Sawbona!
That is the traditional Zulu greeting, translating to, "I see you." Our amazing travel leader, Alina Nkosi-Mlotshwa speaks all 11 of South Africa's official languages, and has been teaching us a little here and there.
It is hard to believe that we have been here one week, the days since Monday have flown by, and I am filled with substantial stories to share--better than lame tales of a long plane flight. First, unfinished business of the previous email. I must apologize for not using "BCC--" now you all know everyone's email addresses! Also, belated good wishes to David Swaney for a Happy Birthday and Laura and Scott Pullar for a Happy Anniversary. Between jet lag and the pressure to write a quick email I forgot these things on Monday.
We have spent the majority of our time this week in Gauteng (How-tang, with a Jewish-like h) Province. This is among the smaller of the nine provinces, but it has the highest GDP--home to gold mines! We began with a trip to the Cradle of Humankind, more specifically, the Sterkfontein Cave where the oldest fossils related to humans, Mr/Mrs Pleas and Little Foot have been found. It was a beautiful journey in many ways, many in the group were deeply moved by the connection to the beginnings of our species. This feeling was slightly inhibited by two things--our very "old school" van driver, who regaled us with his ignorant views ("There are far more Europeans in South Africa than black people. Always have been.") that gave us an idea of what life is really like in the post-Apartheid South Africa--still many adjustments to be made in the minds of some people. This was followed by a trip to a true tourist destination, the Lesedi Cultural Village. We were all disturbed by our trip there as it was clear that the people working here were being exploited. A place to learn about the cultures of the Zulu, Ndebele, Xhosa, Pedi, and other South African tribes was clearly not being run by South African tribes, the place had a true sense of inauthenticity to it that upset many of us. As this week comes to a close, we are all becoming aware of the theme of our trip--Managing Diversity--and continually reminded of the importance South Africans place on recognizing both "sides" of their heritage.
We were heartened on Wednesday by our trip to the new Apartheid Museum. It is a beautiful buiding and the experience reminded many of us of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in terms of the depth of one's personal experience as well as the depth of the truth of storytelling that takes place inside. As you arrive, you are handed a card that states you are either "white" or "non-white" and thereafter you are separated as you experience the first half of the museum. It was a great learning experience, and we all had the feeling that we finally had a good handle on what apartheid was really like--as much as we could not having lived it ourselves. We even managed to make ourselves useful! The Museum has a temporary exhibit on Brown v. the Board of Education and my colleagues allowed me to take the lead on a little "teach-in" with the Museum Guides about the history and legacy of this monumental decision. It was good to be reminded of my faith in the Supreme Court of the US even as President Bush was appointing the next would-be Justice. Wednesday afternoon we were taken on a tour through a former gold mine, which was very interesting, but also a little sad as we learned of the harsh working conditions mine workers endured during the heyday of mining in Joburg at the turn of the 20th century.
Thursday was the most moving day of the week, I would have made the entire trip simply to have the experiences I did Thursday. We began our day in Soweto, one of the oldest and largest of South Africa's Black townships. During the 1950s, "non-white" people were forcefully removed from their homes and relocated on the outskirts of town in areas known as townships. Today, these areas are growing along with South Africa's own economy. Our tour began in the "ritzy" section of town, beautifully maintained homes with high walls and razor fences on a hill overlooking the worst poverty I have ever witnessed in my life. As we traveled down into downtown Soweto, we passed hostels--long, rectangular cinder block buildings built to house single men working in the mines. We continued on and saw the world's largest hospital, Chris Hani Baragwanath while we met many people along the way and had a demonstration from an African Medicine Man. I began to feel quite sad at the sight of the extreme poverty here when we boarded the bus for a visit to an informal settlement. This is an area where people have set up an entire neighborhood of homes--shacks, really--with no running water, no electricity--for as far as the eye can see. As we toured the settlement, we met many chidren, who were not in school because they could not pay for school fees, or shoes or whatever. It was here that I have felt for the first time, a true understanding of God's purpose in brining me to this country. For even in the depths of despair, these people have a community. They are joyful and hopeful, they look out for each other and look after the many children whose parents have either died from AIDS or are simply off for the day trying to find work.
I could go on about Soweto for days, but I'm running out of internet time so I'll move on! Later in the day, we had lunch at the famous Wandi's Place, where I spotted the business card of Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist on the wall. Then we had the opportunity to be uplifted once again by the hope of the future of South Africa--through a visit to their Consitutional Court. We were greeted by a very elegant and well spoken black woman whom we all though was our tour guide--as she spoke, we discovered she was not a tour guide at all. Rather, she is one of 2 of the female Constitutional Court Justices for South Africa--the equivalent of our Supreme Court!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a thrill to meet her. Could go on about that for days TOO!
Friday we finally went to a school, a very ritzy one where the school fees are rumored to be R10,000 per year (divide by 6 and you have the US $ equivalent...and that's before uniforms, supplies, transport, etc.). Even though we were there for a briefing on the South African educational system, we did have the opportunity to meet and interact with some students, which was GREAT. I missed my own dearly. Have too much to say!!!
Friday night we headed out to the North West Province, where we were visiting the Pilanesburg National Park for our game drive!!!! We stayed in an amazing lodge, where monkeys ran around like squirrels, and the buildings surrounded a hippo pool. On our way to the evening BBQ, called "Bush Braai," we were delayed by a family of elephants crossing the road! The morning game drive yesterday was breathtaking. We saw more elephants, giraffe, rhino, hippo, many kinds of birds, zebra...it was fantastic.
At the moment I'm writing to you from the Johannesburg International Airport, where we are waiting for our flight to Durban, known as "South Africa's Playground." This week we will be having our first of two "homestays," as well as spending an entire day at a school--we're even teaching! Later this week we will be in East London, Grahamstown, and Port Elizabeth. Next Sunday we fly to Cape Town.
As you can probably tell, I am having an amazing time here and I'm having trouble documenting it all in my journal--my hand gets tired before I can finish writing about each experience. I've taken nearly 10 rolls of film so far, and hope that will fill in the gaps when I return.
Please take good care of yourselves, and know that I'm thinking of you and can't wait to share all that I've learned here.
Love,
Patricia :)
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