Susie facing fears, finding peace

I am not the biggest fan of heights. I would not consider myself horribly phobic, but I definitely feel some uneasiness when I am on a higher ground than normal. There is a bridge near the UConn campus that my friends and I jump off of when it is warm out; it is only about a fifteen feet drop but I usually stand nervously at the top for at least ten minutes before I can jump in. This past weekend, we took a long bus ride to Plettenberg Bay, South Africa where a lot of us were able to face our fears. While standing on the platform of Bloukrans Bridge, the world’s highest commercial bungee jump, there was the most positive and upbeat energy before we all took the plunge. Some of my friends were dancing and psyching themselves up with the amazing bungee crew while others struggled with their fears through tears and reassurance. I like to think I was a part of both groups; I knew I was not going to get hurt, but I was still facing something I had never experienced before. When it was my turn to jump, I must admit that I had a moment of hysterically crying. I am not sure what brought on my emotions but after a few seconds I simply kept thinking to myself that there is no point in being afraid: I was going to jump and hopefully it would all work out.

As cliché as it probably sounds, we need to take risks. I am not talking about facing danger or acting completely irrationally, but about challenging oneself to really grow as a person. As my time in South Africa is quickly coming to an end, I have been trying to see if I have actually changed as a person. I think about myself as a nervous student last semester who struggled with the decision on whether or not to study abroad at all, and I see that angst as a challenge I overcame. I see the seventeen amazing people I am living with and how a lot of us have learned to cooperate in somewhat smaller corners as a test we all passed with flying colors. I observed when many of us came home from a long day at our internships, completely drained from feeling so helpless in a world where so many things seem to be cruel, only to wake up to repeat it again. I may sound like I am diving way too deeply into some metaphor for merely jumping off a bridge, but I feel like it may have meant a lot more to many of us. Seconds after the jump, I experienced a complete silence; I could not hear the blaring music or cheers from the bridge, the ocean waves crashing nearby, or the crew member coming to help pull me back up the bridge. It was a peaceful sensation that many other people said they felt after the bungee jump; we had all taken a chance and nobody hit the ground.

Susie, thinking about privilege here...and at home

I have been thinking about privilege a lot lately- what it means to be privileged and how far that takes a person in life. Through many sociology classes, I have learned about white privilege, Christian privilege, class privilege, and other categories we are born into that severely affect our well-being and opportunities. Yet, this semester in South Africa has really brought them to life. 

I mentioned in an earlier blog about our experience in the minibus taxi ride to climb Lion’s Head Mountain. Our driver, despite being a Cape Town resident all his life, had no idea which mountain it was and we, the tourists, had to give him directions. It is clear that a lot of the beauty Cape Town has to offer is only available to the wealthy citizens; even something as little as climbing a mountain is impossible for so many because of the tiny cost of public transportation, needing sneakers to hike, exerting too much energy and needing more food after, and other things we normally do not think about. Thinking back to this past weekend, nearly everything I did revolved around the fact that I was born privileged. On Friday, I took a train to Simon’s Town and went on a boat ride to Seal Island, on Saturday I took a minibus to the Old Biscuit Mill and bought myself breakfast and continued on more minibuses into the city for some gift shopping, and on Sunday I took a minibus to a place to hike and then went food shopping for dinner. As amazing as this weekend was, it was only made possible because I have spare money I can spend. If I look into this idea further, I only have spare money because I worked two jobs last summer; I was hired for these jobs because I was qualified. I was qualified because of my education and other extra-curricular activities I am involved in. It never ends!

It saddens me to realize that although I had learned about privilege before, it never really hit me until I came to Cape Town. I started noticing things that I normally would have walked by; for example, an airport shoe-shining station where the men sitting in the chairs were white businessmen and the shiners were black, or eating at a restaurant filled with white people but with non-white workers. Privilege is everywhere in the United States also, and we need to start noticing it. Last night, we watched a documentary in Marita’s class about a privileged white family who traced their ancestors back to being leaders in the slave trade. Even after traveling to Ghana and having several discussions on race, slavery, and much needed reparations, one man still did not recognize how his white privilege along with his family’s wealth greatly helped him succeed in life including being a second generation Harvard alumni. With our time running out in South Africa, I need to recognize these privileges back at home where they are more evident than ever, and only hope that I take every experience I have in Cape Town and apply it to our society. 

Susie great excursion but excited to be back

It is almost April- the beginning of the end! These past two and a half months have definitely been the fastest I have ever experienced. When I was recently grocery shopping at Pick and Pay, I thought about our second day in South Africa; we were brought to Main Road to learn where the grocery stores and ATMs were located, and saw our first minibus taxis flying by us. Now I can easily recognize good prices for fresh fruit and jump in a minibus knowing where it will take me! I am not sure at what point I went from feeling like a scared outsider to knowing my way around Cape Town, but it is definitely a relieving and happy feeling.

Last week was our excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger. We were brought back to the friendly familiarity of airplane rides, fabulous restaurants, long bus rides and overall freshness to a new city. We spent five days touring Johannesburg and the surrounding area visiting several interesting museums and an exciting flee market. Personally, my favorite museum we visited was the Hector Pietersen Museum in Soweto, the largest township. Hector Pietersen was one of the first children killed in what started out as a friendly march where school children in surrounding neighborhoods were protesting being taught in Afrikaans (a foreign language to them). By being taught in the colonizers’ language that was completely unfamiliar to them, they were at a complete disadvantage for learning. Thus, when the march turned violent when police shots were fired, it started an uproar and numerous children and adults died. I really enjoyed the museum because the amazing photographs retold the protest’s story; there was a large photo of Hector Pietersen being carried after shot, with his heartbroken and frantic sister running at his side. It is so startling to see students- younger than me- being killed for rights they believed in and deserved.

Susie (in yellow) with co-educators on Safari in Kruger

After Johannesburg we traveled to Kruger Park for a two day safari. As soon as we were driving up to our lodging, we saw impalas and baboons wandering around. I knew this was going to be an adventure! I went on three safaris: one at sunset, sunrise, and an afternoon walk. The highlights were definitely seeing the packs of elephants at night and the stunning giraffes as the sun was rising. The most shocking was when a lion walked right up to our jeep, stared us down, and kept on strutting by- so intimidating! On the hike, we were about twenty meters away from charging rhinos which was absolutely unbelievable! As amazing as the week was, I was excited to get back to Cape Town last Wednesday; it feels like home. 

Susie inspired by ZA college students working in their community

I first learned about working on activist projects at the symposium last fall. There, I learned that the students from the previous spring semester were able to choose any topic they were interested in, and either create their own project or get involved with an existing one. I remember a few projects mentioned from last year; some people started an art club at Thandokhulu High School, and one girl worked with midwives and even delivered a baby! Having the opportunity to get involved with something I am passionate about was definitely a perk of this particular study abroad program.

I met Amanda and Bongi through Marita at the first braai we hosted in January. They are around my age and students at local universities: Bongi for accounting and Amanda for teaching. After talking with them for just a few minutes, I soon realized they were not the ordinary college students. They were more motivated and determined than anybody I have ever met. Not only did they study exceptionally hard to succeed, but they dedicated most of their free time to helping the youth living in townships. Bongi runs a soccer team in Khayelitsha called the Firefighters, and Amanda works with adolescents from grade eight to twelve in a book club twice a week at the community center. When Amanda went into detail about the things her students do at the book club and her overall goals for the program, I knew I wanted to get involved. Fortunately, she was willing to give Kayla and me a chance in helping out to see what it was like.

The first few trips out to the Khayelitsha community center were an experience, itself. Kayla and I take the Golden Arrow bus, the easiest and best way because the bus line drops us right in front of the building. Even though we were pretty certain with our directions and were not nervous at all, the other passengers on the bus would not stop staring anxiously at us. Finally, one of the older woman asked what we were doing heading into the township, and soon a choir of questions came pouring in from the rest of the passengers. We told them all about the book club, and one of the “Mama’s” helped us get off of the bus and made sure we were all set. It was such a wonderful and welcoming feeling knowing we were so kindly looked after. I soon learned that Amanda’s book club was way more than having the students reading privately, and then discussing the books. It was a confidence booster, a place where they learn new words, morals, and themes; they play games and get to know one another and to meet new friends that are interested in the same hobbies. Overall, it’s simply an amazing atmosphere where Amanda truly leads the youth into becoming stronger, motivated individuals. I love helping her, whether it is merely passing out papers and books, or participating in games and songs. She is so involved with her students that it is truly inspiring and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

Amanda

Susie on the Human Rights Training Weekend

Susie (on left) at start of Human Rights Training Weekend

This weekend, we took a break from our activist projects and “study Sundays” and embarked on a new kind of adventure. Africa Unite, an NGO that works on bringing peace between different African nations and refugees, held a Human Rights Training weekend that we were invited to attend at Goedgedacht, an olive farm. At first, I was excited to be doing something completely new, but a little nervous that it would just be a conference filled with boring lectures. Either way, I knew I would learn a lot about human rights, a topic that I could definitely know more about.

When we arrived at the olive farm, we were introduced to the other half of the group attending the training weekend; most were from South Africa, and some have recently moved from various other African countries, such as Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. After branching away from other UConn students and talking with new friends, I was immediately inspired by all of their stories. Some of the students were younger than me, and recently graduated high school to move onto bigger things. I roomed with Mabongi, an amazing woman who has definitely had a much more interesting life than me. She told me about how she got involved with a range of human rights issues, but also has had extremely thrilling smaller jobs. One of her highlights was working with prison inmates, teaching them different life skills for when they are eventually released back into society. I could have listened to her tell these stories for hours!

The training weekend itself was not filled with boring lectures as I thought it would be. Vincent, our History and Politics of South Africa class teacher ran different exercises to learn about human rights. My favorite of these exercises was when we were divided into five different African countries, and given a specific scenario and the role in which our country fit in (I was the Democratic Republic of Congo.) The scenario was that we had used up all of the earth’s resources and forced to move to planet “x”; after we arrived, the four other countries either asked permission to join, or just showed up. We then had to create five rules or laws for the DRC, and five basic rules for other countries moving onto planet “x.” Sounds simple right? Well, it was hard enough to come up with five rights for our own country, let alone how it would affect the refugees from other countries arriving later. After long debates, it was clearly evident that everyone needs their respected human rights, and if you take one right away, such as voting, then it affects all of the other rights one should receive. Although we are all pretty tired from a more hectic weekend, Human Right training weekend was extremely informative and worthwhile, and I loved meeting new people I hope to see again soon!

Susie (on right) works with her group on a project

Susie learning challenging lessons beyond the beauty

The beauty in Cape Town never gets old! Whether it is running around the Common and gazing up at the mountain or relaxing at Muizenberg Bay after surfing, there seems to be something absolutely stunning to see everywhere. At my internship, Christel House, every classroom has a wall of windows so the mountains are visible to the students at every moment. This may sound like it would be distracting to the learning, but most people living in the townships cannot see them from their homes; each tiny house is so close to the next, creating a congested and clumped area that allows little to no breathing room. Thus, the constant outlook of the mountains along with the grassy fields and trees around Christel House provides a much needed escape for the students.

I have been working with the social worker at Christel House helping with children who have various hardships they may be enduring. This week, Claudia and I had our first home visits, which the school calls family profiling. I was able to enter the townships into some of the children’s houses, and meet their families’ and observe their living environment. I thought I had a vision in my head of what the quality of life would be, but I guess I cannot prepare myself for everything. I finally found the first place where something was definitely lacking in South Africa, despite the nice family and adorable children. Making home visits was extremely powerful, and although it is difficult to grasp, I am so grateful I have this opportunity to learn so much and engage in eye-opening experiences.

Tonight, while on our way to climb Lion’s Head Mountain to watch the sunset, another incident occurred that left me dumbfounded. We took the minibus taxis from Rondebosch to Lion’s Head, and on our way, our driver got lost and did not know how to get there. I was utterly confused at how he would not know what Lion’s Head is; the mountain can be seen from almost anywhere. And then it clicked…

Susie learning new lessons in grade R

Joe, Emily, Julian, Dana, Susie, Kayla, Terri, Nicole, Siobhan

I want to start off by saying that I have learned more in the past week than I have in my entire life. This was our first non-orientation week, and I feel like we have finally entered into the real world of South Africa; we have said goodbye to the large tour bus and are now learning the normal ways of life here. I have now created weekly routines involving my internship, classes, house meetings, taco Thursday, and free weekends.

I am interning at Christel House, a kindergarten through grade twelve school in Ottery, Cape Town (about a twenty minute drive from home). Christel deHaan founded the school in 2002 and still contributes to a lot of its funding along with various private donors. Christel House is unique from other schools in South Africa for many reasons. The mission of Christel House is to help children break the cycle of poverty and become self-sufficient, contributing members of society. In order to do this children are selected from areas suffering severe poverty and not oly provided a quality education but also transportation from the townships to the school every day, along with nutritional, substantial meals and snacks. The daily schedule of Christel House also differs; when the school day ends at 3:00 PM, every child must participate in after school activities (usually organized sports that are run by the teachers) until the school buses bring them home at 4:30. This greatly impacts their lives by keeping them out of the townships and away from further harm when their parents or guardians are not home.

For my internship, I am working in the kindergarten room (grade R) on Mondays with the teacher Miss Lauren, and with the social worker Miss Claudia on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. When I first entered the grade R classroom, I was greeted with about twenty hugs and the “Hello Song.” The rest of the day continued to be filled with teaching about colors, working on speaking in English, and drawing different shapes. Although this seems like an ordinary kindergarten classroom, one discussion at the beginning really astonished me. While learning about colors, Miss Lauren asked the children what color their shoes were; in unison, they glanced down at their feet and answered “black.” She then asked the children if they, themselves, were “black.” After examining each other’s skin tones and with few hints from the teacher, they all responded “no.” Miss Lauren then asked the children if they saw any white people in the room. Before the children could turn around and point at me, she told them that white was the color of paper, snow, and the whiteboard in the front of the room. Her lesson was to show her class that there are no “black people” and “white people,” and if anyone calls them a color, they should politely correct them and say “No, I am not black; my shoes are black.” I was dumbfounded that children in kindergarten were learning about race, and also amazed by the impact a little lesson could have on the rest of their lives. Why are there not more conversations like this in American classrooms?

After a great first day, I was even more excited to start working with Miss Claudia on Tuesday. At UConn, I am studying sociology to eventually get my masters in social work, so I was thrilled to get an internship pertaining to my future goals. Yet, I soon realized that this line of work was extremely different than teaching eager students in a classroom. After talking with Claudia for merely a half an hour she explained to me a lot of the hardships that a lot of the children have endured at Christel House, such as extensive poverty, neglect, abuse, and other family issues. Thus, as a part of my internship, I will be helping her with individual students who have endured more horror in their short lives than I could ever imagine, and visiting the environments they live in. On Tuesday and Wednesday  I talked to a lot of the children and played games with them so they could familiarize themselves with me. Some of the children opened up about their home life and others were more timid at first. Even though I heard a lot of hard stories, I am so grateful that I am given this much responsibility, and I cannot wait to observe Miss Claudia with different therapy techniques and travel to the children’s homes. I am aware that this line of work can be emotionally wearing, but when the children are still so hopeful and motivated for better futures, it really shows purpose. 

Susie realizes how much she has taken for granted

Hello everyone! We are almost finished with our two weeks of orientation and I already feel like I have seen and learned so many new things. These past two weeks I feel like I have been in two different worlds on opposite ends of the spectrum. On one side, there is a beautiful ocean surrounded by creative shops and exotic animals, where the sun is constantly shining and the mountaintop is clear. At the other end, there are mile-long townships with inadequate clean water and children fighting over trash on huge piles of waste. It is hard to imagine that these two worlds are occupying the same area, but filled with such different lives.

For the most part, the first week of orientation was filled with tourist attractions. We attended our first South African barbeque, hosted our first braai, toured the waterfront and shopping markets, went to amazing jazz clubs such as Swingers, and overall settled nicely into our new homes. Although we drove past the townships and saw a lot of unemployed and homeless people begging for a rand, living in an amazing house and listening to various security briefings still made me feel like a tourist separated from that other world. Even after the shocking tour on Robben Island and learning about the immense mistreatment and torture towards political activists, it still did not hit me how little time has passed since apartheid ended and its devastating consequences of poverty and other current issues.

Last Sunday was the ultimate awakening of truly understanding South Africa with all its beauty and heartbreak. We attended a packed church in a hot little room that was filled with more spirit than I have ever experienced in my life. I am not a religious person; I never attended church and I was raised in a household that never mentioned a God. My past did not seem to matter and I was brought to tears when I saw how secure and grateful everybody in the church felt towards their beliefs. These people had more faith and spirit, despite of their pasts filled with discrimination and loss, and it made me feel guilty for ever complaining or being upset by anything. When we toured the townships shortly after and learned about the unemployment, poverty, poor health and education, and HIV crisis that these same people were facing, it was an extreme newsflash about how much I take for granted. Now that orientation week is coming to an end and I have experienced the beauty and witnessed the hardships of many South Africans, I am so eager to see what happens when we start our internships and classes.

Susie: Even worth missing football....

Hello Cape Town!

I am absolutely thrilled to be accepted into this study abroad program. Since last spring, studying abroad in South Africa was always in the back of my head, but I still had reservations about leaving UConn for a semester to do something completely different. Now looking back, I would have been kicking myself if I hadn’t taken this opportunity! Since the information symposium and learning about the internships available, along with extra exciting activities, I knew this was the perfect program for me.

             

After our first class together last week, I was even more enthused. Everyone going on the trip seems so nice and I think it is great that we will all get to know each other through this class before we are living in the houses together. The video we watched was also very interesting; I can see this class will definitely be worth it even though it is during football time…

See you soon!

Susie