Sarah on experiencing the country in various ways

Of all the assignments I had in South Africa, I learned most from the “activist project” obligation, or, in other ways, simply experiencing the country in various ways.  While I found it impossible to pick out one social issue and work on it, I do not regret it.  I was all over the place, but I learned so much from such a wide range of experiences.

I had the privilege of spending some time at the Rape Crisis Center.  This was an excellent opportunity to work in a way I had not throughout most of this trip: I was given a set concrete task to complete independently.  The organization had a thick notebook filled with closed rape cases, all occurring in only a year’s time.  My job was to read through a write up on each case and fill out reports on them so as to create accurate data for research.  The stories were often times straight out of a lifetime movie and, sadly, I don’t think I read a single case where the rapist was actually convicted (the cases were from 2007, so I guess there is a chance they have been convicted since).  I specifically remember one unusually thick case report of a man gang raped by the gang known as the Americans.  As I flipped through the pages, the therapist recorded improvements up until the anti-climatic last page.  Only a few sentences long, the report read something along the lines of, “*** has not showed up for any sessions.  He has been kicked out of his shelter for using tic and no one knows his whereabouts.  I hope he is still alive.”  As the report was obviously written from the therapist’s perspective, it was devastating to see his hopes shattered, as his client clearly lost his battle to the right path.  I would say I spent around 14 hours at this organization (throughout my 2 week break from Thandokhulu).

The next organization I worked at was Themba Care.  I actually spent my first day there today and had an absolutely amazing experience.  I remember thinking last night before I went to bed that I shouldn’t get my hopes up, since I had such high expectations for the experience I would have there.  I was, however, please to find that it exceeded my expectations in every way.  Themba Care is an organization that cares for children born HIV positive.  Since I worked there in the morning hours when all the older children were at school, there were about eight babies and toddlers there for me to care for.  They all were sitting on a gymnastics-like mat when I arrived, and I just had to take off my shoes and sit down and play with them.  They were so unbelievably loving, and I became immediately attached as they played with my hair and giggled, crying only when I redirected my attention to another child.  I fell in love with a 2 year old boy named Luyolo, who played peek-a-boo with me for a good hour, constantly speaking in a language of his own.  I gave him his bottle, fed him some sort of oatmeal-like lunch, and held him as the doctors inspected him.  He was so cooperative and sweet for the doctors, smiling and holding my hand throughout, but remaining perfectly still and obedient.  He even lifted up his shirt for one of the doctors so he could check his pulse with a stethoscope.  After, I put him in his crib for naptime, promising myself I would return again.  I was only there for about 3 hours today, but I plan on going back two more times before I leave.

I spent the most time participating in Book Club.  This occurred every Tuesday at Thandokhulu and every Wednesday in a township school.  I was able to work with students more one-on-one, which I found even more gratifying than teaching.  The students were so receptive to what I would have thought was a lame idea if it was introduced to me during my high school years.  Their interest was actually overwhelming at times, as often times we would have over 100 students showing up with simply not enough books for them all.  We organized a book drive at home, and will set up a library at Thandokhulu once they arrive.  One of the most rewarding aspects was when Jackie (a lady from UCT who helped run the book club) said she got a call from the Mowbray library asking her what was going on, since they had a flood of students from Thandokhulu coming in and checking out books.  It truly made me feel like I was inspiring people and actually making a difference.  I was so happy to see my enthusiasm was actually rubbing off.  Every time I go, I am equally as amazed at how eager the students are to learn, in both Philipi and Thandokhulu.  The conditions of poverty are certainly terrible, but the attitudes of the children succumbed to such are able to not just provide ray of hope, but light up an entire room.  I am pretty sure I have gone to four book clubs at Thandokhulu and four in Khayelitsha (each about 2 hours), and I plan on going to two more each at both schools.