Over the course of five days, filmmakers Mark Belinsky and Emily Jacobi worked with a group of thirteen young people living in shelters in Pretoria to document their lives in post-Apartheid South Africa.  After Apartheid and Hopes & Dreams are their voices and stories. The project is part of Digital Democracy's program Project Einstein training youth in new media literacy - these young people learned how to use digital cameras, how to critique and edit their photos.

On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison.  Nearly twenty years later, these young South Africans use cameras to share their voices and stories, and their hopes for a better future.

Despite the guarantee of broad political, social, and cultural rights in the new South Africa, South Africans face daunting challenges: a deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic (approximately 20% of the adult population is infected), large numbers of orphaned and homeless youth, and discrimination and attacks against migrant workers and refugees from Zimbabwe. 

See MISC (in the side bar) for more information about South Africa today.

For the past two years Mark Belinsky and Emily Jacobi have collaborated on media projects through their production company, New Words. In 2008, they founded a nonprofit called Digital Democracy (Dd), aimed at empowering civic engagement through new technologies.

Emily Jacobi has worked on media, youth development and research projects in Latin America, West Africa, Southeast Asia and the United States. She previously worked for Internews Network and AllAfrica.com and served as assistant bureau director for Y-Press. Since 2007, her work has focused on researching and supporting the capacity of local organizations in closed and transitioning societies.

Mark Belinsky has a background in computer science, sociology and film and media studies. His nonprofit ventures and media projects span the globe. In Armenia, he founded a youth progressive action center to support emerging civil society, and he remains involved as a board member. Since January 2007, he has been working on projects in Burma.

Digital Democracy's Project Einstein started as the vision of eleven Burmese youth living as refugees in Bangladesh. In early 2008, Mark and Emily traveled to a Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, and taught a group of young people, ages 9-14, how to use digital cameras to document their lives and share their stories.  While working with them,  they learned how to use the cameras, shoot images, and choose their best images on computer screens. Working in teams of two and three, they documented universal themes of: Happy, Unhappy, Peace and the Disabled. At the end of the visit the youths were asked what they wanted to call the project. After a moment of thought one boy raised his hand and shouted out "Project Einstein!" and the others quickly agreed. Puzzled, Mark and Emily asked why. Their response: "Because Einstein was a refugee but could still do great things". 

Now, a photography-based digital penpal program, Project Einstein connects classrooms of youth living in marginalized communities with youth in the US. Dd is currently developing a web-based platform and curriculum for this program. Since 2008 Dd have trained 45 youth in Haiti, Bangladesh, Thailand and South Africa. 

Click on each image for a larger view.

• A young girl learns how to use flip video in Pretoria, South Africa.
• Project Einstein South Africa, October 2008
• A team photo for a scavenger hunt as part of PE Thailand in Mae La, Thailand
• Viewing the photograph, Project Einstein Thailand, September 2009
• Project Einstein in Haiti just before the Earthquake, January 2010
• Team "Golden Life" chose to document "Happy" in Kutupalong rufugee camp, Bangladesh
• A group of young people study, as documented by Team "Golden Life"
• Kutupalong refugee camp, January 2008

Former South African President Nelson Mandela celebrates the 20th anniversary of his release from prison.

• Digital Democracy
  http://digital-democracy.org/
• Project Einstein
  http://digital-democracy.org/what-we-do/programs/
• More Videos about Young People in South Africa
  http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2009/08_south_africa/index.html

South Africa Country Facts

Pop: 49 million (2009 est.)
Median age: 24.4 years
Urban population: 61% (2008)
HIV/AIDS rate among adults: 18.1% (2007)
Government: Republic
Capital: Pretoria (administrative), Bloemfontein (judicial), Capetown (legislative)
Education expenditures: 5.4% of GDP (2006)
Official languages: 11 (led by Afrikaans)
Ethnic groups: (2001)

Black African 79%
White 9.6%
Colored 8.9%
Indian/Asian 2.5%

Main industries: services, mining, auto industry
Literacy: 86.4% (2006)
Mobile phones: 42.3 million (2007)
Internet users: 5.1 million (2006)

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