Animals in Africa!

Sanibonani!


A lot has happened since I last wrote about Cape Town. I finished up my paper and presented on my observations at St. Mary's hospital on Friday (the 30th). Hallelujah! That is over with :-) It was actually quite interesting listening to what everyone else had done and discovered in their own projects. People were working with NGOs, hospitals, schools, and even pharmaceutical drug prices.

Over the weekend I did some shopping, attempted to get some sun at the beach (it was a bit cloudy), and went to a rotating restaurant in Durban (where I had my first crocodile steak). Sunday I visited my Cato family one last time. My mama made steam bread and chicken curry, it was great to see her and my bhuti one last time :-)


Monday (the 1st) we left Durban, and headed off to St. Lucia for a safari! It was fabulous! I was sad to leave Durban, but happy to be out of that backpacker where I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. St. Lucia was gorgeous! We stayed in a very nice flat by the river, warned about the crocodiles and hippos. Although I never saw any, the Hippos come up to eat the lawns in the night. Also, the river is very dangerous because of the crocodiles; an average of 3 ppl die in the river each year. Monday night we took a sunset river cruise and saw hippos and crocodiles. It was wonderful :-)


Tuesday was quite an adventure! (It was a safari!) We woke up @ 4am and were picked up at 5 by our guides in safari jeeps! There were 9 of us in a jeep, and we traveled an hour to get to the park, Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, which is the oldest in South Africa. The first hour and a half we were at the park we saw soo much! The animals are used to the jeeps, and as long as no one gets out of the jeep the animals are generally undisturbed. We saw wildebeests, types of antelope, water buffalo, white rhinos, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and much more. In the late morning, we headed to a point in the park great for pictures. One jeep was already there (there were 3 of us), and our jeep was about to stop, when they got a call about a cheetah sighting! So we whipped it into reverse, the other people jumped into their jeep, and we drove crazy fast over to the area. And we saw a cheetah in action! Ok... so she didn't kill anything, but she was beautiful! And we got really close to her. The guides said this was the best cheetah sighting they had seen in years, because there are only about 60 cheetahs in the entire park. After our cheetah adventure, we saw many of the same animals we had seen earlier. Our guides knew a lot, and we saw a lot of types of animals grazing together. The animals do this because the smaller/weaker animals, i.e. the antelope, have super intune senses. So they are able to warn the bigger animals of danger, i.e. the cheetah. We were able to hear the warning noises they made. It was so intriguing watching the predator/prey interactions between the cheetah and wildebeests. The cheetah would walk towards the herd, and they would back up slowly. But then as the cheetah walked away from the herd, they would follow it. As soon as the cheetah turned around (or stopped and turned its head), the herd stopped immediately. It looked just like a game of red-light-green-light. As soon as the cheetah turned around and walked away again, the herd followed. It was fascinating!
Later in the afternoon, our guides got a call about 7 lions spotted at a watering hole! So again, we rushed over there. One thing our guide said was that we had one rule to follow, if we spot a lion, we cannot run. At the watering hole, there is a hut with benches and a slit at eye level for us to sit and observe the animals. As we follow each other into the hut, the guides stayed outside, and we saw one start to walk into the bush. All of a sudden, they run into the hut all freaked out! One of the lions had false charged, or charged a few steps, towards one of the guides! This guy was really freaked out, he was a grown man and still shaking when we left! (But I would probably be too if a lion had charged at me.) We drove around and attempted to find them, but they had gotten spooked off. Still, it was an exciting day. At the end of the trip, we saw tons of baboons crossing the trail, which was a nice end to our trip.


Tuesday night we had a farwell dinner at a restaurant (paid for by SIT, so I got a multiple course meal, complete with dessert!). Wednesday we had a long 9 hour car ride to Joburg (where we repeatedly got completely stopped in construction traffic) to say our final good-byes. It was hard not just to say good-bye to our staff leaders, but to many of the girls who I will probably never see again :-( But we swapped American cell numbers and promised to keep in touch through facebook :-)



Hambani Kahle!

Cape Town

Sanibonani!

Cape Town last week was fabulous. We stayed with a friend who's studying at the University of Cape Town this semester. UCT is a beautiful campus. It's settled on a hill, so you can look to your right and see Table Mtn, then look to your left and see the city settled next to the ocean. It was an absolutely breathtaking couple of days.
In Cape Town we did a sightseeing tour, went to a couple of fabulous museums, aquariums, and to Table Mountain. We were met with the opportunity to hike Table Mtn, but because it is absolutely freezing in CT and the wind is unbearable, we stuck with the sky car. We also went to do wine tasting in Stellonbosch and went to Robben Island. Robben Island was where the political prisoners were kept during the Apartheid. We were able to see Nelson Mendela's prison cell, and explore the island as well. It was an amazing experience, and our extended weekend in Cape Town flew by too fast.

This week I've been finishing my research paper (on my weeks observing at St. Mary's) and will present Friday. Saturday and Sunday we will just be able to relax in Durban before heading to St. Lucia to do our end of the program Safari.


Hambani Kahle :-)

St. Mary's

Sanibonani!

The hospital (where I have been doing my learnership), has been incredible (ok, and a little boring at times). 

I have been observing in the antenatal clinic, the labor ward, and the maternity ward. Most of the staff I'm working with are wonderful. They are always willing to answer my questions and translate. And getting to hold newborn babies is awesome, they are super adorable! :-) 

When I speak (my limited) Zulu to the patients, they often respond with "Hauwu!" Which pretty much means, "OMG this umlungu speaks Zulu!?" It's often quite hilarious, but they give me a higher level of respect, and I feel proud of my Zulu skills :-) (Even if they are limited).

The hospital can be pretty intense. One day while in the low birth weight nursery, I saw this giant baby sleeping in there. I was talking to the lady I was with and was like, Whoa! Omg, look at this huge baby! He was super adorable, but so obviously health and not underweight. I soon found out he was 5 months old, and had been abandoned by his mother. It was so crazy, because I would imagine that something like (the following) would not happen in the States. The staff had named him, taken care of him, played with him, and even given him an HIV test, for 5! months. When I came back the next week, he had been adopted by a staff member. (Everyone was really happy for him!) :-)

One day a young girl came in after having given birth at home. She hadn't done any antenatal care, and she ended up finding out she was HIV+. It was heart-wrenching. But this is rare, the majority of the mothers come in to the clinic and follow all of the steps to prevent HIV transmission to their children. Mothers who are pregnant and children under the age of 6 get free healthcare. Also, if you have a certain CD4 count (number of healthy blood cells, the higher the number, the better your immune system), you get free ARVs. (ARVs are the drugs usedto suppress the HIV).

Tomorrow my roommate and I are going to get 90 minute massages (for less than $40)! It's pretty exciting. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Hillcrest

Well, our two weeks at Windemere was absolutely fabulous. I was sad to leave! But where I'm staying now is almost as fabulous, and quite eye-opening.

I am living with two other girls at a Bed and Breakfast in an upper-class white suburb 30 minutes outside of Durban- Hillcrest. (As a side note, many of the other suburbs around Durban are different in that they have been integrated with many upper class families of all races, but not Hillcrest.) The B&B is fabulous, we have our own kitchenette and full bathroom separate from the main house. The backyard has a beautiful garden and pool area that we are taking full advantage of. The neighborhood is generally safe for us to run in as well, and the estates we are running past, gorgeous! The owners of the B&B have also been quite welcoming and friendly (and a little hilarious). Debbie has been so sweet by offering us rides to the grocery store or mall. She is quite a talker, though, and always has many interesting things to share with us. This can provide insight on the racism often expressed by white Afrikaners that we have not otherwise experienced. She has made comments about this construction company who "only" got the job because of a type of South African affirmative action plan, and that her husbands construction company would not be taking 2 years to finish it. Or that the "Indians really know how to cook, that's one thing they're good for." We heard some of these comments the first day we had met her, and it was quite a shocking experience. Like I said earlier, she has always been very sweet to us, but it's really difficult to hear her speak with such racism when we have families in Cato Manor. And really, living here makes the inequality of South Africa even more obvious.

Which, brings me to a current event. An Afrikans man was brutally murdered on Sunday by 2 Black men. It is igniting a lot of controversy right now because a)He was a leader of a pro-Apartheid political party and b) because of this "Shoot the boer" song being sung within the country by leaders. (Boer is a derogatory term used to describe white Afrikans people). And, the Youth Leader of the ANC (which is the leading political party of the country), continues to sing this song when he speaks. (This song has been in high controversy for months.) The song has recently been banned, but I guess we'll see what actually happens with this ANC Youth Leader and tensions within the country.

Racial tensions are still so prevalent in this country. I walk around with people of other races all the time (other students from the SIT program), and people just stare and gawk at us. (I'll be thinking, why the heck are all these people staring at us? and then I'm like, Oh, that's right, we're not segregating ourselves). The clubs and bars are also often segregated (not officially, though). When we go out, we'll walk in, and often be the only people there not all the same color as everyone else. It's so weird and awful! (But we do frequently joke that we're "crossing boundaries".) And one of the students is currently dating someone who is Zulu. And people go crazy! People who are white and Indian will yell derogatory comments at them while they are out in public. (And they are definitely not displaying signs of PDA). I was buying ice cream one day, and the staff (who were Zulu), were talking very negatively about the bi-racial couple. It's often really shocking and upsetting.


On a different note, today we were laying by the pool, when we heard this squawking noise (like a giant bird). We look over, and there's these monkeys in the backyard. There were 7 of them! I'm not quite sure if I've talked about them before. They are everywhere, and mean! So basically, we don't feed them and we don't interact with them. But even so, it was quite entertaining to be sitting in the backyard watching monkeys climb all over the bird feeder and the trees. It was definitely one of those moments where I was like "I feel like I'm in Africa!".


Anyways! Tomorrow I go to St. Mary's hospital in Mariannhill. I start my learnership observing the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS. I'm excited!


(Oh! And I forgot to say that for Easter, Julia, Sarah, and I made a delicious dinner with salad, ham, dumplings, deviled eggs, and brownies :-) It was a little sad to be away from home, but we definitely made the best of it.)

The Beach

Sanibona!

I just wanted to say that my weekend in my new flat has been incredible :-) I live with 4 other girls in a flat on the eighth floor of an apartment like complex (it houses both residents and vacationers). We have a little kitchen, a dining room table, a little living room set, beds, and! a shower. We also have a balcony with floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the North Beach skyline and North Beach (and the Indian Ocean). It is absolutely gorgeous. We always have our balcony doors open and the breeze flows in. Every morning I got to wake up to the stunning views. I took naps, went swimming (it's always warm but refreshing), and went running on the beach. I got super tan and not sunburnt :-) We also went a soccer game at the World Cup Stadium (it wasn't the Bafana Bafana World Cup team, but it was almost better because we were only allowed to sit in the close seats up front, so we had great views, and Amazulu (our Durban team) won!) We went shopping and took minibus taxis all over the city (which is always an experience!). Anyways, it was beautiful weather and it will be an amazing two weeks!

Hambani Kahle!

My Amazing Cato Mama

Being here causes me to realize how lucky I am to have the health care that I do. If I call an ambulance in the States, it will more than likely come within a few minutes, and it will take me whether I have insurance or not. If I get really sick in the middle of the night, someone will take me in their car (or I can drive my own), and we will drive less than 10 minutes to a 24 hour health care facility. The facility is clean and properly ventilated, that the health care professionals will wear gloves and sterilize their equipment. I can trust that they know what they’re doing, and know what they’re talking about, and also! that they speak the same language as me! It’s just so crazy to imagine and see people who do not have the access, money, or availability of these services.

I also am continuing to see how amazing my Cato mama is. We were talking last night more about how my bhutis, Brian and Carl, went to ‘model C’ schools (a white school under the apartheid). These schools had  (and still have), more resources and a higher quality of education. My mama had to demand applications for the white schools and apply to all of them in order to find one for Brian to go to. She was the only black  parent at the parent meetings, and she says defiantly “I opened the door for the other parents!” which is really  true. No one else in their neighborhood was going to model C schools at this time (and hardly anyone in Cato is now). She will often exclaim, “We might speak the same English, but I paid for your English!” She also  proudly tells how she is so lucky because Brian and Carl are so respectful and have accomplishments and  high achievements. But really, she has done so much. It is a-mazing that she got her children into such great schools and could afford for them to go there, all while being a single parent and experiencing oppression  because of the apartheid. I am already sad to leave my Cato family! Tomorrow is the Cato Manor farewell  party; I am excited and will take lots of pictures :-)

DramAIDe and Body Mapping

Sanibona! Hello all!

Last week was spent in Cato and in our classroom learning about development studies and public health in the media. 

DramAIDe is a program that goes around to schools to educate about HIV/AIDS. Facilitators came and did some of the drama activities with us, which ended up absolutely hilarious and educational. Some of the activities involved a group interpreting a traditionally controversial picture (i.e. a man feeding a baby while the woman reads the newspaper) or creating a completely new tribe and acting out a day in their lives (this was ours, we created a tribe that lived underwater and had a problem with 'plankton' that we ate giving us 'unshiny' scales, and we were hilarious I must say :-)). But the discussions that complemented the drama were thought provoking, causing us to play characters whose opinions we might not agree with or ever be forced to think about (a gogo, a male pastor, a female doctor, a teenage male, etc.). It seems like a great project for school.

We also took part in a body mapping activity. This is a type of counseling and bonding activity they frequently use for people with HIV/AIDS. We laid down on a piece of white paper and traced our bodies. Next we were instructed to do things like put a symbol on our bodies that represents where our power is, draw our first childhood memory, draw ourselves 5 years from now, draw where we feel anxiety or fear, etc. We got to use watercolor, oil pastels, and paint. Although we were only able to do it for 2 hours (the normal session lasts 5 days), we had a lot of fun and it was quite relaxing as well. 

This week is our last in Cato Manor. Friday is our farewell party, which is catered and celebrated with all of our families. I am sad to leave my family, but super excited to be able to be at the beach everyday, running and tanning and swimming. And although I love my mama's cooking, I am glad to be eating more fruits and vegetables (and not sooo much starch and protein). 

Hambani Kahle! (Go well everyone!)

Umthwalume

Sawubona!

This week we traveled to Umthwalume (pronounced oom-twa-loom-ay). It's on the coast about an hour out of Durban. Each rural homestay has a local coordinator who helps to organize activities and families while communicating with our academic directors. We stayed with our coordinator, Umtomndeni, or baba as called him at home, his wife, Bayisiwe, our mama, and their 2 children, a daughter Sesese who was 5 and a son who was 3. Their house consisted of a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room. The bedroom had a large bed and two bunkbeds (we slept on the bunkbeds while our mama and siblings slept in the large bed). The family was currently in the process of building a very large 4 bedroom home next door (large in comparison to other houses we have seen in SA), and this is where our baba slept while we were there. That house had a working toilet that we were able to use while we were there :-) The house that we lived in had electricity, and running water accessible outside. 

We traveled to a TB hospital while we were there. The TB hospital had a garden and rec area for the patients to use while they were there (average length of stay is 70-90 days). The hospital staff was quite friendly and open to answering our questions. The hospital itself, however, was old and not built as a TB hospital. It had lots of windows and doors, but no ventilation system or airflow exchange. The beds were at most 5 ft apart, but at least 2 ft apart (aka way too close!). They did have a separate ward for MDR patients (multi-drug resistant TB), but refer XDR-TB patients to a hospital in Durban. 

We also traveled to a place called LoveLife, which is an after school program for high school kids. They offer many indoor and outdoor sports activities and staff (mainly in their 20's) to facilitate. The main point of LoveLife (which exists all over ZA), is to educate the kids of HIV/AIDS prevention and health in general while involving them in activities which helps them to avoid trouble. It is a great program which actually receives a lot of international aid. However, that aid has been dropping and they are definitely struggling. This location currently has no electricity because of being unable to pay a R100,000 bill. This means that their computer lab and sound studio do not have electricity, and they have no lighting. So, less kids have been coming to the center lately, especially on rainy days. It's sad to think that such a great program  helping the community is sinking due to some factors out of their control. 

We also traveled to the health clinic in Umthwalume. It was EXTREMELY crowded. (More so than I've ever seen a clinic). But this is the norm. The nurse who talked with us was only able to give us 10 minutes of her time. They are supposed to be operating 24 hrs, but they do not have the staff. The nurses themselves actually work overtime (that they don't get paid for) to provide bare services for the community. They have a doctor who comes a few times a month; the nurses themselves are able to prescribe medicine and assist with births at the clinic.



The next two weeks are our last in Cato Manor. Then, I'll hopefully be staying at the Windemere (the flats on the beach) for two weeks. It's hard to believe that we've already been here for 6 weeks! It's been flying by so fast, I know I will be very sad to leave (but happy to come home to my family and friends!)


Salani Kahle!

Drakensburg and Impendle

This past week has been fabulous and cool as we traveled to the Drakensburg Mountains. (I can imagine already that this will be a long blog.) I was able to wear jeans for the first time since I stepped off the plane! Saturday we left for Cobham where we stayed in a large lodge and cooked our meals over the campfire. The food was so familiar and delicious. We had corn on the cob, baked potatoes, hot dogs, and salads. We also had the opportunity to sleep outside in tents. The mountains that surrounded us were absolutely breath-taking. On Saturday we hiked close to campus and swam in streams. As we walked through these thorn bushes and long, itchy grass, I couldn’t help but think, I am just not a wilderness woman! (Although the streams were quite refreshing.) But Sunday, we hiked as a group up a mountain. It was exhilarating! It was really tough physically; I got a little sunburnt, I was aerobically exhausted, I have massive blisters on my feet, my shins had rashes from the wild grass. But it was totally worth it! I thought to myself, I am such a wilderness woman! as I hiked completely exhausted. And the views at the top were beyond stunning. The educational purpose of our hike was to see the Bushman paintings. These were paintings done in the 18th century on the cave walls. It was quite fascinating and I took lots of pictures. 

Monday morning we left to go to Impendle. Impendle is a rural town set in the mountains. My homestay buddy was Lauren, and we stayed with our mama, her daughter who was 17 (Thini) and her granddaughter (Akhona) who was 5. The neighbor, Thombi, was also staying there (we think because she was fluent in English and our mama spoke probably less English than what we speak of Zulu) with her 3 yr old daughter Jabulo (Happy). The food was again plentiful but delicious. However, they did feed us peanut butter sandwhiches with chicken polony slices on them along with our porridge for breakfast. It wasn't as awful as it sounds, but it was definitely unexpectful. When we tried to convince them to let us make our own breakfast, they fed us plain pb sandwhiches, (so I'm guessing they realized our distaste for chicken polony and pb). As guests in their houses (even tho we are always convincing them we should be treated as their daughters), we are endlessly tended to. We were woken up every morning with hot chocolate (at 6am). Then served with bath water, and with tea and breakfast after that. When we return from school, they are always quick to serve us tea and biscuits (cookies). 

The family had electricity (but no TV so I missed Generations again this week), and a running water source coming from their yard. Their cows are much more intelligent than I had imagined cows to be. As a herd came down the dirt road, some of the cows stopped at our gate, waiting to be let in, while the other cows continued. We had 6 cows, 3 goats, and a bunch of chickens. They all just pooped freely in our tiny yard. The toilet was also a long drop with a wooden shaped toilet space this time. It is enclosed by rusty metal scrap pieces. It was not a very pleasant experience the first time I tried to open the rusty metal "door"; it was difficult to open and it scraped my leg. I was quite paranoid about needing a tetanus shot! And they also gave us a "pee bowl" for the night. Although I stopped drinking liquids after 5, it seemed like it was probably better than going outside at night with the worry of snakes and stepping on animal poop, and who knows what in the long drop.

I also realized that my family was much more open about discussing community health than many American families would be. On the first day we were there, they were quite comfortable talking to us about TB, AIDS, and STI's. They were openly sharing their opinions and knowledge about the diseases. It was really great to be able to talk with them about health in Impendle and ZA. It is also so fascinating how their culture places such a high value on having lots of curves and extra weight. Thombi and mama laughed hysterically and giggled the entire time about how skinny we were, and they were continuously touching our stomachs, encouraging us to eat more. One of the other students sisi's told her that if she didn't eat enough, she wouldn't get her "womanly figure".

While in Impendle, we also traveled to a sustainable community 45 min. outside of Impendle. It consisted of 8 adults and 6 children. Each family gets water from the mountain, and gets their electricity from solar power. The families all have skills with which they share services with other families. For example, one of the women is quite knowledgeable about herbs and their medicinal uses. Another woman has chickens that she raises to provide eggs for the community. Although we found many criticisms to their way of life (i.e. their children currently lead a socially sheltered life), it was so fascinating to learn how they lived sustainably and without many resources. One of the woman had a tub sitting out in her yard that she would fill with water and then start a fire underneath to warm it. They also talked about financial stress and how they've learned to fight fires for hours before help can get there.

Next week we travel to Umthwalume. This is another rural homestay on the coast that sounds hot like Durban, but just as beautiful as Impendle. The families there have also never had American students before, so that will be a unique experience. I am sure I will again have lots to share!

Hambani Kahle!

Cato Manor

Sanibona!


I just wanted to share a little about life in Cato Manor :-)


The neighborhood is similar to a music festival, (minus drunks and music concerts). Everyone leaves their doors open and it's always so hot. The neighbors house is maybe 6 feet away from our house. We can hear everything that goes on in their house. This morning, we were listening to the same radio station, and everyone just laughed and talked across the lawn to each other. My mama will send the neighbor kids to buy bread for us down the street, and neighbors just walk in and sit down to visit.


One of the little boys who lives next door to us is 3, and can't quite seem to understand that I don't speak Zulu. (I think he gets confused because I do speak some Zulu.) He is always standing in the yard saying "Ya Sisi! Ya Sisi!" (Hi Sister!), and my family will have to get my attention that he is speaking to me. (I often tune out the neighbors voices due their proximity or when they are speaking Zulu). This morning he was in our kitchen dancing, it was quite adorable. I managed to get a video, which we had to watch multiple times and walk over to show his family (3 older sisters and a brother).All of a sudden, he started STOMPING his feet so hard on the tile floor and yelling something in Zulu. I was like, OMG Mama, what is he doing?!, thinking, why is this crazy kid pounding his little feet on the hard floor?! Haha, but it turns out, he was just doing a traditional Zulu dance. It was hilarious and adorable at the same time. I, unfortunately, missed getting a video of it. But I'm sure he'd be happy to show me another day.


On a different, rather sad and scary, note, a member of the community passed away this week. He was a thief, and stole frequently from all of our families and other communities. He was beaten because he was a thief, and died in the hospital. Many of the families are glad that he has passed away. In a country with so much crime and little help from the police, this is often the reality. Zed (our academic director) has stated that if we ourselves get mugged, SIT will simply attempt to reimburse us and no report will be filed. It is unlikely that the police will do much about it. Rape and other violent crimes also frequently go unreported. The event in the community is shocking for us as we did not realize this was occurring.

Amatikulu

Before I tell you about my a-mazing week, please take a minute to appreciate last nights sleep, where you probably slept peacefully, without waking in the middle of the night to little lizards dropping on you and spiders crawling all over you. You probably slept not in a hot, stuffy, humid, stale-air room, smelling outhouses and sweat.... but in a climate controlled house smelling of tide and fabric softener. You didn't wake up in the middle of the night, begging your bladder to magically expand, because if it didn't, you wouldn't casually be flipping on the nearest light switch steps away from your shiny, clean, porcelain toilet, but.... clumsily striking a match to light the candle guiding you cautiously (you don't want to step on any snakes!) out to the dark, smelly, and dirty outhouse. And then, of course, when you finally (or easily) did fall back asleep, you probably awoke to a snow blower and not to roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing and those little lizards scratching their nails all over the metal roof directly above your head.

But.... even tho sleeping was pretty awful, I still had a beyond fabulous week. We traveled to Amatikulu, right near the coast, and the views were amazing! My mama was a Community Health Worker in the area. So we walked miles with her through the fields, in the heat, up and down hills (she is amazing! and totally in shape!) from family to family. We generally covered 1 or 2 families an hour. She was responsible for educating the families on things like the importance of hand washing, having a garbage hole, having a toilet, TB, the care of an ill baby, clean water, food prep, and more. The families we went to might have had electricity, but didn't have running water.

My mama is doing so much for her community (like many of the other CHW's in Amatikulu). She applied for and received a giant water tank that families can come to for clean water (it is refilled by a truck once a week). They are also applying for their community to get electricity, running water, and flushing toilets.

My mama is 26, and has a 6 year old son. She lives with her mother, her brother, his wife, and their 2 year old son. I had the most amazing food and even tho sleeping was a bit awful, the fact that we didn't have electricity or running water didn't even matter. The families that we saw were also amazing. Every family we saw was laughing and joking the entire time we were there, despite a bare minimum of material possessions. One family I will remember consisted of an unrelated 26 yr old women and a 19 yr old girl, both without parents and both terribly skinny, obviously suffering from HIV or some type of terrible disease. And yet they laughed so hard the entire time, they were both just radiating warmth and joy.

This weekend we're off to the Drakensburg Mtns, with next week being another rural homestay, Impendle. I'm sure I'll have more interesting stories to share then!

Hambani Kahle!

The Gogo's

Yesterday (February 11th) I had an amazing day. It was also the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mendela's release from prison. (As a side note, the US Gov't used to think Nelson Mendela was a terrorist. I wasn't alive during that time, but I told my host family I was still a little embarrassed.) Jacob Zuma, the current president, made his annual state of the nation speech which I was able to watch with my bhuti Brian and my mama.

During the day we made trips to non-profit organizations. I was able to go to Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust. This is a faith-based organization that practices a more holistic and sustainable approach. It was beyond incredible. The site hosts a store, nursery, and clinic (besides other things). The community can be tested at Hillcrest for HIV and can receive counseling. If the patient does not have a source of income or adequate living situations, the staff works with them to teach them a craft (like beading). The patient then make crafts from home and bring them to the centre to sell. They receive more than 90% of the profits from their sales (the remaining percent goes to upkeep of the shop). The bead work especially was beautiful (I bought lots of gifts and plan to go back for more!).

There are caregivers (supervised by RN's) also out in the communities working with the patients to ensure they are still healthy and that their living spaces are adequate. There are also gogo support groups where women from the community affected by AIDS come together to relieve their stress and chat and make crafts. The centre has a nursery where the profits go towards their food programs. They do both a food share and garden program. The food share program shares food with families for a limited amount of time (until they can get their own garden running or have a decent amount of income). The garden program sends people out to help families start their own sustainable gardens. Finally, there is a hospice clinic on the grounds with 24 beds. This is set up for AIDS patients who are dying and have no one able to care for them. Although we did not go directly into the rooms, it seemed to be a warm, family like space.

The most amazing experience of the day was the trip to see the gogo's (grannys!). We traveled to rural areas just outside Hillcrest. As we pulled up, we were met with 10+ gogo's whooping and singing coming down from a large tree to greet us. We had brought food from the center and they were all extremely thankful and happy to see us, we were enveloped in large, sweaty gogo hugs! And the setting itself was amazing. We sat shaded under this large tree on chairs, grass, and rocks, with chickens and their chicks (at least 20!), dogs and their puppies all around us, and the lucious, green, mountainous hills surrounding us. We sang praise hymns together with lots of clapping and dancing. One gogo we spoke to was attempting to care for 15 people under her 2 bedroom roof. Only 2 people had been able to find work in their entire family (unemployment is about 30% in SA). And the gogo's there are doing so much for themselves and their families. Next to their sustainable garden sat the future site of their own store. The road on which it sits is one frequently traveled by tourists. Each Thursday, with 2 bags of cement, water, and 8 wheel-barrows full of sand, they make 92 bricks for their store (if weather permits). When enough bricks are made, they will build the site and pave a road. These were women with so much lost yet they were just so happy and thankful and loving and hard-working and prayer-filled! It was just beyond amazing.

I might not be blogging again for a week. Monday I will be traveling to Amatikulu for one of our 4 day rural homestays. We are being prepared for the possibility of long-drop toilets, pea pots, rats, bed bugs, and hot hot weather! It sounds a little intimidating, but we stay with a buddy and I know it will be a wonderful experience. Wish us luck!

Hamabani Kahle!

McCord Hospital and Wknd at the Beach

This weekend we stayed in an apartment building on the beach in Durban. It was wonderful to be able to walk down to the beach whenever we wanted to because the weekend was extremely hot and humid (like usual!). We went to Victoria St. Market (a marketplace with a variety of merchants) and I bargained for a great pair of wooden earrings for R10 (~$1.30). It will be the perfect place for souvenirs in May. We also went out to eat tons and I got to enjoy a fabulous plate of seafood on Saturday (linefish, calamari, calamari heads, prawn (shrimp), and mussels). It was a nice change to the endless curry in every other dish that I have been eating (both at home and out to eat). We also had showers and a balcony with a beautiful view of the beach and downtown Durban. It was relaxing and luxurious :-)

 My host family is still fabulous and I have been having a great time. I taught my mama how to play Phase 10 recently and I'll hopefully be making pancakes and tacos this weekend for them.

Yesterday I traveled to McCord hospital to observe a semi-private hospital. The hospital was definitely not the hospitals I am used to in the states. There was no air conditioning or ventilation system and limited patient privacy because there are multiple beds in a row. There appeared to be an ample amount of nursing staff available to the patients and the staff at the hospital were all very friendly, but overall the hospitals here are understaffed.

Getting the attention of South African’s is something I finally learned to do this weekend. There were multiple times when I said ‘Excuse me, Excuse me. Sir? Excuse me!’ Trying to get their attention. They would not respond even when I was inches away, and as soon as I said “Sawubona!” Their head jerks up - finally.  Sunday, I realized that I need to say ‘I’m sorry?’ in place of excuse me. It’s amazing what a difference “I’m sorry” makes in place of “Excuse me?”

Tomorrow we travel to NGO’s to observe for a half day and this weekend we spend in Cato Manor.

Hamabani Kahle!

Durban School for the Hearing Impaired

Sonibonani!

Tuesday I traveled to the Durban School for the Hearing Impaired. It was a wonderful, eye-opening experience. There is both a primary school and a senior school. The schools were great in that there were at max 10 students in a classroom (7 on average in the senior school, 5 on average in the primary school). All but two of the teachers both spoke and signed when they taught. The children in the school have varying degrees of their hearing impairment, and some of them have full hearing but are slow learners. The principle shared with us that absenteeism is a major problem within the school. The children may experience problems  with transportation (although there is a school bus, it cannot afford to go within all of the neighborhoods, only to the outskirts) or coming to school on an empty stomach. The senior school only has a social worker/counselor who comes to school once a week. This has been financially arranged through their national Blind and Deaf Society. Although this school faces many challenges, they have a 100% matriculation (graduation test) pass rate. This is AMAZING compared to the national averages. There is major social shame associated with not passing your matrics (the names are posted in the newspaper). The stigma one experiences frequently causes preventable suicide attempts.


We are learning a lot about class and race tensions still very much apart of South Africa. One thing many of us noticed was a certain attitude towards Cato Manor. When telling people that we were staying with families in Cato Manor, we were often met with shocks and laughter of disbelief. Among other things, people make assumptions about our family's diets, the safety of the neighborhood, and where we should be staying as Americans. It is frequently surprising to people when we say that the neighborhood is very welcoming and that, although we are cautious about safety, we all feel safe with our families.

This weekend we will be staying closer to downtown Durban. We will be close to the beach and may even have the chance to go to Gateway Mall (which is apparently larger than MOA)! We also have our first Zulu test tomorrow, so wish me luck! Hamabani Kahle!

1st Weekend in Cato Manor

Sawubona! This weekend was spent in Cato Manor with umndeni wami (my family), it was quite exciting!

On Saturday morning I went with my mama into town to go grocery shopping. I had my first ride in a minibus taxi. There were 16 of us squished into a large van, with no seatbelts, and 5R (75 cents) for a 10 minute ride. Downtown is very busy; there are markets everywhere. I was continually bumping into people and getting asked to buy things. I was also very aware that I was a minority. There were no other visible people who were white downtown. Overall, it was a neat experience and the people downtown were quite friendly.


One thing that I have to be sure is that I not to carry a purse or anything that suggests I'm carrying valuables. I either carry money in a money belt (hidden under my shirt around my waist), in my bra, or in my pockets. No one has been mugged yet, but it's likely that some of us will.


On Sunday I had a terrifying experience on the way to church. My mama and I were the last to be dropped off downtown and were sitting directly behind the front seat. As the driver flew around the corner, we had to swerve to miss another minibus headed straight for us. We were thrown against the door. My mama's Bible flew to the front of the taxi. Luckily, the van did not tip over and we came out with a few minor scratches.But my mama and bhuti's (brothers) were VERY upset, much more than I had expected. My mama was speaking angry Zulu words at the driver after the incident. Car accidents in SA are often tragic because the ambulances can take hours (like 4 or 6) to get to the scene, especially if you are not insured and have to call a public ambulance.



Finally, we arrived at church safely (not before my mama stopped to tell everyone about our near death experience). The church was BEAUTIFUL. It was located in the mid of downtown. It had large pillars and a congregation 10 times larger than any service I have been to in WI or MN. The service lasted from 9am-noon. It was a beautiful service. There were many people who shared their testimonies, lots of singing and dancing, and pastors preaching in both English and Zulu. There were no bulletins or overhead projectors, everyone just knew the words and sang along. The pastor preached on many tough issues including HIV/AIDS and violence against women. Although the congregation didn't seem completely open about these topics, it was interesting to hear him speak on them.


On both Saturday and Sunday I was outside playing games with some of the American students and many, many neighborhood abantwana (children). They love the American students (SIT has been in Cato Manor for 5+ years). We played duck duck goose, marbles, red light green light orange (yellow) light, and the girls were continually braiding and fixing our 'soft' blonde hair. They were also completely intrigued with how our skin turns red when it is rubbed or how red our faces get. They are all very sweet and help us to learn new Zulu words.


Tomorrow we're traveling to 'Special Schools' within Durban. The children at these schools have some type of disability or disadvantage, including: learning disabilities, physical handicaps, being hard of hearing, immigrants, or impoverished children unable to afford school fees.


I'm not sure if I mentioned this yet, but I did get my suitcase Friday! It made me feel 10x better, and I have my parents to thank for it, especially my mom :-)

Hambani Kahle! 

Zulu Culture and my Host Family

Sawubona! Hello!
I moved in with my host family yesterday :-) There is my mama, and her two sons, Carl and Brian. Carl is 22 and Brian is 26, engaged to Colo. (I'm still not 100% sure on Colo's name yet, it's pronounced with a clicking noise, and she gave me her nickname.) They live in Cato Manor, which is a township inside of the city of Durban.

They appear to be much better off than other families in Cato Manor. My mama has 3 bedrooms, a few satellite channels, a tv, a computer, and internet access. My mama deals with insurance, and has had 10 other American students before me. To wash up, we fill a basin with water to rinse off while standing in a tub. We do not have hot water, and must heat it up using an electric kettle.(I was fine with cold water as it is always quite humid and hot here!)

The way that they dress and speak to each other is different from American culture. It is considered rude if you do not immediately greet your mama in the morning, or whenever you see her again. They call each other mama, baba (father), bhuti (brother), and sisi (sister). These terms are even used to greet or connect with strangers, similiar to the way we use ma'am or sir. It is completely acceptable to walk into your yard without a shirt on (for both men and women), but you do not wear shorts or skirts above the knee. It is also less appropriate to wear jeans.

The South Africans are prideful about what they wear. I never see people (even the poorest people) in raggy or holey clothing. My mama was insistent that I iron my clothing for the next day.

We have been warned that they eat a lot of starch and meat. They have also been asked to provide us with some fruits and vegetables. My mama fed me the best meal I've had on the trip so far! It was a type of chicken stew, with vegetables and chicken wings. We were told that if we didn't leave a little something on the plate to signify that we were full, we would be fed continuously! In Zulu culture, our mama's strive to have the fattest guest. Also, the most attractive women are much larger than what Americans often think are ideal.

As a family last night, we watched a soap opera (Generations, in a combo of English and Zulu), the news (in Zulu), and the South Africa v. Zimbabwe soccer game. The soccer game was like a Packers/Vikings game - all the neighbors where yelling and many people were visiting the house, totally into the game. 

I brought my host family WI maple syrup. They liked the taste of it, but only Brian had ever had 'flapjacks' with syrup before. I will make them pancakes one morning (if I can get up before them - they all rise at 5am!).
This weekend we will spend with our host families, likely going downtown and to the beach. 


Hamba Kahle! Go Well!

Finally, Durban :-)

The last couple of days have been fabulous! (Minus the still missing luggage.) I luckily haven't been getting bit by mosquitos or encountered any terrifying animals, and I haven't gotten any travelers illnesses :-)

For our last night in Johannesburg we went to a mall and to the movies. It's crazy how inexpensive everything is here! The movie ticket was less than $4, and the ice cream cone I got was less than $1. The movie theater was even nicer than some American theaters. The advertisements were culturally different in that every other commercial was for liquor. Zed, our academic director, has said that alcoholism is a big problem in SA.

Today we learned some simple Zulu phrases, and headed our for Durban. The scenery was gorgeous. There were mountains and valleys everywhere, with little townships in between. The diversity of plants here is amazing as well. It was about a 6 hour drive, and we stopped halfway at a little fast food/gas station area. It seemed to be in the middle of no where, but had flat screen T.V.'s playing VH1 and Lady Gaga playing on the radio! Not exactly what I expected.

Durban is beautiful, but an extremely crowded and busy city. It is also HOT HOT HOT, and HUMID! Our backpacking hostel is almost as nice as a hotel. It also has a great roof deck with a wonderful breeze to help combat the heat. The Indian Ocean is warm and we were able to cool off for a few minutes before going out for supper, where I was able to add ostrich meat to my list of new foods. It was delicious! I can't exactly say the same for the cow intestines I tried the other day, which was squishy but spicy and edible.

Tomorrow we do 'Durban drop-offs.' They drop us off in pairs somewhere in the city, and give us a destination. From alumni, it sounds like a lot of fun, but a little nerve-racking. We'll have our SA cell phones in case of problems, too.
The next time I write I'll have met my host family!

Johannesburg!

I made it safely to Johannesburg.... unfortunately my luggage did not :-( It is still lost, and Delta has no idea where it is. It is quite upsetting. But the girls in my group have been super generous and sharing with me anything I need, which is wonderful. Johannesburg is great, though! The weather here is wonderful and warm. It's been a bit sticky during the day, but cool at night. Yesterday, it was 78 and sunny. Today it was sunny in the morning, and then stormy. But I didn't mind the rain, especially because I haven't heard a thunderstorm in months.There aren't many bugs here either, but we did sleep with a mosquito coil on just in case here at the backpacking lodge. It's a large house, surrounded by barbed wire fence (a common thing here, along with ferocious dogs), with multiple bunk beds in the bedrooms.

This afternoon we traveled to Soweto. Soweto is the township where a peaceful protest in 1976 turned into a tragic, violent day. African students marched peacefully to protest that they were forced to study in the white language they were unfamiliar with. The police turned on them with dogs and guns. Many people were injured and killed. The museum we went to was created as a memorial to those who died on that day. It was an incredibly moving experience.
We also toured one of Nelson Mendela's homes. The South Africans are extremely proud because it is the only street in the world where you can find the homes of two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Mendela and Desmond Tutu).


South Africans drive on the opposite side of the road, run red lights, and give pedestrians no rights. Their money has a lion on it, the Rand, and is about $1 to 7.7R. But I'll probably have much more to say when we get to Durban on Tuesday :-)

Pre-South Africa

It's Tuesday - I'll be leaving in less than 2 days! Crazy! I'll be flying from Minneapolis to Johannesburg, with a layover in Atlanta. Our flight from Atlanta to Jburg is ~16 hrs, but about 7 of us are on the same flight and have seats near each other. So many people ask me if I'm nervous or scared, but I'm just excited! I know it will be an amazing experience and I'll learn so much. Just doing some pre-departure reading has given me so much insight on South Africa itself. 

South Africa seems like such an industrialized country, and yet there are still regions where people have no running water or electricity. They have the highest amount of deaths due to AIDS/HIV in the world. The average life expectancy for all South Africans is approximately 49 years. Although the Apartheid ended nearly 20 years ago, there is still so much inequality.
(The apartheid was a period of approximately 50 years where 10% of the population (people who were white) dominated the other 90% (people who were black, asian, or of mixed race) through racial segregation.) 

We'll be traveling a lot while we're in the country, and therefore I'm limited to one suitcase and one backpack. Although I'll be able to buy pretty much everything in South Africa when I get there, I still have so much to pack! I've been continuously weighing my suitcase to ensure it doesn't go over 50 lbs. :-S But so far, I haven't gone over. 


For the people who are reading this, I am excited to be able to share my experiences with you :-) One thing to note is that I've posted all my blogs in their time, so 8 hours ahead of WI. I unfortunately will not be able to post pictures during the trip due to the slower internet connections, but I'm sure I'll have hundreds to share when I get back. Next time I write, I'll be in South Africa! Hambe Kahle!