Workshop at Masi.

On June 26^th, PASSOP, the organization that Rebecca and I were fortunate to have interned with held a workshop on the Zimbabwean Dispensation Project and Anti-xenophobia in Masiphumelele (or Masi for short), a township located slightly outside the city center of Cape Town. In Xhosa, the word Masiphumele means “We will succeed”.

The workshop held focused on addressing the critical fate that undocumented migrants would face once the deportation moratorium is lifted on July 31^st 2011. An estimated 200 individuals were present and managed to have been briefed on the important matters concerning their statuses. Given the severity of migrants’ documentation and the time constraints regarding the close proximity of the deportation date, we were able to have provided the necessary information to those still awaiting permits. Additionally, the workshop also intended to address xenophobia by bringing together South African and Zimbabwean citizens.

Key elements of the workshop concentrated on making the confusion regarding obtaining documentation more transparent, providing a section on Q&A at which many migrants took advantage of, and finally bringing people together.

As a peace and conflict resolution major, this specific event allowed me to have been a part of something I have read for my studies last semester that focused on hands-on approaches to addressing a particular conflict, such as going into the field, creating workshops and informing the masses of what’s at stake. Overall, it was a great workshop as it brought us in direct contact to the intricate nature of migration and alerted those of the necessary information, who perhaps may not have been informed through other means.