Final Post

MY ISP IS FINISHED!!!  80 PAGES!!!!  I know right??  How ridiculous is that??  My program is now basically over, just a few more days of fun evaluations and reflections with the group up in the mountains somewhere.  Other than that, my South African adventure is coming to a close.  

I haven't had much time to think about what I'm going to write for my last entry as I've been working so much on my ISP, so I've decided to not make this entry as lengthy as what you might think.  

I've learned SO much during my time here in South Africa I'm not even sure I know where to begin.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I arrived at the airport in Johannesburg, awaiting in great anticipation of what lay ahead on my journey.  I'm going to remember all the people who I've met, the friends that I've made in the country, and the wonderful families that I stayed with.  But I also can't forget the reasons for why I chose to study here.  I'm came here to learn about reconciliation and development; to see how the people of South Africa have reconciled their differences coming from the darkness and oppression that makes up their past.  I came here to learn about poverty and the effects that it has on individuals; I wanted to learn about the people and how they interact and get along with one another-more importantly I suppose, if they get along with one another.  

As all of these things are rolling through my head at the moment, I'm trying to sum up the current state of South Africa based on the information that I have gathered from different people I have met along the way.  The general consensus seems to be that South Africa's situation is getting worse instead of better.  In thinking back to Kennedy Road, I remember hearing that the number of shack settlements have tripled since SA received its independence in 1994.  The rich and poor gap is still one of the largest in the world, although there is an emerging black middle class.  Crime is rampant as it has been for a long time.  Walking down the street every single home on a block is surrounded by its own security and barbed wire fences.  People here learn to look behind them with every step they take, to make sure that no potential mugger, murderer, or rapist is gaining on them.  

A woman or child is raped every 5 seconds in this country, and the issue of violence against women still has not received the attention it deserves.  There are fathers who come home in the middle of the night, drunk, in an attempt to self-medicate themselves from the frustrations of unemployment, and they attempt to use their wife and daughters as prostitutes by dropping them off alone in the middle of Richard's Bay.  It happens every night.  Street children, a nearly 50% unemployment, and a violent crime rate that is astounding...I am only left to think about what my role is in this situation.  

Despite all of these depressing statistics, some undeniable improvements have been made in the relations that people have with each other since the Apartheid era.  I am now sitting at my favorite internet cafe on Florida Road, and adjacent to my table is an Indian woman and a white man sitting next to each other have a conversation.  Yesterday I saw a black man and a white woman laughing together discussing their jobs.  The different races work together doing the same job in the kitchen of this restaurant-although that doesn't necessarily mean that they are treated equally, this is a huge step.  A person would never have seen any of these things occurring 14 years ago.  

Change is possible.  It may be slow as hell, and believe me South Africa still has a long way to go in improving race relations, but it's a step.  Since coming here I've also had to come to terms with the fact that for a person like me, there really isn't much that can be done to fix some of these larger societal issues.  It's unfortunate to say that so much of the power lies in the government-and for South AFrica that is not a comforting fact.  But I believe that there is always something we can do, even if it seems as though hope is dismal.  The thing to figure out, is what?  What do I do now?  Why did I come here?  

In coming here I was hoping to clear up some of my confusion about my place in the world as well as what I was meant for, what my destiny was so to speak.  And I have to admit that the opposite has happened.  When I get off the plane and feel my feet touch the North American continent again, I will be a much more confused person, than I was when my feet left.  Maybe my purpose for coming here was simply to learn-to learn and take the information wherever I decide to take it.  I have learned how to be happy since being on this trip, and I've learned what power a simple smile can have on a person whose life holds little except destitution.  

I'm not sure where I'm going with that thought.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have a ways to go before I figure out what I'm supposed to do with all of this knowledge.  The world is a big place, with a lot of people to help, with a lot of people to meet, with a lot of things to see and do, and a lot of beauty to take in.  What's next?  

I'm leaving you now with 2 final pictures: the first is a drawing that a prisoner drew and that I found in my work with the restorative justice organization.  The second is another wonderful, inspiring quote from Nelson Mandela engraved on a monument that I took a long time ago at the beginning of our trip to the Apartheid Museum.  This is one of my favorite photos and I was saving it for something special.  Let these photos make you feel however you like.  

If you can't make out the quote, it says "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."  What a man huh?

So long South Africa, my heart will always have a place with you here, and you will forever have a place in my heart.

Short Entry for Quick Pics

Sawbonani!  I'm not even sure if that's how you spell it.  Anyways, I hope you all are well, this is going to be a very short entry just to share some quick things with you all.  These are all pictures of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned.  I never posted these after we toured the island and I feel that they're pretty special, so I wanted to be sure that I shared them with all of you back there in the States.  Just for a very quick update on me, I'm almost finished in Eshowe for the research portion of my ISP, and I have to say that I've learned a great deal of amazing things.  I finished interviewing all of the female prisoners that I was able to on Friday afternoon, and some of the things I was able to get from them was absolutely inspiring.  I even got to do yoga with them :)  I'll be back in Durban for the rest of my time in South Africa starting Thursday and then at that time I will be doing the hard part-writing this massive report.  I've also decided that this is going to be my 2nd to last entry and I'm going to try to write up something pretty special for my last post, so keep on the lookout.  It'll be a little while since I'm going to be focusing mainly on my report, but not too long!  3 more weeks left-wow...can't believe it.  Enjoy the new pics :)

These are some penguins that live on the island.  I got to stand right next to them hehe.  This one is for you Courtney!
This is a picture of a hall where the beds were for the prisoners at the time when Nelson Mandella was incarcerated.  This is no longer a prison and there currently are no prisons on Robben Island anymore.  It is now one of the most beautiful places in the world (in my opinion at least), and many buildings have been turned into schools and community centers, including some of the former prisons.  It is so peaceful there-very few people inhabit the island and everyone works together to keep it the wonderful place that it is.  Change is possible!

Here's the sign right before you walk into the prison.  The top is in English, and the bottom language is Afrikaans.  
And here's the very special picture-Nelson Mandella's cell where he was kept for fighting for the freedom of all South Africans-of humanity in general.  Because after all, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere."  I can't believe that I got the chance to see this.  Look at the size of this-it's smaller than my closet.  I wonder what he was thinking when he was in this cell night after night.  

And here's the last picture of the cell just from another angle.  That's his bedding, I'm not sure if he really slept on the floor or if they just removed the bed.  But what continues to amaze me is that he wasn't afraid to go to prison for the dignity and lives of others.  I'm not sure if many people are willing to do that anymore.  How did he keep himself emotionally and mentally alive while he was in there for 20 some years?  What extraordinary will power.  

More Pictures :)

"Skies of Blue & Clouds of White."
Eeew..this one is really blurry.  Sorry about that!  But you can see the "Modest Living" of these conditions.  That round thing behind the main structures, I slept in a hut just like that!
"Sweet Child of Mine"  That's a picture of one of my host sisters named Tombazonke who was a bit older, holding my little host brother Guleku-the youngest of the family.  Ndomisu just happened to pop in as always-hehe.  I'll never forget how they all took care of each other. 
"Way To the Beach!"  This was on the way to the beach with some of my little host brothers and sisters in the rural area.  It was on my last day with them.
"To Live Like This."  It's a little ironic that there is this kind of lookout right next to a rural school with all of its conditions.  
"Where The Streets Have No Name"  And yes, that is a song...by U2
"Life From Both Sides Now" If you guys know that Joni Mitchell song (one of my favorite songs and my mom's as well) you'll understand the title of this picture.  I call it that because it makes me think of all of the things that I've seen here so far in South Africa.  The extreme highs, and the lows that represent this country-the 1st world, and the 3rd world, the rich and the extreme poor...The picture has both beauty and an ominous sense as well with the clouds above.  It's life from all angles.  
Another picture that I took from on top of a mountain-the same day that I saw where "Blood Diamond" was filmed.  Here's South Africa's true gorgeousness.  I'm so fortunate-some people go through their entire lives never seeing things like this.  I'm so lucky that I have.  
"Stoned Memories"  I took this picture at the Apartheid Museum and it's a memorial representing all of the people who died for freedom during the Soweto protests.  One stone, stands for 1 person killed.  Can you believe it?

"Clarity"  I took this just as the sun was setting in the rural area.  This is the view from my rural home-how lucky are they that they get to go to bed to that every night?  :)
Here's a picture of Ndomisu and Senele that I don't think I ever posted haha.  I call this one "Dancin' Fools"  I miss them so much :)  

I also posted an entry of text today as well that's written below this post :)

ISP (Independent Study Project)

Hey guys!  I know that its been awhile since I've updated and I apologize.  Internet access is hard to come by at this point and it's also not free anymore.  But it's Saturday April 19th now and I have less than a month until I'm back in the States!  I can't believe it...it's all gone by so fast.  But enough of the cheesy reflections, I know you all really want to know what I'm up to at the moment.  

I'm now on the final portion of my trip-the scary Independent Study Project portion.  For those of you who don't know this is when each of the students in my group choose a topic of whatever they choose, and they go off to wherever they want to in South Africa to research that topic for a few weeks, and then they have to write at a minimum, a 40 page report about it.  So, right now I am all by myself (not really, I'm just not with any of the other students) in a small town called Eshowe working with a restorative justice organization (they try to do rehabilitative work with prisoners within the prisons) known as Phoenix Zululand.  

The focus for my specific project is the creative arts as a way of healing.  Phoenix has an "art as a way of healing" program that they implement within the prisons, and I'm trying to research how the art that the prisoners create is helping these prisoners to express their emotions, express themselves, etc.  There is also a drama program that Phoenix holds and I'm trying to incorporate this as well within my project.  Phoenix is giving me a lot of responsibility; they gave me piles and piles and more piles of artwork to analyze that various prisoners have created so that I can see what themes seem to be coming up and what details about various aspects of the prisoner's lives are being conveyed.  They also want me to talk to some of the art facilitators about some of the issues I'm finding and how the art program can be improved.  

This is an extremely special project for me as I'm considering going into art therapy.  And not only that, but because I have such a passion for the arts (especially music and drama, as many of you know) I'm getting the opportunity to really prove to people how the creative arts mean so much more to so many people than simply a form of entertainment or something pretty to look at.  

Next week I'm getting the opportunity to go into the women's prison here in Eshowe to interview them about a very successful art project that they took part in, in which they took magazine photos and created a collage about their lives.  Just looking at them I was extremely moved by what these women were able to create.  Through these collages stories are told of abuse, drugs, but also of hope and a desire to start a new life.  

I'm also living with a former inmate of Eshowe prison named Tembalethu.  She's a super awesome woman and her and I have had some amazing conversations about why she was in prison, about how she realized all the people she hurt and how prison helped her to realize that she could no longer continue with a life of stealing from other people-not just because prison was such an awful place which it was and still is, but because of the damage it did to others.  I love her.  She now works with Phoenix going into the prisons facilitating discussions with inmates about different issues.  We also talked about the issue of violent offenders and how prison is really the only place for them to go as they can't be allowed to stay in society.  Phoenix might say otherwise, but she wouldn't agree, and I for right don't either.  That's another tricky issue that people have yet to solve.  

I'd like to share a quick story of someone I already interviewed who is now an ex-inmate living in a township here in Eshowe.  As I was looking through the artwork I saw a picture that she and another woman drew that had to do with many of their life experiences.  From this picture they wrote a play and performed it in the prison with Phoenix's drama program.  I went to interview this woman about the play she performed and how it helped her as a person, and I found out that she is now living in a shack, similar to those of the shack settlements I've talked about a few times in previous entries.  She has no bed, hardly any clothes, her father is crippled, she ran away from home when she was young because of abuse, and now she has a baby and relies on money from friends to make it day by day.  She cried during the interview.  

This is another forgotten person of South Africa-a woman who has faced severe hardship through no fault of her own, and now she is constantly made fun of by fellow neighbors for being a former prisoner.  She is now trying desperately hard to feed her sick baby and mentioned that although she would have liked to take her drama talents further, all of her dreams have been "shattered...they were just dreams.  I cry a lot now."  In her words.  She mentioned how life is harder now than it was even before she got into prison.

There are people living like this all over South Africa, and it explains my love-hate relationship with this country.  Ever since then I've been rethinking my role as well as the role of the rest of the world's role in helping people like this woman.  I'm beginning to think that because so much of it is government related there's really not much an ordinary person can do except for donate money every now and then.  I am now even more confused about what I want to do with my life than I was before I left for South Africa.  

But on a lighter note, Eshowe reminds a lot of small suburbs or towns back in Minnesota.  It has a peaceful, friendly ambiance to it, and it makes me miss home more and more.  I like being here more and more because it does remind me so much of home.  But listening to all these stories of these prisoners has made me realize how lucky and blessed I am to have supportive family and friends, as so many of the people I've been meeting lately have neither.  I'll be coming back home as I said in less than a month, to see all of you whom I love so much, and I have to say quite frankly that I am very excited :)

Lastly, yesterday that woman whom I interviewed got a chance to take her baby to the doctor with the money that the 3 of us (another student, the woman I'm living with, and I) gave her during the interview and now her baby's asthma has been treated and is doing very well.  One of the Phoenix members came up with an idea of giving her things to sell so that she can start her own business and make some immediate income.  Maybe things will start to look up for her now.  

Picture Time :)

Sorry this one is lopsided.  It's the famous poster of a man carrying Hector Pieterson's body during the Soweto protests.  The woman in the background is Hector's older sister.  "Only the Good Die Young"

"Leo Was Here!"  This is one of the sights where "Blood Diamond" was filmed!
This is a group of residents from the Kennedy Road shack settlement that we visited.  That structure behind them is one of their houses-made out of pieces of cardboard and what looks like blankets.  They allowed me to take their picture because the group who brought us there wanted us to let people in America know about their suffering.  These are "The Forgotten People of South Africa."
"Lord of the Valleys"  Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

The Healing of Memories (scroll down to the text and read that before looking at the pictures)

Today I met a lot of people living in great destitution, and I visited sights of some of the most deadly, infamous incidents occurred during apartheid set up in the form of memorials.  I'm not really ready to write about it yet because I'm still trying to process it all.  It hit me even harder than when I visited Kennedy Road, maybe because I met so many children, or because I got more or a chance to interview people and even see inside of their homes made out of pieces of cardboard and garbage bags.  

Here, children and adults take part in violence due to the extreme frustration they have to deal with day after day.  Some of them have been waiting for houses for 30 years, but the government that claims to be an all inclusive democracy could care less about their plight.  Little kids living on these streets came up to us holding our hands and wanting to leave with us, and I met a 9 year old girl named Nikita who has become a part of the anti-eviction campaign through writing letters to the government to give her people, whom she feels such a deep connection with, the houses they need to survive and the care that should be given to all people, but unfortunately is not.  

As I said, I don't think I can write details today as it is an experience that is still sore in my mind as it only happened a few hours ago.  I need to process through it all myself before I can full share it with others, which is what these people want us to do-share it with the world so that people will hopefully come join in their fight.  The man who led us through these eviction shack settlements believed that as American students we had the power to bring about great change, and he also acknowleged that there were impoverished, and other suffering people in America as well.  His point of view, was that we have a responsibility to help those Americans, and the suffering in South Africa simultaneously, not by sacrificing one for the other.  I've heard the argument several times that people need to start taking care of our country first before we can move on to others in the world, and to an extent I've began to agree with this way of thinking.  But something this man said truly struck me; he said that if we make our struggle, their struggle, there won't be a need to help one group of people before another, but instead help each other together.  

In other words, if we make the struggle of the suffering in America, also the struggle of the suffering here in South Africa (of which I've learned there are a great many), the struggle of the suffering in Darfur, the struggle of the suffering in Iraq, etc...then we'll be a stronger people where no one will have to be ignored.  This is an inspiring mode of thought that brings wonderful dreams of possibilities to the imagination-now the next step is to find out whether or not it is possible in reality where there are much more complicated issues that seem to prevail time and time again.  

At the Institute for the Healing of Memories which I visited today, I learned that there are ways to heal the pains of the past through realizing that there are those who care, and realizing that a smile can bring more to a person than what we can imagine.  Since I'm an internet cafe in Cape Town right now which has a stronger connection, I'm able to upload more pictures of my rural home stay famile-you know, the one with the 14 kids :)  They bring a smile to my face, and I don't want to depress you guys too much.  So I'm keeping my promise that I would share more pictures of the kids with all of you.  Enjoy! 

P.S. And yes I realize that the pictures are above this entry, so I'm sorry if this sounds anti-climactic, but I can't figure out how to put them below the text.  I guess I should have written my entry before uploading the pictures.  Just look at the pictures again after reading this and then my writing will make more sense :)

Another Chapter

Good day to all of you!  I feel like its been forever since I updated last; sorry about that, I haven't had internet access in so long and I've been running around like crazy doing about 1 million different things!  

Anyway, just to update you all on the things that have happened so far, as of right now I'm in Cape Town and starting a new chapter on my expedition.  Cape Town is the city in South Africa that is shown to all the tourists and dreamers who wish to travel.  I can't contest this completely as it is an absolutely beautiful place with some of the most gorgeous scenery that a person will ever see.  I can't believe that I have the opportunity to experience a place with this much incredible ambiance and some people never get to leave their hometown.  On the flip side however, this is only my 2nd day in Cape Town and already 3 homeless people, including 2 street children have come up to me begging for money or food.  Tomorrow we're going to be visiting the miles and miles of shack settlements (just like Kennedy Road which I talked about in a previous entry) that the government hides from all of the traveling foreigners.  Somehow I don't think it will be that much of an eye opening experience considering that I've seen hundreds of those all over South Africa already-a sad fact but unfortunately true.  

I also just finished a home stay with a bi-racial family whom I could relate to being bi-racial myself.  Although I was only there for 3 days I was able to make a strong connection with everyone I met.  The hardships they've experienced is beyond belief and I never thought I'd meet anybody who has been through something quite like what they went through.  My home stay mother's daughter was murdered less than a month ago by her boyfriend and the boyfriend hung himself in jail as he was stricken with guilt for his crimes.  The murdered daughter and the boyfriend left behind a 4 year old daughter who my home stay mother is now raising as her own.  She is also housing her 14 year old niece whose parents are both severe alcoholics.  I had an amazing older host brother named Gregory who I swear has to be one of the most gentle, compassionate, caring men I have ever met, and I feel for him so much at the loss of his sister in such a tragic way.  

On a more positive note yesterday we toured the prison on a place called Robben Island where Nelson Mandella was held and we got to see the cell he was kept in as well.  To give you an idea on the size of his cell, think of the size of your closet and cut it in half.  But the island is now a place of great scenic imagery which is a big change from the desolation that the people living there once experienced during the time of the prisons.  The prison Nelson Mandella was in is no longer a prison and is now a site for tourists who want to learn about the struggles of freedom fighters in South Africa during the apartheid era, and the other prisons on the island are being used for schools and community meeting places for the 350 people now inhabiting the island.  Change really is possible!  The people on the island are thriving and as I was there I couldn't help but think that I wanted to stay.  There were penguins on the island and I got to stand right next to them and take pictures!  I'll upload when I get the chance.  

Lastly, to let you guys know that I'm also doing fun things and not serious things, I went to South Africa's woodstock (kinda) called Splashy Fen!!  It was awesome, especially for a music freak like me :)  I met some really cool hippie people and even got to hang out with some of the bands!  Don't worry it was no one really famous or anything, just some people who want to spread some great music.  I've also decided what I'm going to do for my month long ISP; I'm going to be working with the Phoenix Restorative Justice Program-the same organization I met when I talked about the prison in an earlier entry.  I'm going to be working with an art therapy program that is being done with some of the prisoners at a maximum security prison called Empangeni.  I'm going to get a chance to interview prisoners on their experiences with violence prior to their incarceration and see how those experiences have affected them, and then I'm going to see how the art therapy program is helping them to express themselves thereby, also helping them to heal.  I'm excited, but nervous at the same time.  

I'll talk to you all again soon I promise!

Racism, Reconciliation, The Past, Forgiveness

"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."-Nelson Mandella

I took a picture of the large plaque over the pond at the Apartheid Museum with this quote etched into it, but unfortunately I haven't been able to upload it onto here due to reasons I've already mentioned in previous entries (stupid network :( ).  Last night I attended a panel discussion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal about racism in South Africa and across the globe.  It was an extremely intense discussion with very impassioned African students standing up and voicing their anger that Apartheid, although the legal system itself has been abolished, still reigns in the cultural constructs of the country.  I'm not sure if any of you heard about the incident that occurred here in South Africa recently at one of the universities where 2 white students harassed 2 black maids doing janitorial work in the dorm rooms, by making them drink urine, and hazing them in other horrifying ways.  The white students made a video of it at the end making the statement, "this is how we feel about black people."  The tape leaked out to the media somehow, and it has made international news creating a new uproar in the country.  

Something that one of the professors by the name of Mark Maharaj said last night during the panel discussion that has been turning around endlessly in my head since attending, was that the world has failed to address the issue of racism.  In other words, his point was that the world hasn't done its job to take care of its people in this manner.  But South Africa he mentioned, has the power to change all of that this day and age, because unlike the United States, in South Africa it is the majority who is discriminated against rather than the minority, thereby giving this country enormous amounts of power to eradicate the evils of racism.  Since the majority is oppressed they have a greater voice that can be heard across great distances if enough of them are given the opportunity to stand up.  The U.S. doesn't have this ability or this power on their side.  

Being a minority in the United States and even a minority here (as I'm half black half white-or "coloured" in South African terms-and most here are black), I've gained a perspective that I never intended on gaining prior to coming here.  I've realized how much race and racism is not talked about nearly enough in the United States, and few people truly know about how racism effects its victims in more than 1 in our country.  With Barack Obama's recent speech I feel this is as good a time as any to discuss this.  What I saw last night was inspirational in that it represented the true power of speech and speaking out about what one believes in.  America I feel appreciates silence too much on the important issues, and silence is what destroys and causes ignorance.  Additionally "we need to put our personal stories on the table" as that same professor also mentioned, so that people know what the oppressed is forced to experience day after day.  People aren't willing to speak enough in the States I feel, and this needs to change.  

This week I've been placed in the focused study of reconciliation, and one of the things we've talked about are the issues of forgiveness and healing the past.  Is it possible for blacks to forgive whites in South Africa for decades of oppression and sorrow during the Apartheid era?  Is it possible for a White family to forgive the Black perpetrators who murdered their daughter, who was a white American activist in South Africa during Apartheid standing up for the rights of Blacks, just as in the case of a young woman named Amy Biehl?  How can people heal after experiencing great oppression that has been so ingrained within the general society for years upon years?  Can we reconcile the past with the present, and forgive ourselves and others?  These are the questions that I've been grappling with for the past week, and after hearing Obama's speech, it's something that our nation must also begin to think about.  

The most important themes that I believe Obama portrayed in his speech were understanding, and hope.  He used the word "must" in saying that it is imperative that we come to an understanding of one another by realizing that people's anger about these sensitive issues is very real and legitimate.  I witnessed that anger last night at the racism forum-it was an anger that I've never seen directly in front of me before, and that I've never heard in the voices of so many.  Just as Obama said in his speech, these students who spoke last night, feel that the past still isn't the past.  We must move forward, and we must deal with these issues if the world and our nation is ever going to survive.  

Maharaj is right in saying that South Africa has something to teach the rest of the world through their unique circumstances, but Obama believes that America could have something to teach the rest of the world as well through our sense of hope, and through developing a desire to understand each other on a level deeper than what we see on the outside.  But in order to do this, we're going to have to deal with, and attempt to heal the past through integrating it into the present.  I ask you all, what does this mean, and is this possible?

Please if you get the chance read and/or watch Obama's speech.  I got a copy of it for the first time today during our reconciliation discussion, and I tell you that is nothing that I've ever heard before.  While reading tears were on the verge of reaching the surface of my eyes.  Everything that I've hoped for and everything that I wish to work for in America is specifically talked about in his speech, and I have to admit, I was skeptical as to whether or not someone was actually going to say something.  Now someone has, and I can't tell you how much hope it brings to me.  Obama could have easily been talking about South Africa in his speech as the situations are so alike with so many individuals deeply affected in both countries in very similar ways.  Is this the moment of change that we need?  If so, lets not let it slip away.  

Family Ties

 


These are some pictures of the children in my host family in the rural area!  I hope you enjoy them as I know that I do very much.  As I look at them I continue to think about the conditions of the rural schools and I wonder whether or not my little sisters and brothers will have the opportunity to reach their full potential.  I hope so, as the light and spark in each of their eyes is way to special to not be given that right.  

On the top is little 4 year old Senele-she's gonna be either a wrestler or a ballerina one day; 

The next picture below Senele is of (from left to right) Bongeka & Sbahle-I got really close to these 2; 

Unfortunately I'm having some trouble uploading anymore on the SIT network, but once I go to the internet cafe again I'll hopefully be able to upload more.  Sorry!

Hope you enjoyed!

I'M BACK!!!

Hey everyone!! Long time no see!! I am officially back from the rural area and our 3 days of post-rural activities, and I now have internet access again :) I can't even decide where to begin telling you about my experiences over the past 12 days, there's so much to say.

My rural homestay was a lot of different things all in one. I suppose the main questions you'll want to ask have to do with the living conditions I was in. To begin, the family I was living with did have electricity, but some of the other students' families actually didn't. My family had a tap outside in their yard where we had to get water as there was no running water inside the house. I slept in a hut that the children called a "roundy" haha, which was pretty sweet, except for the nightly cockroaches who would try to make friends with my homestay partner and I in the middle of the night. One night it downpoured and the hut started to leak-fun stuff. The most interesting part was the bathing situation. There were no tubs or showers, so we took basin baths that were about half the size of a kiddie pool. You should have seen my try to wash my hair, what an experience! And lastly was the bathroom; once again to running water or sanitation inside the home, so there was an outhouse that wasn't flushable that we had to walk out to in the middle of the night.

Totally different and more challenging way of living! I actually got sick for part of it and now many of the other students are getting sick as well, but we survived I think. While we were there we went on a lot of excursions to different parts of the rural area called Ohwehbede. We visited a traditional healer called a sangoma who spoke of attempting to connect with western doctors to try and combine information in order to come to an understanding about the idea of healing.

The one thing that is continuing to nag me is the conditions of the schools there. The primary school (in American terms that would be similar to an elementary school) didn't have running water, electricity, and 60% of the children are AIDS orphans or else abandoned. There are 4 teachers for 500 students, and no after school activities or funds leftover. The kids spend more time in breaks outside than in the classroom due to lack of teachers and resources, and because the area is so poor and so many families have so little money, there are 15 year olds who are still in the 5th grade or lower. This is also because after the 3rd grade classes begin being taught in English, although the students are hardly able to speak it, they speak Zulu. For some reason there is this idea in the government here about the superiority of Western European/English speakers-they don't feel that Zulu speakers have much worth. In the high schools there is a rate of no more than 5% for students going off to university, and there are many dropouts. Teen pregnancy and drug use is very high, and even if students do pass the 12th grade exam called the matric (which many of them don't pass as it is once again in English and for other reasons), they still won't be able to go off to college. Many kids give up even trying, and teachers can do very little as there are only 5 of them. The high schools also had no running water or electricity.

Part of the reason why the issue of the horrible school system of the rural area is still entering into my thoughts is because of the close connection I was able to create with the children of my homestay family. I stayed with a family of 14 children ages 3 months-16!!! These kids were absolutely phenomenal, I cannot even begin to describe how much they were able to give me. They had so many responsibilities that I never had when I was their age; the 4 year old did her own laundry (which had to be done with scrubbing in was basins by hand-no washers or dryers here) and was showing me how to do it as well! The 4, 6, and the 7 year old girl named Sbaihle who I became very close to, took care of the baby all by themselves when the mother wasn't around-she even carried the baby on her back! They did the dishes, gathered water, cooked, served us, and even rounded up the 74 cows and however many goats there were on the family farm!

Most of all what I loved was the way they played with one another. No one living here had any toys to play with like so many American children do from Toys R' Us. So, they had to improvise. They were incredibly creative; they would use plastic bottles for balls-I played a game with them where we kicked the plastic pop bottle around to one another and then threw it to each other in a football sort of way. Then other times they would take a sock and fill it with sand, tying it together with plastic bags and use that for a ball! I taught some of them handclap games from my childhood which they loved, and they used a huge rope they had in one of their huts for a jumprope!! Another great example of the resourcefulness these kids displayed as well as their use of nature for activities, was when the 5 year old girl Ndomisu (who I also became very close to) created play food out of dirt and styrofoam.

I cannot express enough how much I miss these kids and how sad I was to leave them on Monday morning. On Sunday the day before we left the rural area, some of the kids took me to the beach near the area right along the Indian ocean. Sbaihle found out that I was leaving the next day and asked me if I was going to come back. I almost started crying when I said no, and she had a saddened look on her face as well. I have to back one day. I'll give you a list of all of their names and ages in my next entry...:)

For one final thing as I know this entry is extremely long already, I want to talk a little bit about what I did on Monday. After we left the rural area we went to go visit a prison in a town called Eshowe. We only visited the women's section of the prison, and we got a chance to talk one on one with some of the prisoners about their lives in prison as well as prior to their incarceration. While I was there I learned that many of the women prisoners have experienced some form of heavy abuse as children from a male figure, and many of them have experienced other forms of domestic violence. Fraud and stabbings were 2 common reasons for incarceration amongst the prisoners there, and our main topic of discussion on that particular day was the idea of motherhood-as many of the prisoners have children of their own, 2 of the inmates have babies in prison with them.

This was an extremely emotional experience for the prisoners to open up to us, we had some intense discussions. After the prison we visited a small art exhibit displaying art created by the prisoners to express themselves. The organization we worked with was called Phoenix, and their whole model was the idea of restorative justice. Art therapy was a major part of their work. I also learned how awful the prison system is here in South Africa, as well as in America even. America imprisons more people than any other country in the world and South Africa is close behind at #3. The director of this organization was a passionate man with a great deal of heart, and his comment that prisons are not conducive at all for "curing" crime like so many nations seem to want to do, but even more than that, they are not in any way shape or form conducive for rehabilitation. He feels that the world would be much better off if there were no prisons at all.

Although during our discussion with him no one had any real solutions or answers as to what should be done with people who commit very serious crimes such as child killers or pedophiles, still we can no longer afford to keep treating prisoners like animals. Simply locking anyone who commits a crime up for 10 years or more isn't going to do any of us any good-especially when those who commit very serious crimes are rarely even convicted-most of them remain on the streets, at least in South Africa that's the case. This experience has made me look at things so much differently, and in fact I think it might have even changed me somewhat. We're all human no matter what circumstances we are under, and it's time that more people began to realize that.

That's all for now. I'll actually be working more with the prison starting Monday for the focus study I'm on dealing with issues of reconciliation. I'm so excited! Hope you guys enjoyed this LONG entry, and on my next as I said I will give you a list of all of the kids in my homestay family, as well as hopefully some pictures of them :)

Off To The Rural Area

Hey friends.  Thanks for all the birthday wishes I received-they were great!  Just quickly wanted to let you all know that I won't be able to update for about 10 or 11 days as I will be traveling to the rural area where there is no electricity or water readily available and basic things of that nature.  It'll be quite an experience, and I will be living with a family there for a short time.  So....

I will update as soon as I get back and I will tell you EVERYTHING!!  I'm so excited, but a little nervous.  

You'll hear from me in about 11 days!!

Funny Times :)

I've decided that my most recent posts have been quite emotional, although I have made an attempt to make sure that each of my entries has something happy at least at the end of it.  This post is strictly going to be about my weekend, and some of the funny things that I did with my family.  To start out, let me tell you about some of the things that I did that I never ever thought I would have had the chance to do in South Africa:

1)Watch "Anacondas 2" on Satellite TV with 4 little kids screaming, laughing, pretending to be snakes.

This might sound like something stupid that you guys may not really want to hear, but I decided I wanted to provide some laughter.  The fact that my host family has satellite TV is a sign that South Africa's economic conditions are improving slowly but surely-there is definitely an emerging Black middle class-even though some people might think TV is superficial and the scourge of many societies, this is honestly very much a positive thing for this country. 

2)Introducing my 5 year old host brother to "Lord of the Rings"-he LOVED it!

Once again, this was also on satellite TV

3)Talking to my host father about the concept of organic farming taking place in Minnesota, and bragging about how much I love the big MN

My host dad is one of the those people who wants to travel and see the world.  He's very much a part of the emerging Black middle class I was speaking of.  Him and I talked about how he wants to give his children the things that he didn't grow up with under apartheid.  Really cool guy

4)Seeing 3 Sangomas-traditional healers-performing a traditional dance and showing us how they heal

This actually didn't happen this weekend, but I think I forgot to mention it in my last entry.  They wear super cool long black and white beads in their hair and inhale a special kind of smoke that allows them to get in touch with their ancestors.  They used African style drums, small versions of tambourines attached to their ankles, and they did a great dance!

5)This is not an event that happened over the weekend, this is simply a random fact of the day:

Since tomorrow is my 21st birthday it seems fitting-Here in traditional Zulu culture on people's 21st birthday they slaughter a cow!!  And just to specify, not everyone does this, and I'm pretty sure it's only those of Zulu origin who keep in touch with traditional practices.  I don't eat cow, but I still think it's pretty interesting!

Hope this made you guys happy and made you chuckle a little!

Abhalali

The meaning of the title is the "shack dwellers movement."  I'm going to make this entry really short-for real this time.  I just wanted to say a quick few words about yesterday.  I got the opportunity to go to a place called Kennedy Road, a community of shacks where 7,000 people live under worse conditions than you can possibly imagine.  People die of disease, a baby was eaten to death by a rat a year ago there, there are 6 toilets for 7,000 people, and a major garbage dump full of feces and other refuse that the municipality in South Africa refuses to pick up.  

The government does not see these people as human beings, they don't care about the way these people live.  Seeing this place made me think about so many things.  When I asked what it was that we could do to help these people out, a comment was made that the best thing that we could do is spread knowledge that places like these do exist, and human beings live in them.  So I'm telling you about it now.  For those of you from ASAP and Amnesty International back at Gustavus who are reading this, now is the time for me to let you all know how important our work truly is.  It starts with compassion, knowledge, and then finally action.  I'm excited to come back next year and work with you guys again and I know you're doing amazing work while I'm away and I can't wait to hear about it.  Keep up the good work guys.  

To end this entry with a sense of hopefulness, after we toured the shack settlement, a group of singers who live in the community performed for us-they were songs of traditional South African origin, and they had a strong emotional and political message.  Hearing them almost brought tears to my eyes, knowing that this is how these people keep themselves together day after day under such deplorable conditions.  The power of music.  I'll leave you with a quote from the leader of "Abhalali" who we met last night:

"There can be no peace without justice, and no justice without peace.  Although South Africa has no war it is still not a peaceful country when human beings are living under conditions such as these."  This quote can be applied to the U.S. as well as many other places.  Bye for now.  

What A Weekend

Hey everyone.  This past weekend was absolutely insane, but as I'm sure you've all noticed, my blog entries have been fairly long, so I'm going to try and keep this one as short as possible.  Besides, I'm not quite sure how to describe everything that went on this weekend anyways.  First of all, on Friday we worked with a wonderful non-profit organization called the Cato Manor Youth Empowerment Project (Cato Manor is the name of the area that I'm currently living in).  These people do incredible things in bringing together South African youth who are experiencing difficulties in their lives.  You wouldn't believe some of the things that I saw and experienced.  

They took us around to the most impoverished area of Cato Manor; where many people have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and where people live literally in shacks made up of plastic garbage bags, and mud and rotten wood.  I wish the world you all could have seen it-no running water except for what's been provided by the government, very little electricity, a tiny gas stove hidden in the corner.  The particular home that I went into was the home of an elderly woman who was HIV positive, whose daughter died of AIDS back in July, and who was taking care of her 2 grandchildren- 1 of which also had HIV.  We helped her do her dishes and washed her clothes in buckets, and cleaned up her room, as she was often too sick to do these things herself.  

I can't begin to describe to you how grateful she was of all of us.  Her words, "the way you are, stay that way forever.  Bless you, bless you, bless you."  These words reverberated in my heart.  As we walked around the neighborhood we also saw children walking and running around without shoes on, walking through mud, and many of the children had large sores on their arms implying an advanced HIV infection.  We also got to go to an orphanage/day care and play with the children-how adorable they were.  A little girl named Lukala held my hand and wanted me to help her go down the slide as she was too shy to ask the other kids if she could have a turn.  I wish I had pictures but we're not allowed to take pictures of children without adult consent, and the parents obviously weren't around.  

I also had an experience that I'm not sure how to feel about.  There was a group of school children, who I'm not sure if they were orphans, street kids, or who exactly they were.  But as our group was having lunch we noticed that these kids were begging for food.  So we decided to give our leftovers to them.  At first I thought we were doing a good thing, but then as we were giving out our food, the children started fighting over the boxes of food and drinks.  These kids were obviously undernourished and maybe even possibly struggling to survive.  It was just another one of those moments where you begin to question human nature and the world around you.  Tears nearly came to my eyes when I saw what the aftermath of our actions was becoming.  Even though every child got something, they still were fighting over more.  We then talked to some youth in the area about issues such as drug abuse, child abuse and AIDS as many of them are faced with these things in their everyday lives within their environments-another very eye opening experience.  

After this experience on Friday, Saturday made me realize that despite all of the pain and strife in the world, there is another side to it all.  There is a glimmer of hope that I feel has the power to make people realize how small we all are-the beauty of South African nature.  We went on a very long hike in an area called Mzamba on the south coast of the country.  We walked along the most beautiful beach that you have ever seen-not a superficial tourist beach either, but a real South African beach with the ocean water as blue as the sky above us.  The beach reminded me of the beach I saw on the Gulf of Mexico when I was little.  Then we went inland and walked along the path where a portion of "Blood Diamond" was filmed!  One of our tour guides actually was in the movie and played one of the evil army lords with the AK47s.  He said the Leonardo DiCaprio was a good guy and a real gentlemen-it was pretty sweet.  We hiked up this huge mountain/hill, and you wouldn't believe the scene that I saw.  I turned to one of the students on the group and said that people go through their whole lives and never see anything like this.

I took several pictures this weekend, but as I said in one of my previous entries I'm having trouble uploading them and plus I haven't put all of them on my computer yet.  I'm going to try as hard as I can to put those on here but unfortunately I can't make any promises.  So much for my trying to make this short haha.  I still haven't reflected on this weekend enough to understand it all myself.  So I'm sure this is enough for all of you to take in for now.  

Oh, I almost forgot another experience that I had I'd like to share you all-this will be short I promise;

On Friday when we were standing outside waiting to be picked up from the Cato Manor Youth Empowerment facility, there was a group of street children playing outside who just became absolutely fascinated by us.  We watched them play for awhile and interacted with them for a bit.  Then when we got in our van they asked us if we had any plastic bottles that they could have to play with, as they have no toys of their own.  Me and a couple of others gave them our bottles and you should have seen how excited they were.  As our van drove away they all started chasing it and waving to us.  I thought I'd end the entry on an endearing note.  

LOTS OF STUFF!!

Sanibonani once again!

I just finished the first weekend with my homestay family and they are so incredibly amazing!  I have a 5 year old little brother, a 10 year old little brother, and a 15 year old sister.  The words for brother and sister in Zulu are bhuti and sisi :)  The community we're living in is so communal, just the opposite of America.  Everyone lives right next to each other and the people walk through each other's yards, all the children know each other, and the dogs are free to roam around wherever they want.  I got a chance to play with a bunch of the little kids yesterday afternoon and on Saturday; they taught us how to play games, and we talked to them about America!  My little 5 year old brother is ADORABLE!  He always wants to hold my hand and wakes me up in the morning, and hates when I'm in my room doing reading for my seminars because he wants to play with me.  When I showed him the book I brought about Minneapolis he said he wanted to come back to America to visit me, and then when he gets a car he's going to drive to my house :)

Still however, I can't help but notice the fact that race is still what determines where you are in South African society.  There have been a few negative experiences in the neighborhood we're living in.  One of the girls in my program who is living next door to me has a little sister who is 7.  She mentioned that when she was walking down the road with the little girl a man turned and laughed at them, noticing the fact that there's a white young woman walking with a black little girl.  And then people always ask you what race you are if they can't tell, and when you let them know, they tell you to stay away from people of this race, or of that race.  It's quite sad.  

Also, being here has made me realize what an influence America has on the rest of the world.  Even all the way here in South Africa.  South Africa's economy is much greater than the rest of the continent and it has the possiblity of being able to lift the rest of Africa out of poverty (all though that obviously hasn't happened and I'll talk about that later when I learn more about it).  But unfortunately, it seems like all of the crappy parts of American culture is what's been globalized.  MTV is huge here amongst the neighborhood that I'm living in, and all that's played is Britney Speers and Fergie.  A little girl I saw was wearing her shirt half way up and was strutting around like Britney and I swear I wanted to cry.  

Additionally, what's been globalized as far as the economic condition of South Africa has been mechanized aspects of America.  Meaning the use of machines in agriculture, information and so forth.  This may sound great but for this country it's the opposite-this is adding to the severe unemployment crisis that is occurring in South Africa, which is also adding to the country's insane crime wave.  

Many of the children in the neighborhood, especially the boys, play quite violently.  They use toy guns that look INCREDIBLY real, and have games where you pretend to shoot one another.  I'm not sure if that's a product of all of the violent crime in the country, or of the media they're getting from America, or a combination of both.  Child abuse and corporal punishment against children is also widely accepted and often used by parents.  I walked to the store with my host sister and she told me that almost every single one of the homes have been broken into, and that a girl was raped and stabbed there last year.  It's something I need to study more.  

And then on Friday we took a walk around Durban with this AMAZING tour guide who was trying to show us the beauty of the world around us, and that although South Africa has a great deal of crime, the areas that are labeled as "dangerous" really aren't what they seem.  For example, we went to one of the areas that is considered the most dangerous part of Durban and we passed by some grafiti art that was spray painted on the brick wall.  He turned to us and asked us what we say in it; "grafiti," one of the students replied.  And he came back with, "you're looking, you're not seeing."  He showed us that the graphiti was trying to express something to the people who walked by it, that it meant more than simply "danger," and "fear." He showed us how beautiful it really was, and made us realize that we have to understand our surroundings and that we cannot allow ourselves to be indoctrinated in the culture of fear that people the powers that be try to present to us.  

Our tour started out in the mall, a very American mall I might add.  The mall where all of the wealthy whites shop and some of the middle class Blacks like my family, and middle class Indians.  He showed us how superficial these types of establishments are, and the contradictions between a rich looking place where people can buy worthless material goods, and the extreme poverty that exists in the country-another parallel to America.  I saw an add for Prada in the mall that said, "beauty comes from within...unless you're wearing Prada."  Another crappy aspect of American culture!  He showed us how dehumanizing society is to SO many people, and how we always have to label and categorize one another in an effort to understand them.  This made me want to cry, although it was everything I already knew.  It just made me so sorry to know that it is even more true in another country than it is in America.  America as we all know is very dehumanizing as well.  

We passed by the barbed wire fencing and the alarms installed everywhere-the things that are supposed to protect us from the supposed criminals.  We walked passed a homeless man on the street and waved to him and he smiled back at us.  Once again, a lot of parallels between South Africa and America.  I'm thinking about doing a program here where I go to a prison and talk with criminals-it's a non-profit that tries to bring together criminals with victims so that closure and understanding can be brought.  South Africa has a 43% unemployment rate and a great deal of crime that comes along with it.  But I've learned that we have to understand each other.  And although I'm not sure if I agree with everything the tour guide said, I learned so much that I wouldn't have if I had not come on this trip.  He made me think about the world around us.  

I think this is enough for you all to absorb right now.  I'm going to try to upload some more pictures when I get the chance, loading pictures is really hard on this network so I have trouble doing it.  But I will update again very soon.  This is my favorite blog entry so far!  Love you all, and you will hear from me again very soon!

Hilarious & Wonderful!

Hey everyone.  I feel like in my last few entries I was pretty negative.  I failed to share some of the positives of different cultures here in South Africa.  I move in with my first home stay family tomorrow!  I'm so nervous, but I'm excited at the same time.  South Africa has 11 different national languages, and today during my Zulu language seminar we also learned about traditional Zulu culture as our families are Zulu.  There are some wonderful things about this culture that I learned today.  Some things that even, despite international perception, lead me to believe that Zulu women here actually have it better than women in America.  

It is quite common for men to yell out comments to a woman, that American men say in a very sexual way and is honestly quite disgusting.  Here in South Africa, although rape is very high just as it is in America, the men typically mean nothing sexual or dirty by the comments. Zulu men are taught to respect and appreciate a woman's beauty and to let her know so.  Additionally, South Africa is not NEARLY as obsessed with the female body as America is.  It's quite common to see postcards here of bare breasted women and men don't drool over it...it's perfectly normal to see things like that here.  

Things here are also quite communal here as opposed to being so individual and self-centered in America.  This brings a smile to my face, but also gets a little uncomfortable for me as I've been indoctrinated to the American idea of having that "personal bubble."  It's perfectly normal here for complete strangers to get right into your face and begin talking to you, and you're rude if you give the typical American response of backing away.  

When someone dies in the family, family members and friends move on much more quickly, because the entire neighborhood is there to support the person.  There is no concept of therapy or counseling, which is hard for me to believe as I am a psychology major, to help people move on from trauma, because the Zulu culture is so communal and helpful to each other.  Oh America and our individualistic ideals...how sad you make me.  

Just as a few other tidbits that I learned today, no hats can be worn inside houses, you NEVER address adults by their first names-only as mama and baba, eye contact when talking to someone is actually considered disrespectful-the exact opposite of America!!  AMAZING!!  I am loving learning this stuff right now!  Cousins are actually considered your brothers and sisters, family is SO important here...another thing that America lacks.  

That's it for now!  Update again when I can, and wish me luck for my 1 month home stay tomorrow (so scared!!!).  I have a 14, 10, and 5 year old host sisters and brother which I'm so excited for!  And I have both parents, which many of the other students only have a mom.  Interesting.  

Crazy Stuff

Today when we drove through the rural area of KwaZulu Natal, we saw miles of rundown shacks where people live.  We were able to make one woman happy however by buying some beautiful woven baskets from her.  This was a woman living in poverty whose only way of making a living was through selling these baskets.  She told us this was the best she had ever had.  Wow.  That's about all that I have for now.  I will update more soon after I have more of a chance to take longer on the internet.  I'm coming up to my 1^st home stay now (a tish bit nervous for that) and I'm not sure how often I will have access.  But everyone let me know how you're doing and I miss each and every one of you!!  Enjoy the pictures.  Oh and as an update on whether or not I will be going to Uganda and Rwanda this summer after I get back home from this trip, that is all dependent on the scholarships that I can get which won't be reviewed until sometime after March 15^th.  So I will let everyone know whether or not you should continue to keep up with my blog after the semester as soon as I know.  Enjoy my pictures-sorry some of them are a bit graphic.   

Oh The World

Some rough things are going on here too.  Crime is unbelievably rampant-we can't wear 
purses or carry around backpacks in the city we're staying in.  HIV/AIDS testing clinics 
are everywhere, even on the streets around the markets.  And a new thing that I'm really 
upset about actually, is the race issue.  Apartheid ended barely 10 years ago, and race 
is the biggest thing here.  People aren't all that friendly in the city and everyone is 
angry at each other.  It doesn't matter what country you're from, it's all about the 
shade of your skin that often determines how you're treated.  So sad and makes me so 
unhappy.  The midwest is kind of a bubble in that sense.  Race doesn't seem to be as big 
of a deal where we come from.  Unemployment rate is remarkably high, which is what leads 
to much of the crime.  In many other developing countries people starve to death, here in 
South Africa (although South Africa is in many ways developed, it's still extremely poor) 
people take what they need without caring about who they're taking things from.  We have 
to be extremely careful around here.

We saw the Apartheid Museum-just like another Holocaust museum basically.  It's so 
unbelivable that no one knows about Apartheid back in America, and how it destroyed so 
much of this country-people starved, lived in extreme poverty, gangs developed in the 
rural areas, children killed...while in the developed city in Johannesburg, whites lived 
lives of luxury.  We toured Soweto where there was a huge student protest where the South 
Africans protested the Afrikaans language being taught to them by force by the white 
government.  We saw bullet holes in the church in Soweto as well where white police used 
to wait outside We visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum in Soweto, Hector 
Pieterson was a 13 year old boy who didn't even take full part in the protest, and was 
basically just a passerby, who was shot and killed by white police.  There's a pretty 
graphic picture that I took with a man holding Hector's dead body and Hector's sister 
running alongside.

There are SO many parallels between South Africa and the U.S. with what happened in the 
South during the 60s, which is actually becoming something very useful for me to realize 
as it will hopefully help me to figure out ways on how to improve the United States.  I 
didn't think that I would be stretching many boundaries being in South Africa which is 
why I was so upset when the other program filled, but I was wrong.  I'm hoping that this 
program will be even better because we're learning more about peace and conflict which 
wouldn't be the case on the Uganda program.

On the upside however South Africa really is a beautiful country.  And in Soweto people were extremely friendly, and it's the same in the rural areas as far as I can tell.  On our tour through Durban yesterday we came across 2 sand artists on the beach, which is there only source of income.  It was incredible!  So much talent and beauty in what they do.  "Art is our life," he said.  He also mentioned how tourists from Europe and the U.S. are the ones who leave them coins because the South Africans either don't have the money, or else they're just used to unemployment and people doing things like this for money.  We drove through KwaZulu Natal and saw a woman who was weaving baskets; an extremely poor woman whose only source of income was the baskets she sold.  You should have seen the happiness and joy on her face when our group bought a bunch of baskets from her.  She said that was the best day she had ever had.  We even got to watch her weave them.  I'll update more soon.  I miss everyone.

SANIBONANI!!

That means "hi" in Zulu just so that you know what I'm saying.  I'm sorry this is the first time I've updated, I haven't had internet access for a really long time.  But you wouldn't believe all of the amazing things that I've seen already.  A few days ago we took a tour of the apartheid museum and the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum.  Hector Pieterson was a young 13 year old South African boy who was shot and killed by police during the 1976 Soweto protests here in S.A. when black students were forced by the white government to learn the language of Afrikaans.  Afrikaans was used by the whites to control the blacks under the evil Apartheid system. 

Seeing these 2 exhibits makes me understand once again why the work of social justice and human rights is so important, as sometimes it's hard for people to see when change seems so slow and there are so many problems in the world to work on.  When we toured Soweto (the town where the young students protested) we saw so much life in the city.  Change is possible!!  A city where people could barely walk down the streets for 30 minutes without hearing a gunshot, is now becoming more and more peaceful as the South African government has acknowledged what Apartheid did to so many people of the country.  We toured Nelson Mandella's old home which is in Soweto, and saw where Desmond Tutu lives as well.  However there is still much work left to be done here; South Africa is still rampant with crime and poverty, despite how developed the country is as a whole.