After a good night’s rest, we began the day with two lectures from ministers in the Dutch Reform church at JL Zwane. This trip has sparked in me and interest in religion. However, I wasn’t sure what to think about these presenters. You see, the Dutch Reform church was the institution responsible for establishing apartheid in South Africa. We have a great opportunity in this class to learn from people with diverse perspective on the past and current issues in South Africa. But I wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear about how apartheid was a good thing from a conservative point of view. That makes sense right? If they come from this church, they are bound to see the positives in apartheid. Well, not only was I ignorant to these presenters, it showed me just how closed-minded I can be sometimes. The first presenter Laurie is a homosexual minister in this church. If you know anything about this religion, you know that this is completely out of the ordinary and not as accepted around the world. He spoke about how he was de-ordained and the struggle to be reinstated by the church. It was interesting to hear about the reasons why he didn’t support apartheid and why he would want to be reinstated. The second minister preaches in a poor, black congregation. Like I have mentioned multiple times in my blog, there’s more than meets the eye and assumptions don’t help to solve anything.
We had some time before lunch to deconstruct our time in Gugulethu with Edwin, a Reverend at the JL Zwane community center. He is such an inspirational person, comical yet one of those people that just makes others think. In the second leadership course at the UMTC, we talk about relational leadership through the action of one-to-ones. It’s basically a format to figure out how a person foreign to oneself ticks so you can understand why they do what they do. Edwin exemplifies this action. People around the community know and respect him, and he takes the time to learn their stories so he can provide help and assistance through the community center. Today, he spoke about some truly disturbing stories regarding children and their views on HIV/AIDS. He talked to a teacher that said learners (we call them students in America) would wait until she left the room and have sex in classrooms. How?... you ask. Well, according to Edwin they find what is comparable to blind spots in the rooms so the teacher can’t see them and then have sex. I mean seriously. Why on earth would kids want to do this? Are they curious? Are they bored? Yes and no. I’m not sure of the answers to these questions. I don’t want to “blame” it on culture, but I think it might have something to do with the problem. I guess what is more important now is the solution. One of the students in my class told a story that she heard from her host family on this day. She said that because people can get ARV’s for free as a part of South Africa’s health care system, children abuse them. They take old light bulbs, take out the filament, put in a couple of the ARV’s, light the bottom of the bulb and inhale the fumes as recreational drugs. This was shocking to me. After hearing a slice of the stories about how people can’t get ARV’s or how they don’t want others to know that they are taking them, now kids are getting high off of them. Do you blame it on education? No, because teachers are doing what they can from government funding; it’s not their fault they don’t have they don’t have the funding to teach about this issue adequately. Do you place blame on parents? I don’t know. On the one hand, I find it their responsibility to talk to their children about issues such as this because they have such devastating implications. On the other hand, if parents have to work late into the night to earn support for a big family, how can they teach children what’s right and wrong? It just seems like a downward vicious circle. If education was better and started earlier in school age children, I think some of the problem could be solved.
Today was the last day that we were able to work with the Rainbow after school program. I liked working with Grade 7 even though they didn’t have homework today. This meant that the teachers gave them something to do in order to keep them busy. It gave me a chance to talk to the teachers about the program. I explained to them why we I’m here and one of them inquired how old I was. When I told her, she asked me if I had kids. From my experience, I knew where this was going and squashed my initial “Of course not” into a polite “No.” The woman simply nodded her head. When I asked if this was common among girls my age, she said that I was old and that I would have many kids already if I were growing up in Gugulethu. It must just be culture, because I cannot imagine having kids at this stage in my life. Then again, I have many more chances at opportunities that will help me to lead a productive life in the states; I am so grateful. Talking to the kids today just reminded me how similar they are to kids in the states. I noticed this through our similar taste in music. When I left, I reminded them to do well in school and that would be the key to achieving what they wanted out of life. I only hope that they do.
Tonight at dinner, we were at Noxie’s house. Her house was huge! Everyone fit in the living room comfortably. She made an array of food from curry meat, turkey, chicken, bread, vegetables, to a pig smiley (pig’s head). I’m not adventurous and didn’t try any of the pig’s head but my instructor and some people I know did. My instructor tried some of the eyeball while others tried the neck and cheek. There was the usual dancing after dinner and a surprise custard and cake dessert. I’ve found that dessert with meals (even in fancy pants restaurants) isn’t very common so it was a nice, delicious surprise.
Before it was time to leave, Edwin (who had made a special appearance tonight), decided to give each of us students an opportunity to express our gratitude and thanks to our host families. People went around one by one talking about all the love and community they felt, the warm loving homes, the food, the dancing, and the hospitality. From the first person, I knew that I was going to start crying. For me, I grew up in a community similar to the one found here in Gugulethu; but due to some unfortunate events late in 2007, I feel like I don’t have that community or support anymore. So having come here and experiencing all of the love and devotion from the people of Gugulethu and the JL Zwane community center, I was overcome with emotion. I told my story through tears and I could feel the love and support in the room flow into like a spirit. And although it was difficult, I felt myself grow stronger. As you can tell, I have been enduring a personal struggle while in South Africa and have learned that through the love and support of a community, I can move on. I intend to start the process when I get back in the states after sorting out my feelings about the trip and acclimating into society once again.
When arriving home, Nichole and I pushed through our exhaustion to stay up and talk with our Mama and Papa. We exchanged contact information and some other words of thanks. Here’s the other surprise of the evening: it is their tradition that they name all of the students that stay with them. We were no exception, so they named us in Xhosa! Nichole’s name is Thandeka which means lovable. My Xhosa name is Nosipho which means gift. It was so personal and further reinforced that we are loved and homes here in South Africa when we return to our lives in the states. Mama also gave us some translated words and phrases in Xhosa:
3 comments:
trisha! your writing is beautiful! along with the pictures, you're making me feel like i'm there, too. you are having a FANTASTIC experience - i'm so jealous!
Those bits of information about the kids was very disheartening. They are the hope of the future, yet they are merely continuing the vicious cycle. I may be quite ignorant as to the real issues and driving forces behind the AIDS epidemic and the extreme poverty in Africa, but I do know that it takes not only strong leadership from community leaders and parents-- but also changes from the younger and older generations. As you said, Trisha, maybe the culture is reinforcing some wrong behavior; this being said, blame cannot be laid on any one age group, and some outside forces are headstrong against progress in South Africa. Have fun in your last week!
Molo Trisha!
This is Hilary's dad. Reading your blog I noticed that you hit on a very important topic.... Education.... everyone throughout the world needs to be educated on whats going on everywhere. I am sure that when you getr back to the states that you will tell everyone what you encountered and that alone is a start of education. Good luck on the rest of your journey!
Hil's Dad!
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