Monday, 29 January 2001
Dear...
Dear, hmm. This Is going to be harder than I thought.
Dear unfortunate people who have to follow the championships online, and can't experience all of this first-hand. Hah, that's better.
If only ye who readeth this were present you too could have heard the Barnato Park Chior sing at the Grand Opening Dinner. You too could have been entertained by the Marimba band, the guest celebrities, and guest speaker Dr. Wendy Orr. But then again, we're an elitist institution. In short, the opening function was a huge success.
Anyway, I'll be keeping you updated on the happenings by way of this diary from day to day. I hope you enjoy following the championships from home.
K.
Tuesday, 30 January 2001
The tournament is slowly getting underway, with the judges having been thoroughly briefed today. Nigeria unfortunately failed to arrive, but this had the fortunate spinoff that there was no bye-round today. This gave debaters most of the day free to roam around the shops in the area.
Tonight, after a relaxed day, saw the delegates head off to the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitain Council for the Young Leader's Summit. The delegates discussed issues such as AIDS and affirmative action, and then voted in a plenary on their proposed resolutions. These resolutions will be published and printed as a declaration of the opinions of the youth of the world.
Wednesday, 31 January 2001
A giant logistical excercise forced everyone up early, and into hundreds of buses to head off to Johannesburg Schools for the first day of debate. I only got to see two of the debates, but general tournament consensus had it that the debates were a huge success. The Jo'burg schools were enthusiastic to host the debates, with many debaters receiving presents and photographs.
The night started off rainy, which didn't bode well for our South African "braai" or barbecue. Fate had its way though, and the clouds left the vacinity of the University of the Witwatersrand, allowing coaches and debaters to play Volleyball, Rugby, Soccer and the fool.
Thursday, 1 February 2001
The second day of debating saw another challenging two rounds at nine schools around Johannesburg. The prepaired round for the first of the debates was that this house allow gay couples to adopt children. After some firey floor debates from the hundreds of school pupils who watched the debates, the teams were treated to lunch at their host schools. The second impromptu round topic was "this house disaproves of cloning".
Local SA media have shown great interest in the Championships. Today, SABC 1's Take Five - a nationally broadcast programme, screened a studio debate between the USA and South Africa.
The delegates have settled down for an early night as I write this, in preparation for tomorrow's very early start to the SAB Soweto Day, one of the highlights of the tournament. Delegates will be debating at six schools around this famous township, where much of South Africa's political transformation was centred. Wakeup call is 5.15 a.m. However, your scribe will have to be up even earlier to prepair for the day - not that he's resentful. Will see you tomorrow for news of what should be the most interesting day of the tournament !
Friday, 2 February 2001
Soweto - a township of over 1 million people - the scene of much of South Africa's political heart, and the scene ofthe World Schools Debating Championships' third day of debates. Soweto suffered much neglect in social infrastructure development under Apartheid, and its schools reflect this most clearly. Many consist of little more than bricks and broken windows, and a talented and enthusiastic staff body. Along the way, locals lined the streets to wave at our buses, who were all lead by police escourts. Excitment does not even begin to describe the pupils who met the world schools delegates in the morning. Singing, dancing and welcomes from the school leaders started off the day.
At the school I attended (Orlando High School) the delegates even joined in the enthusiastice dancing - but didn't quite match the rhythm.
The debates were well attended by the locals who supplied chairs and time keepers, and were witnessed by an attentive audience. The first topic was this house believes that affluent nations should accept more refugees. The second topic was this house would cancel third world debt. Get the results here.
Lunch was held at local groove shack, Stella's, regarded by many as the home of jazz in Soweto. Everyone then went on a tour of the township, the highlight of which was a visit to Nelson Mandela's house.
Gold Reef City - called glitz and glamout by some - just plain kitch by others (although they did generously sponsor us !), fed us and entertained us. All the delegates got a treat with the world class performance of African Footprints - fresh back from the West End.
A long day, and boy, did I need a sleep. A few beers in the hotel bar preceded that though.
Saturday, 3 February 2001
The day off. And a day of tours. People had four choices. Going on a tour of Sterkfontein Caves took you to the seat of man's orgin. I went on this one - it was lead by an anthropologist from Wits who gave everyone a real understanding of the origin of humans as we know them in addition to showing us lots of rocks. From here we went to what is honestly a canned African experiece, where we go to see four of the big five, or if you're a tourguide, eight of the big seven. (Lion, Rhino, Cheeta, Leopard, Hippo, Wild Dog, Buffalo and lotsa buck. Next option was a tour of Lesedi cultural village, a taste of Africa's cultural heritage; followed by the same Lions and Rhino. The Wild Africa tour took everyone to the Pilansburg Game Reserve (one bus broke down on the way back - but was sorted out quite quickly). Finally people took a tour to Gold Reef City - a theme park dedicated to Johannesburg's gold mining origins.
The evening saw a cocktail party hosted by next year's tournament organisers: Singapore. A few of their beers warmed me up for this... (I am consciousless, they already have a sponsor.)
If you're following the results, sorry their going up slowly. They need to be approved by the Chief Adjudciator which can sometimes take a while. Thanks for following ! More stories about tomorrow's day at Wits University later
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