Below is an email Katherine Welsh sent her family and friends. With her permission i am posting to this blog to provide yet another view of just some of the amazing experiences the Honors in Cape Town students are having. Although not all students have had the opportunity to sit in on South African Parliamentary meetings, or have chosen to ride elephants, bungy jump off the highest bridge, or join meditation classes, Katie's email provides yet another glimpse into why the Honors in Cape Town Program is such an incredible experience!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Katherine Welsh
Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 8:20 AM
Subject: THIS IS A SUPER-LONG EMAIL UPDATE FROM CAPE TOWN... I COULDN'T BEAR TO CUT ANYTHING OUT!! (skip to the bungy jumping video for the good stuff)
Already two and a half months into this trip and OH! the places I've found myself! In the last month alone, I looked down my toes off the highest bridge in Africa, stood on a corner waiting to be picked up by a Buddhist monk, played soccer in a township and sat in on a South African Parliamentary meeting. To do justice to my time here in an email will be difficult, but I'll try.
My job is amazing. I work for an organization called Black Sash (www.blacksash.org.za
We all have internships in and around Cape Town on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then classes on Thursday. While we don't get to have classes with South African students, we do have the opportunity to join campus societies at the University of Cape Town. I'm involved with the 'Mused and Bemused' reader and writer society. We meet twice a month, once to share what we're reading and once to share what we're writing. We met last week and hosted an author who is currently a med student at UCT and had the chance to pick her brain on what it's like to be published. She published a book called 'Coconut' and appeared to be a very grounded successful author. The venue couldn't have been cooler either; we met on the rooftop terrace of the very bohemian looking 'Cafe Ganesh' in my favorite part of town called Observatory, or 'Obs'. All the shops and restaurants there have brightly colored walls, mismatched chairs, tables and place settings, and a mix of traditional and more hip African cuisine (a lot of spiced meats, starches, curries and veggies).
About thirteen of us from the house went on a road trip recently. (A total of seventeen students live in my house with an additional ten in another house up the road. Surprisingly, we're still getting along quite well.) We went to a place called Plettenberg Bay for three nights. We hopped on a bus and made it in about twelve hours, two of which were spent sitting on the side of the road when the bus broke down, but otherwise it was a flawless trip. We filled the three days away from Cape Town with hiking, elephant riding, a zipline canopy tour, BUNGY JUMPING!
Standing on the corner (of Lafayette? ... Did you know that the inspiration for Paul Simon's Graceland album came from a township not far from me?) waiting to be picked up by a Buddhist monk on the way to meditation class has become a part of my Sunday morning routine. The first time, I wasn't sure if I would recognize him, but fortunately he was hard to miss in the Buddhist monk... uniform? After a few weeks of class, I've decided that meditation class should be a compulsory part of study abroad. Had I realized a few weeks ago that, 'if there's something you can do to change a situation, there is no reason to be unhappy about it and if there's nothing you can do to change a situation, there is no reason to be unhappy about it,' I think I might have had a smoother transition to Cape Town life...
I've also had numerous opportunities to spend time in townships. The people there generally know before we even open our mouths that we're not South African because, according to them, there is no way a white South African would ever spend any time in the townships. Despite the fact that the majority of South Africans live in these townships, they still seem to be portrayed as mysterious and dangerous places by those who don't live there. All we ever really hear is about the poverty and HIV/AIDS, so it's hard to understand what life is like there unless you visit yourself. I was fortunate enough to be invited to an initiation ceremony by an American friend of mine who used to teach in a township. One of her former students returned from 'the bush' recently after his 'becoming a man'. (In Xhosa culture, that's circumcision) The party included all of his relatives and friends, the 'mamas' inside and the men sitting on benches in the garage. Everyone took turns giving him advice on what it is 'to be a man' and then he was gifted with furniture and appliances. If we could all be so lucky.
We've also gotten involved with a youth programme in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's largest township. People generally estimate that about one million people live there, but as most of them live in shacks it's impossible to get an accurate count. A few people in our program have their internships there working with HIV/AIDS prevention or education. At Hope Worldwide, one of my housemates works with a guy named Vuyane who, in addition to his work with Hope Worldwide, started a youth program that facilitates a pick-up soccer league and a drama club. We went to challenge one of the teams in a 'football match' and watch their drama performances. I was so moved by their plays which are all based on very real life experiences of rape, the clash of traditional and modern cultures, HIV/AIDS and race. A 14-year-old named Wanda closed the day's activities by performing his poetry as follows (we asked him to write it down for us):
"Lost in the dark depressions not knowing where to turn to
I opened the windows to my soul to see what I could learn.
With witches and demons chasing I could not get close by.
I shouted God's name out loud and a sword came flying by.
I took it with might and swung it with power
And I sent all the evil witches straight to hell.
I climbed out of the window and I am free as a bird.
The only brave person I know,
It's well me and myself!"
Not only was it an impressive performance on its own, but it was also in his second language. Most of the kids spoke English only if they were older than twelve and had had substantial class time in English.
We have come to understand that the crime and HIV/AIDS that originate in the townships are a result of the apartheid that lasted until 1994. If the situation in South Africa is to improve, there needs to be a fundamental change from the ground up. When black and 'coloured' people were moved off the 'white areas' and into townships in the 60's and 70's, there was a sudden shift in their family structures. Mothers were forced to work, both parents had to travel longer to get to their job, pay more for transportation and work longer to make up for it. Thus, township children very suddenly found themselves without supervision. The immediate result was the plethora of drug and crime problems that exist today. In the time since 1994, children have been the focus of programs combating the attraction of gang life, and one of the best strategies is to provide extracurricular alternatives.
So, the soccer league is more than your average soccer league, it becomes change in a very tangible way. The kids involved perform better in school and generally stay out of trouble. It is for this reason that I am trying to help Vuyane register as a Non-Profit Organization so that he can more easily acquire funding. In the meantime, with the support of Windsor Youth Soccer, Windsor High School and my wonderful boyfriend, Fred, and his friends in Canada, I am having cleats and other soccer equipment collected and sent over here. As we watched kids play barefoot on fields littered with glass and sharp rocks, I couldn't help but think of the six pairs (if not more) of soccer cleats that we have just sitting in the attic. CLEATS FOR KHAYELITSHA (keye-leech-ah) is an initiative that will collect used and new cleats in addition to other soccer equipment. I am hoping to get sponsored by of one of the shipping companies as I have heard that they will sometimes send things for charities for free. If anybody would like to help, donate, or get rid of their old soccer gear, please let me know!
So this is my less than brief rundown of my time here thus far. I'm so lucky to have the chance to continue doing these programs, I have learned so much about a wonderful new place! I'm looking forward to sharing more of my experiences with you when I return, thanks so much for the support I've received while here!
Love,
Katie
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