The end of SIT.

I am sorry it has been so long since my last post but i have been very busy with limited Internet access. I will try to fill you in with the short time i have.
First of all, my experience working with the youth group, the KwaZulu Natal Youth Empowerment Project, was amazing. I met amazing kids who accepted me into their community and became my friends. After my time with them, i invited all of them to the beach for a braii. There, we cooked and hung out all day and i was able to introduce them to my friends and my SIT coordinator Langa. When it got dark, and they were about to leave, some kids challenged us to a soccer game. So in the dark, we striped off our shoes and played an exciting and fun game of soccer.
While the experience working with KZN YEP was great personally, i also felt the research helped me grow academically. I traced the origins and importance of youth groups in South Africa under Apartheid and examined the current role of youth organizations. During the 1980s, youth groups used the slogan "liberation first, education later" and i began to break down the importance and impact of that statement on current youth and youth activists. Its long, but if you would like to read it shoot me an email.
What was even better than writing the paper was presenting it to my class. It looks that through my research, SIT is going to start a partnership with KZN YEP, which will benefit KZN YEP and provide SIT a way to becoming more involved in the community.

So, the paper is done as is SIT. I signed off from the program yesterday, and hopped on a bus to Maputo, Mozambique. I don't know too much about this place so far, but we live on Mao Tse Tung Ave and walk past different streets like Allende and Marks aves. This morning, we went to a cafe and drank espressos and struggled with Portuguese. Today, we plan to go to a revolutionary museum, and then hear live music tonight. Tomorrow0w, we are headed for Tofo bay where the pristine beaches are supposedly amazing. It feels good to be on vacation, and i am excited to return home as well.
Life is good, and i think my new Mozambique cell phone is 00258 866 8894. Talk to you all later. Obrigado.

Alex, i think i return at 7 in the morning on the 21st, and congrats my fewethu.

ISP

First of all, the living conditions on the Durban coast are still very sweet. I wake up around 5:30, when the sun is still down and eat my breakfast as the sun comes up. Waking up that early might be normal for my brother Daniel, but challenging coming from a “lazyass,” which is the word that my mother uses to describe me when I won’t get my “lazyass” off the coach. When I get back from my independent work, I run along the beach. The beach might be the only place in SA where you see all the different racial groups in one location. After my runs, I attempt to cook, which actually has been a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I am in week two of my independent study project. It’s been interesting and challenging so far but I am having a great experience and getting some good information. In the morning I hop on a taxi, which are minibuses filled with people with one man driving while another hangs out the window yelling and holding up one finger which means “to town.” My first day, I did have a little run in with some “tsotsis,” (gangsters) in town, but don’t worry mother, it was ok and I am fine. I didn’t know where I was going then, but I now know to take one taxi to a taxi rank and then hop on another to Wiggins. I definitely get some looks for generally being the only white person, and because I am getting on a taxi at 6 AM to Wiggins which is also highly unusual. I tell the driver to drop me off at the “eskoleni” (school), and help the guys and girls make breakfast for young primary students who are orphans. It’s a pretty nice way to spend your morning.
After one morning last week, I sat in on a meeting with about 3 different NGOs and the local municipality. They were meeting about the “Health and Wellness Campaign” which was in the Wiggins sports fields last Saturday. It was interesting seeing the meeting, and then watching how the event unfolded. While it drew a good amount of people, most were very old, and it lacked young people. After observing how my organization can attract kids, I thought that the municipality should have listened to kids more about what will attract other kids. It was still a good experience seeing all the people getting tested for HIV/AIDS and spending some more time with the guys. It also happened to be my birthday, so I left early to get ready for a good night. I spent the night with my buddies from SIT and my Indian home stay brother and sister. We eat a delicious Italian meal by candlelight because of load shedding. If you don’t know, South Africa is in a serious power crisis.
This week has been pretty eventful as well. The leader of the organization had to leave for a week right when the organization was going to start going into schools and teaching “life skills.” I thought it would be a bad thing, but it has been nice and informative to see the guys/girls work without him around. We have gone into schools everyday, and I have been very impressed how they can control and excite a class. They ask the teacher not to be in the class so the kids feel more open to talk about things like puberty and sex education. I just observe, and get up sometimes to answer questions about America. I get asked a range of questions from “why do people wear baggy clothing?” to “Are there shacks in America?”
On Tuesday, I didn’t go into the classes and instead went with a member of the organization to Westville Prison. We met two other guys from another organization, and headed off for a meeting with the principle at the school and six social workers. I was told walking in that it was the largest prison in the southern hemisphere. The entire meeting, there were sounds of the prisoners banging and singing. The meeting was to plan an event for Youth Day with the juvenile prisoners. The three men I was with were very impressive and all previously been in Westville as inmates. We went over ways in which the organizations could provide entertainment and information to the kids. We briefly talked afterwards about how the meeting went and headed back after a long day.
I am falling asleep around 8 or 9 every night, but soon I will have to concentrate on writing the paper. I also extended my ticket so I can travel for 6 days in Mozambique after the program ends. Looks like I will be leaving on the 21st and arriving in NYC on the 22nd. Thanks for all your birthday wishes, and happy Passover.
Sala Kahle (Stay well)

Research Project.

After some revision, my independent study project has been approved. I am examining the leadership of a local youth organization, completely run by kids, in the shack communities of Cato Manor. I will also be reading about youth resistance during apartheid and interviewing youth leaders in Durban to find similarities and differences.

During the 1980s, the slogan for youth organization was, "Liberation first, education later." It seems that the "later" part of that slogan is now. Public education is in pretty terrible conditions. School fees(public school costs money), lack of school lunch, unqualified teachers, and barriers to higher learning, to say just a few problems, are standing in the way for many students.

I will be observing their breakfast feeding program, home visits to community members with HIV/AIDS, "Life Skill" mentoring program in high schools, sports activities and more. Last month, i went to a dance competition where they filled an entire hall with kids, and raised a large amount of money.
I am very excited to start research, but more importantly, to start spending some time with these kids. I start tomorrow at 6:30, helping them feed local school children. I also think i will be teaching basketball. I'll keep you posted.

The Flat.

Check this place out. Pretty terrible i know.

Final Homstay, final class, and moving on our own.

I have recently returned from my last homestay in Newlands East with a coloured family. The father, Jack, worked as a mechanic at GM in the early 1960s and loved to talk politics with us. He told us that all men are still boys and showed us his collection of American classic car models He is still looking for his favorite: the 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. The mom, Dolly, cooked us great food and their two kids were very nice. I didn't spend as much time with them as i would like of because i came down with a nasty stomach virus.

Monday was spent with We Help Our Children and we sat in on one of their seminars. I took the opportunity to whip out a pen and paper and start research for my ISP topic on youth organizations. One thing I noticed was that while KZN YEP was a youth organization, this was more an organization for youth. But, I realize that KZN YEP had empowerment classes and maybe WHOC is the first step to creating a larger movement by creating youth leaders. I felt the seminar was a very up-down style of teaching and the kids weren’t involved enough. In the end, they became more involved, but I wondered as I walked outside and saw kids standing on the corner, How do you reach them?

I took the opportunity afterwards to talk with the head of the organization, Karl. He told me he didn’t think the problems lied within communities but failure from the government. He stated that there was a lack of necessary systems set up in school to give kids a holistic education-ie diversity, life skill training, and sports. He also mentioned the problem of teachers being confused about the material required by the government which added to a poor learning environment. He also went over their techniques to dealing with different ages which they called different stages which needed different techniques of counseling and mentoring.

The second part of the day started out well as we headed for a toxic tour of Wentworth. Wentworth is a coloured area which was located directly next to many toxic plants. The area has a high rate of asthma and cancer among other problems in what the Village Voice called “environmental racism” in 2001. I enjoyed the tour but felt a virus coming on, which hit me hard on the car ride back. Tuesday was our final day and spent at a Mosque and Hindu Temple. Interesting going from a place where they worship 1 God and forbid images to a temple where there are many gods with their statues throughout.

Wednesday, we (4 fine gentlemen) moved into our new "flat" and its quite nice. Its on the 11th floor and has a balcony with a "lekka" view of the beach. Pictures to come. I am done with classes, but start my Independent Study Project on Monday with the KwaZulu Natal Youth Empowerment Project. Because classes are over, and I wont have as much internet access, I will most likely post less than I have been.

CAPE TOWN.

We headed to Cape Town on Saturday morning. After we got settled, we headed off for lunch and then Robben Island. Robben Island is off the coast of Cape Town and was first used by the British for people with leprosy. During apartheid, the island become the home to Robben Island Prison which held many political prisoners. Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 26 years in jail on the island, and we got to see the cell where he spent all those years. Our tour guide, who spent many years in the prison as a political prisoner, showed us a cell and talked about the conditions of the prison. One thing he mentioned was how apartheid even stretched into the prison with coloreds and Indians receiving better food, like bread, than the African prisoners. After seeing the prison, we took a tour of the island. We saw the quarry where the prisoners were put to work and the cave where they ate lunch. The cave is of importance because it was a place of polical discussions and became known as the University of Robben Island.

Sunday, we had our only day off in Cape Town and we made the best of it. We got dropped off by a taxi at the botanical gardens in the early morning on our way to climb Table Mountain. We briefly walked through the garden, which I think my parents would appreciate more than me, and headed for the mountain. It was a fun and hard hike which you had to use ladders at certain points. When we were at the top a helicopter came really close to us and then headed off. We saw rescuers belaying down with a stretcher. Hopefully it was just an exercise. The view at the top of the mountain was amazing, and of course, pictures can’t do it justice. But here are some anyways:

Monday morning, we headed to the University of Cape Town area for class. Our first lecturer worked for an NGO and goes on the television and radio a lot to discuss politics. She was extremely articulate and explained the current political situation which I already knew a lot about. Recently at the ANC conference in Polokwane, Thabo Mbeki was defeated. While he can only serve 2 terms as president, he tried to keep power by becoming the president of the ANC for the third time. The man who beat him was Jacob Zuma who is being touted as an anti Mbeki liberal. While he does have support from the powerful union and ANC partner COSATO, he is far from a progressive. He was acquitted from rape charges not long ago after he had sex with an HIV positive AIDS activist. He said that he had the right to have sex with her because she turned him on and when asked if he used protection, he stated “I took a shower.” Now, he is about to go to court for corruption charges. Anyways, he was an Mbekite for a long time and I don’t see his values far from just wanting to be president. It very possible that he wont be president because of the current charges, and the unknown but most likely progressive, Kgalema Motlanthe, will become the next president.

After she spoke, I and a few friends toured the campus. The campus is amazing and right next to Table Mountain. We headed back and heard a lecture from Neville Alexander. Google him if you like, but anytime a person starts a lecture by telling you he spent 10 years in Robben Island with Mandela, you listen. And, what he had to talk about was slightly controversial. He stated that apartheid was affirmative action for whites, and the new affirmative action was unnecessary, and using a foreign system. He stated that there could be other methods that could be used to get better results like looking at wealth and requiring certain African languages for jobs.

Tuesday was a very powerful day spent in the shack communities surrounding Cape Town. We were with the organizer of the Anti Eviction Campaign who had no teeth due to a cop’s foot. We started at the Delft settlement which is located on a sidewalk next to newly built government housing. The settlement was sad, but unlike Kennedy road, showed great political maneuvering by the organization. They were tired of not receiving houses from the government and said that the houses being built were given to people through bribes. So, they illegally occupied new houses. They lived in houses for two months before the government came and forcefully removed them. The whole thing was caught on camera and the scenes of riot police, which showed all over the country, were reminiscent of apartheid.

Here is how it showed on national news:

After being removed, the people set up a community on the sidewalk outside. Everyone in the community is well spoken and on point with the message that they will not leave until they all have houses. They keep track of who comes in and out, and regulate who can live in the area to keep the original community in tact. As I walked up the street, a boy came up to me and showed me a rubber bullet from the eviction. It was awesome to see poor people taking action. After Delft, we headed to Joe Slovo settlement which is huge shack community. There we talked with some residents who also were demanding houses from the government. In all, it was a great day seeing political action at work, and I wondered what Kennedy Road could do to attract as much media attention as these communities have.

Wednesday was spent at the District 6 museum which was a diverse neighborhood destroyed under the Group Areas Act of the 1950s much the same way Cato Manor was where SIT is located. I was pretty tired, but a mural on the wall caught my eye. It was a wet fresco which is like a cave painting and water makes the colors become more prominent.

After I got back, three of us went on an amazing run up Lions head (the pointy mountain in the third picture of Table Mountain). As we looked at the ocean below us, we realized we were looking at the bottom of the world. We stayed up too late Wednesday night (Long street in Cape Town reminded us of Bourbon Street in New Orleans) and hopped on a plane at 6 with no sleep but a great week behind us.

One thing standing in our way was the Independent Study Project proposal which was due Friday. The proposals go in front of a board of academics who either give a grade, usually around a C, or reject the proposal.

Bye bye Bob?

Hearing mixed stories here about the Zim election. Mugabe's party has lost the majority in Parliament but it is still uncertain whether he will stay as the leader. Right now it looks like there is going to be a run off between him and Morgan Tsvangirai. I heard that Mugabe was going to decline running in the runoff to avoid embarrassment but who knows. There is also concern over the military and who their allegiance is to(the third candidate Simba Makoni has some support in the military.) Hopefully, Mugabe will step down and a peaceful transition can occur.

Spashy, Homestay, and Stellenbosh.

Wow,

it’s been a while. I don't really know where to start. I am currently in Cape Town but i have to catch you up with what I have been doing before I arrived.

After i left the homestay family, we headed off for Spashy Fen. We arrived just before the sun went down and started to make our way down to the festival. We were walking down the mud path and a nice couple threw a us on the bed of their truck which was a common way to get around at the festival. What we quickly learned was that we needed gum boots because some areas were inches deep in mud. The mud aside, the concert was in the beautiful Southern Drakensburg, and we had 6 hour shifts collecting money for tickets( the reason why we were there for free). Nights were spent listening to South African rock music and the days were spent swimming or hiking. We went on an amazing hike. At the top I met a guy who knew running, and my group was astonished as we talked about the greats like Salazar and Shorter and great runs around Durban.

Here are some picks of the concert and hike.

The rest of the weekend was great and tiring with a lack of sleep. On Monday morning, we headed back to Durban muddy and tired. We went back to SIT for only a short time before we headed out to Newlands for our Indian homestay.

Me and my friend Etan arrived at the homestay in Newlands and were greeted by our homestay sister Trish and her granny. They had a very nice house and we were given amazing food the whole time. One morning granny woke up and fed us pancakes. It was a great three days spent with Trish, her brother Bradley, and their two loving parents. Our final day we went out to an Italian restaurant, headed to the mom’s food shop on the beach, and then went off to a club where we danced until 3 in the morning with our homestay brother and sister.

We then headed for Stellenbosh. It is a wine drinking town which has alot of money and beautiful architecture. You get a very odd feeling walking around in this city which is astonishingly beautiful when shacks were on the side of the road the entire ride up. It is also home to the University of Stellenboch which was home to a couple great runs of mine. We heard a very good art history lecturer talk about how images created an Afrikaner racist identity. I noticed some of their architecture resembled Mussolini’s static fascist architecture.

Later, we went to a farm involved in land reform after '94. They talked about how much trouble they were having in keeping up their farm. They were growing organic food and sending it overseas. Competing with the subsidized American and European markets was driving their prices down to a level where profit was minimal. They also were not receiving help from neighboring white farmers who wanted them to fail. A couple things connect this to the US: Neighboring farmers can really help each other and give one another advice which I learned touring Illinois farms. Sadly, racism is standing in the way in Stellenbosh. The other connection i saw was the movie about a Beloit grad, "the real dirt on farmer john." The documentary depicts a farmer who almost loses his farm before he recovers using community farming and is helped by the rising demand of local organic produce. I wondered if organic farming could become popular in the Stellenbosh area and if the farm could someday provide organic local food to the numerous restaurants in Stellenbosh and Cape Town.

After the farm, headed off for some true "experiential learning" which consisted on going wine tasting. I would say it was great wine if I knew anything about wine. Went to the bar afterwards and grabbed a beer. For dinner, we went to a Cuban restaurant that denied my request to play Latin music instead of techno. Stayed out too late and woke up early for a run and Cape Town.

I am having a great time being in this amazing city and our directors are providing great classes. I will write in more detail later.

Leaving.

Hey, heading off for Spashy Fen (woodstock for Africa) and really excited. Said goodbye to the fam today. I will really miss them and intend to visit them during my independent study which is just down the road.

Education in South Africa.

Where do I stand now? Well I returned to my homestay family last Friday and it felt like I was returning home. This week we have split into focus groups that are related to our independent research paper(ISP). I picked education, and have spent the week with a small group of students and Professor Johann Wasserman. I picked the group because my ISP is related to education, and because Johann is the man, and a great lecturer. He is Africaans, grew up on a farm, and teaches history to to-be teachers.

We spent Monday looking at a private boarding school in the hills of KZN called Kearsney College. It really blew me away. 50 acres, with multiple playing fields, state of the art class rooms with “smart boards” (computer screen black boards), and a menu that would put Beloit to shame. It was a very odd place-it was all about the Kearnsey club and we got the feeling they were creating little prototypes, or as one student said, “little capitalists.” I got the feeling that the school was more about the business then teaching; our tour guide called the head master the “ceo.” It was really weird: every student that walked by had to greet us all saying “sir” or “mam.” We must of heard sir and mam 1000 times.

Tuesday, we went to Johann’s college, KZN Edgewood which is a college for to-be teachers. Spent the first half talking economics with one professor, and then the rest of the day hanging out with students. I got a much different picture of white South African students. The first school I went to a couple weeks back I was slapped in the face with blatant racism that left me feeling ill, but these student were much more open to change. Johann said he had trouble getting students to tour us because a large amount of anti-American sentiment. It definitely started to come out with the Iraq war and Bush, and I tried to tell them that sometimes I was anti-America too.

Wednesday. Johann lecture in the morning about the history of education, the new “outcome based education” failures (Interesting topic because i went to an OBE school in Project Learn), and the debate surrounding the proposed pledge for all students. He set us up well for a discussion at a youth center in Chatsworth, an Indian township, later in the day which was about the proposed pledge. I sat back for a while listening to why youth need a pledge before I made a comment which went something like this:

“I have problems with putting blame on students when alot of the real problems lies with schools, teachers, school administration, and the government. Why are we talking about a pledge when the real issues is the lack of textbooks and computers, school fees, basic infrastructure, lack of qualified teachers ect. It seems like the government has failed students and and this is a last and sorry attempt to fix the problem. And, i'm wondering why the students should say this pledge when the government and teachers aren’t upholding these values.

While I don’t believe the pledge is necessary, it must say something about the current injustices that are happening in the country because this document makes it seem like everything is alright when it is definitely not.”

I got some applaud from the students. We then headed home. Tomorrow is my last day in Bonella.

Thursday update-Last day studying education with a professor of social justice. Interesting stuff-looking into class, race and culture, religion, and gender in relation to education.

Game Park.

Went to a game park.
Was told me weren't going to see much wild life-happy they were wrong.


The Lion. We also went on a Hippo tour.

Catching up to Speed.

Some picsMama Joyce really wanted a picture feeding Nick breakfast.
Mama Joyce and me with her beloved "Minky"


I want to continue to talk about the rual area experience but i want to catch up with what i am doing now. We had a Zulu test on the friday we were in Oldwebede, and then headed off to the beach. When we got home,people were in our kitcthen drinking some Zulu beer(utchwala isiZulu) which Mama Joyce made the day before. We had a great time together with Spiwe, Mama Joyce and others. I woke up in the morning with some sort of virus that gave me a rash over my entire stomach and arms. Nick and Brian went to buy a chicken for dinner which we later saw die by the knife of Mama Joyce.
On Sunday we went to some sort of celebration where we chowed with the man of the house who was drinking beer, Zulu beer, and vodka. We eat the sacrificed goat and some steamed bread.
Sunday night, we went to the pool hall. Woman are not supposed to go out at night which means that there were about 20 boys dancing together to very loud house music. We again were forced to attempt traditional Zulu dance. The boys told us how much they were going to miss us, and i felt really sad about leaving the following morning.
We got home, and took pictures with Mama Joyce.

Spiwe, Brian, Nick, and Me. Mama Joyce with her fat boys.

Rural Education

The day was spent examining the school system in the rural areas. The first part was talking with the principle in Olwebede Primary School. The school did not have running water, but did have electricity. There was a pit toilet, though no toilet paper, and a water tap for the kids to drink from. There were no school fees, which is highly unusual in South Africa, and some sort of free lunch. We didn’t sit in any classes so it was hard for me to really gage the learning, but the infrastructure and the amount of teachers/staff was lacking.

We then headed to the High School where I saw some of my soccer buddies form the day before. Knowing the boys spoke limited English at best, I asked the principle what language the classes were taught in, and she said in English but in Zulu if necessary. The English-home language debate is interesting: the kids need to learn English to go to college and excel in the major cities, but at the same time, they might be getting taught in English but not understanding it which means they are lacking the skills. The balance between learning the material and learning English needs to be closely examined. We talked to the principle and some of the excelling students. I found the principle had to run the school, teach, and act as the disciplinarian and security. I thought that a security guard would not be too much money and possibly make the kids feel safer. I also found it interesting how the principle and the students knew nothing of scholarship opportunities.

After lunch, we were told the school had a performance for us. I thought it was going to be a play or something, but about 20 girls came into the room in traditional Zulu outfits, which means a small skirt and some beads, and danced for us. It was an amazing performance, but I was shocked at how comfortable these girls were topless infornt of their peers and us. I asked Langa if girls from Durban would do such a performance in high school, and he replied “no way”, which gave me the sense of the divide between the rural and the urban.

After the high school, he headed back and got ready for soccer practice. I was very sore from the day before. As we attempting to play, I realized that in the kid’s world everyone plays soccer. I got the feeling that they thought we played soccer everyday like them, but just weren’t that good. It did feel good to get back into the game which I really miss playing. Bathed in a water tap and headed home to Mama Joyce.

Tuesday: Traditional court and soccer practice

Woke up at 5:58 which seemed like the exact time Mama Joyce woke us up. We ate, and bathed again in the bathhouse with our basins which was weirdly becoming some what of a routine. Mama Joyce let Raymond’s sister take us to school, which meant that we arrived a lot quicker. We then headed for the traditional Zulu court. The traditional court was really interesting to see, and being interested in law, made it more exciting to see the differences between western and traditional law. In the traditional system, the Induna’s, the community leaders which are passed down through generation, sit on either side of the wall, while the Inkosi(chief) sits in a higher chair like a judge. The Inkosi is only present on extremely important matters. The crowd sits behind, but have the ability to ask questions and help with the procedure.

We got to see a hearing of sorts: a woman was coming for advise about her daughter in-law who she claimed was stealing from her. Her testimony was in Zulu and somewhat complicated. The problem was over lobola which is the traditional bride price. While lobolo sounds like putting a price on woman, I have learned the tradition is more about connecting two families and thanking and acknowledging the bride’s family for raising the woman. The story was that her son died before the entire lobola was paid, which was some cows and some furniture. The cows were given, but not the furniture. After his death, his wife took the kids, food, and furniture. The old woman said the kids were rightly hers, and the food was necessary for the kids, but since her son never gave the furniture, it was still hers. The Indunas argued that the first step for the woman was to go to the woman’s family. They also acknowledged that in current times furniture can be used instead of cows but agreed that it was necessary for the men who made out the lobola contract to come together to discuss the details of the agreement. I asked if there was anyway to speed up the process, since the old woman felt like she was being robbed, and she very well might have been. In the end, her Induna said he could call her and go to the woman’s family’s house with her. The system seemed like a really interesting and interactive way of law. In the van home, Sdu, our driver and friend, told me about the problems of the traditional system. In cases such as rape, the system many times fails with the woman’s family being paid off.

After arriving home, I decided to stay home and study while Nick and Bryan went to the beach. At 5 O’clock, Spiwe came over to take me to soccer practice. He felt it necessary that we drink a couple beers before the practice for energy. We walked to the soccer field and met up with about 30 kids. The soccer field had a large hill on one side of the field, and high uncut grass on the other. We played intense soccer for about two hours which consisted of people running circles around me, and the occasional cow crossing. We headed home under the stars, and I felt completely comfortable and relaxed in the community. We ate dumbolo(dumplings) with potatoes and mutton for dinner which was amazing.

Some pics: South Coast.

South Coast: Set for "Blood Diamond"

Rural Area: Monday

The long weekend took its toll on me, and i had trouble waking up. This was the picture after we attempted to dance Zulu. I found it interesting the range of ages that could sit around together and hang out.

In the morning, took about 30 minutes to walk to school with Mama Joyce. Once we arrived we learned that Mama Joyce had called Langa, a SIT staff members, at 4 30 in the morning to tell him that we were having a good time and she was making us porridge for breakfast. We sat around in the morning studying Zulu, getting ready for the test we had on Friday. At around 9, we headed out to examine health in the community. First, we went to see a Inyama/Sangoma. He spoke to us about his ability to understand ones problems, while also having the capability to proscribe medicine. He had a P.H.D of sorts. We then headed to a clinic.
We arrived home and went into the room to sleep. Before we could sleep, some drunk men insisted we come out and teach us traditional Zulu warfare. We picked up plastic bottles, two for the shield, one for the spear, and fought each other like Shaka Zulu. After they explained multiple times to us that they were black and we were white, they left, we ate and slept early. We were told by Spiwe that soccer practice would be held at 5 the next day.

Sunday in Olwebede.

Mama Joyce woke us up at 6 to feed us porridge, coke, and candy bars. Sister Cindi works at the supermarket Spar so I assumed they bought a lot of food that they thought we would like. (When she was saying she worked at Spar, I thought she was saying “Spa” and asked her if they gave massages-she was somewhat confused.) After breakfast, we bathed. Bathing and using the bathroom need some explaining. There was an outhouse (that looked to be almost filled) with a stone seat that you could squat over. Next to the toilet was where we were told to bath. We were each given basins to wash/splash with according to size, which meant I got the little small basin while Brian got the big one, and nick the middle. I knew the three of us would become closer to each other as we squeezed into the outhouse and squatted naked over our basins and splashed ourselves. After a truly hilarious bathing experience, we headed out to go hiking with Spiwe. He took us over the clay cliffs which were beautiful, and then around the community to meet people. I found it fascinating that he knew everyone, and even if he didn’t, “Sawbona?” and “Unjani?(how are you)” were said to everyone. People continually stopped us and talked to us in Zulu. We were a big hit, and I felt Zulu beginning to click slightly. After a couple hours with Spiwe we were dropped off home to go to a funeral with Mama Joyce.

We walked about a half a mile to the funeral. How do Zulu funerals and weddings work? Well, there are no invites and you don’t need to know the family. You hear about something from somebody and you go; all are welcomed. After the walk, we arrived and Nick promptly brushed by a car and set off its alarm. We were ushered in and sat next to the priest. A lot of people were there, and the priest talked in Zulu, but definitely mentioned us at certain times. After people made speeches, and donations, there was a lot of beautiful singing. After singing, and walking past the body, we headed outside where we walked, singing, with the casket. There was a lot of crying. A woman would start to wail, and then be taken by someone into a house. We stood around the grave singing as the old man was taken from his casket and laid in the grave. After the priest said some things, the men took turns shoveling dirt onto the hole. We were told to take part, and we picked up shovels to help. Taking part in the ceremony made me feel like they were welcoming me into their community.

After the service, everyone sat down around the homestead, and woman come around with trays and feed everyone. For the most part, the men sat outside the tent, drinking beer, and “chowing.” Chowing is when food, usually a chicken or goat meat, is put on a wooden tray for men to sit around and share. They also pass around beers in a similar communal manner. After eating, and battling with Zulu, we left, exhausted, with Mama Joyce.

When we arrived home, we were ready to sleep. While I wanted to nap, little girls were outside playing. The three of us came from our room, and jumped into a game which involved using your feet to toss rusty cans into a basin. After an hour or so of playing, some men came over to meet us and we went and grabbed a few beers. We sat in the living room passing around the beer. They then made us dance the traditional Zulu dance and take pictures with them. Dinner was delicious imfino(spinach) and again too much.

Arriving at the rural homestay.

To Zululand and ready for an experience. As we turned onto the dirt road and passed different traditional houses, I felt nervous but exited knowing this would be one of the best experiences in South Africa. As I, Brian and Nick, pulled up to our homestead, a large woman came to the door to greet us. As the door open, her booming voice welcomed us and she gave us hugs and brought us to our room. We had a traditional hut to ourselves and the homestead overlooked the ocean and a beautiful red clay cliff. Like my first day in my Bonella home stay, I/we felt awkward, but our homestay mother, Mama Joyce, was very welcoming and exited to have us. Mama Joyce is a large-and-in-charge jolly woman with one daughter, Sisi Cindi, her boyfriend Raymond, and Raymond’s little sister. As the sun began to go down, some boys came into our hut to meet us. I was very happy to meet them, and they were extremely exited to not only meet us, but hang out with us over the 10 days we were there. One of the boys, Spiwe, spoke the best English and promised to take us on a tour of the red cliffs the next morning. After the boys left we went into the house to eat. We were fed a feast of muttan, beef, beans, pap, and more that was delicious. Mama Joyce told us we were going to become “fat ones” like mama as she slapped each of her large arms. We ate too much and slept well awaiting a day of the unknown.

Im back

updates soon.

Thursday and Friday: Pure South Africa.

I continually write about the two completely different worlds I constantly see right next to each other. Thursday we studied development for the poor in the amazing Warrick Junction. Lets see, it is a huge informal market that consists of a, as I call it, “food court” which serves some part of the cows head which are placed in bags on the sidewalk to thaw. It also has a long stretch of traditional healers, Sangomas, who sell herbs, dried animals and the likes. The most amazing thing about the market is that it was all planned. It’s definitely a highlight in Durban.

After spending Thursday talking and seeing the informal development, we moved to the first world. We went to the water front where there is a huge developmental revitalization project taking place. We saw newly built apartments with a canal moving along the buildings. Interestingly, the debate moved from the day before’s “where do we put the cow heads?” to “where do we put the huge lavish yachts.”

While my initial thoughts looked down upon the 1^st world development, I realized that both are important in the development of South Africa. A fancy water front doesn’t give you the impression that you are in Africa, but is that always the view of Africa you should think of? As South Africa continues to development, I can imagine there will be issues of it losing its African feel, which is an interesting question to think about and one that I struggle with.

I head to the rural on Saturday and i am ready for the experience. I will not have internet access for about two weeks. Talk to you then.

Kennedy Road.

Last Wednesday, the leader of Abahlali baseMjondolo came and talked to us about his community organization in the Kennedy Road settlement. The Kennedy Road settlement is one of the poorest shack areas in South Africa. Currently, the government is making efforts to kick out the people occupying the land. They say that the houses are near a trash dump, on the side of a hill, and not fit for humans to live on. The fact that the people don’t own the land is also something that is used against them. While these seem like somewhat relevant points, there are some major problems with how the government is acting which I will get to in a bit. One note: The government just went into the settlement and dug up all the power lines, as a way to move people out, so people have to use different methods of cooking and lighting which many times cause fires which spread like wild fire in the shacks.

After the talk we actually went to the settlement to see it for ourselves. The leader, S’pu, kept going back to a story of a baby whose brains were eaten by a rat as she slept with her mother. My initial thoughts: I thought Bonella, my neighborhood was poor, then I saw Cato Crest shacks, where the KZN Youth group works, and thought that was poor. I didn’t think it could see worse until I saw Kennedy and thought to myself, “how much worse can it get?” The air was filled with the smell of the trash dump not too far from the township. Adding to the smell were piles of trash which the government has neglected to pick up. The shacks were on an extremely steep hill and some were held up by lines. Kids were out playing with deflated soccer balls and many babies didn’t have diapers.

Now, about the government’s claims. Well, standing in the settlement and looking across the road above me at large houses separated only by a road makes one wonder why those houses are fit to live in. They are near the same trash dump and are on a hill. Or what makes the college at the bottom of the hill, securely guarded from the settlement, fit to have classes in? Maybe the fact that the area is near downtown has more to do with the government’s motives? It became clear, in a discussion with the members of the movement, that the government has not made any effort to talk with the people of Kennedy Road about possibilities of reforming the area, and relocating those who wouldn’t be able to fit with the new development proposal.

After a good meal in the community center, using candles, a concert was put on for us. It was an amazing isicathamiya performance. Many people know this style from the group LadySmith Black Mambazo who also come from KZN. We ended the night signing the South African National Anthem and thanking the group and Abahali for quite a day.

Check out the website which has a movie and some pictures.

http://www.abahlali.org/

South Coast.

On Saturday, I woke up at 6 to get ready to go to South Coast which is a two hour drive south from Durban. I was tired from the long day in the sun and the night watching rugby. The drive was beautiful along the coast, but I saw lots of shacks, and thought, “if this is the “nice” part of Africa, what do the “bad” parts look like?”

We arrived and got ready for a tour. The tour was awesome, along the beach, and walking up a valley which I can only explain through pictures. The tour was also interesting because the movie Blood Diamond was filmed there and the guide had a small cameo. So we would here, “this is a cave which has fossilized shark tooths in it, and over there is where Leonardo (Dicaprio) died.”

After hiking along the beach, we walked up to a rural area where we were fed traditional food and sat on the ground devouring the great meal.(traditional food generally consists of Cole Slaw. Not sure where that came from but I like it.) After the meal, we went into a different tent where we saw Sangomas perform a dance in which they were taken over by the ancestors. After the powerful dance, John called me over to the cliff to show me something. “Look,” he said peering over the cliff at the boats and nice houses below, “we’re in the third world overlooking the 1^st.” It really felt like we were standing between two completely different worlds. I liked the one behind me.

That night we had a bri with the group and drank some brews. We stayed up at our backpackers playing cards and enjoying the time apart from our families. I love my family, but sometimes it does feel like I am in high school and don’t want to disappoint them. I just learned my home stay father is a pastor so I gotta be on my best behavior.

The next morning we held a discussion about what we learned in the week and had a discussion about how the group was feeling about each other. The meeting started out fine, but then turned into a disaster as racial tensions took over the conversation. I thought that the black students would have an easier time than the white students in South Africa but so far the opposite has been true. Social norms in America are different in Africa, and certain things that are said by white and black Africans might be unacceptable in America.

That afternoon, went to the beach, swam, ran and had a great time. Man you gotta see this. Must get photos. Its February and I am swimming in the Indian Ocean.

Productivity.

You know when those economists talk about productivity? Well I think I understand- I am having trouble concentrating when I am soaking my bed with sweat and getting tired at 9. The mosquito’s and black outs aren’t helping either.

One world to another. Friday.

Friday.

I am tired. This weekend was intense but really fun. Friday was spent with the KwaZulu Natal Youth Empowerment Project. The project is run by kids, mostly recent high school grads, who live in the shack area in Cato Manor. The kids do a couple of things. They feed school children, try to empower the youth by talking about problems that children in SA face and set up activities like sporting events to keep kids busy and off the streets. While many people tell me that Bonella is bad, people in Bonella talk about the shacks as bad. I was happy to walk through the neighborhood which is huge with shacks running over top a large hill. We were split into groups with 1 KZN YEP leader. We saw the conditions that many were living in, and helped a man clean his shack and wash his clothes. I picked up a lot of medication packs which I thought might be for AIDS, which is rampant amoung the community. What I did see other than the poverty, was the strenghs of humans to live in such conditions, and how everyone seemed to know eachother(there weren’t walls and barb wired fences sourrounding the houses which is seen with almost all the houses that I have seen so far other than shacks. After helping the man, we went to a kindergarten and played with the kids. The kids were awesome and I loved playing with them but wished I knew isiZulu so I could communicate with them. The children were so cute, and the few that I saw with their body covered with sores made me extremely sad.

After playing with the kids, we went to meet with the whole group. There we were informed that we would lead a group discussion with about 30 kids on different subjects. I picked substance abuse and began to talk about with my group. Waiting for the bus to be shipped to the school where we would have the discussion, I began to talk with Malusi, who is the leader of the group. He is really smart, and went over his thoughts on the current South African political problems. He also invited me to play soccer which would be a nice way to meet some kids my age.

After the discussion with the kids, me and three of my friends, Nick, Bryan, and Etan hoped on a minibus to go see the rugby game. We took a minibus to downtown Durban, caught a bus to the beach front, and walked about ¾ of a mile to the stadium. The atmosphere was crazy, but the first thing I noticed was there were 40,000 white people. Where did they come from? It was an interesting experience, and one that I have experienced often in my short time here-going from the 3^rd world to 1^st world. I think both are important to see, I just wish there was more interaction. I have to admit the atmosphere for the rugby game was great. You could buy pitchers of beer inside, or a piece of cardboard which could hold 8 beers-people had one or the other. I enjoyed the game and found it confusing but very exiting. After watching the game, which the home team won, we headed outside where, as we were told by our teacher John, the party really begins. Live music, beer and food were served and the parking lot was filled with cars having a brie(barbecue). I headed home quickly not wanting to alarm my family, and because I had to wake up at 6 to travel to South Coast.

Thoughts on Education.

I am getting settled in with this family. I am happy to have the four kids, who I feel are opening up to me more everyday. Classes are good and I really liked learning about the state of education. John lectured us that the government has spent a lot of money on reforming education yet the results have been dismal. In actuality, less children are graduating under the ANC government then during apartheid. Of course anything during apartheid, like economic growth and Bantu education, cannot be compared with a free SA.

One positive thing is the government was able to consolidate 17 different school districts into one. Other than that success has been pretty limited. Reading about education opened me to a great conversation with my home stay mother, who used to be a teacher. I felt like I was getting an inside story of schooling conditions, and I was happy to see her interested in our conversation. What I learned from her is that kids are still paying school fees. The nice schools use the fees to improve their schools and the parents have the option to set the price high so that only certain kids can enroll. My mother pays R800 per child, which is really cheap in relation to the other schools, and also has to cover books, uniform, bus, lunch ect. She also told me that if kids don’t pay they get humiliated and punished in class which turns away some poor kids and orphans who cannot pay the fee. I learned in class that the government does have a program set up to help with school fees but it is a process, can be humiliating, and is rarely done.

The rich kids go to the nice schools where they can afford stages and art teachers ect, while black and white children are still segregated. Sounds so unfamiliar.

Durban and the homestay.

I am behind on the blog. I have to keep a journal, so I might just post my journal entries. With the time I have, I think going into detail about my homestay experience is the most interesting.

I didn’t realize how nervous I would be entering my home stay but as I left the bus my mind was racing about the awkward situation I would be put into. I am staying in Bonila which is in Cato Manor a couple minutes drive out of downtown Durban. Cato Manor was a township that was cleared out during the Group Areas Act in the 50s. In the 80s people started to move back in, which is happening in large numbers (Black and Indian), but there is still a lack of businesses. There are “tuck shops” which are stores out of peoples houses, and the legendary Shabeens, which are homes that brew beer and act somewhat like a bar. How can I explain Bonila? Well we have been told taxi’s wont go there, but I have been running so it can’t be that bad. I think people don’t like to drive there because you have to drive by shacks to get there, but the neighborhood seems pleasant enough. I did recently visit the shacks with a youth group, but that is for another time.

…Back to the home stay: my “mother” welcomed me and I sat on the couch as she got my bed ready. They have a TV, which is constantly on-not an abnormal thing for the families we are staying with. Most of the times, soaps are on which are pretty painful to watch. I was told prior to getting dropped off that I would be staying with a single mother and her 24 year old son. Well, the son doesn’t live with her, but she remarried to a man who had 4 previous children all staying in the house. A 16 year old boy, and three girls- ages 18, 13, and 10. When I arrived, there was a girl there who I assumed to be one of the daughters but she was my mother’s niece and the children were away for the weekend. (In Zulu culture, you don’t ever call your mother by her first name, and husbands and wives don’t call each other by their first names. Instead its “mama,” or in the husbands case, it would be “Mother of…the first born male.) The house is one story with three bedrooms. I got put in a room by myself with a nice size bed that pretty much takes up the whole room, while the four children cram into one room with a couple bunk beds. I feel kinda bad, but enjoy the time that I can get alone to read and write( Though the noise from the Shabeen next to me is sometimes distracting).

I didn’t realize how conscience I would be about my actions not wanting to be rude. After getting served, which I haven’t completely gotten used to, we prayed. Note: the Father never touches a dish, and even when he is sitting next to the spoons, he will make one of the girls get up to get one for him. Its an interesting relationship, the mom jokes around with him and tells him to go running with me to lose a little something (ie his stomach.) The Friday was very confusing. There was the girl, who I thought was the daughter, and there were two older woman, who turned out to be my mother’s church friends staying for the weekend. After dinner, they gathered around to pray. I was pretty awkward and didn’t really know what to do- I’ve never prayed. The mother asked her niece, Sibahle who is 13, to sing. I was truly shocked when the girl began to sing. It was the most beautiful voice I had ever heard-it made me somewhat emotional (I wonder what the father would have thought if I would have started to cry.) After Sibahle sang, everyone joined in a harmonized religious song in Zulu. The experience was extremely overwhelming but something that will definitely stick with me.

After going to bed I woke up in the morning not really sure how to conduct myself in their culture. I was very confused about the bathing. I was wondering if they fill the water up a little and kinda splash it on themselves. Do they stand? I definitely heard splashing. I decided to fill it up not too much, splash myself, and get out quickly. The whole day Saturday I spent with Sibathle. We watched TV and movies and talked about a whole bunch of things. She continued to shock me the whole day with how smart she was. She plays a different sport on each day of the week, sings choir during lunch, and somehow does art too. Later in the night, we ate dinner, WHICH SHE COOKED!! Later we drove her home to her parents and I got to meet her family. I was happy to meet her family, but sad that I wouldn’t be seeing her for awhile.

On Sunday, we went to church. Quite an experience. The morning was hectic: the mother had to pick up the car at the cleaners, go get the pastor from the airport, my father, Sazi, was calling his kids seeing if they were going to church ect. We sat outside the church for a while waiting for a previous service to end. They then told me to go upstairs to where the service would be held while they waited and talked outside. While I assumed their church would be large, it was not, and I awkwardly walked into the room on the second floor of the YMCA where there were a couple people getting the place ready. After sitting in a chair for about 20 minutes, my mother came in. At this point, a man told me to come sit in the front of the church. (Again awkward-kinda the theme of the weekend). The mother told him to translate the service into English for me which he did. I felt like the service was almost like an AA meeting, where anyone could get up and tell their story about how they were lost and then found Jesso Chisto. One woman started singing and began crying while she prayed. Definitely overwhelming for me (another theme of the weekend). Another awkward moment was when they collected money at the front. Everyone could see me, and I felt pressure to give some money. I wanted to give money but only had an hundred on me so I sat their, awkwardly, and did nothing. The service was quick and after, my home stay parents stood around talking to their friends. While I have problems with how Christianity was brought onto South Africans it reminded me of a central reason why people go to church: the community.

That night the children came home. First the oldest. She didn’t talk to me and I felt *awkward* that I didn’t say hello and introduce myself to her (I have found out that she talks to me in great depth, but only when her parents are out). The other 3 came home and the boy sat down and talked to me. I went to sleep exited to see my classmates who felt distant after a weekend away.

Next up: a week in school, going into the shack area, going to my first drinking rugby game, and a weekend traveling to South Coast where we walked along the beach, ate traditional food, and saw Sangomas, traditional healers, perform a traditional dance.....