Pretoria!

I flew into Joburg late late, like 2am, but Kate and her boyfriend Francois were there to pick me up and drive us to Pretoria. Well, the outskirts of Pretoria-in the “plots” or country side where Kate, and the family that runs BEAM Africa lives. Tropical Paradise is the closest I’ve come to being able to describe it. Quite the change from the business and loudness of Cape Town and living with a house full of rambunctious Americans. The peace has been very welcome and relaxing.

Saturday morning we went ice skating at a mall. It felt so very weird, to be in Africa, with Kate, at a mall (exactly like they are in the US, including the proportional amount of white people), ice skating in the summer time! What?! Many times I forget we are in Africa, especially when I’m with a friend from America, doing things that we would also do together in America. But then we drive down this red dirt road and see women walking to work, carrying a child around her back and a package on her head. We drive through townships and slums with shacks made of tin. This is where people live and this is indeed Africa.

After running a few errands, we returned home and I took a good long nap. Taking a “lie down” is a very important practice here, which I am enjoying to the fullest. We made dinner together and afterwards went over to Louise’s and Vernon’s house to watch a movie. Right before bed I made use of the luxury bathtub in the master bathroom of Kate’s house-everything is covered in tile and is beautiful. Tiles and columns fill the house.

In the night it STORMED! This is the first time since I’ve arrived in South Africa that I’ve experienced a storm, or even rain! In Cape Town the most rain I saw was a couple sprinkles for maybe ten minutes at most. This torrential downpour started at 4am and didn’t end until mid afternoon. Our plans to tour a diamond mine were ruined, but a lazy Sunday morning, spent drinking tea on the porch and watching the rain, was just as, if not more, pleasant. For lunch we went over to Erica and Louie (Kate’s bosses/ landlords/ boyfriend’s parents) for a stove potjie. A potjie is a big pot of deliciousness: this one contained chicken, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, zucchini (they are miniature here and called baby marrows), onions, broccoli, cabbage, dried plums and apricots, mushrooms and spices and seasonings. Served over rice. We finished the meal with some of my chocolate cookies which we had made a batch of earlier in the day. After some reading aloud of Lord of the Rings, we took a nap until church. The church we went to was all white and Afrikaans speaking. Very interesting, I’ve liked being exposed to the Afrikaans language so much more, but I’m missing the diversity of Cape Town.

Monday I went to work with Kate! It was so very nice being able to see the work she does at BEAM Africa, and to just be in the atmosphere of a NPO. While she worked, I caught up on my journal, began reading “A Long Walk to Freedom” Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, and typed blog posts! Not having internet was a big part of my being productive J Sitting at the desk at BEAM, being a part of the business that was going on people coming in and out, seeing the good work that they do, all reminded me of my summer at Isabella County Habitat for Humanity when I worked there through AmeriCorps (I miss you all if any of my Habitat family is reading). BEAM is a drop-in center located in a township of Pretoria: Nellmapius. They serve lunch to about 145 children a day, provide live skills training, computer training and lift truck training, as well as literacy and numeracy training. Good good things, synergistic satisfiers fulfilling needs.

After work we went on a tour of this specialized private school for the Deaf (and hearing as well). I found it very….interesting. This school very well may be the nicest school I’ve ever seen, in South Africa AND America. It’s a private school that has done everything perfectly to promote language development in hearing and deaf children. They thought of everything, different types of stimulation, FM systems in all the rooms for the hearing aids, classrooms that open to the outside with personal bathrooms as well. Different “environments” to walk through to promote conversations. Average about 23-25 students per class, with one teacher and one teaching assistant deaf/hearing and no more than 5 deaf children, so about 12 students for every adult. The school has an audiology wing and hearing aids are tested each morning to make sure they are working optimally. Sign language is prohibited at this school, however, and they use an oral only approach-which I have mixed feelings about. Yes, they will most likely be more “successful” if they are able to use spoken language, but sign language is the cultural language of the Deaf population, it’s part of their culture and I think keeping them from using is not right. Another thing that bothered me was how absolutely beautiful and perfect the school was, granted, it’s a private school, but comparing it to Manenburg Primary in the township where many of my program mates volunteer is just depressing. At Manenburg there are 65 students in one first grade classroom with one teacher. There is no play ground equipment just dirt to run around in or to kick a ball. A twentieth of the budget of the deaf school could do wonders for so many run down schools like Manenburg. This is the case all over South Africa. Really really nice private schools and really really poor and run down public schools in townships. I don’t mean to put down this school we toured, it was absolutely incredible and I would love if all schools could have the resources to make learning and language development happen in such a pure way.

Then the Union buildings! They were like a combination of White House and the Capitol Building, but more beautiful with statues and flower gardens.

Tuesday to work again and I was able to help out with the children’s sport’s program, which was so very much fun! I was starting to miss my kids from the TB clinic and this satisfied my longing for little ones to be near to me. Potatoes (both mashed and chips/French fries) and chocolate cookies made for a nice dinner, and an early bed time. I am getting a lot or rest and relaxation time here-it’s lovely.

Wednesday was my last day! After a few hours at BEAM, Kate and I left early for our picnic/tea at the Sammy Marks museum. We arrived and this sweet old man packed us a picnic and told us to find a place on the grounds to have a seat. It was the perfect day for a perfect picnic: surrounded by roses, birds, good food and a great friend. The tour of the museum (which was the mansion that used to belong to Sammy and his family) was also wonderful, filled with history, Victorian furniture, and old pretty things J At night we met up with Kathryn, Laura’s (super awesome friend from bike and build) sister and her boyfriend for Indian food. Kate and I stayed up late watching Friends and talking.

Thursday morning came too soon and we had to say our goodbyes. Kate is doing so well in Pretoria and with BEAM, I cannot begin to express how proud I am of the good works she is doing there and I am overjoyed with the time we were able to spend together.

Now I have a few days left of this spring/fall break before classes start! I think I shall continue to read A Long Walk to Freedom and get a start on my capstone proposal.

Check out all my pictures! I think you will be able to view these even if you do not have facebook. Here are the albums I have on facebook that you can visit:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=277414&id=508442372&l=95aa0d0d5f

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=278338&id=508442372&l=8f0f63e736

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=282330&id=508442372&l=2751cf0d5b

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=283895&id=508442372&l=b675f65897

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=286639&id=508442372&l=2a2bee6d87

Otherwise I will hopefully be posting more pictures onto the blog directly.

Take care my friends, I miss and love you all!

Life: ubuntu

I must speak about our Poverty and Development class we are taking, as it is the most interesting, enlightening and engrossing course of my university career, and our professor Anna Davies-vansmith is tied with Dr. Tatchel from CMU for the most brilliant teacher I’ve ever had the privilege to learn from. I look forward to each class and walk away having learned more than expected and having more questions than when I started, which I believe is the task of a professor. The more I learn, the more I realize that I still have to learn. I’m hoping this blog post will get you thinking.

I’m not really sure how much information you all are interested in learning, so I think I’m just going to share a couple statistics, some of the lecture notes I’ve taken and found most interesting and my personal thoughts. Forgive me if this bores you and you can skip to the next post where I talk about visiting Kate in Pretoria!

(all the statistical information comes from Lectures given by Anna, all credit goes to her)

Global Poverty and Inequality

ž A little less than half the world, 2.8 billion people, live on < $2/day

ž The poorest 40% of the world’s population earns 5% of the world’s income

ž The richest 20% receives 75% of global income

ž The net worth of world’s 358 richest people = combined income of poorest 45% of world pop (~2.3 billion people!)

ž In 2005, the wealthiest 20 percent of the world accounted for 76.6 % of total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5 %.

Definitions:

Poverty

ž Poverty is the lack of the things necessary for living or it exists where basic human needs are unmet.

ž Allocation and distribution of resources.

Development

ž All attempts to eliminate or alleviate poverty/inequality

ž Attempts to increase the standard of living of a nation.

Poverty and Inequality in South Africa

First some demographics:

ž Population of South Africa – 50 million (2010)

ž Women – 50.9%, Men – 49.1%

ž 79.6% Black ‘’African

ž 9.1% White

ž 8.9% ‘Coloured’

ž 2.5% Indian/Asian

ž Urban – 60.3%, Rural – 39.7%

2005

— 47.1% of South Africans live below “lower-bound” poverty line (R322/mon $46.00 US)

— 53.5% of South Africans live below “higher-bound” poverty line (R593/mon $85.00 US)

— (South African currency is the rand, approximately 7 rand to 1 US dollar)

ž Percentage poor people by race

— 56% of black ‘African’ people

— 36% of ‘Coloured’ people

— 15% of Indian/Asian people

— 7% of white people

Other facts:

ž Life expectancy 49.3 yrs (USA 78.2).

ž Infant mortality 44.8 per 1000 (USA 6.3 per 1000).

ž 1 in 4 men admit rape (2009)

ž Estimated 5.8 million South Africans infected with HIV – that is 1 in 10 South Africans.

So those are the raw statistics and facts, from here we went on to analyze these by looking at theories of development and what has been done in South Africa to alleviate the poverty and inequality. Neolibralism, Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), Federal Direct Investment (FDI) to name a few of the tried techniques. None of these seem to be successful and end up putting money in pockets other than those who really need it. “…in the absence of direct political control, foreign investment ensures that the natural resources and the labour of Africa produce economic value which is lost to the continent” (Rodney, 1981).

From here we looked at many many more theories, which I will not be boring you with. Instead I will get straight to Development in Practice, people centered development and Human scale development. What I got the most out of this lecture was the difference between needs and satisfiers. With human scale development the goal is to move towards meeting fundamental human needs as whole human beings, not as a number to fix or a statistics to lower. “one cannot have without being or be without doing” There is a list of the most basic needs that a human must have in order to live: sustenance (food, shelter), protection, creativity, participation, knowledge, love etc. Satisfiers attempt to meet needs, but there are some satisfiers that don’t do quite as well as they need. For example, a “destroyer” satisfier like censorship attempts to fulfill the need of protection, but in actuality it prohibits the needs of creativity, participation, etc. A pseudo-satisfier such as a food hand-out briefly fulfils the need for sustenance, but not long term. An inhibitor over satisfies one certain need and limits other needs and this creates an unhealthy imbalance, an example of this would be authoritarian teaching which consist of too much forceful knowledge and limits a child’s creativity. Singular satisfiers only meet one need at a time, such as insurance meets the need of protection, and a food handout meets the need of subsistence. The most ideal way in which to meet needs would be synergistic satisfiers. A synergistic satisfier fulfills multiple needs at once. One example would be breastfeeding, where the needs of subsistence, affection, participation, etc are all met in one activity. A practical example which I have had the pleasure of experiencing has been the non-profit BEAM organization in Pretoria, South Africa, where my friend Kate is working. Not only are they a drop-in center which provides food and protection for children, they also teach life skills classes and computer courses, inviting students to participate in multiple efforts within the organization itself. The core needs of subsistence, protection, knowledge, creativity, and participation are all met and build on each other, continually reinforcing another.

There is a debate among the needs I’ve listed: some say subsistence is the most important, because it is impossible to have participation, creativity, gain knowledge etc without having food in your stomach, or a roof over your head. Others claim that all the needs are equal and are necessary in order for a human being to live. I agree with the second point, if you look at the definition of life in a deeper, more abstract way. Living is so much more than breathing and heart beating, a life is defined by the impact we have on one another. There is a saying here in South Africa, Ubuntu, which means “I am because we are.” I am a person through other people. In essence, respect of fellow brothers and sisters and sharing life together. Life is interaction, sharing knowledge and stories, having joy, giving love and attention, supporting and encouraging one another, eating and talking together, dancing and playing with one another, taking care of each other.

We all go through our lives, seeing lifeless people, at times being lifeless ourselves. Unless these basic needs are met, and we are actively seeking to help meet the needs of others-are we really living?

This is life: ubuntu.

Taxi strike

This shall be a blog filled with randomness.

Passion gap: when the front four teeth are removed, particularly popular among the colored population. It’s like getting your ears pierced, or a tattoo, it’s a cool thing to do and apparently makes for more pleasurable kissing, so they say. Therefore the name “passion gap”

Now you have your fun fact, I will update you on my life in Cape Town! It has been a while since I last wrote, but things have finally settled down! This is my schedule:

Monday: Social Research Methods class 8:30-11:30am, volunteer at TB clinic 12:15-3pm (with school kids)

Tuesday: Volunteer at TB clinic 9-12:30 with the Audiology department or preschool/toddler group (I’m hoping to find the speech therapist soon) and then 1-3 with school kids. 6pm Reflection meeting with Angela.

Wednesday: Poverty and Development class 9-10:30, Social Research Methods class 10:30-11:30. Volunteer at TB clinic 12:15-4 with school kids. Afrikaans class 4:30-6. Life group through Jublilee church 7-9pm

Thursday: Volunteer at TB clinic 10-4, preschoolers in the morning, school age in afternoon. Afrikaans 4:30-6pm

Friday: Poverty and Development class 9-10:30am. And then it’s the WEEKEND!!!

My weekends have been filled with great things, I’ll just give a list of some of my weekend activities:

Nap, library opening complete with children singing SA national anthem, V&A waterfront with sushi, wine and ice cream, skype with family and friends, biking, Constantia wine tasting, picnics, ocean, mountains, more biking, beach, breakfast buffet on the beach, craft markets, Kirstenbosch botanical garden concert complete with picnic, wine, and good people/music, visit from great friend Kate Burchett!!!, hike up Table mountain, braai (bbq party), Bo-Kaap market, Green square market, Clifton beach, dinner and sunset at Camps Bay, Long St. clubs and pups, Jubilee church, homemade chips (fries), another concert at Kirstenbosch: Goldfish (South African Techno-jazz), Bike expo, swimming at a friends pool with wine, pasta evening with the UCT cycling club, morning hike up Lion’s Head with Habitat for Humanity UCT, another visit to the Bike expo, BIG braai with everyone from professors to volunteer supervisors to south African friends-about 50 people total, AAAANNNDDDD the Cape Argus Cycle Tour!!! 110K, lots of mountains and coast and ocean and bikes. Over 30,000 riders. World’s Largest individually timed bike race. It was absolutely incredible to be a part of. And nap again.

So that was three weekends of activities, I have an extremely blessed life. Next weekend our program has us scheduled to go to Stellenbosch (a town about 45 min away, well known for their vineyards) Wine Tasting on Saturday and to Robben Island on Sunday. Also the weather is always lovely and sunny. Starting in May, however,winter starts and it is supposed to become rainy and cold.

There is one bad thing about all the lovely things to do here in Cape Town, and that is it makes it so very hard to do any school work. I have a big paper due on Friday which I have not even started (that’s actually the real reason I’m writing this blog post, in order to procrastinate), in addition to making lesson plans for the kids I teach at the TB clinic and arts and crafts programs I put together for the kids as well.

I’m beginning to realize that the hardest part of leaving Cape Town won’t be the mountains, or the ocean, or the city or the great weather, or even the friends I am making (although they are phenomenal) but my children at the TB hospital. I walk into the preschool room and the faces of absolute joy and love and excitement to see me are overwhelming! My lap isn’t big enough to hold them all, and that is all they really need. Affection, love, attention. These children are at the TB hospital from 6 months to 2 years in order to receive treatment for their TB, most of them also have AIDS. Most of the children’s parents can’t afford the transportation to come visit often…can you imagine, leaving your sick child at a hospital without seeing them for months and months?!? Can you imagine, being a sick child without seeing your mother, father, siblings for months and months? The hospital is very understaffed and affection isn’t possible when there is one nurse for 20 children, one teacher for all grades. I have so much love to give, but I still feel like they always need more.

And don’t worry, once the children have begun treatment, they are no longer contagious to adults (for those of you concerned about my health)

A couple more facts/random things:

The first recorded Afrikaans was written in Arabic.

Walmart is coming to South Africa this month

There are many bitter feelings here about Green Point Stadium for the Fifa World cup this last summer, it cost about $600 million US dollars, which may have been used to create housing in the townships, provide books for the schools, etc etc. But the World Cup DID bring in a lot of tourism, but was the new stadium necessary??

South Africa doesn’t really have the “volunteer spirit” we are accustomed to in the US, not many South Africans volunteer. We were told this at the beginning of our time here, but now I’m actually seeing it.

Ok, that is all for now. I suppose I should work on my paper a little before going to the pool later today.

peace and love