase, where Action Aid, supported by Mothertongue, is undertaking research with this particular group in order to gather data regarding barriers that thwart young women’s access to sexual and economic rights. The intention is for this project to finally culminate in a detailed intervention project, addressing issues that would have been identified during the research phase. • Mothertonguewouldalsobeopentofollowingotherthreads of possibility in our collaboration, particularly where Mothertongue could involve our interns in specific projects run by Song of the Tree.

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We are starting a new series featuring trees with a story from around the world. We will start by introducing the

tree of The Song of the Tree Initiative. Artistic Director Camilla Hellberg and Project Manager Thomas Weckström (TSTI) reveal how the tree for the logo came to life.

Thomas: I have had the privilege to work with an amazing animator and illustrator, Janne Kopu for many years. He is also known as the Art Director for the feature length animation film Quest for a Heart (Finland, 2007). Janne has the extraordinary skill to listen and understand what someone asks him to draw or animate. He always comes up with a suggestion that is many times better than the original idea, still respecting every detail.

When we needed a logo for TSTI, the first one that came to mind was Janne. This is what Camilla wrote to Janne in October 2011: My inner story about it is that it is very very old, eternal actually and that the trunk is solid and the branches are solid and the leaves are deep green and big and luscious too. It´s a “It´m the Mother Earth”-tree. The Tree of Life. A tree any child would LOVE to climb in. With thick branches twisting and turning like the arms of an elderly person. Forming great “pockets” to hide in. The safest place on earth. Always there. Always available. Demanding nothing. Surviving everything.

The hole in the tree trunk is an important element as it provides an opening for “I wonder what´s in there?” inside the mind of the viewer. The hole has developed over millenia and is not a mistake or a disability in the tree, but it´s greatest asset to connect to the beings we call humans. Like a well calling them to it.

The following evening Janne sent us this drawing:

We loved it and within 24 hours we had this colored version of it

Camilla: Because TSTI from my side had it’s starting point in the story The Song of the Tree, it was amazing to see Janne translate the inner vision I’ve had of the tree in the story to this wonderful piece of art. People have asked us: “Why the name The Song of the Tree? What does it stand for?” This is our answer:

Imagine that you are a melody, on it´s way to resonate into the world. Imagine that you and all other melodies reside inside the roots of a solid, amazing tree. Imagine that one day you chose that it´s time for your melody to be heard by and shared with others. Imagine that you let it travel through the roots of the tree, up along the trunk, out onto a branch where it grows into a leaf that begins to vibrate, resonate and finally…sing. Imagine the joy your heart feels. Imagine the beauty and sound of every leaf around you, all of them bursting into their own song. What song will you be hearing then? The Song of the Tree.

What is the story behind YOUR tree?Send us an email to info@thesongofthetree.com if you know a tree with a story that you want to share. It could be featured here in the Tree-zine.

Tree o f the Month

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What does i t fee l l i ke to be a t peace w i th who you a re?

List 11 words that describe the emotions. Read through the list and notice how it makes you feel.Feel what part of your body is connected to the emotions. Relax that part of your body.

What does i t fee l l i ke to focus on the pos i t i ve about yourse l f today?

List 11 things that are working in your life. Read through the list and notice how it makes you feel.Feel what part of your body is connected to the emotions. Relax that part of your body.

What does i t fee l l i ke to v i sua l i ze a b r igh t fu tu re?

Visualize 11 things you would like to happen in your future. Read through and notice how it makes you feel.Feel what part of your body is connected to the emotions. Relax that part of your body.

Se l f Re f lec t ion 3

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The next issue will be out 22 May, 2012 and the theme will be:

Window to the World.

In it we will share inspiring content from new members of The Song ofthe Tree Initiative and how more creative content is being shared onwww.thesongofthetree.com.

Do you have a tree with a story you would like to share? Or do youknow someone who adds value to others that you would like to introduceto the world?

Send us an email to info@thesongofthetree.com and share your idea. Ifthere is a will there is a way.

Much love,

The TSTI/Tree-zine Team

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This was our second issue of the Tree-zine and we would highly appreciate your feedback. Please send your comments to info@thesongofthetree.com. We are interested in knowing what worked for you and what we could do better. Thank you for your participation!

Publisher Nordpic Production Ltd/Thomas Weckström

Editor Camilla Hellberg

Illustrator Janne Kopu

Design and layout Enchant Creative/Simbirirai Solomon Maramba

Photographs byKali van der Merwe,Sara Matchett,Simbirirai Solomon Maramba, Thomas Weckström and Leif Weckström

Copyright All articles and photographs belong to the originators. Everything else is © 2012 Nordpic Production Ltd.

Contact info@thesongofthetree.com

You can read more about TSTI and the projects we are inviting participants worldwide to take part in by going to www.thesongofthetree.com. You are invited tooIssue # 3 will be out on May 22, 2012.

We will see you then!

Lots of love,The TSTI Team

Thomas Weckström, Project Manager, Finland

Kenny Gibe, Head of TSTI South Africa

Camilla Hellberg, Artistic Director, Finland

Dorothy Meck, Head of TSTI Zimbabwe

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24www.thesongofthetree.com

Know Yourself