South African stories – living divided

Juhé Oscar

Suillerot Gaëtan

Migeon Philippe

In a slum, there was a poor family. They had very hard living conditions, didn’t have electricity or water, and ate rarely. The father, an old man who had already worked a lot, was married to a mother who was just more old than her daughter : they had four children. The girl was black like her family, she was 19. She hated her derelict condition, and was curious about the possibility of a better situation.

One day, the father went to the rich white residential area, in order to find a job. The girl wanted to know what looked like this place. She walked across the slum throw a way filled by waste. Then, she arrived at the wall that separated the township and the residential area. She saw beautiful houses and garden and children who played in. She started dreaming. She imagined her life : all was good, they had food and they were happy. Even her father who usually was tired and sad, smiled with his broken teeth.

But the dream stopped. She had to go home. Here she arrived with her father. There were no happiness, no smile, but screams. He didn’t get a job, he had been hurt by the police. They will never be rich, they will never be happy, it was for others. She was painful, but didn’t show it with her face, and went back to work.

Alexandra Marion

Marion Jennepin

Estelle Malléus

Once upon a time, in a gorgeous huge house with a swimming pool and a big garden flowers, there was a young woman called Danie Kagan. Like The building was shiny and a nice and funny playground was waiting for the children. The air smelt fresh flowers and pastries from the cute bakery locate June 2018.  the children. She went to the open kitchen which was in the garden. Then she started thinking. She thought about he walls which were growing up every weeks. She heard an alarm, it was the police.

She packed her stuff a few hours later and went back to the familiar path. At the beginning very pleasant. But farther she went and uglier was the landscape. She went through a gate.  of policemen.  the paradise to the hell recycled material. Some people on the floor were screaming and crying. Some other were injured, they tried to climb the wall. The worst was that they did kill. They were hungry. They didn’t have , she said to herself “That’s where I live”.

Peyrefitte Grégoire, Larzillière Yoan, Poulin Arthur,

Kan Christian

This is the story of a young girl, Danny. She was born seven-teen years before the end of the Apartheid in a slum near a gated community. Her father was shot to death when she was a child, during a riot for black people’s rights. She now searches a job or any way to get money to help her mother raising her brothers and sisters.

One morning, Danny was walking down the street, like every morning since her dad died. The houses, or the boxes the inhabitants of the slum lived in, were all dirty and the only color was the grey. Just before she decided to get back home, something strange catch her attention. A little man was getting through the only window of the biggest house from the neighbourhood, and she could hear a man yelling after him. She ran right to the thief and hit him with a rock into his face. The landlord could take back his stuff. He thanked the young girl and made her an offer. He worked in a shop in the rich gated city.

“My boss is searching for a new employee, would you come working with me?”

– “Yes, I would like to work with you!”

After save money during a long time, she was able to buy a house in the city with her family.

Mandry-Delimoges Raphaël and Baptiste

It is the story of a young South African girl, named Maly.

In a saturday morning, she decided to go to the neighborhood’s market, to get some medics, since she was starving for 2 days now. On the path, she looked around her. what a pitty… The children were screaming in the streets, asking for money to every stranger in the shiptown. the houses, built in trash materials, were struggling to stand against the wind and to protect their owners from the rain. Seing old ladies washing theur clothes in a small barrel, filled with dirty water, Moly was thinking:

“How can everybody be so poor, while the whites people, back there, have parks, fridges for their food?”

She finally arrived to the market, but it was close because their was no more food in it. This is why she decided to move to the whites’ houses. After climbing a wall, she asked for everyone pitty, but no one took care and some even closed their windows and doors, like if they were threatned. after  hours and hours of walking, she gave up. that’s going to be an other missing diner…

Clothilde Ramanantsoavina

Alix Parent

Lily-Mei Thibault

One summer evening 1981, a starving girl had problems sleeping and went out to take some fresh air on her balcony. She saw lights on the other side of the wall separating her miserable world from a “sweet paradise” her parents used to say.

Curious, she started walking towards the 7 feets high wall that was ruining the scenery. When she reached the wall, she noticed that there was a little hole through which she could see the party. Suddenly, an eye popped up in front of hers. That was a little boy who was around 11 years old. He told her : “Hey, niger, what are you doing near my house ! Get out of here, parties are not made for slaves.”

She tried to defend herself, teaching him it was rude to say this kind of stuff. He pulled up his jump rope and started to whip her through the wall.

Startled, she screamed and stepped back. She was about to run away when she heard people running; running to the wall. An adult voice scolded the boy. A deep voice.

She got into a tree. She watched, hiding in the shadows, the scene, the boy was scolded for approaching the wall too close.

“Do not come this close again ! This is too dangerous, Nigers are too dangerous ! You could have been hurt, or worse.” they said.

After seeing that, she came down from the tree and ran to her village, with tears on her face. She ran, faster and faster, without looking back. “I know we were different, but… this… they are just mean. It is not fair ! We are the same !” She just wanted to go home, and never come to this place again. She wanted to never see and hear these horrible people. Once home, she woke up her grandma, crying and asking : “ Why ? Why ?”

Her kind and sweet Grandma explained “ We are not the same, sweetie. They look down at us, they treat us like an inferior race but they are the real beasts, rejecting us for our skin colour. They don’t have humanity !”

The girl was not convinced. She was the one scared. The others with their big houses, the big wall… She had nothing, why would they fear her ?

However, she hopes one day she will go to the other side, to see, to work, as her mother did. Her mother who never came back.

But she will never get over the wall, she will never see what’s on the other side. She will try to survive in her township.

What she didn’t know is that those people were hated by their neighbors for their cruelty. She found the wrong people when there were others fighting for Black people, people like her.

LHUILLIER Agathe

LEMOINE Camille

MAGNE Elisabeth

I’m hungry.

I’m afraid.

People are dying around me.

Young children, old people… Everybody is sick or starving and we are too poor to buy food or medicine.

My name is Danie, and I live in the slum of Masiphumelele.

I pass through the field, which separates us from civilization, every day to look for a hole in the wall to discover the life behind.

I’m curious. What is it looking like out there?

We want to have a better life, with education and rights, but people behind the wall don’t want it.

My neighbours decided to manifest against the population behind the wall.

I don’t really think it’s a good idea because it is very dangerous. We know they have weapons.

But nobody listens to me. They want to fight.

I know they just want a better life, they are good people in the bottom of their hearts. So I decide to trust them and to overcome my fear.

My dad came back home with weapons last night. He said the fight would be tomorrow. We are ready now.

My young sister is determined to help, but I don’t want her to be on the field during the battle, it is too dangerous.

I can’t sleep right now. We feel the excitement and the anxiety around us. No one sleep. We are too stressed for that.

I think people are going to die tomorrow, but it’s for a better life and I secretly hope that I won’t be among them.

I finally fell asleep.

It’s the big day. My sister sulks because of my dad. He ordered her to stay at home.

I take my slingshot and some stones and I go out.

My neighbours come to me and we walk together towards the field and… behind the wall.

One gunshot. People began to scream and a woman fell on the ground.

More gunshots, more screams, more people down.

I see my dad fall and hear my sister calling us far away. I hope she is safe.

I’m crushed by the scary crowd and I hear another gunshot. But this one sounds different, more close.

Suddenly, I feel a violent pain in my stomach. I look down and see the wound… and the blood.

It hurts… I feel myself falling… And it’s the pitch black.