Being at Home.

I am back in the U.S. and I am still thinking about my experiences. It is hard to think of one comprehensive idea about the trip. There were so many layers of issues that the people face. I hope that I can think of a way to help the people in these townships in some way. For now, I will just keep telling their stories to others. I am amazed of how little people know about what is going on in South Africa. Moreover, I cannot believe how many people do not know about Apartheid (especially because they know so much about us!) I am glad that this trip has allowed me to inform others and I hope that they tell others as well. People cannot do anything about anything without knowing something… I hope that I can at least volunteer at Open Arms and encourage my friends to do so as well.

I would just like to say thank you to Aaron for making this trip happen. Also, thank you Christen and everyone who went on the trip. You all made it a great and meaningful experience for me!

Capetown

The last week in Capetown was slightly awkward. The drive back to our house from the township was less than twenty minutes. It was difficult to be comfortable in a fully functioning city when there was a township with thousands of people with barely anything. One day we went to the mall near campus. I love to shop and so I thought I would really enjoy this. I was disappointed when most of the stores were high end stores. The mall had more expensive stores than the mall I shop at in LaCrosse, WI. I could not believe that a mall like this could be so close to a township and that the people living in this part out town could afford stuff like this. This just shows how much Apartheid separated everyone. It reminds me what NJ said on the first day that we were here, “just remember, you are in a 3^rd world country with aspects of a 1^st world country.”

A few thoughts about Gugulethu

This trip has made me realize how much I judge people from first impressions. A clear example of this was the bus driver. My first impression was that he probably did not live in the township. He looked very well put together. He wore nice clothes including a leather jacket. Moreover, he had qualities that were very similar to a bus driver in the states. He was nice enough to show us his shack. It was a nicer shack, but it was still a shack. His wife was at home with their son when we got there. There was a soap opera on the television. This reminded me of being at home during the summer time with my mom. Unfortunately, the boy did not have anywhere to play. It was very clean and tidy in the shack. They seemed very proud of the little bit that they had.

During our visit in Guguletu, we went to a few schools. First, we went to Stormont Primary School. This school was built by the community members because they felt that the public schools were overcrowded. The public schools used to have 60 kids per a teacher. It was not very clear how the teachers are paid and who holds them accountable. There are fees that students pay to go to this school (and all other schools here). A community member, Johanna, said that sometimes teachers don’t show up for weeks at a time. This isn’t hard to believe since the teachers are living in the children. They have to worry about their own children, food, the rain, sickness, and much more.

We went to Stormont Primary School to help clean up the classrooms. The classrooms were in shipping containers. They were dirty and visually unappealing. When I was little, I remember thinking school was really boring. Some days, I really did not feel like going. For the children in the townships, they must not want to go at all. There was not a lunch room or a playground. The classrooms were in a square. The children played soccer in middle of the square. For a soccer ball, they used a condom filled with plastic bags. Ben bought them all a new soccer ball. They seemed to be very happy about this.

A few days of the week, we went to the Rainbow after-school program that was put on by the church. We helped the children with their homework. This reminded a lot of tutoring at Y-Tutors in Northeast Minneapolis. It was the same kind of program. The kids in this program were a lot more polite and thankful than any experience I had tutoring in Minneapolis. A seven-year-old boy spent a whole hour reading to me. When he was done, he said, “thanks for listening to me read,” with a huge smile on his face. The kids shared the books with each other and helped each other out. Their willingness to learn was incredible. I hope the best for them despite all the obstacles that they will have to face throughout their lives. We talked to a few of the kids, and they all have big dreams, just like American children do. They want to be doctors, lawyers, etc…

In our last meal, I started to get really sad that we were leaving. I knew that I would think back and wonder what was going on in Guguletu and I would have no idea. I enjoyed my stay there and I knew I would miss the people. I never felt so welcome in a stranger’s home before. I hope that someday I will come back and give something to this community.

Numbers.

The first day in Guguletu, we tried to get to know the area better. First we went to Khayelitsha, another township. The township was very intimidating. Most of the people there live in shacks. I am honestly surprised that the people are still alive here, considering the living conditions. Most shacks are made of whatever material can be found. They have metal roofs. They use tires or whatever they can find to hold the roof down. Some have electricity. There is usually just a cord hanging along the wall or ceiling to connect the electricity to something. There is no billing of electricity. The people have to go to a store to buy the electricity beforehand. Many people run out of electricity randomly. This happened a few times while we were there, but it didn’t seem to phase anyone. They use electric burners to cook food. They hang their clothes up to dry. When it rains, water often gets into these shacks, through leaks in the roof or water through the door. They use paraffin heaters for warmth. There are port-a-potties that people share for bathrooms. They get water from a tap that they share with other people.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in a shack. I cannot imagine getting an “at home” feeling from a shack. They must get that, because that is what they come home to everyday. When I was little I used to play the game “MASH.” The object of the game is to see what your life will be like. One part is for your home. “M” was for mansion, “A” for attic, “H” for house, and “S” for shack. I knew what a shack was, and that I did not want to have that. On the contrary, I had no idea that so many people live in shacks and when I say so many people, I mean it! There are numbers of shacks. My eyes could not see any farther. There are shacks built on top of shacks. I am still boggled by the numbers. How can so many people live in those conditions? I realize they don't have a lot of choice in the matter. It is all that they know, because this is what they grew up with. Moreover, houses for all is not realistic unless there are major changes made. One person said that the amount of space a house takes up equals 12 shacks. A few houses we stayed at had shacks literally in the backyard. I don't know how I would feel about that.

That morning.

In the morning, Sinayzo, the granddaughter of Tobekah woke me up. A few minutes after this, she would bring in a pot full of hot water and she poured it into the bathtub. When I went into the bathroom the first morning, I could not even see the water in the bathtub because it was so shallow. I thought that maybe she had just poured the water down the drain. I wasn't sure what to do to wash myself. I figured out that there was indeed water in the bathtub. I leaned over the tub and got my hair wet. I didn't have much time, so I just left it at that. For the rest of the week, I tried to do similar things, but I never got as clean as I wanted to. The water seemed to be less and less everyday. Later in the week, I wanted a shower so bad. I can't imagine what it must be like to not have running hot water. On the other hand, they probably do not crave a shower like I did, because they don't know what a shower would be like.

Most of the mornings Tobekah already left for work by the time I woke up. Most of the people in the township have a long commute to work, most taking many forms a transportation. Tobekah always told me what there was for breakfast and mentioned many times that I needed to eat breakfast. One morning, she had taken off of work. She took off of work so that she could go to the factory to get a winter jacket. She said that the factory had clothes that were cheaper than the store. I think it is similar to what we call an outlet store. She said she couldn't go during the weekend because she is busy. I asked her what she is busy with and she said funerals. This was heartbreaking. She probably cannot really afford to take a day off of work. But she needs a winter jacket. She has to take off work during the week, to buy a cheaper jacket because there are too many funerals on the weekends? It seems like a vicious cycle. These vicious cycles seem to be common in the townships.

The picture is of my host mom, Tobekah, Sinayzo, and Liso (the little one). I will post more about them later :)

That night.

Next we went to our host families homes. My host mom’s name was Tobekah, also known as Toto. She was older and smaller than a lot of the other host moms. The house looked relatively nice. It was old and had decorations similar to older homes in America. My room had a king size bed in it and the bathroom attached to it. Toto showed me all the vegetarian “meat” that she had in her freezer.

Christen and her host mom came over and we had dinner together. Toto made me “vegetarian” meat. I am always nervous when people do this, because I feel like I have to like the “vegetarian” dish. To my surprise, based on the looks of this dish, I did like it. We watched T.V. while we ate dinner and talked a bit. Christen and her host mom left and soon after, I went to bed.

My room was connected to a bathroom. I asked if they would have to go through my room to go to the bathroom. They said they could just go outside. I didn’t really know what that meant, except I did not need to worry about it. My bed was a king size. There was an extra comforter folded at the foot of the bed. This oddly made me feel better. When I was little, I kept my bed made and I used random blanket to cover up with, so I did that there too.

I went to brush my teeth and noticed that the toilet didn’t work. There wasn’t any soap in the bathroom either. Also, the space connecting the bathroom and the room did not seem very secure. There was a tin roof that was similar to the roofs of the shacks. This scared me quite a bit. I felt that someone could easily break into the house in this part. There was a bowl in the corner of this area was well. I later found out that this is to catch the water from the leak in the roof (the water dripping is also really loud and made it very difficult to sleep at night). I wrote in my journal that night. I wish I could have had someone to talk to about my experience. The lamp that lighted the room randomly turned off before I was ready to go to bed. I had a moment of panic. I had to feel for the light switch on the wall and everything was black. I finally found the light switch on the dirty wall. I realized that the extension cord for the lamp was not very good quality and the connection between the lamp cord and the extension cord was fragile. After this, it was really hard to fall asleep. I had to keep telling myself that I was just camping. I was very cold. My host mom put a space heater in my room, but I felt bad using it. I had no idea what the morning would be like and I was very nervous about any kind of bugs or rodents in the house. I was assured that nothing would get in my suitcase, because I zipped up my suitcase and backpack-something that my dad always told me to do, even when staying in nice places.

This first night was very intimidating. Later, I relaxed about all these things and knew that I was safer than I thought. I did not see any bugs in the house throughout the week. Although I did see a mouse and my host mom just laughed when she saw it. They are most likely used to mice. Thankfully, I had mice in my last apartment and so I was somewhat okay with it.

First Impressions..

Sunday was our first day in the township. We started the day by attending church. We drove into the township and it was heart wrenching. For the most part, I had no idea what to expect. I tried to expect the worst, so I wouldn't be too surprised. We only saw a small part of the township in our drive to the church. There were paved roads and houses on the drive. Later, I found out that most of the township consisted of shacks. Although the paved roads and houses were more than I expected, I was still taken back by the conditions of this area. There was garbage everywhere. The houses were dirty and small. There were little kids walking around by themselves. I was relieved and distraught at the same time.

We walked into the church. It was a nice building but cold. I soon noticed that the building was designed to be outside when walking room to room. We put our luggage in an office and joined the church activities. I wasn’t sure if it would be okay if we kept our coats on. Then I noticed everyone had their coats on as well. They were wearing big winter jackets. The church service started with a song. The choir and everyone else sang. A few people handed us hymnals. The singing was amazing. The choir leader had a small pillow that she held in one hand and hit with another hand to add to the beat of the songs. The church service proceeded on with prayers and a sermon. We frequently stood up for songs. The reverend would ask members of the church to volunteer to read the reading of the day-something that would never happen in the church that I went to growing up. There was no bulletin and the church service flowed into whatever happened. Later we were told that some services go on a lot later or shorter, depending upon whatever “happens.”

After the church service, we met our host moms. The first thing my host mom told me is that she was vegetarian too. She told me she is vegetarian because she wants to take care of herself and that every time she goes to the doctor, they say she is healthy. I was really nervous that I would be staying by myself in the township. The fact that she was vegetarian did not relieve any of my anxieties and I was still really nervous about this. She asked me what I wanted for breakfast the next day and insisted that I was not shy about it.

All of the host moms and students sat down. Everyone introduced themselves. They noticed that David, the teacher’s assistant, was there for the second time. They were all happy to see him again. This was comforting. It was great to see how much they appreciate us there, and especially David coming for the second time.

We were told that many people did not attend church that day because of the rain. I did not exactly know what they meant, but I assumed that they did not want to walk in the rain. Then I found out that the rain is a problem for people living in the shacks. Their shacks get flooded. Some families have to stay up all night to make sure that their stuff doesn’t get ruined by the rain. This is very contradicting for me. A family committed to worship God cannot go to church because of the rain. I believe in God and yet there were many times that I did not want to go to church because of other reasons. There were times growing up that I stayed up late doing fun things like going to movies, bowling, or just spending time with friends and family. Moreover, there were other times I just wanted to sleep in or I was simply too lazy to go. My religion might not be as important to some people in this township or maybe more important, but I couldn’t imagine having the opportunity of going to church taken away from me by trying to save the little bit that I had.

Next, we went home to the host families houses.

More coming soon..

Safari..

Today we went to the Safari. It was great! It was what anyone would typically think of a safari except it was VERY cold! It was easy to get my mind off of this because of the scenery. I didn't see any elephants, apparently there are not any on the Cape. We saw ostriches, springbok, rhinos, cheetahs, lions, wildebeest, zebras, and giraffes. Seeing these animals was extraordinary. They almost seemed fake. On the contrary, it was so real because they were in their natural habit. We got to experience them reacting to nature. Additionally, we got to see them react to what we were doing. The giraffes did not seem to have any reaction to us. We even got out of the vehicle to go look at the giraffes. For the lions, we had to stay 50 meters away. They didn't react to us at all. We waited until they looked our way.

In middle of the safari, we stopped to eat lunch. Lunch was served in a small building. The building was decorated very much like my grandparents log home. There were colorful blankets, fur skins, and a fireplace. We had pea and mint soup and then a buffet style meal. It was good!

Tomorrow we are going to go to the townships until Friday. I will not be able to post anything until then!

Today we had a discussion about our experience so far. We talked about the history lesson that we had a couple days ago. We learned a lot about the Apartheid, as I have already mentioned. A lot of us were surprised that the initial intentions were justified. There was a moral reason why there was a seperation between classes. The whites thought that the lower class would want to go back to the way they lived. Ben, another student, mentioned that this was especially interesting because this way of living is unacceptable now, just fifty years later. Moreover, I find WWII to have an interesting spin on the situation. When many people went to fight for the war, the lower class filled the working positions of these people. When the war was over, it was apparent they wanted to push the lower class out of these positions. They basically used the lower class only when they needed them. I guess the communication between the classes, the leadership, and who is in control has a lot to do with this.

Presently, the South African government is trying to do a lot to fight its social problems. For instance, HIV/AIDs is a huge problem here. To encourage the citizens to stay healthy, they have free memberships to gyms. Moreover, everyone gets a discount on fruits and vegetables. We talked about how America has not even done this yet. It seems interesting that a third world contry can make better advances before the United States. I think this portrays that countries and people in general should share ideas and work with each other. Many people work towards are working towards common goals but do not collaborate. By no way am I saying that everything needs to be unified, but we need to remember to be open minded and that we can look everywhere for new ideas, even third world countries.

We also talked about the townships we will be going to next week. Christen mentioned that the community center just took a group of thirteen to fourteen year olds to the ocean. They have never been there before, yet it is a ten minute drive. This amazes me. There is all this beauty in this country that we have been experiencing, yet the townships don't see any of it. That is very unfortunate. There is such a divide between the townships and the cities. If I were to leave today, I would have thought that South Africa is much like Maryland or Miami. Yes, there are beggers and it is scary to walk outside at night. This is similar to any other big city. Much beyond that, there are no traces of a 3rd world country in the city. This is a true example of how sheltered tourists are. I never thought about this when I have gone anywhere else. As a tourist, I only see what the city wants me to see, the good side. I have always thought this to be accurate. Now, I might evaluate this a little more. I might not always be getting the fully story of the place.

After our discussion, we were supposed to go to Robbin Island. They canceled because of the rain. Tomorrow we are going on a Safari, I am excited to see the elephants!!!

Tourists..

After a night of getting only a few hours of sleep, we left for a tour around the Cape. We were in a coach bus with a tour guide giving us information about the area. We got off the bus at certain stops. First, we went to a glass bottom boat tour. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard. Most of us tried to squeeze in the boat. We couldn't really see much and we were losing our balance from the rockiness of the boat. When we got close to an island of Seals, we went outside. It stopped raining and the view was amazing. I got some pictures.



Next we drove through the mountains to get to our next stop. We passed areas of houses that seemed to be fully functioning. Most of these houses had gates on the outside of them. I wonder if this is necessary. Some gates and fences even have spikes on them. I wonder if this became a social norm during the Apartheid, or maybe this security is needed. The windows have bars in front of them as well. I wonder if this does stop a lot of people from committing crimes. I can't help but compare this to America. Many suburb neighborhoods take pride in their lawns and the appearance of their house. Here, all you see is a gate. The for sale signs are on the gate for houses on the market. This has to make looking for a house much more difficult. You would not be able to just drive around and scope out the houses. Additionally, many of us do not have gates or spikes outside of our house. The most we do is put a sign up saying that the house has an alarm system. This is the most we have to do to be protected from crime, or the most we have to do to feel protected from crime.

Right next to one neighborhood, there was a township. This township looked like little boxes with metal roofs. It looked overcrowded and unbearable. I was amazed to see this right next to a neighborhood of houses with sturdy foundation.

In less than week, we will be living in these townships. I wonder what the people of South Africa not living in the townships think about us doing this. I talked to Christen about this at dinner. She explained how intimidating it is to drive into a township. I never really thought about this. A lot of people might not know the best way to go into a township. This would come down to a communication problem. It is just crazy to me that the townships are so secluded from the cities, even they are so close to each other physically.

The rest of the day, we went to a national park and garden. We saw an ostrich and penguins! After we took a trail up to a lighthouse, I saw a sign that had a cobra on it with a poison sign. I am really glad I didn't see a snake! The view from the lighthouse was incredible.

So I have been here for a couple days now. I am not quite sure exactly how I feel about everything. So far, I am very impressed by the cohesiveness of our group. We have been comfortable with each other from the beginning (at least from my viewpoint). It didn't take long to "break the ice." Moreover, we just automatically reflect on EVERYTHING we do. I think this is something that the leadership minor has taught us. Everyone of us analyzes everything we do and everyone. This is a great life skill to have. I am glad I am able to do this with other students, especially on a trip like this.

Yesterday, we went to the waterfront. This is a nice part of town. It was really interesting to see a mall by the ocean. The ocean was beautiful and we got to watch the sunset. We went on a boat ride. It was a pirate ship. The "pirates" did a little play during the boat ride. Afterwards, we told Christen about this. She said that she saw some performers and compared to performers at Epcot in Disney World. I liked that she brought this up. I felt the same way when I was on the boat, it felt like I was in Disney. The performers she saw are obviously from Africa, so it is different from Epcot, but it still performed for tourists. It boggles my mind. I am in Africa, with performers for tourists that are from Africa. This is different from Epcot, but almost the same thing in this nice part of town.

I enjoyed going to waterfront, it was similar to what I would do on a vacation with my parents. On the other hand, I was not expecting any of this trip to be like that. We were told by the students from last year, that this trip was going to be really emotional, that after we see the living conditions of the people that live here, we will change. Since we have been told this, we know that at some point, we are going to evaluate and compare the way we live at home. Because of these expectations, I think it was difficult for us to accept that it is ok for us to eat at a nice place and enjoy the waterfront area. I almost wish we were not told about the emotional impact of last year's trip. There is no way to prepare for it anyway, so it just leaves us all wondering what is about to come.

History Lesson..

Today we had a history lesson taught by a teacher from Capetown University. It was so different to learn about a nation's history that is so recent. I saw one general trend throughout the whole lesson: when groups exhibited activism and leadership, they were often repressed. Leadership was a catalyst for the opposite group to realize that they have a problem that they want to control.

.. I was just distracted by a debate in living room, and now it is four a.m. so I am going to go to bed.

Getting to South Africa

First of all, I want to say I didn't think about this trip much beforehand. I knew that it was going to be an emotional and life changing experience. Besides that, I didn't think about much else. I wanted to focus on finals and the MCAT. I knew that if I did think about the trip, I would not be able to focus on my studies. With that being said, all of this came up really fast. I had no time to have feelings of excitement or fear, until the plane took off. This is when I thought about what I was getting myself into. I suddenly felt apprehensive and unsure that going on this trip was something that I wanted to do. I assured myself that this would be good for me. No matter what I felt, I knew I would take a lot away from this trip.

Day One
We arrived in Capetown and got picked up from the airport. I felt like it was late at night, but it was 11 a.m. We were taken to our house. We were given cell phones and keys. After we settled in, we walked down the street and got something to eat. There were many different kinds of food, the same kind of food that is around campus at U of M: pizza, pasta, chicken, and Chinese. We decided to eat at a pizza place. They didn't have any plain cheese, so I got Margaretta. It was pretty good, but the sauce was sticky and was dark like barbeque sauce. This kind of grossed me out and I lost my appetite. I realized that even if a place looks American, that doesn't mean it is. I tried to tell myself that just because it is sticky, it doesn't mean it is bad. It is just different from the pizza I am used to. It was interesting that there was not any food that was "South African." I wonder what the students at the Capetown University eat. I would be very suprised if this is what they eat- the same food around U of M, except with a South African twist.

We came back to the house and hung out for a bit. Later, we went to a different restaurant with Christen, the instructor for the class, and her husband. It was great to talk about the trip and what we had already experienced. We went back to the house and the rest of the group arrived from the airport. It was exciting to see everyone here. We were all really tired. We unpacked, talked about our flights, and went to sleep (well some people went out).