give good!

A forgotten post

I realized that I never blogged about the day we went to one of the townships, Gugulethu, for a braii (like a barbecue). Mama Linda, the resident cook at CCS, cooked for us and we brought it to this picnic venue. There was live marimba by Abakhaya.

Me with Mama Linda - I look like a giant next to her!

After lunch we went to the J. L. Zwane Community Center to hear performances by “An African Chord." This group was phenomenal. They are a fusion of traditional African mbaqanga, opera, pop, and jazz. What’s even better is that their music is geared to shed light on the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  The group sounded fantastic and the choreography was excellent. They sang the majority of their songs in Xhosa, but at the end they did one in English. The group is renowned worldwide and have been invited to the States multiple times. They often put on performances in community centers and at workshops, but they go beyond that and do street visits as well. The director is also a playwright and has written small scenes focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness. This group does amazing work in dispelling the ignorances concerning the epidemic.

Whew, this day was full!  After dinner we had Themba come and talk to us about Apartheid and his role in healing people from the effects of the regime.  He works with musical instruments to lead workshops and build forums in which people can come and deal with their emotions regarding Apartheid. His music was also very impressive (he even played a beautiful song on a piece of PVC pipe).  His words were like poetry.  Apartheid was officially ended 16 years ago in 1994, but Africa still has a long way to go to heal all the wounds caused by forced separation.

a poem from me

OK, so I don't write poetry very often, but I was thinking about the Safeline kids today and wrote this.

for Laiken and Johnny

your eyes

so hungry

searching

for food--

yes

but you need more

than sustenance wrapped in a plastic bag.

someone to see

you

hold you

love you.

tell you

of better things

other possibilities

than those that live

in your ramshackle

world.

lovely thanks from etafeni

Hello All!  First I wanted to let you know that I have been taking tons of video clips, but I haven't been able to load them onto my blog yet.  I'll load the clips after I get home, so you'll have to check back - there are some good ones, I promise.

Today was my last day at Etafeni.  I wish I could have been there a little longer, because I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with the Fit for Life students and staff.  I admire their desire for a better life and the work they are willing to put in to achieve it.  I was able to listen in on Tuesday as they talked to the job training/placement coordinator.  They want to be graphic designers, teachers, nurses, psychologists...
I know that those dreams seem far away to them now though.  They live in one of the worst parts of Cape Town, come from difficult situations, and school and job training are expensive.  However, Thoreau said,
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."  Etafeni is helping to provide that foundation.  I hope I helped a little.

Since it was my last day, the students made me a card, gave me a little gift, and sang me a song.  My absolute favorite part was when each student said a few words of thanks to me.  Their comments and good wishes were so heartfelt.  After hearing them, my heart was full!  They all expressed a desire for me to tell people about South Africa and Etafeni when I return to the States.

Here's the whole class.

Bo Kaap and the Slave Lodge

I'm a bit behind on blogging, and I realized I never blogged about our lunch trip to Bo Kaap (The Cape Malay Quarter).  We had lunch at Bo Kaap Koombi, which means "Above Cape Kitchen." The owner told us about the history behind the name of his restaurant:  because of the political unrest in the past, people were not allowed to meet in groups to talk out of fear that they would be planning sabotage. They only place in which people could freely talk to others was in their kitchens. This restaurant was named because the owners wanted people to feel as though they could gather there and talk openly about whatever was on their minds.

This area is one of the most culturally and historically interesting parts of Cape Town. Many of the inhabitants are decendants of the people from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia, who were captured in the 17th and 18th century and enslaved by the Dutch-East Indian Trading Company. Many were Muslims and others were converted to Islam by the Cape Muslim community.

The Cape Malays and their religious leaders played an important role in the development of the language and culture of the Cape colony. The restaurant owner also talked a bit about the evolution of the Afrikaans language -- it evolved as a language of its own through a simplification of Dutch in order for the slaves to be able to communicate with the Dutch and amongst each others, since they all came from different countries and cultures. Educated Muslims were the first to write texts in Afrikaans.



There are three different legends about why the houses are so colorful. My favorite is that a man bought a large can of paint to paint his house and then gave the leftovers to his neighbor. His neighbor added that paint to some other paint and used it on his house.  Voila!  A colorful community!
After lunch we walked around Bo Kaap a little and then headed to the Slave Lodge.  The Iziko Slave Lodge Museum is housed on the premises where thousands of slaves were effectively held prisoner from 1679 onwards.

“We plan to transform the Lodge from a site of human wrongs to one of human rights, to pay tribute to those who have been forgotten, denied and stigmatized.”

District Six

We went on a field trip to the District Six Museum today.  Here is a little more information on District Six:

District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants, District Six was a vibrant centre with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the history of removals and marginalisation had begun.

The first to be 'resettled' were black South Africans, forcibly displaced from the District in 1901. As the more prosperous moved away to the suburbs, the area became the neglected ward of Cape Town.

In 1966, it was declared a white area under the Group areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over. 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas aptly known as the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers.  The remains were dumped into the sea.  However, one of the workers saved the street signs, and they are on display in the musuem.

The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of these experiences and with the history of forced removals.

Mu favorite part of the museum was the poetry on the floor (imagine that!).

I also need to tell you about my volunteer placement yesterday.  I was at Etefani with the life/job skills group.  I led them in a couple of creativity/improv games, which they really seemed to enjoy - they helped to break up the day a bit.  I also got to sit in on their lesson on HIV and AIDS.  I was glad that the CCS director had instructed us in our first week here on all the aspects of the infection. 

I am not a mountain climber!

Okay, so I don't know what I was thinking.  Everyone kept talking about climbing Table Mountain, so I thought, "hey, why not?  I went bungy jumping, didn't I?"  However, only craziness is required for bungy jumping.  To hike up a mountain, you actually need to be fit -- which I found out rather quickly that I am not. There is a possibility that MAYBE I could have done the easiest route; the group of volunteers that I went with didn't tell me that this was the third hardest.  I was reminded of a hike I did in New Mexico long ago - I finished that one, but barely.  This pic was taken when we first started out - notice that because I am taking the picture, I am already bringing up the rear.  Plus, the steps don't look too intimidating in the picture, but I'm telling you that they got taller and taller.  I hung in there for a while, but when I saw the sign that pointed me to the gondola route, I took it.  It was still a nice 30 or so minute hike to the place where I could go down the mountain, so that was good enough for me.

I found the above pic on line.  The red line shows the path of Platteklip Gorge, the trail I weakly attempted.

Below is a pic I took as I hiked  the second trail.

Made it to the top via the gondola - here is a pic