• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Flickr
  • Job Board
  • Education for Justice
  • Store
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • Contact ISN
Ignatian Solidarity Network
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About
    • In the News
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • ISN Jobs & Internships
    • Membership
    • Store
    • Contact
  • What We Do
    • Education for Justice
    • Programs
    • Advocacy
      • Migration
      • Environment
      • Criminal Justice
    • Campaigns
    • Awards
    • Job Board
    • Listservs
    • National Event Board
  • Resources
  • Media
    • Blogs
    • Videos
    • Publications
    • Press
    • News
  • DONATE
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

The Simunye Project

You are here: Home1 / The Simunye Project

After two years traveling to the community of Soweto, South Africa, Michael Bakan (Georgetown University ’19) and Drew Descourouez (Santa Clara University ’19) have been transformed by stories, both those they have heard and those they have shared. This month, they will return to South Africa to collect and document stories from people around the country through their storytelling project called “The Simunye Project.”

The Simunye Project is rooted in the concept of simunye—Zulu for “we are one.” According to Bakan and Descourouez, “While our personal stories are certainly unique, and while we enjoy the differences that make our cultures distinct, we have come to see that the stories we are sharing are actually smaller parts of a greater human narrative.”

Join the Simunye team on their storytelling journey—subscribe now or follow the blog stream below.

Learn More About Soweto, South Africa

Subscribe

Don’t miss a story! Simunye Project posts will be delivered right to your inbox.

The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

South Africa: A Raindrop of Hope in Endless Burning

With recent events of racial discrimination, violence, and economic injustice in the U.S., we have come to see the parallels between the South African and American struggles. As Tshegofatso and other friends in Soweto have taught us, rather than seeking direct answers to solve these issues through positions of power, we have come to hope that the response would be to engage in dialogue and continue to ask the same questions back home that Soweto has prompted us to explore. Whom have I been ignoring? What is their story? What are their sources of pain?

Read more
2016-08-12/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/img-5773v2.png 704 1280 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-08-12 12:46:502017-02-05 20:18:15South Africa: A Raindrop of Hope in Endless Burning
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

Being A Mother For And With Others: Thabisile’s Journey Of Motherhood in South Africa

My time spent with Thabisile has made me reflect on my experience as a whole in Soweto. In the end, I have found it difficult to be with the people of Soweto and ask them questions on life when I do not quite fully understand myself yet. While many of my experiences have been depressing and overwhelming, this journey has motivated me to continue to dive deeper into a sense of self. It has been such an honor to be surrounded by the joy of people like, Thabisile and Amaza; yet their daily struggles weigh heavy on my heart. I have found it difficult articulating my time in Soweto, but in the midst of this frustration, I have had an incredible experience, and I hope to challenge all those following this journey to experience it themselves–to go out to the margins of our society–whether it is visiting Soweto or simply saying hi to the homeless person at the local shopping center and ask: Am I becoming friends with those on the margins? What is their story? What is their source of pain?

Read more
2016-08-02/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Screen-Shot-2016-08-02-at-3.06.18-PM.png 462 618 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-08-02 15:22:442017-02-21 13:13:51Being A Mother For And With Others: Thabisile’s Journey Of Motherhood in South Africa
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

“Im sorry. Goodbye.” Defining Family for Lesedi

The next week, we saw Lesedi walking to St. Martin to attend the weekly morning Mass. She did not look happy. Tears were running down her face, she walked with her hood up, and she couldn’t gather any words to greet us. Upon asking how she was doing, she cried even louder, as she covered her face with her hands. Eventually, the tears stopped and she wrapped her arms around us in a supportive hug. We asked her what was causing her pain, and she told us this . . .

Read more
2016-07-22/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2016-07-22-at-12.49.43-PM.png 1048 1500 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-07-22 13:25:562017-02-05 20:23:28“Im sorry. Goodbye.” Defining Family for Lesedi
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

Voices From Soweto, South Africa: Dumisani’s Experience With Facing Fear and Shouldering Responsibility

Dumisani is a strong man. He is strong not just because he practices bodybuilding as a sport but also because he possesses a strength of character well beyond his age.

Read more
2016-07-18/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2016-07-18-at-12.52.34-PM.png 576 1250 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-07-18 13:43:152017-02-05 20:23:54Voices From Soweto, South Africa: Dumisani’s Experience With Facing Fear and Shouldering Responsibility
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

“Women Are Just Opinionated and Money Doesn’t Matter”

In fact, I have begun to wonder if more money often affords more room for indifference, rather than constructive solutions to complex problems. This might very well be true for many of the systemic issues we face in the world today, because it seems that many of the ideological issues we face actually exist as seeds within ourselves, so unless we confront them and actively work against them as individuals, inequality and injustice can always survive.

Read more
2016-07-07/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2016-07-07-at-10.48.53-AM.png 494 891 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-07-07 10:56:162017-02-05 20:26:38“Women Are Just Opinionated and Money Doesn’t Matter”
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

Soweto: My Lil Sis Neo

Rather than squeezing in time during the tight itinerary of a high school immersion trip, I now had the time and energy to be present to those around me. So, I spent an entire afternoon catching up with Neo and picking up where our conversations had left off. I recorded part of the conversation so that I could share the story of my South African sister.

Read more
2016-06-30/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Neo-group.png 930 1234 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-06-30 13:53:162017-02-05 20:27:22Soweto: My Lil Sis Neo
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

Being Before Doing

For that meal, the issues we think of when we hear “township” or “ghetto” took a backseat. We crowded together, laughing and eating our “kotas”, big sandwiches full of meat and french fries. We marveled at how awesome, albeit unusual, our friendship was given our differences.

Read more
2016-06-29/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-28-at-10.24.34-AM.png 1056 1260 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-06-29 12:01:412017-02-05 20:27:44Being Before Doing
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project, Voices for Justice

Relationship—Here We Go!

A significant motivation for this trip was to address the fact that many of us are in relationships that we neglect on a daily basis. The clothes I wear, the technology I use, and the food I eat put me in relationship with millions of people that I ignore because our relationship is purely economic. Despite the fact that my consumption influences the quality of life for families around the world, my society gives me no reason to treat these relationships like the other relationships in my life. As long as I do not change my consumption habits, I am partly responsible for that constant burning, much as the inaction of the United States allowed the spread of apartheid.

Read more
2016-06-20/0 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-20-at-2.02.07-PM.png 698 1478 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-06-20 14:36:102017-02-05 20:28:40Relationship—Here We Go!
The Simunye Team
Simunye Project

We Are Traveling to South Africa to Listen

We challenge you to identify a significant change, tangible action, or inspiration in your life that has not been influenced or directly related to a human relationship. We believe that […]

Read more
2016-05-26/2 Comments
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/18510023043_4f9665fc34_o.png 1198 1800 The Simunye Team https://ignatiansolidarity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ISN_Color_Transparent_Large.png The Simunye Team2016-05-26 13:36:502017-02-05 22:47:43We Are Traveling to South Africa to Listen

Meet the Team

Drew

DrewDrew Descouruez
Santa Clara University

Drew Descourouez is a first-year student at Santa Clara University. Drew traveled to Soweto, South Africa in 2013, on Bellarmine College Preparatory Immersion trip. He has since traveled to nine other countries around the world and developed a deep desire to connect cultures through storytelling and personal relationships. Drew is also passionate about youth empowerment and hopes to learn more from his friends in Soweto about how young people can take responsibility for a shared future in a globalized world.

Michael

Michael Bakan
Georgetown University

Michael Bakan is a first-year student at Georgetown University, where he plans to study International Business and Marketing. Over the past two summers, he has traveled to Soweto, South Africa on an immersion trip through his former high school, Bellarmine College Preparatory. During these trips, Michael developed a passion for using graphic design and other forms of artwork to share the stories of his friends in Soweto, as they strive to create a better South Africa in a post-apartheid, post-Mandela world. He is excited to return to Soweto to strengthen the bonds of kinship with his South African friends and to share the voices of those who are not often heard but will play an integral role in our future.

Sponsors

This program was made possible by the Jean Donovan Summer Fellowship at Santa Clara University, and the Georgetown International Relations Association Global Generations Grant and The Social Innovation and Public Service (SIPS) Grant at Georgetown University.

Soweto is a township in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The name “Soweto” is an abbreviation for “South Western Township,” which explains its geographic position relative to Johannesburg. Today, Soweto is integrated into the City of Johannesburg, but the history of its formation highlights the racial segregation enforced under apartheid law. After the Afrikaner-dominated National Party rose to power in 1948, they began to enforce apartheid law, which culminated in the Group Areas Act during 1950. This act assigned racial groups to different residential areas. As a part of this, blacks were forced out of formal cities and out of tribal villages and into condensed zones in order to concentrate them into smaller areas. To administer the Group Areas Act in the Johannesburg area, the government began building compact housing units southwest of the city in 1956, and in 1963, this area became formally known as Soweto—a black township on the outskirts of Johannesburg where nearly a million people were concentrated and dismissed.

With a system of institutionalized poverty and oppression, opposition against corruption became a continuous theme in Soweto. Soweto became the birthplace for the African National Congress (ANC), which later became Nelson Mandela’s ruling party during his presidency. Soweto was also at one point the home to many of South Africa’s heroes, including Mandela himself and Desmond Tutu. While opposition against the apartheid government rose in Soweto, this culminated in many acts of violence, such as the 1976 Soweto uprising, in which police opened fire on over 10,000 protesting students, killing hundreds of them in the process. With its dark history, Soweto today suffers from many of the residual effects of the apartheid regime. Soweto alone has an unemployment rate of 53% and South Africa has a Gini Coefficient of 63.4%, meaning that it continuously measures to be one of the most unequal countries in the world by measure of income distribution. This inequality is centered in Soweto, as its poverty comes in stark contrast to Johannesburg, which is the financial capital of South Africa, thus making it the richest city in South Africa. In the midst of this disparity, Soweto is still filled with the same drive to fight against oppression that has produced progressive change within corrupt constructs. While there is still a long way to go, many communities in Soweto, such as St. Martin de Porres Parish and School in Orlando West, Soweto, are building the leaders of future generations that give hope to the Soweto narrative.

Photo above: A vendor sells Soweto goods. Photo credit: South African Tourism//Flickr

Maps were disabled by the visitor on this site. Click to open the map in a new window.

Soweto

Soweto

Bellarmine Prep students with community members of Soweto

Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Nelson Mandela

St. Martin de Porres parish

Students at St. Martin de Porres

Bellarmine Prep students with Fr. Bruce Botha, S.J.

Students walking to class at St. Martin de Porres School

History of St. Martin de Porres, Orlando West

Orlando West has its origins in the “Orlando Shanty Town” that grew up during the Second World War when the black population of Johannesburg grew in leaps and bounds. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate at Orlando East saw the need for another parish for these estimated 20,000 people. Father Albert Vandenbussche OMI established the “Blessed Martin” parish in 1946. A foundation stone was laid by Bishop O’Leary on the feast of the Assumption that same year. That building served as a school during the week, and as a Mass center on Sundays.  Now the school offices, computer center, and senior classrooms of St. Martin de Porres School, it remains as one of the oldest buildings in Orlando West.  The Marist Brothers were the first teachers at this school, followed by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Father Vandenbussche was succeeded by his assistant, Father Daniel Verstraete OMI, later Bishop of Klerksdorp, in 1953. Father Verstraete oversaw the building of a hall and a church. Much of the work was done by the priest and people themselves using bricks from buildings demolished in town. This was amongst the earliest church buildings to consciously use African art and crafts in the interior design.

By the mid-1950s, the school went up to sixth grade. One thousand children were taught in two shifts – the first ending at 1pm, and the second around 5.30pm.  These children were fed too. From 1947, the school had catered for primary school children, but in 2003 it was decided that Soweto needed another Catholic high school, and St. Martin’s was the chosen site. With each successive year, the conversion took shape as the lower classes began to disappear and the higher grades were catered for.  In 2006 St. Martin de Porres High School saw its first Matriculant Class. Nervous teachers put their backs into the exam preparation resulting in a 100% pass rate in the final exams. The school continues to perform well, consistently recognised by the school district for its excellence in education. Today the school is a high school with 670 students.  Amongst its alumni St. Martin’s boasts Bishop Mvemve and Tokyo Sexwale.

The Next Chapter: Becoming A Green School

Fr. Bruce Botha, S.J. with students of St. Martin de Porres

Fr. Bruce Botha, S.J. with students of St. Martin de Porres

In 2011 Fr. Bruce Botha SJ became parish priest of the St. Martin de Porres Parish and chaplain to the school. He currently sits on the school Board of Governors. He was convinced that despite the good education the students of St Martin de Porres were receiving, they could do so much better in more conducive surroundings. Most of the current classrooms are of precast concrete with tin roofs, “temporary” structures built 40 years ago. They were built for primary school children and are too small for high school students. All in all, it was thought that the children of Orlando West deserved better.

After some initial explorations, the community of St Martin de Porres began to explore the green school concept pioneered in South Africa by TPS.P Architects. Contact was made with Mr. Keith Warmback of the Novodomus Group, a subsidiary of SASOL that specialised in building green schools, who in turn put Fr. Bruce in touch with the architectural firm LYT. Both Novodomus and LYT have extensive experience in the area of green technology as pertaining to schools.

A process of consultation with all concerned stakeholders then took place and plans for the development of the St Martin de Porres precinct was finalized. When all the work is done, a new green school consisting of 20 classrooms, a science lab, media centre and art centre will be built, the original school building and hall will be renovated, the current parish house will be converted into classrooms, and a replacement house will be built in a more suitable location on the property.

All new buildings will be to a green standard. They will be designed to use natural light, heat, and ventilation so that no electricity is used to heat or cool the buildings, and the electricity used for the LED lighting will come from photo-voltaic cells. The roofs will harvest rainwater which will be stored and used to water the gardens. It is also planned that the school will be paperless as far as is possible, with learners using tablets to access learning materials, do class work, and submit assignments. This will be the first school of its kind in the Gauteng province. The heritage buildings will also be sensitively upgraded using green technology, and the project will enable the school to accommodate 720 learners. The school is currently beginning the construction process and continuously raising funds for future developments.

STAY CONNECTED:

Sign up now to connect with the Jesuit network and learn how you can learn, educate, pray, and advocate for justice year-round.

Contact:

T: (855) 789-2004
E: info@ignatiansolidarity.net

Ignatian Solidarity Network
1 John Carroll Blvd.
University Heights, OH 44118

About:

The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) is a national social justice network inspired by the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. ISN was founded in 2004 and is a lay-led 501(c)3 organization working in partnership with Jesuit universities, high schools, and parishes, along with many other Catholic institutions and social justice partners.

© Ignatian Solidarity Network | 2022 - Enfold Theme by Kriesi
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Flickr
  • About ISN
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
Scroll to top