Solidarity & Unity : a fictionnal cross-community project

 I.  What is Apartheid ? 

    Apartheid took place between 1948 and 1992 in South-Africa. During those 4 decades, different ethnic groups were separated in their daily life : schools, shops, restaurants, public transports… Coloured, Black and Indian people were segregated. South-Africa was firstly colonized by the Netherlands from 1652 to 1806. Then, the British Empire took control in the country until May 30th 1910, the official independence of South-Africa.

    The racial segregation happened in two phases. Indeed, the first phase was “softer”. The different ethnic groups were separated in their lives but still lived in the same city. In the second phase, the communities were even geographically separated. Thus, the second phase created a huge gap between different communities. At Solidary & Unity we try to fill it ! 

II.  Our project

    Solidarity & Unity is a 22-year-old association which was created in Cape Town, South-Africa. We work with all communities in the country to improve integration in all social circles. The association offers the opportunity to all people, wherever they are from and whoever they are to occupy a real place in our society. Thanks to our exchanges, participants are more open-minded and willing to discuss with anyone. Indeed, at Solidary & Unity, we think that discussion can resolve any problem, fights never ended a war, only diplomacy and comprehension did !

    Debate is a real skill that we all should improve to live in a better environment.  

    Moreover, Solidarity & Unity’s sponsors facilitate South-African’s lives with internships. Indeed, companies such as “JSE Limited”, or the Ceres Valley help us

    Since 2002, 600 participants have been offered the chance to be a part of our association. More than 10.000 people donated to the project the past year, and this is only the beginning !

III. Solidarity & Unity, an international project ? 

    In South-Africa, our project is successful. Indeed, it improves regions where we are actively present. 

We would love to export our wonderful project to other countries and regions of the world where ethnic groups are not getting along because of their differences : religious beliefs, origins, skin color… We would like to operate in Rwanda and Burundi where the ethnic groups Tutsi and Hutu have been fighting since the dawn of time. Indeed, those countries have been the theaters of a huge genocide in 1994 which has done more than a million deads in only a few months. Our project would be complicated to do, but it would offer the participants from the two communities the chance to understand their issues and the solutions. At Solidarity & Unity's we are persuaded that cultural and linguistic exchanges stay a way out of this conflict.

    Moreover, the situation in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants would be a great part of all of our association. Indeed, the religious and political conflict has been happening for 3 decades, and even though the fights ended in April 1998, the two communities still have a lot of prejudices against each other. They are still separated by seconds “Walls of Shame” in cities like Belfast. Our project would offer the two religious groups the opportunity to get to know each other. 

    To conclude, Solidarity & Unity is a South African project which would love to export its ideas all around the world to make it a better place for anyone despite their skin color, religious beliefs and ethnic group !