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

A day at the beach for the 4th & the CCS house

Claire, me, and Lindsey at Camp's Bay on Sunday.  It was a bit chilly, but beautiful.  We even  stopped at the market to get supplies for s'mores to complete the Fourth of July celebration.  We had to improvise, though - no plain marshmallows (only strawberry and cappuccino flavors) no graham crackers (only plain biscuits).

I realized that I haven't told you much about the place I'm staying in Cape Town, so here's a pic of the Cross Cultural Solutions house.  With all of the people living here, it is a bit like Mtv's Real World - Cape Town version.

and here is a pic of me with my roommate Lindsey the night we went to Mama Africa's for dinner.  I tried crocodile (tastes like chicken!) and springbok. 

World Cup Soccer - Germany v. Argentina - row 9, baby!

Today was a great day.  We started off by doing a little shopping at the Green Market and the Pan African Market.  I finally found the USA scarf requested by my friend Colleen.  I don't even want to get into what an ordeal that was - they were sold out EVERYWHERE.  One lady at the mall even laughed at me when I asked to buy one.  I also got a gift for my mom - yay mom! 

Then we headed off to the waterfront area to have lunch.  Guess who was on the same patio?  Leo DiCaprio!  That's right.  Here is a picture for proof - that is my shoulder in the pic, by the way.

After our star sighting we set off to find some tickets.  Luckily we ran into some Argentina fans who had purchased too many - woohoo!  Lindsey, Sam, and I ended up with seats on the ninth row for the Germany v. Argentina game.  Going to the game was incredible (JJ, I know you are jealous!)

I ended up cheering for Argentina because I liked their colors more - oh well.  They lost 0-4.  We sat by a HUGE bunch of Argentina fans, and they all had drums.  Really loud drums.  I don't know whether they were really positive or just not too smart, but they cheered and loudly played their drums until the bitter end.

When I get older, they'll call me freedom

Today was my last day working with Safeline at the community center.  Look at the sweet faces in these

pics - I am going to miss them so much.  I hope that I have made some small difference in the life of at least one kid in the two weeks I have spent working in this community.  If I have, whether by giving a hug, telling a story, listening, or playing a soccer game, even though I miss so many things in the U.S (my husband, my kids, my pillow, GOOD coffee, WARMTH) it will be worth it. 

See the little girl on the left?  Her name is Zoe.  After I told her that my daughter's name was Zoe, she became my shadow.  I don't think I blogged yesterday, so I want to tell you about one of my favorite things from yesterday's work.  The kids wanted to hear stories, and they requested things like Goldilocks, The Three Bears, Hansel and Gretel, and Cinderella.  I don't think I have ever had such a rapt audience!  It was so cute when they would join in and tell bits of the story too.  I did add a bit to the story of Cinderella though.  I told them that the prince loved Cinderella not just because she was beautiful, but because she was kind and smart! 

I wanted to post these lyrics - they remind me of the kids and the struggles they go through every day.

Wavin' Flag by K'naan

When i get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.

When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Accept no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say

So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that's what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.

But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,

It's not far away, but for now we say,
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)

And everybody will be singing it
And you and I will be singing it

When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag


click here to watch the video!

Next week I will be working at Etefani - I wrote a bit about it in an earlier post.  On Monday I will be sitting in on one of the young adult classes.  I will mostly be observing, but the director has asked me to bring some interative types of games for the students.  Later in the week I will teach a class - I'll fill you in on that later.

May I have a page?

Hi everyone!  Another day at work!  We went to the community center again, and I took lots of stuff from CCS with me: construction paper, markers, rulers, a map of the world, jump ropes, pictures of Zoe, Seth, and Payne, and the book Green Eggs and Ham.  The kids love to make pictures and cards - I even received a few from them!  I was surrounded by kids for what seemed like forever asking, "May I have a page?"  They also really enjoyed seeing pictures of my three kiddoes.  We also looked at the map of the world and found South Africa (they had trouble with this) and found the U.S. (Texas in particular) as well.  Then we looked for places that corresponded to their favorite World Cup teams.

I think my favorite part of the day was reading to a small group of kids - seeing their wide eyes fixed on the page was wonderful.

After work and lunch we had a drumming lesson.  Yes, a drumming lesson.  I did pretty well as long as I didn't think too much about it (seriously).  Once I started concentrating too much, I would lose the beat we were supposed to be copying.

We took a field trip to the Aquarium this afternoon.  They had an amazing shark tank that was big enough to scuba dive in.   The shark tank had tons of little fish that all swam in the same direction, but then would change direction simultaneously.  Remember in Finding Nemo when the school of fish gave Marlin and Dory directions?  It was exactly like that.  I also saw some "Dories."  (Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.)

Robben Island

I was so tired last night after writing about my weekend that I didn't have a chance to tell you about what I did yesterday.  First we went to our new placement - it is still near the township of Athlone, but it is in a community center instead of a church.  The set up is a bit different than last week, and that is both good and bad.  The good thing is that there is a playground outside, but the bad news is that there aren't any classrooms - we are all in one big room, and that can get loud and chaotic really fast.  It seemed to take a bit longer for these kids to warm up to us, but they did eventually.  A few of the kids from last week came over to the community center right as we were getting ready to leave for the day, but when they saw us there they promised to be there first thing Tuesday morning - and they were.

We took a little field trip to Robben Island today.  Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for the majority of his almost 30 year sentence.  Our tour guide told us that Robben Island was first a home for the native South Africans, then the Dutch housed everyone who had leprosy there.  After that it became a prison.  I think one of the most interesting parts of the tour had to do with the picture of the cave above.  It is situated in the limestone quarry where the prisoners were sentenced to hard labor.  There were prisoners of all educational levels there  - from lawyers, political activists, and doctors to those who were illiterate.  Their philosophy was "Each one teach one," so they would use the sand and sticks in the cave to teach the illiterate how to read and write.

Here is a picture of Nelson's Mandela's cell.  He was kept in solitary confinement, and the kennels for the guard dogs were bigger than his cell.

1 hostel + 12 zip lines + world's tallest bungy + safari = incredible adventure

Time for the adventure…

We hired a man named Farid to take us out of town for the weekend.  So Friday after placement we set out on our trek, up the Garden Route to our hostel, Fairy Knowe.  I had never stayed in a hostel, so I didn't know what to expect.  I ended up being very glad that Farid had suggested that we all bring an extra blanket, because it was COLD and there was no heat - yikes!  I will attach a pic of our little hut - six of us slept in there.  Hooray for bunk beds!  The first night there we got to talking with a man who works there, and he told us the story of how the town came to be called Wilderness: There was a man who wanted this woman to marry him. She said that if he went out into the wilderness and built her a house, then she would marry him. So that’s what he did. He went out into the wilderness and built her a house (which is the main guest house of Fairy Knowe). She followed through with her end of the deal and they were married. Wilderness is one of the cutest towns, and it has a killer view overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Saturday morning we set off to get in some extreme sporting. We first went ziplining at Tsitsikamma. It was a course of around 12 lines. We ziplined over waterfalls and through mountains/hills so that was very cool. It was gorgeous weather for it also. That was only a little taste of what was to come… bungee jumping off the Boukrans Bridge. 216 meters down, which is the highest bungee site in the WORLD. Here is a link to their website: http://www.faceadrenalin.com/
It was by far the coolest and most daring thing I’ve ever done. It was such an amazing experience - it felt like flying.  The bridge connects two mountains and a river runs through it… there is a major drought in Africa right now though so there was no water underneath where I bungeed. First time ever bungeeing and I’m totally hooked. It was incredible!  I will attach a couple of pictures, and I have a really great video as well.  However, I need to get Eddie to help me convert it to a file that youtube will recognize!

Then we went to Elephant Sanctuary at the Crags in Plettenberg Bay. A lot of the elephants were rescued.  One of the elephants used to be someone’s pet until she got too big and the owners couldn’t take care of her anymore. We got to walk the elephants by putting our hands in their trunks (a little slimy in there). It was cute how they held onto our hands though. Then we got to feed them which was really cool. They ate raw pumpkins and squash and carrots.

The next day, we set off to go to the Garden Route game reserve. We had a safari tour of the land, which was so expansive that driving around it took over 3 hours. We were in a safari-like open truck and again we lucked out with the weather, besides it being a little windy. Anyway, we saw rhino, giraffes, zebra, lions, elephants, cheetah, ostrich, antelope, and lots of brush.  It was pretty good, but not quite as authentic as a real safari.  Here is a pic:

If you have a chance, check out this website:
http://www.huntersnamibia.com/
My college roommate now lives in Namibia and runs a safari company with her husband.  It looks amazing. 

And that was how I spent my first weekend in Africa. I’m not quite sure much else would’ve topped it. Tomorrow we are going to Robben Island to take a more educationally-minded trip.I am very excited for that! I hope I didn’t bore you with all the details but this is a weekend that I never want to forget

Soccer tourney, dance off, and lots of hugs

Okay, so I haven't written since Thursday, sorry!  I have so much to say, so I will do one post to talk about my last day at the church in Athlone and another post to talk about my adventurous weekend.

Friday was my last day with this group of kids. The older children had a soccer tournament, world cup-style. When they paraded in after the tournament they were so excited and proud - the top two teams received soccer balls as prizes.  It was great to see that these children, although they've been neglected, still have pride in themselves. After that there was a dance-off, and I was one of the judges - I guess they picked me because I am such an expert on all the latest dance moves!  Some of the older girls must have heard about my Justin Bieber song stylings, because they made me sing "Baby" again - this time with the rap part included too (watch out Ludacris - I'm awesome).  The kids were all so sad to see us go, and I was sad to say goodbye to them.  There were lots of hugs all around.  It was very fulfilling though, to know that we made a difference in their lives and got them off the street for at least a couple hours.  Monday we'll get a new assignment, and start all over with a new bunch of kids.  I've gotten really attached to these kids already though, so I'm not really sure how I feel about starting all over again.

Ek kon von de Verenigde State von Amerika

Hi everyone!  I had my first Afrikaans language lesson today - can you tell from my title?  It reads, "I am from the United States of America."  We learned to say some other important things for working with kids, like "don't" (moene), "please" (asseblef), and "peanut butter" ( grandboontjie botter).  I think I did OK mimicking the pronunciations of the words when I had to repeat after the teacher, but trying to figure it out now is difficult!  We will have more language lessons later.  It surprised me that so many of the young kids speak Afrikaans since it was the language that the Dutch imposed when they came here many years ago.  It is still taught in schools, but so is English.  Our language teacher told us that she feels that Afrikaans might be phased out in the future.  In other areas of South Africa,the people speak Xhosa. 
I worked with Safeline in the township of Athlone today - I don't think I mentioned the name of it yesterday.  Things went pretty well.  The bubbles and balloons that I found in the CCS storage room were a huge hit.  The kids just combined them both into one word and called them "bubblaloons."  I also brought along some bright pink nail polish and painted everyone's nails.  Yes, I was very popular today.  Luckily, three of the older girls at the camp helped us with the little ones again.  It was nice to talk to them, and they had all kinds of questions about the U.S.  They wanted to know if I knew Gabriella from High School Musical.  :) 
Tomorrow will be Safeline's last day at this particular church in Athlone, so I will take my camera and get some pics of all of the sweet kids.  I won't be able to post them until Sunday, though.  My volunteer work is only during the week - the weekends are for experiencing South Africa.  I am going with a group of volunteers on a weekend trip.  There will definitely be a safari and some other adventures.  I will fill you in on Sunday!

Four hula hoops, one jump rope, and a soccer ball

I don't know if I told everyone or not, but the World Cup completely disrupted my volunteer plans!  Not that I don't love soccer, but I was really looking forward to working in an educational setting here in South Africa.  Anyway, because of World Cup, all of the school children are on holiday from school.  Soooooooo, that threw a huge monkey wrench in my plans.  Today I worked with an organization called Safeline that was running a holiday camp for the township kids.  I, along with another CCS volunteer, had a group of about 15 3, 4, and 5 year olds from 9am until 1:00.  The title of my post is what we had to entertain them with.  It was hard work, let me tell you.  The kids were VERY active, but so sweet and practically starving for attention.  They would just grab onto me and refuse to let go.  The language barrier is a bit of a problem. Most of the little ones speak mostly Afrikaans, but they did understand some English.  I was glad that Payne used to sing the Justin Bieber song, "Baby," because we found a connection there - seriously!  We sang it together.  I will be seeing the kids again tomorrow, and I found bubbles and balloons in the CCS supply closet to take with me - woohoo!  We also have Afrikaans classes tomorrow afternoon, so I will fill you guys in on everything I learn - I'm sure I'll be amazing.  Kidding, but I'll do my best.

Etafeni

We also went to Etafeni yesterday.  It is an incredible community center that services township women, children, and teens.  There is a preschool, an after-school program, AIDS counselors, and craft skills for women - check out some of their products by going to the website:
http://www.etafenitrust.org/

The other side

So today we saw a completely different side of Cape Town.  Above is a picture of part of Langa, one of the oldest townships in Cape Town.  These two teeny shacks a just a small part of the hundreds of "houses" like this in Langa.  (Langa means sunrise in Xhosa, the native language).  Clearly, there is no running water or plumbing of any kind in these homes.  Sometimes they have to light fires in them to stay warm.

If you are a bit more fortunate, you might be able to stay in a place like this.  This is the kitchen of a hostel that is used by several families. They have running water and electricity.  It costs 20 rand a month to live here - about $2.60 in U.S. dollars.  Also, there are several bedrooms in the hostel that families share - at least two families per room.  However, it not just their room, it's really their entire home.

Here is a lady from the hostel that was so excited to share her home with me. 

Everything she owns is behind us.

The government is working to update and modernize these hostels, but it is a slow process.