POVERTY:  Marathon runner Vuko “Vince” Loqo uses sport to mobilise support from Eastern Cape community…

By Siyabonga Kamnqa

DESPITE sanitary pads being a necessity in every woman’s life, the struggle still continues for many young girls, especially in South Africa’s rural areas.

But one man has decided to do his bit to alleviate the plight of girls in remote areas of the Eastern Cape by providing one sanitary pad at a time.

Vuko “Vince” Loqo is a marathon runner who has been using his favourite sport to mobilise his community of Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape and surrounding areas to step into the fray by donating sanitary pads to assist rural girls struggling to afford one.

Hailing from the poverty-stricken village of Mbekeni, Loqo told Weekly SA Mirror that it pained him to see some young girls in his village missing school days during their menstruation period. Ngcobo is home to ANC stalwarts such as Walter Sisulu and Dr AB Xuma.

Said Loqo: “ I don’t have much myself, but I just couldn’t fold my arms and not do something. And so when I started running major marathons five years ago I decided to mobilise my friends, relatives and even small businesses in my community to donate sanitary pads every time I participated in a race.

“I must say I was proudly taken aback by the pouring support from the community. From the day I started this, we’ve managed to restore pride and dignity to thousands of young girls in my hometown,” said Loqo.

The 45-year-old athlete has participated in races such as the Comrades Marathon, Two Oceans Marathon and Cape Town Marathon, where he received medals. Besides donating sanitary pads, Loqo through his Ithemba (Hope) Foundation, also donates school shoes to pupils in rural communities. He has also mobilised businesses to assist in donating groceries and also renovating homes of poor families. He said nothing fulfils his heart more than putting a smile and restoring the dignity of poor rural people.

“The demand is still huge as poverty continues to rear its ugly head among our rural communities. But I will continue playing my part in assisting wherever I can,” Loqo said. ( For those interested in donating sanitary pads or school shoes, Whatsapp 079 3022 346)

NOMSA MANAKA CELEBRATES LIFE BY DANCING OUT OF CANCER

Survival: Yearly spiritually healing concert features poets, singers, guitarists & drummers

By Victor Mecoamere

The people who live with loved ones who are suffering from cancer know almost everything about the bittersweet fluctuations of the incurable disease, says poet Mak Manaka and singer Tshedi Mholo.

Mak is the son of the late playwright Matsemela Manaka and choreographer Nomsa Manaka. Tshedi is a former member of the Afro Pop music group Malaika, in which she featured together with fellow singers Bongani Nchang and the late Jabulani Ndaba.

Nomsa, who is running her Nomsa Manaka Dance Studio inside the Funda Community College in Diepkloof, Soweto, is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer in 2016, while she was living with legendary saxophonist and flugelhorn player Hugh Masekela, who was coincidentally diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008 and succumbed ten years later. Nomsa was happy to discover in 2018, following several sessions of chemotherapy, that she was in remission.

On the other hand, Tshedi’s father succumbed to oesophageal cancer in October 2003. “Both my dad and aunt died from cancer,” said Mholo, who spoke with Weekly SA Mirror in a telephonic interview this week. “The same as anyone who either lives or has lived with someone who has cancer will tell you, no day is ever the same as the previous one.  I was still starting in the music industry when my dad took ill. He was constantly ill, and he could not keep anything down. And, before long, he was diagnosed. Witnessing my dad dying, while I could not do anything to help, was a most traumatic experience.”  

After he had echoed that those who live with loved ones who suffer from cancer know almost everything about the bittersweet fluctuations of the incurable disease, Mak said, “Well, firstly, the image of looking at your superhero, lying in bed and unable to move because of chemotherapy, can be quite devastating to any child.

It has not been easy, at all. One is still processing and learning how to let go of that particular image, which is still imprinted in my mind. But, as Ma’o’Lady (Mom) always says, stoically, ‘…this, too, shall pass’… And, truly, it has passed. But it is still a process.”

To help Nomsa to honour those who are living with cancer and those who are living with cancer sufferers and survivors, Mak and Tshedi will be among several other guest artists who will be performing together with Nomsa during her second annual Dancing Out Of Cancer Music, Dance and Poetry Show at Soweto Theatre in Jabulani, Soweto on October 29. The other performers include guitarist Billy Monama, singer Ayanda Khumalo,  gospel musician Omega Khunou, pop music artists Maleh, and poets Tsoana Nhlapo and Amantle.

“The theme, ‘Dancing Out of Cancer’, was suggested to me by my son Mak, when I was in my dying bed,” said Nomsa, whose other son, Mthuthuzeli, is a fine arts practitioner and is currently exhibiting in Cape Town. “Actually, Mak said to me, ‘Mama, you have to write a book, and call it Dancing Out Of Cancer’. Now, I swear by that phrase. Whenever I’m not well, and I’m thinking about the phrase, ‘Dancing out of Cancer’, it jerks me up from my bed.”

Sounding philosophical, Nomsa added that “I have learnt about the correlation between dance and ailments; which essentially means that dance heals the body, the mind and one’s spirit. It is a holistic thing.

That is why, every day, I attribute my healing to music and dance. On the day of the show, when you come to the theatre to watch the production, you will automatically feel awesome joy and happiness, and you will totally forget about your pain. And you will even stop feeling sorry for yourself; and you will simply go with the flow.”

Speaking about the different performers together with whom she would be sharing the stage, Nomsa said,  “All the artists have been specially selected; from the live band on stage – which is The Hugh Masekela Band – to the poets, singers, dancers and traditional drummers. Billy Monama plays brilliant guitar, and he will be playing my late brother, Prince Kupi’s songs, because those songs are very dear to me; and, after chemotherapy, they were among the songs to which I used to listen.”

Nomsa said Ayanda Khumalo, who is the later alto singer and cellist Sibongile Khumalo’s daughter, is expected to sing her mom’s song two songs, O kae and Little girl “that Sibongile had dedicated to me.

They are my favourite songs, too”. Nomsa said that Omega Khunou “also has a sentimental relevance, as he lost his best friend and fellow gospel musician, Neyi Zimu to a rare skin condition called mycosis fungoides cancer, and I thought this could be a healing process for him, as well.”

Nomsa said she had invited Tshedi to feature in the concert because, “She understands all about cancer, as she lost her dad to cancer. Maleh is a beautiful singer, and I think her voice will heal and inspire those who are living with cancer, and those who are affected by cancer. I chose the poets, including Mak, because he understands cancer first hand, and that’s why he penned a poem in which he says, ‘I want to cancer with my mother’.

“Tsoana Nhlapo is inspirational, and I just love her poetry. Amantle is a deaf poet that I saw working with Mak, and I was moved when I saw a deaf poet thriving in the mainstream. I brought her in because I wanted to challenge the stereotype that says that deafness is a disability – which is not so, really – and, what’s most gratifying is that sign language is now our official, twelfth  12 language in South Africa.

The dancers and the drummers will be doing different traditional dances, ultimately meaning that it will all be a celebration of the strength and resilience of the human spirit in fighting whatever battles the different people may be experiencing, be it cancer, depression, diabetes and so on.”