OPSEU SEFPO Blog

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 22, 2008

2008-03-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Before we left the village on Saturday, March 22, we did a quick tour of the local primary and secondary schools and also met with the representatives of a Kasungu based group called Tiyanjane Organization for the Disabled.

The primary school has no electricity and every classroom except one has no chairs. Students sit on the floor or take classes outside.

The local primary school

The only classroom with chairs

OPSEU meets with the Board of Trustees and members of the Tiyanjane Organization for the Disabled. The number of people with disabilities is increasing in this area due to different factors, including deformities from birth, motor vehicle accidents, strokes and HIV/AIDS related diseases.

Our last day with the Makupo villagers was a very sad one. The people from this village are wonderfully warm and treated us like close family members. We will have amazing memories of their hospitality, their music, their food and their laughter. We hope to continue working in solidarity with this community and said our final “Zicomo” (“thank you” in Chichewe) with tears in our eyes.

OPSEU pins became favourites to wear as earrings

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 21, 2008

2008-03-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Early on Friday morning, we rose to begin working on the installation of the solar lights in village homes. OPSEU brought these solar powered lights from Canada – purchased from a Calgary based group called “Light up the World” Foundation. The first priority was the outdoor kitchen, then the guest house.

Small solar panels waiting to be installed in the homes at Makupo village

President Smokey Thomas hands Zack Lavigne
the materials to install the lights.
Zack was an amazing teacher, patiently explaining how to
install the lights to the local youth

Village youth installing the solar panels on the roof of the kitchen

Bwerazani proudly displays the solar panel atop a village house

While Smokey, Ron and Zack continued installing the solar lights in the village, the rest of the group went into the town of Kasungu to buy supplies to be given out to every village household.

A procession in the streets of Kasungu commemorating Milad an-Nabi
– the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad

Sister Miriam Nkosi supervises the buying of fresh supplies to share among the village families

Dried fish is essential for protein as there is no refrigeration in the village

With OPSEU funds, every village family was given a package of sugar, soap, oil, tomatoes, onions, dried fish, mosquito coils and maize flour.

In the afternoon, Doug Miller drove us in a four wheel drive vehicle to a plot of land he and his family purchased with funds raised in Montreal, Canada. The size of the farm plot is 40 acres but it is 44km away from the village – the only piece of land available for purchase at the time. There is nothing else for the young men in the village to do except to farm which is what they know best anyway.

Walking to the farm plot

Kenny (one of the young leaders in the village farm project)
outlines the plan for the farm to OPSEU

President Smokey Thomas and Executive Assistant Ron Lavigne
with three of the young men who will run the farm

The problem is, of course, transportation to this farm plot. Not only is it 44km away but it is across very difficult terrain, through frequently flooded areas and rough rocky ground when dry. Makupo has identified five young men committed to farming this land and their plan is to build housing adjacent to the farm land so that they can live and farm there without having to worry about daily transportation to the area. From there they can then cultivate for the village and make a small living for themselves and perhaps provide for their future families.President Smoky Thomas promised he would raise the issue of special funding for this very worthwhile project upon his return to Canada.

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 20, 2008

2008-03-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

On March 20 we left South Africa and flew from the vibrant city of Johannesburg, South Africa (with a population of 8 million in the greater Johannesburg area) to the very hot and much smaller city of Lilongwe (less than a million people), the capital of Malawi.

At the airport we were met by Doug Miller, Montreal based Coordinator of the Makupo Development Project. From there we drove north for two hours to a small village called Makupo – near Kasungu, Malawi.

Upon our arrival at dusk we were greeted by the
villagers who were singing and dancing to celebrate our visit.

The Makupo village women greeting OPSEU

We quickly learned to adapt to village life – at a much slower pace and with no modern amenities at our fingertips. We stayed in the village in modest accommodation with no running water, no electricity and only outside toilets. Nevertheless because of a recently constructed well – built partly from OPSEU funds – there was plenty of water available to us for bathing and washing.

Makupo women now have 24 hour access to water with
the newly installed pump at the well.

We stayed in the village for two days and two nights and ate the traditional food - “nsima” - with our hands usually for both lunch and dinner. Nsima is a maize (corn) dough – stirred into boiling water until it reaches a dumpling-like consistency. We were taught to scoop up a piece of nsima and then dip it into the various sauces made of spinach, tomatoes, pumpkin leaves, etc. with our hands. We were usually treated to chicken stew – made from freshly caught free range chickens – as well.

Women plucking chickens for our evening meal

The Makupo women sorting through pumpkin leaves before cooking our meal.

OPSEU Social Justice Funds have been used to construct a new outdoor kitchen for cooking communal meals. Almost every house or village uses wood in an open fire for cooking and heating water for baths, etc.

The newly constructed outdoor kitchen with double roofing for
better air flow from the open fire.

Our accommodation in the village

Village kids hamming it up around the well

Village women wearing their OPSEU donated Canadian flag head scarves

Montreal based Makupo Development Project Coordinator,
Doug Miller (whose wife, Nellie was born and grew up in Makupo village)
with some of Nellie’s relatives

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 19, 2008

2008-03-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today we visited another South African project funded by the Stephen Lewis Foundation – this time located in the heart of Johannesburg and Soweto.

The Big Shoes Foundation (formerly the Children’s Homes Outreach Program – CHOMP) was set up to improve the medical care of orphaned and vulnerable children, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS so that they can grow up to fill big shoes!

“Big Shoes” at the entrance to their offices at
The Memorial Institute for Child’s Health in Johannesburg.

We were hosted by Dr. Michelle Meiring and her amazing staff as they took us on a tour of where they work in Johannesburg and Soweto.

President Smokey Thomas, Assistant Ron Lavigne, with Dr. Meiring
(second from right) and the staff of Big Shoes

The Foundation works in four areas:

The Abandoned Baby Project – where they train police and social workers in the emergency medical care of the abandoned newborn, they provide emergency packs for abandoned newborns and they advocate for the use of Nevirpine for abandoned babies to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV.

The Abandoned Baby Kit – complete with a pre-sterilized baby bottle,
blankets, clothes, diapers, etc.

Medical clinics and Outreach - where they provide early infant HIV diagnosis for children’s homes and community based organizations, they do medical reports for adoption and provide pediatric medical services to “high need” children’s homes.

The Pediatric Palliative care program – to provide daily pediatric cover for the Soweto Hospice, perform consultative pediatric palliative care ward rounds in the Johannesburg Academic hospitals and train professionals in pediatric palliative care.

Training – includes training of child and youth care workers form children’s homes in basic child health and HIV and also write a monthly “Dear Doctor” column for the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW).

Dr. Meiring and students in a training session for youth

Regarding adoption, it is interesting to note that adoptions from outside South Africa are mostly from European countries. Canada and the United States have not signed the Hague Convention on Adoptions and so as yet there is no ability to adopt any of these children. We should look at how we can lobby to change this in Canada.

Dr, Meiring took us on a tour of Chris Hani – Baragwanath Hospital on the edge of Soweto. It is the largest hospital in Southern Africa with 3,000 regular beds and many different centres set up on the hospital grounds – including a burn centre, oncology and emergency centres. Built as a military hospital during World War I, it still has that feel of military barracks all lined up next to each other – and it is overflowing with people and needs.

Dr. Meiring shows us the Pediatric Counselling area at Chris Hani –Baragwanath Hospital

Next we drove to the nearby Soweto Hospice – now called “Kwa-Kgomoto after a doctor who was killed in a grave-side robbery. “Kwa-Kgmomoto” means place of comfort.

Dr. Meiring takes OPSEU to the hospice

The Stephen Lewis Foundation funds the palliative care component of Big Shoes and recently gave additional funding to hire a psychologist for their team.

The families who use the Hospice come from very disadvantaged backgrounds. Many children come from single parent families headed mostly by mothers, they have no ID so cannot access government assistance, sometimes their houses have no electricity so they cannot run oxygen machines for their children and they have no stable address, often moving from one rented shack or small home to another. The Big Shoes team are in the process of opening a unit which will operate as a step-down area or multi-empowerment system to help the families get their ID, housing, government assistance, etc. while the children are being cared for in the Hospice.

It was a very moving experience for us to visit the wards where terminally ill children and their mothers were being cared for here. Just the night before, two children had passed away and we felt the pain and sadness ourselves. However, it is a very loving and peaceful hospice and there are many children who have recovered while here despite all odds.

A beautiful butterfly branch was hung up in the corridor of the hospice for those who have passed away.

We came away from the Hospice sad but extremely impressed with the work that the Big Shoes Foundation are doing in improving the medical care of children – especially those affected by HIV/AIDS. I vowed our continuing support for this wonderful doctor, Michelle Meiring, and her team.

We were joined at the Hospice by two sisters from the National Health, Education and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) – Sister Nomthandazo Sikiti, International Officer, and Sister Busiswe Tshabalala, National HIV and AIDS Coordinator and it was great for all of us to meet together with Big Shoes and discuss what we as unions can do to combat HIV AIDS in our communities and workplaces and for NEHAWU to hear how this union educates both their staff and members on the issue.

Brother Thomas with Sister Nomthandazo Sitiki (right)
and Sister Busiswe Tshabalala.

Sister Nomthandazo was born in Soweto at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital and after we said our goodbyes to Dr. Meiring and Big Shoes, the NEHAWU sisters took us on a tour of Soweto. More on that later…

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 15, 2008

2008-03-18T11:24:00.001-07:00

The Stephen Lewis Foundation funds over 150 projects dealing with HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. Today we saw first- hand the kind of work people in these projects do daily. Words cannot describe the impact this visit had on our hearts and minds.

We left Durban at 7:15 a.m. and drove about 45 minutes south to the town of Scottburg – to the offices of the Umdoni and Vulamehlo HIV/AIDS Association of southern Natal. Below is an excerpt from their Project Report 2008 which aptly describes the situation in this area:

“The social problems which exist in the Umdoni and Vulamehlo areas are deep and grave. This area of South Africa has one of the worst, and perhaps the worst incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Research conducted by the Department of Health in 2005 showed an HIV infection rate of over 40% in Kwazulu Natal. This includes 29% of pregnant women, 33% of women aged 25-29 years and 23% of men aged 30-39 years…the number of orphans alone is estimated at 3,000 – and this figure does not include the probably far greater, number of children who have been affected, but have been taken I by a surviving family member.” The entire population in this rural area is 170,000.

UVHAA staff next to their vehicle.
Our contact, Coordinator Maurean Whitfield on the right

This was the schedule for our day:

8:00 a.m. – A welcome and overview of the projects

9:00 a.m. – Travel in separate vehicles to two home- based care programs

10:00 a.m. – Tea and discussions with Mr. BB Nxele (on the work of lay counselors and support groups), Ms. Zanele Mvubu (on traditional healing and training traditional healers on HIV/AIDS), and Ms. Nelly Dube (on the Road to Recovery Program)

11:00 a.m. – Community visits in Mkhunya

1:00 p.m. – Lunch at Enkanini School

1:30 p.m. – “Man to Man” presentation by Mr. Prince Khuluse

2:30 p.m. Return to Scottburgh

3:30 p.m. Return to Durban

Washing day includes sandals and other shoes hanging on the line.

Community Care Worker, Mrs. Nomvuyo Mhlongo,
stands above her home in the rural area of Natal.

The Home Based Care project uses two vehicles to transport professional and student nurses out into the deep rural areas. In each of eight areas, an Area Coordinator has been employed (thanks to the Stephen Lewis Foundation) to manage a team or teams of Community Care Workers. They work entirely voluntarily and without pay five days a week:, walking up and down steep and often muddy tracks; locating huts which house people who are infected with HIV/AIDS and/or TB; locating child-headed families, orphans; and reaching out into community offering support to those who are most in need. Without them, many of the people they support would be condemned to a slow painful and isolated death.

OPSEU President Smokey Thomas with members of
staff and the community

On our first stop, we visited the home of Ms. Christabel Zulu who is recovering extremely well after taking anti-retroviral drugs.

Some of the small homes recently built in this area

Two of Christobel’s children

Brother Ron Lavigne visited Mr. Jimmy Mkhize who is also suffering from one of the diseases in the rural area of Natal. He showed Ron the small garden plot he has planted.

OPSEU meets Jimmy Mkhize who is trying to maintain a
small garden while still suffering

Jimmy Mkhize stands near his vegetable garden

Later that morning we met with Ms. Zanele Mvubu, a traditional healer in this community. Soon after HIV/AIDS became such a problem Ms. Mvubu began trying to find out all she could on the subject – attending workshops, etc. She soon discovered she was the only traditional healer there. How can you treat someone if you do not understand what they have? That’s how she became involved.

Ms. Zanele Mvubu, Traditional Healer – educating others on HIV/AIDS

There are many stories we could relate from just this one very intense day as we accompanied the UVHAA people on their rounds throughout rural Natal. One of the most memorable moments was when we all gathered inside a small “rondavel” (a round hut with a thatched roof and polished dirt floor – actually dried cow dung which is then polished) to talk to a boy called Msizi Mkhize.

When Maurean visited the hospital last year she saw Msizi lying there, hardly able to move – a terminally ill patient. She was delivering alarm clocks to the children and youth so they would take their pills on time each day and actually felt terrible giving Msizi one – thinking that he was not going to survive at all. Today he is running around and anxious to get back to school. As soon as he went on the ARV drugs, he began to improve tremendously. There are many stories like that every day.

Walking down the steep hills to get to Msizi’s aunt’s house.

Msizi is overjoyed and his aunt was overcome
she announced it to the world below her!

Another crucial area of work is the education of men
around the issue of HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Prince Khuluse, member of the Board of UVHAA and Reverend Dlamini, also a member of the Board, recently began a program designed for South African young men, based on five principles or pillar:

What can men do?
What is the role of men in prevention?
How to deal with human sexual development
Understanding sex and sexuality
Relationships – how to build them
How men can fought the spread of HIV/AIDS
Patriarchy

Mr. Prince Khuluse (left) speaking to our group

Reverend Dlamini with the nurse.
The clinic staff and UVHAA staff work together very well.

We left this area absolutely exhausted – but so impressed with the work that this small NGO is doing on a shoestring budget. We must find ways to assist them in their gigantic battle against HIV/AIDS in this area.

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 14, 2008

2008-03-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

The “Slow Foot King Brothers” entertained guests at the Ministry function

After an early morning flight from East London to Durban, we drove straight into the city of Durban and began our meetings with Kessie Moodley and staff from the Workers’ College. OPSEU Social Justice Fund recently supported a project with the workers’ college regarding RPL (or Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition – PLAR) and I would really like to see this program expanded and some exchanges made between South Africa and Canada on the issue too. The college also runs Diploma courses for trade unionists and community activists and a Research Action component. We spent a great afternoon and evening with Kessie and “comrades”!

Smokey Thomas with staff at the Workers’ College in Durban
(Kessie Moodley on the top right).

We had a brief chat with the students in one of their programs – all of them workers or community activists from different countries. I was amazed at the level of complexity in the questions they posed to us – and the general knowledge of the politics of a country like Canada…

Keep watching for more news!

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 11-13, 2008

2008-03-17T08:26:00.001-07:00

We had a brief meeting in the morning with the Western Cape Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Brother Tony Ehrenreich and also Sister Soraya Jahwooden, Western Cape Secretary of the National Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) – before heading off to the Eastern Cape via the beautiful “garden route”.

Although a whirlwind trip through the Eastern Cape, it was our pleasure once again to be hosted by Brother Archie Sibeko who was born in Kwezana, a small village not far from Alice in the Eastern Cape province.

The scenery in the area is quite spectacular but the rural areas are still extremely poor. Our first stop was the Kwezana primary school – grades 1 to 7. Almost before we got out of the van, the children started singing and greeting us very warmly.

Students wearing their Canadian /South African flag stickers.

Our families had collected money for such an occasion so it was a tearful moment when we handed over the cash to the teachers.

The students sang and danced with even more vigour than before. It was very hard to leave them – but I am going to try to raise some more funds for the books and hopefully a library to put them in.

Kwezana students wave goodbye as we leave for the next leg of our tour.

The next stop was the Kwezana Old Age and Disability Centre – a project funded by the OPSEU Social Justice Fund. True to form, the women - mostly grandmothers – were outside singing and dancing. By now we have realized that this is the traditional way of greeting guests and starting meetings, etc. in South Africa. It suits me - especially as I told some South Africans that I couldn’t sing a note myself!

A small group of women started organizing in their community in modest ways during the last couple of years. Many of them are grandmothers themselves but they cook two meals a day for 51 people – both elders in the community and also grandmothers stuck at home with young ones, some of them AIDS orphans.

Although they are given some government assistance, they are forced to augment this money from other sources, including fundraising. Their needs are many – including new sewing machines, cloth, beads and beading machines. I would like to help them get this organization off the ground – and to see them link up with the local school and together begin a resource centre would be great.

Kwezana women greet us as we arrive

In a nearby community, this is exactly what a small NGO is attempting to do. They have already constructed a resource centre out of a cargo container and are now setting up a computer lab for use by the surrounding communities as well as the student s themselves. (www.tyumevalleyschools.org.za)

Archie, Gillian and Metro outside the TVA library and resource centre

We headed straight for King Williams Town – the site of the temporary legislature. Why the legislature? We were there as guests of the Right Honourable Minister for Transport, Roads, Safety and Security – Thobile Mhlahlo. Thobile was in Canada 17 years ago while doing underground work for SACTU. Now he is a Minister in a new South Africa and he invited us to listen as he delivered his Budget Speech in the house. It was great to see a very different legislature from that of only a few years ago – made up of South Africans from all “races”, but predominantly Black leaders. Other than that, it was the same as any other legislature with lots of heckling from the opposition! After the speech, Thobile graciously invited us to a special reception where he honoured Archie and asked him to speak – but also welcomed the rest of us to South Africa with gifts, food and wonderful music.

Right Honourable Thobile Mhlahlo with President Smokey Thomas

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 10, 2008

2008-03-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

We are greeted at Community House by
Brother Leonard Gentle, Director of ILRIG

ILRIG has a long history of working with the unions and the community dating back to the struggle against apartheid. They take up issues from around the world and make the information accessible to working people and the disenfranchised – through booklets, charts, workshops, debates, etc. Last year they hosted a Globalization School attended by workers from South Africa, Argentina and Canada – co-sponsored by USWA in Canada.

The five main areas of their work include:

Trade and Investment
Building Women’s leadership
Democracy and Public Power (in the face of privatization, P3s, etc.)
New Forms of Organizing
Youth and Globalization

I was quite impressed with the work they are doing and we talked of future possibilities and collaboration between OPSEU and ILRIG.

Today we said goodbye to Brother Bevil Lucas, former Organizer for South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) who has been assisting us in so many ways – driving us around, cooking a wonderful Cape Malay meal for us and relating the history of the Cape Town working class.

Saying goodbye to Bevil outside his home in Salt River, Cape Town

Unfortunately we have to say goodbye to Cape Town too.
We will report next from the Eastern Cape region…

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 10, 2008

2008-03-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Brother Archie Sibeko also joins the line

NEHAWU strikers display their demands

Strikers chanting “Injure One, Injure All, Injure One, Injure All…”

Although sorry to leave the picket line, we had other meetings back at Community House. The House is buzzing with community and union activity. These are a few of the activities at Community House today:

A group of Dutch Journalism students on an educational tour;
A group called “Khululani” meeting to talk about proper reparations from the South African government – still waiting many years after their loved ones were murdered by the apartheid regime

We dropped in on the Workers World Media Productions preparing their radio programs and other media events. Then we sat down to meet with Leonard Gentle, the Director of the International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG).

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 10, 2008

2008-03-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Sister Soraya Jahwodeen, Western Cape Secretary, NEHAWU and
Brother Tony Ehrenreich, COSATU Western Cape Provincial Secretary join the strikers

Brother Phumzile Nombila, a nurse, proudly displays his OPSEU pin and a Canada/South Africa sticker (courtesy of OPSEU) on his NEHAWU T-shirt

Smokey and Phumzile

“Management wants to starve and overwork us to death while they enjoy profits generated through our sweat”, says NEHAWU leaders. What is the difference between major corporations operating in Canada and South Africa? Absolutely none! Workers’ struggles are the same the world over.

Brother Thomas and Brother Lavigne join the workers in singing
Solidarity Forever

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 10, 2008

2008-03-11T07:03:00.001-07:00

Today was just like any other day at home in Canada! Just as we were off to meetings at a place called “Community House” where many unions and progressive organizations have their offices, we got a call from the National Union of Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) in the Western Cape.

President Smokey Thomas next to murals inside Community House,
Cape Town

Another mural of a worker with a sign, “Long Live COSATU”
(Congress of South African Trade Unions )

“Sorry, Comrades (the term used by unionists in South Africa instead of Brothers and Sisters), we cannot meet today – we are off to the picket line for the first day of a strike!” I immediately asked if we could join them there and the response was emphatic –“We would love it!”

NEHAWU strikers welcome us to their picket line

President Smokey Thomas brings a message of solidarity from OPSEU

The strikers are a group of 100 workers at a private health care administrative scheme - Medscheme. They are members of NEHAWU who have been in negotiations since October 2007. Counsellors, nurses and clerical staff, they are standing strong against this employer. Their slogan? An Injury to One is an Injury to All! Their demands? They want the employer to stop union bashing and recognize their representatives and they refuse to participate in the performance based pay system the employer is attempting to introduce. They also want:

an average of 15% wage increases (the lowest paid workers get the equivalent of only $1000 per month)
the employer to accelerate the implementation of employment equity
access to training in accredited institutions
an increase in their sick leave, study leave and annual leave days
housing and medical aid subsidies for workers

It’s amazing how similar these demands are to workers anywhere in the world. I brought greetings from our union and wished them all the best in their struggle. I also promised them a concrete form of international solidarity (watch the website for details of how you can harass their employer by phone from Canada!)

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 9, 2008

2008-03-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day - just back from a ferry trip to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. We toured the Nelson Mandela Gateway Museum before boarding the ferry for a 45 minute trip. It was more like a fishing boat than a ferry but an eerie experience as we ventured out into the fog from the port of Cape Town for the 13 km. trip.

Now a museum and a UN World Heritage site, the island is one of the most popular tourist sites in South Africa. We left the boat and boarded buses for a guided tour around the island, stopping at the lime quarry where Mandela and other prisoners slaved. A cave within the quarry was used both as a toilet (they would be shot if they left the quarry pit) and as a lunch area. The phrase 'each one teach one' began there and it became known as the University of Robben Island.

We were met at the gates of the maximum security section by a former inmate of Robben Island - Derek Grootbroon. Arrested at 19 for his political activities, he was imprisoned in 1986 and was freed along with Mandela in 1990. Can you believe it? He is now working alongside his former prison guards as part of the Robben Island Museum! What does this tell you about these courageous South Africans?

He guided us inside the prison walls where he gave us a detailed account of life for African prisoners in particular. My friend, Archie Sibeko was with us and was visibly moved by the tour. Our tour guide Derek recognized Brother Archie and thanked him for being an inspiration to younger men like him. The whole tour group applauded Archie and it was a beautiful but tearful moment. Then we all walked solemnly by prison cell No. 4 - Nelson Mandela's cell - a bare four by four cell with a bucket for a toilet and very little else.

It was getting late as we left the island and we all left silently, gathering our thoughts on the way back to the boat. The only thing that lightened up our walk was the sight of two penguins (very common creatures on this island and on some beaches near Cape Town).

Keep watching for our updates....

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi: March 8, 2008

2008-03-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Today I met up with Brother Archie Sibeko (known to many Canadians as Zola Zembe) who was a trade union leader arrested with nelson Mandela in the Treason Trial in South Africa in 1956 and was constantly harassed and imprisoned by the police. Faced with a long prison sentence he fled the country in 1963 and became a commander of the armed wing of the African National Congress. Later he coordinated the solidarity work for his organization, the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) and that's how he came to know and respect Canadian unions for their support for the struggle. I had read and loved his life history ("Freedom in our Lifetime") and so it was an honour for me to finally meet him here in his home country - a country free of apartheid, but, as Archie says, a country and its people still "damaged" by that system.

OPSEU in South Africa and Malawi

2008-03-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

OPSEU President, Brother Smokey Thomas and his Assistant, Brother Ron Lavigne are presently on a solidarity tour of Southern Africa where they will visit projects in South Africa and Malawi. They are there at the invitation of project leaders (including veteran South African trade union leader and freedom fighter, Archie Sibeko) and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Upon his arrival in Cape Town, Brother Thomas commented, "It is an honour and a privilege to represent my union in this amazing country still struggling to free itself of the vestiges of apartheid. OPSEU has a proud history of anti-apartheid work and I want to make sure that our union steps up our solidarity once again...I will be sending regular updates on what we are doing here, so keep checking our web-site for these updates."

OPSEU's El Salvador Tour

2008-03-03T08:58:00.001-08:00

Working group from OPSEU's El Salvador Tour

El Salvador members of tour

El Salvador tour group