Leah finding ways to tackle the work to be done

There is work to be done. Everywhere. In every country, every community, every household. So many different issues face South Africa right now that it was extremely difficult to pick one to tackle. With that said, I participated in two activist projects.


Book Club 


My first and foremost activist project was my involvement in the Book Club at Thandokhulu and at Sophumelela high schools. Thandokhulu is an underprivileged school with students primarily from Khayelitsha and surrounding townships. Sophumelela is a township school located in Phillipi. Because both schools are so under-resourced, the students have a much harder time learning and passing matric. The book club at each school seeks to expand learners’ knowledge of English through reading books. Book club gave learners an extra chance to improve their English and develop lifelong skills. I assisted in coordinating and facilitating activities for the book club at both schools.


The book club at Thandokhulu met every Tuesday for four Tuesdays and I worked for two hours each day (8 hours). The book club at Sophumelela met every Wednesday and I worked for two hours each day (another 8 hours; 16 hours total). I assume that I will continue working with both clubs until May.


Simply meeting the students at these book clubs blew me away. We had about 100 learners come to our first meeting at Thandokhulu. I could not believe that this many high school students were interested in something called “Book Club.” Through my interaction with the learners, I was only more and more impressed. They have a drive to learn English and do well in school that is unprecedented in my experience. Thinking back on my own high school years, I could not help but feel guilty for how much I took for granted.


Education is a vital part of development, though not the sole key to success. This was an extremely important realization that I have come to. It is not just education that must be reformed in order to develop a society. This topic was discussed at length in all of our classes this semester. Though I cannot address every issue myself, I have found that education is my niche. I can help to change the world through education, I cannot totally change it myself.


One devastating aspect about the education system in South Africa is that it is divided along racial lines. The black schools do not get the same resources that the white schools do. White children are able to each have a computer at school, they are able to go home to a supportive family and quiet household to study, and they are able to feed themselves everyday and be energized for school. For many black students, such a situation is only a dream, a wish. This divide exists in the United States as well. The formal, overt racial separation has been eliminated in both societies, but is still very alive and well.


Through the book club, I was able to work with the issue of educational development. This is the field that I hope to remain in for my entire life. I want to be a teacher as well as work on education reform within American schools.


Rape Crisis Center 


In my two weeks off from Thandokhulu, I volunteered at the Rape Crisis Center. The Center provides free services to any survivor of rape or sexual assault regardless of gender, economic situation, or any other factor. South Africa has the highest rate of reported rapes in the world. The country is in crisis when it comes to such violations. Parents must worry about their students walking to school for fear that they will be raped or assaulted.


At the Rape Crisis Center, I read the reports that counselors have issued about their clients. I then captured the data from such reports into the computer (three days, five hours each day, 15 hours total). Reading the different cases was shocking and eye opening. I have taken so much of my personal safety for granted. Many of these clients had such awful family lives and so many of them have family members who have also been raped. Many times I found that a daughter would come in for counseling and then her mother would follow because she had been raped as well earlier in life.


I had never worked with any organization that dealt with sexual violence before. Because most of these incidents affect women, I could connect much of my work to our discussions about sexism and violence against women. I have never taken a women’s studies class or formally studied violence against women. Consequently, this semester was very educational and eye opening for me. The Rape Crisis Center only aided in my understanding of the different ways in which women face trauma and the tangible, horrible results of seemingly petty sexist thoughts and feelings.


I have experienced such sexism throughout my entire life without taking a lens to even the smallest of comments. The United States has the same issue of violence against women and sexism that South Africa has. Women constantly face discrimination and violence in their everyday life simply because of their gender.


I do hope to work more with this issue in the future because it is so vital and pressing in society today. Like we learned in class, sexism is only getting worse in America. It is important to reverse that cycle before it is too late. I think that empowering women through education is a form of fighting this social issue. However, I do hope that I will have an opportunity in the future to work specifically with rape survivors. I think that these women (and men sometimes) are in such crucial positions. After a rape, things will only get worse or better. I hope that I will be able to assist in recovery.