My future South African heroes :)

So… today was the BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

OK really most of the day was real routine, just class and stuff, but tutoring at Emasi today was AMAZING!!

I was supposed to be working with the older kids (7th-9th grade) the whole time, but for the first few weeks they couldn’t come because of some other time commitment. I was getting kind of frustrated because the little kids are really cute, but I wanted to focus on life skills and goal setting and role models and things that will get them thinking positively about the future, and that really doesn’t work with the younger ones. But today, PRAISE GOD, the older kids finally came! They are a group of six boys between 14 and 16 years old and I was kind of just bracing myself because adolescent boys are not always the easiest but Oh. My. Goodness. They were AMAZING!

So we started out with this theme of “Heroes” that I really wanted to do from the very beginning. To me, it’s so important for them to see positive images of people who look like them, who have impacted our world and made a difference in the lives of others. So every Tuesday and Thursday we’re going to introduce a “Hero” and talk about their accomplishments, and it’s my hope that this will inspire our kids to reach for their own dreams, too. So today, since it was the first day, we decided to start with the basics and do Nelson Mandela. I had written a little biography of him in language that they could understand, which we read through “popcorn”-style, each student doing a few sentences. Their English skills are GREAT though – that made me so happy! Cuz I only know the BASIC basic stuff in Xhosa. So we read through it and we had a few reflection questions but we started out just asking them, “So what do you think makes Nelson Mandela a hero?” And the first kid raises his hand and says, “Because he taught people how to forgive.” It was just SO profound, me and the other tutor, Millie, just sat there like WOW. So then we asked a couple other questions, including, “What issues would you focus on if you were the President of South Africa?” And you should have heard these kids.
“I would stop crime and drug dealers.”
“I would fight for people’s rights.”
“I would stop rape.”
“I would fix education.”
“I would help kids get off the streets and into good homes like Emasi.”
It was so powerful to hear how sincere they were; you could tell they really cared deeply about these issues from the way they were speaking. It just gave me so much faith and hope in their future, because I could see that they had thought critically about the community they live in and what needs to be changed. Now we just need to help them see that they have the power to do something about it.

After that exercise, we talked to them about different career paths, and they stayed SO engaged even though I’m sure some of it was kind of tedious for them (talking about different classes you can take to prepare for certain careers, etc.) They were just so polite and respectful and seemed genuinely interested, which made me feel SO good. Long-term, we’re going to work with them on goal-setting and working step by step to achieve those goals. I just really want to see their minds open to the possibility of success. I want to show them that the sky’s the limit, and that everyone they look up to who has achieved something great started out just like they did – as a kid with a dream. I came home from Emasi feeling SO joyous in my heart because I know good things are going to come out of this!

“One of Us”

I am just feeling SO blessed right now, guys. I just got back from a braai at my friend Chenge’s place – these braais are kind of her tradition, and the people that come through are mostly the church crew, so it’s a really nice family vibe. I was a regular at her braais last semester too, and I realized tonight one of the reasons why I love them so much. I hadn’t really thought about it until just now, but I’m always the only American there, which symbolizes something. It makes me realize that I have truly found a family here, a group of friends that truly make up my home-away-from-home. It’s one thing to have a clique of 2 or 3 other Americans, and still have local friends too, but at the end of the day the Americans are who you roll with. It’s another thing to sit in a room talking and laughing and having deep conversations with all these amazing people from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, Swaziland, etc., and realizing that to them you’re not just another one of the Americans, you’re a real friend and sister to them. It’s an incredible feeling.

So many people have been asking me how much longer I’m staying, and a lot of people assume I’m here for good now, so it’s SO depressing to tell them I’m leaving in June! Also, because the academic year here is February-November, a lot of people assume I’m at least here until the end of ‘09. So the conversation about me leaving has been coming up LOTS. I was talking to my friend Thami today at the braai and, like lots of people, he was shocked that I’ll be going home in June. He couldn’t really wrap his mind around the concept of me leaving, and he kept saying, “But you’re one of us now, you really are! You’re one of us.” And it made me feel SO good but SO sad at the same time. But I am trying to concentrate on the fact that I am so incredibly blessed more than anything else. I really don’t know how I’m physically going to leave on June 13; I think someone is going to have to literally drag me onto the plane. I am going to be so sad to have to leave these people, not knowing when I’m going to see them again. I was just talking to an American friend about how hard it is for people that start relationships on study abroad, but honestly, having friends THIS close is just as hard… it’s gonna be a bunch of long-distance relationships (just hopefully with less drama than real ones, lol!) But as difficult as it’s going to be to say goodbye, I just thank God for giving me this incredible opportunity. I am blessed to be able to study here for an entire year, to forge such strong bonds with such beautiful people, and to have memories that I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life.

I know that these friendships will be life-long, no matter what it takes. It was so sweet, me and William were at the mall on Monday and he’s in the dressing room and I’m sitting outside and out of nowhere, he says, “I’m coming to visit you. We’re gonna have to see each other. This isn’t gonna be it.” And he just said it so matter-of-factly, and it made me so happy to realize that we both see that this friendship IS worth preserving, that, no matter what, we’re going to work it out. And I feel that way with so many of my close friends here. It’s a reality that we’re going to be really far apart, but it’s not going to stop the connection that we have. I’ve been on little week-long programs before where you meet people from all over and you make these strong connections with people and you promise to keep in touch and you do with a few, but mostly they’re just memories of the past. But this is a YEAR, a year in which I have grown so much and so many people have been there to support me in so many different ways. The people I have met here have made me a better person, have brought me closer to God, have taught me so much about myself and the world around me, and have shown me what true friendship really is. They are always going to be a part of me, and I thank God for bringing each and every one of them into my life.

When I was talking to Thami, he was telling me about the six weeks he spent interning in Washington, DC this past summer (his first time leaving South Africa) and what a profound effect it had on him as someone who is incredibly interested in politics and public policy (I always tell him he is the next Mandela, for real!) For him, to walk through the halls of Congress, to meet senators and ambassadors, to stand where MLK delivered the “I Have A Dream” speech, was a dream come true. He told me, “it is so fulfilling to know that you are living the purpose that God has placed inside of you.” His time in DC was an unparalleled blessing for him, and so then he asked me how my time in South Africa has affected me. It really got me thinking. Honestly, I think I have grown more in this 8-month period than at any other time in my life. My eyes have truly been opened to the world around me, I have met some of the best friends I have ever had, and I have reached a stronger sense of clarity on the path I want to pursue in life. I know that God has placed inside of me a passion for people and for serving others, and in everything I do, I want to shine the light of His love into the lives of others. I am trying to stay in constant conversation with God so that He can continue to order my steps, and I feel confident that I am on the right path. Coming here has, in many ways, helped to confirm that. I can’t even describe how grateful I feel to be living and breathing and thriving in such a beautiful place with such beautiful people, and I am soaking in every moment.

Living & Learning in Oceanview

Hey everyone!
This past weekend was our homestay in Oceanview, a township that Coloured residents of Simon’s Town, a beautiful beach community, were relocated to during apartheid. We went last semester and I had a truly inspirational weekend getting to know my host mother, who I will call Mama J. (Click here for last semester’s blog entry.) This weekend ended up being just as wonderful! I got to stay with Mama J again, which was so much fun. We got there on Friday night and had an amazing meal, and then just stayed up talking and catching up. On Saturday, we slept in and then went to the Oceanview vs. CIEE students basketball game! CIEE ended up winning, so that was really exciting! After that we went to a 5 pm church service. They normally don’t have services on Saturdays but yesterday was this huge Cape Town Cycling Tour that everyone in the community wanted to support because it comes right past Oceanview, so the church rescheduled! I thought that was so funny but also really nice. I heard that Matt Damon participated because he’s shooting a movie down here. No one actually got to see him though, that I know of.

Anyway, church was SO nice because Mama J and my host sister both sing in the choir. They sounded beautiful! Their pastor wasn’t able to be there, however, so they had the bishop come, who was not from Oceanview. Something he said really rubbed me the wrong way. When he stepped up to start his sermon, he said, “Wow, I didn’t know there were people all the way out here! I thought this was just a green spot on the map.” Now normally I would think this would be offensive to an entire, huge community of people, but what really frustrated me about his comment was that not only was it rude in general, but it was completely ignorant of this country’s entire history. When people were relocated during apartheid, they were specifically placed in dry, desolate places far away from the city centre where no one had previously lived, in order to isolate them. For him to make that comment was to completely deny the terrible history of apartheid, and I was sure that I wasn’t the only one taken aback by his comment. I should have brought it up to my host mother or sister, but it slipped my mind. I wish I had gotten their input on it.

After church, we had tons of people over for a braai! Mama J’s daughters, her daughter’s husband and kids, her brother and his wife, and a good friend of hers and her husband (one of the pastors at church) were all there. It was such a fun evening – people were just cracking jokes the whole night, and they were also really interested in me and the other American girl, Lexi, staying with Mama J. They asked us lots of questions and it was really nice just having a cultural exchange. I also just LOVED the feeling of being in a family setting, just hanging out. It was so nice!

Sunday morning we had a visitor, one of Mama J’s co-workers. I’m not sure exactly how it came up, but he spoke to us a lot about the apartheid years, and how he struggled to teach his son about history without making him racist towards white people. He told us about how his whole life he was called a “kaffir” (the South African version of the N-word, pretty much) and treated like dirt, and he would ask God, why did you give me this dark skin? His testimony was so emotional and powerful, so I just sat back and listened. He talked about so many atrocities he had witnessed, some of them graphic, but he kept emphasizing that we must move beyond hatred and see each other as people, not in the constraints of race. I respected him so much for what he was saying, but I wonder how many people have the strength and courage to love even after they have seen so much.

I learned so much this weekend, and I was so glad to have had the opportunity to go once again. I realized even more this semester how it’s such a beneficial experience for us as American students, but it also has a really huge impact on the people of Oceanview. For one, Mama J was saying how it’s kind of like bringing the world to Oceanview,” since many of them don’t have the opportunity to travel to the States. They are able to learn about what it’s like to live in the States from our stories, our pictures, and just getting to know us, in the same way that our getting to know them educates us so much more about South Africa. She was also telling us that during apartheid, people could be arrested just for entertaining guests of another race. If a white family had a Coloured or Black domestic worker, the domestic worker was not allowed to sit at the table and eat her lunch; she would be forced to sit outside. Blacks and Whites couldn’t even shake hands with one another. That’s one of the reasons why this interaction has so much significance to them; it’s in direct defiance of the history of apartheid. And Mama J was also saying that we, as college students coming into Oceanview, push many of the youths to think about education after high school.

In fact, that was probably the best part of my homestay. When I got to the house Friday night, my host sister greeted me with the incredible news that she had just started studying Interior Design at the College of Cape Town! I was so happy to hear this, because you can tell it’s her passion the second you step into their home – it is decorated so beautifully, so colorful and warm and home-y. Ever since last semester, I had been encouraging her to study, because you can tell it’s truly a talent of hers! She’s a few years older than me, so she’s the oldest in her courses, but she likes it because she says everyone has a respect for her; they even voted her the class leader (something common at universities here, they have it at UCT as well). And when she got done telling me all this, she goes, “You know, it’s because of you.” She told me that meeting to me encouraged her to take advantage of the opportunity to get an education. I didn’t even know what to say – it just made me feel so good to know that she is truly on a path to success, and I am so proud of her for pursuing her dreams, despite hardship.

It’s the little things… and the joy they bring…

Oh my goodness. I just came back from the most amazing play! It’s called Red Winter in Gugs (short for Guguletu, a township about 15 min from where I live) and it’s showing at Baxter Theatre just near campus. It was a one-woman show, and it was SO powerful. It was about a girl coming of age in the 1980’s in Guguletu, who fell in love with an anti-apartheid activist from her community. It was so beautiful, how he taught her to be proud of her heritage (and her VERY Xhosa name), and then so sad because he was murdered and people in the community thought that this girl had turned him in to the White people. The woman’s acting was incredible- her name is Pumeza Rashe. She played so many characters with such intense emotion… it was truly amazing. I went with Yassi and Julia, and Yassi and I were so upset because we had went to the restroom and when we got out Julia was like “I met her!” We were so jealous and Yassi was about to CRY but then we asked a security guard and he showed us that she was still there. So we went over and talked to her for a good 10 minutes! She was so humble and sweet. What a great experience!

So now, let me backtrack, since I haven’t written in a week. Last Wednesday we had a professor from Univ. of the Western Cape come speak to us about South African politics, which was really really interesting. He was talking about the election that’s coming up next month, and I’m so sad because he said the opposition party that just recently branched off of the ANC (COPE) is not going to have too much support. I guess I’ve been believing all the hype about it. I was really hoping for a viable Black opposition because I really don’t see the benefit in one party (the ANC) having such a monopoly over the country. If there’s no challenge they can do whatever they want, which means benefitting the Black elite while the masses are still poor and living in the same shacks they were in during apartheid.

Thursday was my second day working at Emasithandane, the Children’s Home in Nyanga. It was so much fun! We played some getting-to-know-you games with the kids, and they were so sweet. They were all still trying to play with my crutches! It was so funny though because they had advised us to try to just learn one new name every day and not overwhelm ourselves, because some of the names are hard for us as non-Xhosa speakers. So there was one girl who really warmed up to me from the beginning so I was like ok, I’m going to learn her name. So I asked her, what’s your name? “Xolelwa.” For those of you who don’t know, that X is a big click that I can NOT do, the same click that is in “Xhosa.” So of course she laughed at me when I tried to do it!! But I’m working on it and that’s what’s important.

Friday night I went to the first HP Live! It’s a Friday night worship service specifically catered to UCT students that His People puts on. Last semester they had it but it was called The Edge – it’s where Terrance sung on the praise team. And this semester I might be singing on the praise team!! I’m so excited! But yeah, it was really nice, saw a lot of friends and had SO much fun! Afterwards my friends Taf, Zwee, and Richard were all taking turns jamming on the guitar and me and Billine were singing along. Then me and Taf had a freestyle battle (with Zwee accompanying on guitar, lol!) about whose fried chicken is gonna win the fried chicken cook-off next weekend! We are both very competitive people so we have been hyping this event (that is just me vs. Taf) since last October! It is finally happening… SOON! I will definitely let you know who comes out victorious… although you already know the answer… =D

Saturday I stayed in the house and did research ALL day for my independent study. But it was so worth it, I feel really accomplished! And then I got to video skype with lots of fam – my mom, her boyfriend Mark, Annie, my Uncle Matt, Aunt Ann, and Mr. Johnson! It was so cute to see all of them on the screen. And Sunday was so nice – went to church, then I bought the new India.Arie CD (which is AMAZING!) After that was a REALLY wonderful concert at Kirstenbosch, this beautiful botanical garden. The band Malaika was performing, and I need to get their CD because they can SING! The genre is Afro-Pop, I guess, and it was just such a nice time, sitting outside with all the flowers and the big mountain in the background, listening to music! Oh, cutest moment EVER! So before the concert I saw Quinton and he was like, “I took Zach (his 6-year-old son) in the office with me today and saw a picture of you and said ‘HEY BOO!’ So I think he’s practicing so that he can say it to you when he sees you tonight!” And sure enough, I walk up to him at the concert like “Hey Zach!” and he gets this look of deep concentration on his face and then he yells out, “HEY BOO!” It was the cutest thing in the whooole world! As Chenai says, I am colonizing the continent with my “hey boo”… but what can I say, I am just influential!!

Yesterday was my first day back at LEAP since last semester! It was so nice because I get to work with the same girls as last semester, except for now they are big 11th graders! And let me tell you, some of them have really grown in the past 3 months since I’ve seen them!! WOW!! But it was so cute because we were going around the circle introducing ourselves (because all the other volunteers are new) and when they got to me all of them yelled out “Beyonce!” I had completely forgotten about my little nickname from last semester. They are TOO funny! So this semester instead of having gym class and playing baseball, I’ll be attending Life Orientation with them (which is really interesting coming from a social work perspective; it’s all about sharing thoughts about deep issues in their lives) and then doing homework help. So it should be a great semester. I missed them lots so I’m glad to be back at LEAP!

When I got back from LEAP I had to run (well, hop… lol!) to a meeting, and when I got back I just settled in my room. Then my flatmate, Motjemoka, comes to my door and goes, “oh great, you’re back!” I wondered what the big deal was… and then he walks in with a full plate of food, chicken and pap! It was looking and smelling SO good, so even though I had grabbed a quick bite to eat before my meeting, I couldn’t refuse the offer!! He was like, “I want you to experience real African food” and kept giving me instructions about eating it with my hands and stuff, which of course I was already cool with!! It was SO delicious and I could tell he was SO happy that I was enjoying it so much. I think Black Africans aren’t used to Whites eating pap (the staple starch here) because he just looked so entertained from watching me eat!! (Plus I remember in Zim, Chenai’s domestic worker was shocked that I was eating pap, and that she didn’t have to cook rice for me!) It was such a nice night, because he sat with me and was telling me all this stuff about his background, about how ethnically he’s Ndebele but he’s lived in Lesotho all his life so he speaks Sesotho and relates to their culture the most. He told me how he loves history, and was telling me the history of Lesotho, about the king, Moshoeshoe, and how he defeated the Boer colonizers in the 1800s. He had so much pride in telling me the story and it was really cool to be learning about that from him. I hope I can visit Lesotho this semester, because two of my flatmates (Motjemoka and Nkoana) are from there, and my flatmate from last semester, Neo, is from there too! Hopefully I’ll get the chance.

Well I guess that leads up to today! Went to class and then tutored at Emasithandane. It was another good day there – we played a few games with the kids and then had them do acrostic poems with their names. VERY challenging for kids who are just starting to learn English!! But we worked it out. The best part of the day, though, was this impromptu karaoke session. We were just putting on some music to dance around a little bit for the beginning of class, but then “No Air” comes on and the kids know every word!!! And they hit every part – belting out the high notes and everything! Some of these kids are little superstars, dancing around and performing! It was the cutest thing in the whole world! I am gonna love that song FOREVER now! =D

Writing this, I realized that this week was shaped by a lot of little things that brightened up each one of my days! Guitar jam sessions freestyling about fried chicken, Lesotho history lessons and home cooking, Zach’s “HEY BOO!”, that unforgettable rendition of “No Air,” meeting that incredible actress… life has been SO nice in all these little ways and I am just feeling so BLESSED! I hope everyone at home is doing well. Love y’all!!