I just came from a really amazing class. It’s a Sociology class called Workers, Trade Unions and Rights, and I’m so glad I registered for it. See, most of the people at UCT come from privileged backgrounds – access to education is even more stratified here than in the US. But this professor is really going to challenge people’s preconceptions and prejudices, I think. He did these exercises with us where he asked us to mentally put ourselves in the position of a single South African mother with HIV trying to make ends meet, and comparing her priorities and her issues with ours as students. Then he read this list of demands of this group of workers that was from the “old South Africa” (meaning pre-apartheid.) The demands were basically for human dignity: they refused to be cursed at and disrespected, they demanded that they be paid every month, and they demanded equality between white, colored, and black workers. There were more, but all of the things he listed were things that anybody should be guaranteed. Then he revealed that this list was not from the “old South Africa” – it was from last year, 2007, and the demands were made by the employees of the University of Cape Town. It was a huge reality check for me and probably most of the other students. I know how much the group Solidarity does on Georgetown’s campus to secure rights for our workers, and to place that fight into global perspective was really eye-opening for me. I think that’s the main thing I am learning here, so far: all of the problems we have in America are actually global problems of social justice. I usually tend to focus on domestic issues because I have the mentality that I need to help out my next-door neighbor who’s struggling before I help someone thousands of mile away. But now I’m starting to see that our struggles are very much interconnected. This trip has been such a blessing already – I can’t even imagine all the amazing things I’m going to learn for these next four months!
My other classes today were great, too. The social work course I’m taking, Community Connections, is going to be great because we go on field trips to different community organizations that serve the people of Cape Town and learn about the people they serve and how they operate. I’m starting to consider going to graduate school for social work, so I think this class will give me a chance to see if that’s what I really want to do. I also had my Sociology class, Individual and Society, today, and it seems like it will be really interesting. It focuses on how the issue of class affects the health and education systems in South Africa, which is of great concern to me, so I’m excited to get started in that class. My 4th class, the one that met yesterday, was History of Southern Africa in the 20th century, and it seems like I’ll be learning SO much in that class, which is great because as of right now my knowledge is very limited about this country’s history. So basically, my schedule is AMAZING!! And it even allows me time to volunteer on Mondays from about 1-5 pm at the LEAP school I was talking about earlier, so I’m really excited for that!
Oh, so a couple of people have been asking me, what is the difference between colored and black. Sorry if I didn’t clarify that before. Black people are what you would traditionally think of, African people from the various tribes: Zulu, Xhosa, etc. You can usually tell colored people just by looking at them because they’re significantly more light-skinned, but not always, so it can be confusing. Colored people are of mixed race, so they might be part African and part Dutch or European – there was a lot of mixing when South Africa was colonized. But Colored includes some indigenous people as well. I’m not really the best source of information on this, I’m really still coming to grips with it myself, but a good analogy someone used is that Coloreds are kind of like Creoles in Louisiana – they may have many different complexions, but they share a common heritage and culture and are very much set aside from other communities. The communities are still very segregated today because of apartheid, so most Whites live and go to school with other Whites, Coloreds with other Coloreds, and Blacks with other Blacks. As I learn more, I will definitely pass it on.
I love and miss each and every one of you!
p.s. Terrance’s birthday is tomorrow… PARTY TIME!!!!! =D
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