Kayley on her work in Tafelsig

Last Friday I accompanied some sisters (nurses) into Tafelsig, a community in Mitchell’s Plain, for a free HIV testing out reach. We all shoved into the clinic’s minibus and headed on our way. Ten minutes later we all piled out and started setting up our tent on an old run down basketball court.  It was a small tent with a few chairs and a table.  We also had a mega phone so we could let everyone know in the community about the free HIV testing and the free drug awareness class that the clinic was offering. 

Immediately when we set up the tent this man came over and started asking questions about why we were there. As we were explaining his eye caught the megaphone. He LOVED that megaphone.  Within seconds he was telling everyone to come over and check out the tent through the megaphone.

One of the sisters and myself accompanied him around the neighborhoods. Since he lived there he knew where to go and provided a great guide. We just followed him around the neighborhoods talking to everyone and telling them about the free HIV testing down the road and the free drug and alcohol abuse class at the clinic. At first I didn’t say much. I just followed and watched and handed out the fliers. As I became more comfortable I started going up and talking to people.  Our megaphone man helped out by telling everyone that I was his American girlfriend which started some interesting conversations. Most people there knew Basic English but I didn’t want to come off as that American who assumes that everyone can speak English. So I tried using some of the words I was taught, “molweni, unjani”, when I got a response I would say “Ndiphilile, enkosi”. This all means “hello, how are you” and then  “I’m fine thank you”.  Some people responded very well to me awkwardly trying to speak Xhosa and others just didn’t answer me.

It was really interesting to talk to everyone about HIV. Some people didn’t even want to hear anything about it and some people were very interested.  Some people just wanted to check out the tent and watch what was going on. I went up to one women who told me she was just tested last month for HIV and she is negative, but she said how she has been fighting breast cancer for a couple of years. She then proceeded to ask me if we do cancer testing under the tent as well. 

As we were following our megaphone man, we stopped at a bar in the neighborhood to talk to some of the people in there. The owner came out and was a little upset. He was speaking in Xhosa to the sister I was with. I couldn’t completely understand what they were saying but I had a good idea. One of the main issues is that HIV and AIDS is not talked about really at all. It is something that is hidden and to be ashamed of. Mostly, because people are not educated correctly about it. My friend told me that one of her students wrote in a paper that sneezing could spread HIV.

The main ways to get HIV is through sexual intercourse, sharing needles, blood transfusions and mother to child. Of course there are other accidents that can occur but they are rare.  Our megaphone man turned and explained what the owner was saying. He was basically saying that if someone HIV positive came into the bar he might loose customers because they wouldn’t want to be around an HIV positive person. After he was done explaining this to me he said, “Girl, what would you do about this?”  The best answer I could come up with at the time was to educate people about HIV and AIDS. To not treat it as some deadly disease that no one ever talks about. From what I understood, and I could be wrong, all people really know about HIV and AIDS is that it is deadly and not acceptable to talk about let alone to get help for. Not many people even understand how it is transmitted and what can be done for it.

Our megaphone man asked us to talk to his friend who is HIV positive and not taking her medication. When we tried to speak to her about taking her medications regularly she got very upset and the man she was living with was also extremely upset. It wasn’t understood that by taking the medications you could really prolong the onset of Aids. If HIV and AIDS was talked openly about then people may learn how to prevent contracting it and learn what can be done if you are positive.

            

Leah's extracurricular activities at Thandokhulu

So because I feel as though I established my love for Thandokhulu in my previous blog, I want to describe the extracurricular activities that I have been engaging in at the school.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a white woman at Thandokhulu. This threw me off because normally Erica, Sarah, and I are the only awkward, non-Xhosa people within the premises. It turned out that she was here with the University of Cape Town. Whatever department she works with organizes programs, workshops, and guest teachers for underprivileged schools. She was here to work with the teachers of Thandokhulu, teach some of their classes, and evaluate the school. Additionally, she was starting a book club! This really excited me because, well, I love books. And I love Thandokhulu. So it was the perfect combination! Of course I immediately volunteered to help.

Ever since, Sarah and I have been working at the book club after school on Tuesdays at Thandokhulu. We were quite worried that high school students would not be interested in something sounding as boring as “book club.” We were expecting to be satisfied with three or four students but to our surprise, 100 students showed up! The students are able to rent out books for a week. Then they bring them back and we talk about them or do different activities like learning how to write a book review. Sarah and I put on a slam poetry class in which we showed the kids some slam poetry and then encouraged them to write their own.

Jackie then asked Sarah and I if we could conduct our slam poetry lesson at a high school she visits on Wednesdays, Sophumelela. This high school is in Khayelitsha and is one of the township schools that are completely funded by the government. It is actually so much nicer and better resourced than Thandokhulu. However, Ms. Bopi told me that parents still want to send their children to Thandokhulu because it is in such a safer area: the residential, previously “white-only” Mowbray. If children are attending the schools in the townships, they have to worry about being raped and mugged on the way to school. So even though Thandokhulu is located next to a highway, costs 400R a year, does not supply notebooks or uniforms, and requires about an hour commute, it is still in high demand. It must be hard to put a price on your child’s safety.

The students in the book club at both Thandokhulu and Sophumelela are absolutely amazing. They are so motivated and excited about reading and learning. Some of the books that they are able to borrow at in Xhosa, but most are in English. Even though the students really do appreciate the club so much, I asked kids at each school how we could make the club better and many had only one answer: food. It killed me. At lunch time during Thandokhulu, I stay in my office because so many of the kids have nothing to eat. A student in one of Sarah’s classes invited us one day to watch some music during lunch. We followed her to room 8A. Little did we know, we were entering a church service! These students gather on their own will during their free time at lunch to basically attend a Baptist church. The leader of the Student Christian Organization (SCO), was absolutely amazing! She was a high school student but she sounded like she had been a pastor for years. Even though most of the students were excited and involved in the service, I could not help but wonder when they were going to eat lunch, if ever.

Anyway – I have also been working with Brittany who started an after-school art program for the kids. We have only met once, last Friday, but the students LOVED it! So many kids from my classes came and they really enjoyed it. Basically, Brittany just brings in art supplies, inspires them with some cool activities, and lets them go! Having this time to express themselves in any way always confuses them a bit at first, but then they love it. Even in class the other day I instructed them to free write for ten minutes. They all just stared at me. I explained to them that you can write about whatever you want. Some began writing. Others just put their hands up to ask me to further clarify the assignment. These kids could be so creative if they were not brainwashed into just mechanically spitting back information for their teachers everyday.

Basically, the kids are great. They are excited and we are assisting them in choosing to engage in different activities after school!

Adam's fourth blog entry

My trip to Plettenberg Bay was a truly unique experience.  The drive was a bit long but not unbearable if you had an ipod or a book to distract you.  The hostel we stayed in was very rustic and bohemian.  Animals just roamed around the grounds giving it an almost farm like feel.  I got to pet some elephants and ride down a river on an inner tube.  We also visited the Canga Caves and went to Cape Aghulus, which is the southern most tip of Africa.  At the Cape we were able to see the sunset on the Atlantic Ocean and the moon on the Indian Ocean.  It was definitely a brief but memorable experience.

At my internship the days vary in busyness depending on what’s going on in the office.  The other day I sat in on a meeting that is held at the beginning of each month and everyone runs through the agenda for the coming month.  It gave me a good overview of what everyone in the Black Sash is working on.  It has also been a very enjoyable experience to work alongside Jeremicia who has really made me feel at home and never hesitates to ask me about my day or what I’ve been doing.

            

I’m very excited for our upcoming excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger.  I cannot wait to see another part of South Africa and see what’s it like outside of Cape Town.  The fact that we get to go on a safari is just an awesome bonus.  If someone had told me I’d be going on an African safari before I visited Europe I would have never believed them.  A weeklong trip is exactly what I need at this point in my study abroad experience.  As they say here, “cheers.”  

Rachel sweats the small stuff

Rachel on Table Mountain

So all these blog entries have been talking about some pretty heavy stuff, I feel as though I should address some of the little everyday things that we have to adjust to being in South Africa.  These things are something that if you lived in South Africa you would never notice.  The things that in the US or in South Africa you take for granted.

One thing that I have noticed is the lack of work ethic.  Wait, no.  People here work hard; they just like taking their time and taking many breaks. Tea breaks.  How do I describe tea breaks? If you are just standing around not working, that is not okay.  But if you are standing around and not working with tea in your hand then that is perfectly acceptable. There are tea breaks where everyone just stops working at least 3 times a day at most places here. I sometimes don’t understand how they get anything done in this country. 

Sleeping breaks. The first couple of weeks that we were here, Harry, the house owner had people working on the outside of the house.  There were probably around 10 workers doing various tasks.  They arrived around 8 am; by 9 it was breakfast break.  At 10 they were back to work.  At 11 it was naptime. 12 back to work, 1 lunch and then a nap, 3 work, 4 o’clock home.  Naptime consists of the workers lying face down on the lawn.  Of course when we first arrived here in Cape Town, we were unaware of the lackadaisical schedule so after coming home from a long day we went outside and to our surprise we thought there were a bunch of dead Africans on our lawn. Enough said about breaks.

Red lights mean absolutely nothing in South Africa.  If there is a red light, that means go fasters so that you cannot get hit.  Which brings me to Cars getting the right of way.  It is difficult enough crossing the street with the cars driving on the opposite side of the road.  I have to look both ways fifteen times just to cross half of the road.  Then, once you begin to cross, people will honk at you if you are in their way and speed up just because you were RUDE enough to attempt to cross the street.  Rain or shine, cars will NOT stop to let you pass. You could stand at the side of the road for hours until there is a break in traffic and not one person will even slow down to allow you to cross.

Now once you cross the road, don’t bother asking for directions.  If you stop and ask a person for directions and they have no idea where it is that you are trying to get to, they will give you directions anyway.  “Sir, can you please tell me how to get to pick and pay?”  Reply: “uhh, ummm, uhh okay, you are going to want to go straight down there, make a left, a right and then another left.”  Meanwhile it is in the complete opposite direction and you are headed who knows where.  This is a similar effect, as when you ask someone to hang out and they reply yes even though, they know and you know that they cannot hang out. But anyway, your best bet is hopping on a minibus taxi.  I can’t even begin to talk about those, that’s a blog within it’s self.  Similarly, there was a man the other day sleeping or at least I hope he was sleeping on the street.  He could just as easily have been dead, as I looked at him with concern.  The street sweepers did not even wake him and just swept around him and a little bit of him and then walked away. 

Bare feet is a completely normal and acceptable thing around here whether in the grocery store, or walking around town.  I told someone that in America, most stores would not let you in if you weren’t wearing shoes and a shirt.  The surprised look on the South African’s face surprised me a bit.  She had asked “but why?”  I told her I wasn’t actually 100 percent sure; it was mostly because of sanitary reasons.  She responded “but what ever is at the bottom of you feet is the same thing that is on the bottom of your shoes.”  Touché South Africa Touché. 

Customer is always wrong! Simple as that, if you go to the store and you aren’t satisfied it is your own fault.  If you go to a restaurant and they bring you the wrong order, the waiters roll their eyes at you and it’s too damn bad.  Don’t forget to weigh your own produce and sticker it with a price before getting to the register, because that is not a happy sight!

Sweeping is another interesting South African task.  People whose jobs it is to sweep/mop, no matter where you are will mop and sweep right over your feet.  Your fault if you are in their way.  We went out to a club a few weeks ago.  As I was dancing a man literally was sweeping my feet away! The broom was on my feet and in America, this is not okay!

Toilets.  Oh South African toilets, where do I start? Well first of all I cannot get used to the fact that when you ask someone where the “bathroom” or “ladies room” is, they will get slightly confused.  Here in South Africa they straight up call them toilets.  No getting around things here. Just like when I interacting with the Afrikaaners at work, they tell you how it is.  If you are fat they will tell you.  If you are ugly they will tell you.  Anyway, back to the toilets.  Once I arrive at toilets it is always some sort of adventure.  The toilet handle is guaranteed to be somewhere and something different in every bathroom you go.  So after you are done doing your business, you are sitting in the bathroom OOPS excuse me toilet stall for a good thirty seconds before figuring out if there is a string you have to pull, an actual handle (which most must be jiggled a certain way before it will flush), a button that needs to be pressed (which are annoyingly placed behind the cover so you have to put that down before flushing the toilet), or some other makeshift handle that they can come up with.  This makes it difficult for the germaphobes in America like me who don’t like to touch toilet handles and try to use their foot instead of their hands to flush the toilet (if you are wondering how I am dealing with that by the way, I have now just become a dirtier person in general).  So, once you have figured out how to flush the toilet, comes the next task, this is a tough one.  You would think that here in South Africa, the toilets would just flush in the opposite direction, NOPE!  When you flush the toilets here water splashes in every direction, most times, creating an extremely terrifying backsplash; so the goal is to flush the toilet and run and shut the door as fast as you possibly can before you get sprayed with dirty toilet water. 

I tell you, the adventures that you go on here are things you could never encounter in the US!

These are only a few things that we experience here everyday.  I have lists full of things like this.  Strange at first but then hilarious when you look back. I love South Africa.