So the past 2 weeks I have done a lot...like always. The first week we spent in Swakopmund. So we got there on Wednesday. It took about 4 hours to drive there from Windhoek. Swakopmund is the city on the west coast of Namibia. It is in the Namib Desert so there are hundreds of sand dunes around but then it is right on the water, the otherside of the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived at the place we stayed in Swakopmund and then went to out to dinner at this place called Lighthouse. It was right on the beach so it overlook the ocean. It was just beautiful and we got there right at sunset so that added to the beauty. After dinner, a bunch of us went to the beach and took a dip in the water. It was really cold but was really fun. Then Thursday we went to the Rossing Mine and took a 4 hour tour. Mining is one of the biggest industries in Namibia. The Rossing Mine is the biggest uranium mine in Namibia and is owned by a British Company, Rio Tinto. There is so much that goes into mining and we go to see all the different steps. The mine only employees 15% Namibians and is also suppose to close in 2030 so those jobs that people do have are not long term. From there, we went to MYO, which is the Mondesa Youth Opportunities. It is a program for the best students in the worst schools in Mondesa, which is the black township outside Swakopmund. It is very interesting dynamic that this organization creates because it is only empowering students that are motivated. Also it is run by all foreign volunteers and relies entirely on foreign aid. Then a bunch of us went to the only Thai restaurant in Namibia but we were in a really large group so it was really hard for the waitress to wait on us. It was an okay place.
Then Friday we went to Walvis Bay, which is the next town over to Swakopmund. This is fishing community and has the port for Namibia. We meet with Jan Kruger, who works for the EPZ (Export Processing Zone) management in Namibia. EPZs have existed in Namibia since 1996. Then we visited the Sunshine Center, which is a school for disabled children. It was a wonderful place to see especially after experiencing schools in Windhoek. We went to the Sunshine center because Jan donates his money and time at this school. Then we met this guy Herbert Jauch, who used to work for labor unions in Namibia. He had the complete different view point of Jan who works for EPZ. EPZ have good qualities and some really bad qualities. Then we climbed DUNE 7 which is the largest dune in the world, apparently. No one really knows because sand dunes change all the time because of the wind. It was really hard but eventually I made it to the top. It was just beautiful. I dont know how to describe it. Then we went back and instead of showering, we took dips in the ocean to wash all the sand off. The ocean was so fierce and scary because of the undercurrent. Then at night, a bunch of us went to this restaurant called the Tug. It was an old boat remodeled into a restaurant. It was just the perfect place for us to go. It was also just on the beach so you could watch the waves. There was also a boardwalk that was built into the ocean so we walked along that. It was amazing and such a clear night so you could see all the stars.
Then Saturday was our free day so a bunch of us went sandboarding, some lied down and some did it standing up. I did the lying down part so we just went down on boards wearing helmets and elbow pads. It was so much fun but you had to walk back up the dunes every time you went down and we went down 6 times. It was totally worth it though. It was really exhausting so the rest of the day was pretty tiring. After we showered off all the sand, some of us roamed around Swakopmund, got some nice handmade gifts. It was nice just to walk around with no purpose. WE came back to hotel and had a braai (a bbq) with students from Furman University in North Carolina, who are touring around Namibia for 3 weeks.
We went back to Windhoek on Sunday and spent most of the day traveling and sleeping. This past week was not to exciting. We just had class and internship. We had a speaker in our history class on thursday that was really interesting. He worked for the liberation struggle and even helped write the Namibian Constitution. He also meet and befriended so many people that can be considered heros. We also visited the USAID headquarters in Namibia and learned what USAID is doing in Namibia. It was good to hear. Then last night a bunch of us went to a concert by Elemotho, a folk Namibian singer. He was so amazing and so inspirational. I am going to download his music. It was a beautiful concert and a great atmosphere to see him in.
Okay so now I am leaving again for 3 weeks. I am going to the North for a week and half for my rural homestay and then visiting Etosha National Park, one of the national game parks in Namibia. Then we go on spring break to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and then Botswana. I am really excited and nervous. So in 3 weeks, I will surely update so you can all learn about my many adventures to come.
Becca
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Past Week
This week is been very fun and at the same time very informative. I guess I will begin with the classes I had this week. In Poli Sci, we heard about the education system in Namibia. It was good to hear about the problems that exist in the education system, especially what is occurring the North. It is really relevant to what I am during as part of my internship here in Windhoek. I havent learned that much about education here thus far and I think it is important to understand. Our speaker worked as a teacher in the North for like 30 or so years and is from the North.
Then in History class, we learned about the Herero Genocide. This was the first genocide of the 20th century and Germany's first genocide that NO ONE learns about. Not even Namibians. It is disgusting and so surprising. I knew nothing of it before this class. The genocide began in 1904 and went until 1908. The Germans wanted to clear the land that the Herero people lived on. They wanted the land to build for the settlers. They killed about 75,000 Hereros in 4 years. They also created many concentration camps for Hereros to live and work and be used as slaves to build up the city of Swakopmund and Windhoek. There are many buildings in Windhoek that were built by the Herero slaves. We visited the Alte Feste, which was a fort built for the Germans living in Windhoek during this time. It is now a museum. Museums here are completely different than ones in the States. Not much money is put into them so they are not so inviting. Also there is no official marker anyone where in Namibia to remember the genocide. In Swakopmund, there is an unofficial graveyard for Hereros that died but it is not national recognized so people ride ATVs all over it. It is so sad to here. This genocide completely changed the ethnic tribe makeup of Namibia. Hereros use to be the majority but now the Ovambo people control Namibia. We are visiting Swakopmund Wednesday so we will have a chance to go to the unofficial graveyard and see it for ourselves.
Also this week, we went to this restaurant called Xhama for our friend Hannah's birthday. It is this restaurant in Wanaheda, Katutura, which is the Black township outside Windhoek. They serve traditional foods, like chicken and pap. We ordered two whole chickens and pap for 5 people and it was so much food and kinda of pricey for a place in a low-class area. I even got to try chicken feet...yummy! It wasnt that bad but I wouldnt choose it. Then we were taught how to sing happy birthday in Oshivambo, the language of the Ovambo people but I cant remember it all.
Then Thursday night, a bunch of us went to a free showing of the movie/documentary Good Hair by Chris Rock at the American cultural center in downtown Windhoek. It was a movie about the role of hair plays for African American women. There is so much that goes into the hair business. It was a good movie to see after going to the salon and watching women get weaves done here in Katutura. I learned a lot from the documentary. African women have struggled with the concept of wearing your hair "natural" which means to keep it kinky or nappy. A lot of women choose to wear their hair relaxed which means combing through relaxer in their hair which is just a bunch of chemicals that can completely burn your skin. There was a really good discussion afterwards about image vs. identity and the role the media plays. Race was a huge part of the discussion because it is not just black women change the way they look because society tells them too. Plastic surgery, waxing/shaving, extensions are all things that white women do too.
Friday night we went to a concert at the Franco Namibian Cultural Center. This place is really cool and I want to go back to explore it. They have a lot of art hanging up. The concert was really good. It was this acoustic band I think that were from South Africa. It was a cool atmosphere with a lot of hip people from Namibia.
Then last night went to this hotel called Roof of Africa and saw a free concert by this group called Penilane, they were more soft rock than the concert from Friday night. It was okay.. I was really tired from the past week so we didnt stay long. When we came back to the house a bunch of us skinny dipped in our pool and was a lot of fun. The sky was completely clear so we could see the almost full moon and all the stars. It is so cool that now I am in the Southern Hemisphere so the constellations we see are completely different than home. It was beautiful. I love it here.
Then in History class, we learned about the Herero Genocide. This was the first genocide of the 20th century and Germany's first genocide that NO ONE learns about. Not even Namibians. It is disgusting and so surprising. I knew nothing of it before this class. The genocide began in 1904 and went until 1908. The Germans wanted to clear the land that the Herero people lived on. They wanted the land to build for the settlers. They killed about 75,000 Hereros in 4 years. They also created many concentration camps for Hereros to live and work and be used as slaves to build up the city of Swakopmund and Windhoek. There are many buildings in Windhoek that were built by the Herero slaves. We visited the Alte Feste, which was a fort built for the Germans living in Windhoek during this time. It is now a museum. Museums here are completely different than ones in the States. Not much money is put into them so they are not so inviting. Also there is no official marker anyone where in Namibia to remember the genocide. In Swakopmund, there is an unofficial graveyard for Hereros that died but it is not national recognized so people ride ATVs all over it. It is so sad to here. This genocide completely changed the ethnic tribe makeup of Namibia. Hereros use to be the majority but now the Ovambo people control Namibia. We are visiting Swakopmund Wednesday so we will have a chance to go to the unofficial graveyard and see it for ourselves.
Also this week, we went to this restaurant called Xhama for our friend Hannah's birthday. It is this restaurant in Wanaheda, Katutura, which is the Black township outside Windhoek. They serve traditional foods, like chicken and pap. We ordered two whole chickens and pap for 5 people and it was so much food and kinda of pricey for a place in a low-class area. I even got to try chicken feet...yummy! It wasnt that bad but I wouldnt choose it. Then we were taught how to sing happy birthday in Oshivambo, the language of the Ovambo people but I cant remember it all.
Then Thursday night, a bunch of us went to a free showing of the movie/documentary Good Hair by Chris Rock at the American cultural center in downtown Windhoek. It was a movie about the role of hair plays for African American women. There is so much that goes into the hair business. It was a good movie to see after going to the salon and watching women get weaves done here in Katutura. I learned a lot from the documentary. African women have struggled with the concept of wearing your hair "natural" which means to keep it kinky or nappy. A lot of women choose to wear their hair relaxed which means combing through relaxer in their hair which is just a bunch of chemicals that can completely burn your skin. There was a really good discussion afterwards about image vs. identity and the role the media plays. Race was a huge part of the discussion because it is not just black women change the way they look because society tells them too. Plastic surgery, waxing/shaving, extensions are all things that white women do too.
Friday night we went to a concert at the Franco Namibian Cultural Center. This place is really cool and I want to go back to explore it. They have a lot of art hanging up. The concert was really good. It was this acoustic band I think that were from South Africa. It was a cool atmosphere with a lot of hip people from Namibia.
Then last night went to this hotel called Roof of Africa and saw a free concert by this group called Penilane, they were more soft rock than the concert from Friday night. It was okay.. I was really tired from the past week so we didnt stay long. When we came back to the house a bunch of us skinny dipped in our pool and was a lot of fun. The sky was completely clear so we could see the almost full moon and all the stars. It is so cool that now I am in the Southern Hemisphere so the constellations we see are completely different than home. It was beautiful. I love it here.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Nawa!
Hello again everyone! This past week I was on my urban homestay. I was staying in Katutura, one of the black townships right outside Windhoek. Katutura is also where my internship is as well. My family included my host mom, her grandson, her brother and his girlfriend, and her two kids. The kids were 4, 4, and 11. The house was pretty small so you could hear everything in the house all the time and very run down. I was lucky enough to have house that has a bathroom inside the house. Many houses in Katutura and in the informal settlements just have outhouses. I just felt so privileged that I only had to live like this for 10 days and that I have the choice to leave this lifestyle whenever. This family and many thousands more have to live this way everyday. My family spoke Oshiherero as they are Herero, which is similar to the most spoken language in Namibia, Oshivambo, spoken by the Ovambo people. Most Ovambo people are in the North. This past week was very trying on me. It was hard to spend time with my family and get to know them and still go back to the Center for classes and for internship. I had to find a balance of getting my work done but still getting everything I could out of my experience at my homestay. The family had very traditional gender roles, my host niece, I guess that is what you can call her, the 11 year old, had to do most of the house work. She had to clean the dishes, wash the floor, wash the laundry. I tried to help her out but they would push me away so I always felt like a guest in the house, never a family member. Also personal space does not exist so the kids would just follow me around and try to read what I was reading or sit on my bed and just watch me. That was really hard to get use to.
I never really got a sense of community as I did on my homestay in South Africa. My host mom here in Namibia has host CGE kids since 1999 so I think that she was use to showing off these "white people" before and that is why I didnt meet her family. I finally got to meet her actual daughter and we hung on both on Saturday and Sunday. I went to a salon, which here means a small room inside an open air market to get my nails done. I got to watch African women get their hair done. That was a whole new experience for me too. My nails are really cool they have this whole intricate design and it lasts for 4 months so when I come back to the States, I will have some really nice nails.
This week is really our only "normal" week. I have my internship tomorrow and wednesday and classes every other day. We also have our first free weekend so hopefully some of us will figure out some fun things to do around here. We just dont have a routine and that is really hard to get used to.
So I will check in some time soon again.
Inda po nawa! (meaning go well in Oshivambo)
I never really got a sense of community as I did on my homestay in South Africa. My host mom here in Namibia has host CGE kids since 1999 so I think that she was use to showing off these "white people" before and that is why I didnt meet her family. I finally got to meet her actual daughter and we hung on both on Saturday and Sunday. I went to a salon, which here means a small room inside an open air market to get my nails done. I got to watch African women get their hair done. That was a whole new experience for me too. My nails are really cool they have this whole intricate design and it lasts for 4 months so when I come back to the States, I will have some really nice nails.
This week is really our only "normal" week. I have my internship tomorrow and wednesday and classes every other day. We also have our first free weekend so hopefully some of us will figure out some fun things to do around here. We just dont have a routine and that is really hard to get used to.
So I will check in some time soon again.
Inda po nawa! (meaning go well in Oshivambo)
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Past 2 Weeks
Hello, Wow how long has it been since I last posted? So much has been done in the past 2 weeks. So last time I posted, I was just about to go on my first homestay out of three. So my homestay was in Voorslorus, which actually was not in Soweto but very close to it. I had a really amazing family of a mother, father, and sister, Ngoluli, who is 16 and Ayanda who is 6. They had a nice house, each kid had their own room and they spare room for me and Kristin, the girl I had my homestay with from CGE. The mother worked as a teacher assistant at school for mental and physically disabled children from kindergarten to 12th grade. We got to go into to her work with her on that Monday, after the weekend spending time with them. So that friday night, my first night with them, I was dropped off at my host mother's mother's house. I was very confused and didnt understand where I was at first. We were waiting there to be picked up by my host father. He ended up picking Kristin, my host mother, and I up at the closest mall, where we got dinner at 9 at night. Then we were brought to our actual house. I ended up just talking to my host sister for a few hours and went to sleep. We woke up around 9, couldnt sleep much longer than that. I havent been able to sleep much since being here. We wake up so early and I am not a morning person. Kristin and I hung outside with my host sister and 2 of her friends and all the neighborhood kids. It was a lot of fun. We walked around the neighborhood and of course everyone was staring at us because no white people ever enter these areas so we were a sight to see. We were waiting for our host father to come back from work but he ended up not coming back until 3 hours after he said he would so we just went out for dinner in a mall. Then on Sunday, we went to church really early in the morning and then came back to our house. There was a wedding taking place across the street on Sunday so I was really excited about going to that. This family had 2 weddings, one which was the white wedding in a church and the other one which we got to go to was the more traditional wedding. The wedding began by having the bride and groom walk down the street to their house doing the step dance with everyone in the wedding party following them. It was just amazing to see. The family set up a tent in the middle of the street so everyone could sit at tables and eat. They have to provide food for everyone there no matter if you were invited or not. People from all over just come. I got to see traditional dress of zulu women, sotho women and many other tribes. I even got to dance behind the bride and groom and learn the step dance.
Then after our homestay we went to Pretoria for two days. We stayed in this really nice guesthouse with a pool so we had some nice pool parties. We toured the Voortrekkers museum about the great trekkers which were the afrikaners expanding their control in South Africa after landing the Cape of Good Hope. Then we went to freedom park and had a nice picnic and toured the park. It is a place of remembrance for all the events that occurred related to South Africa. There are walls covered with names of people that had past. The place was huge and very peaceful.
We then left for Namibia, flying at 9 in morning and then we had to wait in the tiny tiny airport for an hour because our visas werent ready but finally it worked out and got our luggage. The drive from the airport to our house was amazing. Windhoek is surrounded by mountains, giant mountains and they are covered with green trees. Right now everything is really green because it is the rainy season so it rains everyday. I am glad I got to see it as green and lush instead of dry and sandy. We even saw baboons too. We moved into our house and tried to settle in as well as we could since all the girls are sharing rooms with 5 other people. The house is really nice, we have a nice pool in the back and a balcony that overlooks the street. We also have a nice lounge with couchs and our own kitchen and dining room. The only problem is that we only have 3 bathrooms for 23 people so that is hard to deal with.
I started my internship. I am working at Family of Hope Services. It is a very cool place, a one room schoolhouse that has 3 classes and 3 teachers teaching 100 students. Most of the students are part of the enrichment program which are students that go to school either in the morning or afternoon and then come to this center for extra help and homework time. The other program is the remedial program for kids who cant go to school at all because they dont have money or dont have birth certificates. I have been helping a teacher who teaches the enrichment learners. I helped teach basic math to them and I also taught the teachers how to make friendship bracelets so they can teach it to the kids. Also for my internship I have to come up with a project I work on throughout the semester so I think I am going to run some sport activity for all the kids. The kids are super cute and I really like helping them. They even taught me some Oshivambo, the most spoken tribal language in Namibia.
We also started classes this week. I had History and Development this week. Classes are from 9-1 and then we have lunch at 1 and the afternoon is free. I do my internship on Mondays and Wednesdays.
This week is my second homestay, which I started last night. I am in Katutura, which used to be an all black township during apartheid. Katutura is also where my internship is as well. I am living with my host mother, and her brother and his girlfriend and their 3 or 4 kids, i dont really know who is who, and then my host mom's grandson. It is a pretty small house but I do have my own room to sleep in. We are in our urban homestays for 10 days but still have to go to class and to our internships. I have to take taxis to every location because my family does not have a car. My host mom has been hosting since 1999 so hopefully she knows how to deal. She is very nice but quiet. The kids are crazy climbing all over me. Hopefully they will calm down. So I dont have internet in my homestay so i can only get on when I am in the CGE center.
I will try to post again soon.
Then after our homestay we went to Pretoria for two days. We stayed in this really nice guesthouse with a pool so we had some nice pool parties. We toured the Voortrekkers museum about the great trekkers which were the afrikaners expanding their control in South Africa after landing the Cape of Good Hope. Then we went to freedom park and had a nice picnic and toured the park. It is a place of remembrance for all the events that occurred related to South Africa. There are walls covered with names of people that had past. The place was huge and very peaceful.
We then left for Namibia, flying at 9 in morning and then we had to wait in the tiny tiny airport for an hour because our visas werent ready but finally it worked out and got our luggage. The drive from the airport to our house was amazing. Windhoek is surrounded by mountains, giant mountains and they are covered with green trees. Right now everything is really green because it is the rainy season so it rains everyday. I am glad I got to see it as green and lush instead of dry and sandy. We even saw baboons too. We moved into our house and tried to settle in as well as we could since all the girls are sharing rooms with 5 other people. The house is really nice, we have a nice pool in the back and a balcony that overlooks the street. We also have a nice lounge with couchs and our own kitchen and dining room. The only problem is that we only have 3 bathrooms for 23 people so that is hard to deal with.
I started my internship. I am working at Family of Hope Services. It is a very cool place, a one room schoolhouse that has 3 classes and 3 teachers teaching 100 students. Most of the students are part of the enrichment program which are students that go to school either in the morning or afternoon and then come to this center for extra help and homework time. The other program is the remedial program for kids who cant go to school at all because they dont have money or dont have birth certificates. I have been helping a teacher who teaches the enrichment learners. I helped teach basic math to them and I also taught the teachers how to make friendship bracelets so they can teach it to the kids. Also for my internship I have to come up with a project I work on throughout the semester so I think I am going to run some sport activity for all the kids. The kids are super cute and I really like helping them. They even taught me some Oshivambo, the most spoken tribal language in Namibia.
We also started classes this week. I had History and Development this week. Classes are from 9-1 and then we have lunch at 1 and the afternoon is free. I do my internship on Mondays and Wednesdays.
This week is my second homestay, which I started last night. I am in Katutura, which used to be an all black township during apartheid. Katutura is also where my internship is as well. I am living with my host mother, and her brother and his girlfriend and their 3 or 4 kids, i dont really know who is who, and then my host mom's grandson. It is a pretty small house but I do have my own room to sleep in. We are in our urban homestays for 10 days but still have to go to class and to our internships. I have to take taxis to every location because my family does not have a car. My host mom has been hosting since 1999 so hopefully she knows how to deal. She is very nice but quiet. The kids are crazy climbing all over me. Hopefully they will calm down. So I dont have internet in my homestay so i can only get on when I am in the CGE center.
I will try to post again soon.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Day 4 and Day 5
Hello. Its been two days since I last wrote. Lets see if I remember all we have done since then. Okay so on Wednesday the 19th we began the day at the South African Council of Churches in this building called the Khosto House. It was in the middle of downtown Johannesburg. That was the first time we went downtown. We had one speaker who was from the SACC but I dont remember what his official title is. He discussed with us the role of churches in the New South Africa. The Church is not a homogeneous institution because there are many different denominations and streams that can be taken. The SACC is in the Ecumenical stream, which he described as too concerned about world things and contemporary society. He went through the history of South Africa and how the churches fit into what was happening during those times and what programs they have now. They deal with healthcare and HIV/AIDS, especially after Thabo Mbeki's reign as president. Mbeki denied that HIV leads to AIDS and that was detrimental to South Africa society. Also another program they have is Justice, Reconciliation, and Healing. This program is related to the Truth and Reconciliation (TRE) Mandela put in place. I also learned that South Africa is 77% christian, which surprised me. He also discussed that the SACC has made a conscience decision to separate church and state in their policies and programs. He was very interesting and engaging.
Right after that, in the same building, we had another group come talk to us. This was a non-partisan support group that allowed for reconciliation of victims and survivors of the apartheid. They deal with good victims and bad victims and try to turn victims into victors. They allow for their members to tell stories and to become empowered. There are 60,000 members across South Africa. It was very interesting as well but hard to sit through another 2 hours of people talking at you. We were in the same room for 5 hours.
After lunch, we went to the Apartheid Museum. This museum was designed by the same man who designed the Holocaust Museum in D.C. You could definitely feel that as you walk through it. Also, the museum was built right next to a casino and a theme park, which i found very weird. So you first walk through the museum as either white or non-white and there are signs that were used during apartheid above and around you. Then you finally get to the beginning of the museum, where you start at the beginning of when the Europeans first came to Africa in 1652. There are bushmen drawings that show the effects of the Europeans on them. Then you learn about the gold extraction that began in Johannesburg and the beginnings of the slums and shantytowns around Johannesburg as the mines needed more workers. The museum was very confusing because from that point it brings you to this giant temporary exhibit about Nelson Mandela, that I ended up spending like an hour in, not knowing that I would not have enough time to see the permanent exhibits. The exhibit about Mandela showed Mandela in all his different roles that he played for South Africa. Mandela is extremely put on a pedastool here in South Africa. No one will say a bad thing about him.
After that exhibit you go to the rest of the museum that goes through the implementation of Apartheid by the Afrikaneers, the liberation struggles, the creation of the ANC and other parties, a look into the slums, the end of apartheid in 1990 by De Klerk and so many more things. I could have easily been in that museum for 4 hours. We just didnt have enough time to go through it.
After going there and having dinner, we had our first night out on the town. We went back downtown to the Market Theatre to see Songs of Migration a musical by Hugh Masekela. I had my first drink in Africa too as well as my first South African beer. It was good. Little did I know who he was when I first saw him singing but apparently he is very famous. He married Miriam Makeba, a famous South Africa anti-apartheid activists and singer. It was amazing. There were about 50 different songs sung in different languages reflecting on the problems faced by Black South Africans related to labor and poverty. It was great to hear how all these songs have been passed down from generation to generation. Also, most of the time you didnt even need to know what they were saying in the words because their expression and power just said it all.
Okay and then onto today, Thursday the 20th. We began the day by talking to two ANC representatives. They didnt come with any agenda to talk about they just wanted us to ask them questions. They beat around the bush for every question that was asked. It was just a weird experience and was not a good reflection. Then we went downtown to talk to the main opposition of the ANC, which is the Democratic Alliance or the DA. Their presentation was much more formal and was given by one of the parties mayoral candidates in the next election. He is 23 years old too. Anyways, he criticized the ANC hardcore and went through the history of the DA party. He gave some answers of what the DA is trying to do but was very diplomatic about what he talked about.
Then we went to the Bruma Market for lunch. It was an open-air market with a bunch of little shops. I got a pair of earrings for 20 rand, which is about 2.50 dollars. There was a lot of cool stuff but there is no sense in buying things now so we just walked around for 2 hours. It was nice to be outside since it was about 75 degrees out and very sunny.
Then we had one more speaker about nuclear energy and the environment in South Africa. It was really interesting and this discussion has been the least hostile one we have had so far. A lot of us were falling asleep so that could have been a part of it. He talked about the coal industry and uranium industry in South Africa. Also about what the government has done for and against the coal industry. Also discussed the possibilities of renewable energies.
After that and dinner, we had our homestay orientation. We start our first homestay tomorrow night. My family is in Foslorus, a township in Soweto. My family is a mother, father, a daughter about 16 and a son about 6. I am really excited but really nervous at the same time. I am doing it with another girl on my program, which makes it better. However, I have barely interacted with the girl I am staying with so hopefully we will get to know each other too. This will be my first time jumping out my comfort zone so it will be a hard adjustment for me. I will definitely grow from this. This will be the first time that we are really interacting with South Africans besides our tour guides and speakers.
I will hopefully have time to upload photos after this weekend.
Bec
Right after that, in the same building, we had another group come talk to us. This was a non-partisan support group that allowed for reconciliation of victims and survivors of the apartheid. They deal with good victims and bad victims and try to turn victims into victors. They allow for their members to tell stories and to become empowered. There are 60,000 members across South Africa. It was very interesting as well but hard to sit through another 2 hours of people talking at you. We were in the same room for 5 hours.
After lunch, we went to the Apartheid Museum. This museum was designed by the same man who designed the Holocaust Museum in D.C. You could definitely feel that as you walk through it. Also, the museum was built right next to a casino and a theme park, which i found very weird. So you first walk through the museum as either white or non-white and there are signs that were used during apartheid above and around you. Then you finally get to the beginning of the museum, where you start at the beginning of when the Europeans first came to Africa in 1652. There are bushmen drawings that show the effects of the Europeans on them. Then you learn about the gold extraction that began in Johannesburg and the beginnings of the slums and shantytowns around Johannesburg as the mines needed more workers. The museum was very confusing because from that point it brings you to this giant temporary exhibit about Nelson Mandela, that I ended up spending like an hour in, not knowing that I would not have enough time to see the permanent exhibits. The exhibit about Mandela showed Mandela in all his different roles that he played for South Africa. Mandela is extremely put on a pedastool here in South Africa. No one will say a bad thing about him.
After that exhibit you go to the rest of the museum that goes through the implementation of Apartheid by the Afrikaneers, the liberation struggles, the creation of the ANC and other parties, a look into the slums, the end of apartheid in 1990 by De Klerk and so many more things. I could have easily been in that museum for 4 hours. We just didnt have enough time to go through it.
After going there and having dinner, we had our first night out on the town. We went back downtown to the Market Theatre to see Songs of Migration a musical by Hugh Masekela. I had my first drink in Africa too as well as my first South African beer. It was good. Little did I know who he was when I first saw him singing but apparently he is very famous. He married Miriam Makeba, a famous South Africa anti-apartheid activists and singer. It was amazing. There were about 50 different songs sung in different languages reflecting on the problems faced by Black South Africans related to labor and poverty. It was great to hear how all these songs have been passed down from generation to generation. Also, most of the time you didnt even need to know what they were saying in the words because their expression and power just said it all.
Okay and then onto today, Thursday the 20th. We began the day by talking to two ANC representatives. They didnt come with any agenda to talk about they just wanted us to ask them questions. They beat around the bush for every question that was asked. It was just a weird experience and was not a good reflection. Then we went downtown to talk to the main opposition of the ANC, which is the Democratic Alliance or the DA. Their presentation was much more formal and was given by one of the parties mayoral candidates in the next election. He is 23 years old too. Anyways, he criticized the ANC hardcore and went through the history of the DA party. He gave some answers of what the DA is trying to do but was very diplomatic about what he talked about.
Then we went to the Bruma Market for lunch. It was an open-air market with a bunch of little shops. I got a pair of earrings for 20 rand, which is about 2.50 dollars. There was a lot of cool stuff but there is no sense in buying things now so we just walked around for 2 hours. It was nice to be outside since it was about 75 degrees out and very sunny.
Then we had one more speaker about nuclear energy and the environment in South Africa. It was really interesting and this discussion has been the least hostile one we have had so far. A lot of us were falling asleep so that could have been a part of it. He talked about the coal industry and uranium industry in South Africa. Also about what the government has done for and against the coal industry. Also discussed the possibilities of renewable energies.
After that and dinner, we had our homestay orientation. We start our first homestay tomorrow night. My family is in Foslorus, a township in Soweto. My family is a mother, father, a daughter about 16 and a son about 6. I am really excited but really nervous at the same time. I am doing it with another girl on my program, which makes it better. However, I have barely interacted with the girl I am staying with so hopefully we will get to know each other too. This will be my first time jumping out my comfort zone so it will be a hard adjustment for me. I will definitely grow from this. This will be the first time that we are really interacting with South Africans besides our tour guides and speakers.
I will hopefully have time to upload photos after this weekend.
Bec
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Day 3
Sabonyo!!! (that is hello in zulu)
Today was another very interesting day. We began the day by going to St. Martin School, a semi-private school in Soweto. It is the highest achieving school in Johannesburg. We got to hang out with students from grade 9 to grade 12. It was a really great experience. We went into classrooms as groups of four and introduced ourselves. Then we sat down with a bunch of the kids to just talk to them. They would ask us questions about the U.S., what we were studying, where we came from, what languages do we speak, what celebrities we have met?. In one class which I believe was kids from grade 8 asked us about the U.S. economy and what the money looked like which was very interesting. Also all the kids in this school seemed really grounded and driven to do something like they all knew exactly what they wanted to do when they went to college. Even many girls said they wanted to do engineering and physics, which is the complete opposite of most girls in the U.S. I definitely did not know what I wanted to do during high school and as a matter of fact, I dont know what I want to do now even. It is sad that so many of them want to go to college but they cannot necessarily afford it and loans have to be paid off right after they finish college, unlike the States were there is a grace period before you have to pay.
Then after that we went to The Walter Sislulu Square, where there is a monument of the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter was like a constitution written in 1994, but unlike our constitution it was never put into law. It is really just an idea that most Black South Africans wish would be implemented. The government, ANC or the African National Congress promised the Black South Africans that they would provide housing in the area around the square, which is a township of Soweto called Kliptown, but the houses built were never given to the poor blacks because they could not pay for it. Kliptown has been so far the most impoverished area we have experience thus far. We got to walk a little around it but then ended up driving through most of it in our vans. It was sad to see all these people living the way they were. Small crowded shacks with buckets in the front yards that are toilets picked up by the government every week. We also learned the government passed a law the all South Africans get like 6000 liters of water each month for free. But that is nothing if the water has to be used for families. An Anti-privitazation forum activist took us on a tour around Kliptown but it was really hard to hear what she was saying so I didnt really understand somethings happening.
Right after going through Kliptown, we went to have lunch at this mall called Maponya Mall. This mall was such a contrast from being in Kliptown. The mall is very high-scale and has many posh stores. The mall is meant for the middle class in Soweto but that is only like 10% of the population. It is really ridiculous. We dont know if that was intentional to go from Kliptown to the mall because there are not many places to just go and eat around us.
After that, we had another speaker come talk to us about Africa's political economy. He is a White American born in Zimbabwe and studied in the U.S. for 10 years and now has been in South Africa for 24 years. It was part of the liberation struggle. He was an amazing speaker so knowledgeable about the politics and economics of South Africa and really all countries political economy's as well. He is very left and radical in his views.
Then we had a debriefing session where we just talked about our experiences thus far and if we had anymore questions.
I will post pictures soon. It takes a long time to load them.
Bec
Today was another very interesting day. We began the day by going to St. Martin School, a semi-private school in Soweto. It is the highest achieving school in Johannesburg. We got to hang out with students from grade 9 to grade 12. It was a really great experience. We went into classrooms as groups of four and introduced ourselves. Then we sat down with a bunch of the kids to just talk to them. They would ask us questions about the U.S., what we were studying, where we came from, what languages do we speak, what celebrities we have met?. In one class which I believe was kids from grade 8 asked us about the U.S. economy and what the money looked like which was very interesting. Also all the kids in this school seemed really grounded and driven to do something like they all knew exactly what they wanted to do when they went to college. Even many girls said they wanted to do engineering and physics, which is the complete opposite of most girls in the U.S. I definitely did not know what I wanted to do during high school and as a matter of fact, I dont know what I want to do now even. It is sad that so many of them want to go to college but they cannot necessarily afford it and loans have to be paid off right after they finish college, unlike the States were there is a grace period before you have to pay.
Then after that we went to The Walter Sislulu Square, where there is a monument of the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter was like a constitution written in 1994, but unlike our constitution it was never put into law. It is really just an idea that most Black South Africans wish would be implemented. The government, ANC or the African National Congress promised the Black South Africans that they would provide housing in the area around the square, which is a township of Soweto called Kliptown, but the houses built were never given to the poor blacks because they could not pay for it. Kliptown has been so far the most impoverished area we have experience thus far. We got to walk a little around it but then ended up driving through most of it in our vans. It was sad to see all these people living the way they were. Small crowded shacks with buckets in the front yards that are toilets picked up by the government every week. We also learned the government passed a law the all South Africans get like 6000 liters of water each month for free. But that is nothing if the water has to be used for families. An Anti-privitazation forum activist took us on a tour around Kliptown but it was really hard to hear what she was saying so I didnt really understand somethings happening.
Right after going through Kliptown, we went to have lunch at this mall called Maponya Mall. This mall was such a contrast from being in Kliptown. The mall is very high-scale and has many posh stores. The mall is meant for the middle class in Soweto but that is only like 10% of the population. It is really ridiculous. We dont know if that was intentional to go from Kliptown to the mall because there are not many places to just go and eat around us.
After that, we had another speaker come talk to us about Africa's political economy. He is a White American born in Zimbabwe and studied in the U.S. for 10 years and now has been in South Africa for 24 years. It was part of the liberation struggle. He was an amazing speaker so knowledgeable about the politics and economics of South Africa and really all countries political economy's as well. He is very left and radical in his views.
Then we had a debriefing session where we just talked about our experiences thus far and if we had anymore questions.
I will post pictures soon. It takes a long time to load them.
Bec
Monday, January 17, 2011
Day 1 and 2
Hey everyone. So I am finally in Jo-burg, South Africa. I will go through the details of my first 2 days. So starting Saturday afternoon, I arrived at the airport. My bag was overweight by like 3 pounds so I just had move some stuff into a new bag. Besides that, no other problems arose. Got through security and meet 2 other people going on my trip there. We found our gate and started to find other people going on the trip too emerging as their flights began to land. We all sat and made small talk for 2 hours, waiting to broad our 17 hour flight. Finally around 5 we boarded the plane and found that we all were sitting next to each other, which was awesome. I then learned that we were stopping in Dakar, Senegal, which was 6 hours and 45 minutes away. We landed in Senegal, though I wish we were allowed to exit the plane to see it but that didnt happen. I only got to be in Airport Senegal. So then we had to wait another hour before we could take off to Jo-burg, South Africa. Jo-burg is about 10 hours from Dakar, making the trip feel like it was never gonna end.
After falling asleep and waking up every hour and watching movies, we were finally near Jo-burg. There was a 20 minute stretch where there was no clouds so you could see how vast Africa really is and how compacted the houses are where there are houses. Finally we landed and we all shuffled to immigration. That was pretty much a breeze, same with all of us finding our luggage. After we all collected our stuff, we met up with 5 people leading our program. They introduced themselves and then let us go find ATMs and currency exchange places to go to get some rands, which is the South African currency. After that, we all loaded into 2 vans, about 11 in each with all of our stuff packed in trailers connected to our vans. We got to St. Peters Place, the guesthouse we are staying in while we are in South Africa. It is nice little place and we are all in rooms with 2 or 3 people as well. We had a quick dinner and then had a little meet and greet or icebreaker, if you will. Then we got our schedule for the week and a reader with articles related to places we are going to visit in Jo-burg. From there, we all went our separate ways and find wireless internet to check our emails and such. I tried to go to sleep at a reasonable time like 10:30 but I just could not sleep last night. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep all together. It was raining all night long and there were many lightning strikes as well. Apparently Jo-burg is the city with the most lightning, which is very interesting.
Day 2
We woke up around 730 and had breakfast at 8. We then went to our orientation into the program. We just went over health and safety information and our schedule for Jo-burg in more detail. Then we had our first speaker of our trip. Mr. Mataboge was his name but we was referred to as Molfolee (spelling is definitely wrong here). He came to talk to us about the Liberation Struggle in South Africa. He is from SOWETO, which actually stands for South West Townships. There are 34 townships within Soweto with about 5 million people but no one knows for sure how many people live there. He gave us a condensed version of the history of South Africa starting at 1652, which is when the first White person came to South Africa so that is the date that was put into history books as the beginning of South Africa's history. It was a very interesting talk to here. I had learned a little bit about the Soweto riots in 1976 at Clark but what he spoke about just blew my mind.
After hearing from our speaker, he took our group on a tour around Soweto. We stopped in many different locations. The first place we stopped was the Old Single Quarters. This is an area where very rich black South Africans live. The houses had huge security systems surrounding them and yards were very landscape. We stopped at a location where you could see both where the rich Black South Africans live and where the poor live. The poor houses we saw were ones of miners who came to Jo-burg for work and had left their wives and families behind. Each house housed about 5-10 men. They built two-story houses on the other side of this long road that are meant for the miners to move in with their families but the problem is the cost of the house so many cannot move into them anyways. It was really interesting to see the contrast between the two living areas.
The next stop was the Regina Mundi Church, which happens to be in the Rockville township, which is a cool fact. This is a church that was stormed during the Soweto riots. The police shot guns at the students inside the church from both inside and outside the church. We had this really interesting tour guide who explained every little detail about the church to us. They started to rehab the church but they left so places that show what happened at the church in 1976. There are still bullet holes in the ceiling and tables still cracked. Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton have also been the church many times so of course the tour guide told us that.
Our next stop was at the Morris Isaacson School, which is the main school where the students participating in the protest came together. The school is on a main road that the students walked down during the protest. Off this road is the Hector Peterson Museum. Hector Peterson was the first person killed during the 1976 riots. The Museum is now where Hector's house was during 1976. His sister, Antoinette came to talk to us in the museum. Her story was just sensational. It was amazing to hear her to tell the story of what happened that day her brother was killed. Many of you may have seen the famous picture of a guy holding Hector Peterson and a woman next to them, well that woman was the one who talk to us. After that we had time look around the museum. It was just crazy to see what happened during this period of time.
Our next stop, which was just down the street was Nelson Mandela's house that he lived in before he went to jail. The original house was actual set on fire but much of it still remains. It was a pretty small house but no less interesting. It had about 3 rooms. One room was Nelson's and his wife and another room which was the kitchen and bathroom and the last room was his kids room. All of his kids umbilical cords are buried in the backyard too. Haha.
Our last stop was Soccer City, which is one of the main stadiums used during the World Cup. Now it is used for when the two Soweto soccer teams play each other because it draws in a big crowd. This stadium was huge and of many colors.
This day was very very busy. We experienced a lot of Jo-burg and specifically Soweto. It was really mind blowing and I finally felt that I was truly in Africa.
After falling asleep and waking up every hour and watching movies, we were finally near Jo-burg. There was a 20 minute stretch where there was no clouds so you could see how vast Africa really is and how compacted the houses are where there are houses. Finally we landed and we all shuffled to immigration. That was pretty much a breeze, same with all of us finding our luggage. After we all collected our stuff, we met up with 5 people leading our program. They introduced themselves and then let us go find ATMs and currency exchange places to go to get some rands, which is the South African currency. After that, we all loaded into 2 vans, about 11 in each with all of our stuff packed in trailers connected to our vans. We got to St. Peters Place, the guesthouse we are staying in while we are in South Africa. It is nice little place and we are all in rooms with 2 or 3 people as well. We had a quick dinner and then had a little meet and greet or icebreaker, if you will. Then we got our schedule for the week and a reader with articles related to places we are going to visit in Jo-burg. From there, we all went our separate ways and find wireless internet to check our emails and such. I tried to go to sleep at a reasonable time like 10:30 but I just could not sleep last night. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep all together. It was raining all night long and there were many lightning strikes as well. Apparently Jo-burg is the city with the most lightning, which is very interesting.
Day 2
We woke up around 730 and had breakfast at 8. We then went to our orientation into the program. We just went over health and safety information and our schedule for Jo-burg in more detail. Then we had our first speaker of our trip. Mr. Mataboge was his name but we was referred to as Molfolee (spelling is definitely wrong here). He came to talk to us about the Liberation Struggle in South Africa. He is from SOWETO, which actually stands for South West Townships. There are 34 townships within Soweto with about 5 million people but no one knows for sure how many people live there. He gave us a condensed version of the history of South Africa starting at 1652, which is when the first White person came to South Africa so that is the date that was put into history books as the beginning of South Africa's history. It was a very interesting talk to here. I had learned a little bit about the Soweto riots in 1976 at Clark but what he spoke about just blew my mind.
After hearing from our speaker, he took our group on a tour around Soweto. We stopped in many different locations. The first place we stopped was the Old Single Quarters. This is an area where very rich black South Africans live. The houses had huge security systems surrounding them and yards were very landscape. We stopped at a location where you could see both where the rich Black South Africans live and where the poor live. The poor houses we saw were ones of miners who came to Jo-burg for work and had left their wives and families behind. Each house housed about 5-10 men. They built two-story houses on the other side of this long road that are meant for the miners to move in with their families but the problem is the cost of the house so many cannot move into them anyways. It was really interesting to see the contrast between the two living areas.
The next stop was the Regina Mundi Church, which happens to be in the Rockville township, which is a cool fact. This is a church that was stormed during the Soweto riots. The police shot guns at the students inside the church from both inside and outside the church. We had this really interesting tour guide who explained every little detail about the church to us. They started to rehab the church but they left so places that show what happened at the church in 1976. There are still bullet holes in the ceiling and tables still cracked. Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton have also been the church many times so of course the tour guide told us that.
Our next stop was at the Morris Isaacson School, which is the main school where the students participating in the protest came together. The school is on a main road that the students walked down during the protest. Off this road is the Hector Peterson Museum. Hector Peterson was the first person killed during the 1976 riots. The Museum is now where Hector's house was during 1976. His sister, Antoinette came to talk to us in the museum. Her story was just sensational. It was amazing to hear her to tell the story of what happened that day her brother was killed. Many of you may have seen the famous picture of a guy holding Hector Peterson and a woman next to them, well that woman was the one who talk to us. After that we had time look around the museum. It was just crazy to see what happened during this period of time.
Our next stop, which was just down the street was Nelson Mandela's house that he lived in before he went to jail. The original house was actual set on fire but much of it still remains. It was a pretty small house but no less interesting. It had about 3 rooms. One room was Nelson's and his wife and another room which was the kitchen and bathroom and the last room was his kids room. All of his kids umbilical cords are buried in the backyard too. Haha.
Our last stop was Soccer City, which is one of the main stadiums used during the World Cup. Now it is used for when the two Soweto soccer teams play each other because it draws in a big crowd. This stadium was huge and of many colors.
This day was very very busy. We experienced a lot of Jo-burg and specifically Soweto. It was really mind blowing and I finally felt that I was truly in Africa.
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