Teddy: everyone has a story, anyone can be an activist!

So, what do I write about here at the very end of this series of blogs? It took me a while to determine what to write about, but I eventually realized it would be pretty appropriate to write about the most important things I’ve learned over this study abroad.

So, for starters, everyone has amazing stories to tell which we can all learn from. The young, the old, the degreed, the non-degreed, the whatever have you... each story I have heard has enriched my understanding of South Africa in its own unique way and brought me closer to the story-teller.

Second, anyone can create meaningful change as an activist. We have been fortunate enough to meet loads of successful activists here in Cape Town and each is a part of the solution in their own ways, some big and some small. But if just one person decides to start consuming more ethically, or contributing a small sum monthly to a charity, or is willing to start conversations on sexism, etc, their impact is felt by all the people who they encounter and then from there.... It’s like the song we danced to at the Human Rights Weekend: ...Where you are, in the corner... (In your own corner you can change things).

Thirdly, people are generally pretty interested in helping out when you have a good idea. Whether it’s fundraising for a cause, collecting shoes for a soccer program, or trying to make a website for an activist so he/she can reach out to more people, people seem to always be willing to help.

Fourth, positive results CAN happen even in short-term efforts with limited resources. In just the time we’ve been here the NGOs we’ve interned for have made big differences in people’s lives. For example, the children Logan and Siobahn spent time with every Thursday in Nyanga have surely benefited from their kind and loving attitudes. Christel House regularly helps students stay away from the influence of gangs. Further, Brenna, Leanne, and Anna absolutely empowered the young women of the Girl Child Movement in their workshops with them.

Ok, so, there are of course many other points, but the above are just a few I really wanted to stress! Please keep them in mind...

Teddy's update on his internship

Update on my internship at Christel House South Africa

So, having spent several weeks with the fourth graders I talked to the principals of the primary school and the high school, Midge Hilton-Green and Ronald Fortune respectively, and told them I was interested in working with the high-schoolers. Mr. Fortune connected me with Mr. Cedric Esterhuizen, the grade 12 English teacher, with whom I created a lesson plan that focuses on human rights and requires the students to present on human rights abuses in Cape Town. These presentations are actually to take place today and I am very excited to see how the students do.

This was the lesson plan that took place over several days, using the learners’ English periods:

Over the first two periods we held two group discussions. The first was a comparison of American and South African life, mostly to build discussion on how similar the countries’ social issues are and also to ‘break the ice’. Following this the students were asked to consider the social issues that they observe in Cape Town.

Following these two discussion periods I introduced the students to some of the basics of human rights - I went over some major documents such as the International Bill of Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CEDAW, the South African Constitution’s Bill of Rights, the Freedom Charter, etc. I then described to them some of the NGOs which UCONN students are interning for and how these work towards providing access to human rights.  

Then the students were presented with their task: to choose a specific social issue and research related human rights documents or NGOs doing work related to that issue. Then to present on that issue and a document/NGO and lastly, the most interesting part, to present in detailed step-by-step fashion what exactly they can do in their own capacity to help in reducing the impact of that issue. They were then given time to do research and prep their presentations.

And then they’ll be presenting today!

Teddy's activist project

Here I’d like to provide a quick update on my activist project.

It’s a bit of a story and starts with when our group first met Lucy Campbell during our orientation program. She gave us a tour of Cape Town’s downtown, focusing on its slave history and the still present physical remnants of slavery.

She is an activist committed to starting conversations and discussions on the history of slavery and its ongoing legacy of racism and oppression; she believes firmly that open discussion and the sharing of memory is central to healing these wounds of the past. Here you can check out some of her writing: http://www.archivalplatform.org/blog/entry/whitewashed/

Cape Town has numerous physical reminders of slavery, including the VOC logo installed in the ground at St. George’s Mall, the Slave Lodge museum, Jan van Riebeeck’s almond hedge, the VOC hospital building, the slave auction block on Spin Street, and even the phonebooks (several of the months of the year were used as last names for arriving slaves and these surnames are still very common).

One of the critical issues that Lucy wants to change is the fact that so many people in Cape Town are generally unaware of the history of slavery in the region. Many are ignorant of the enormous influence slaves and slavery had on life and society in the Cape, as well as throughout South Africa. During the tours Lucy has even stopped passer-bys and asked what their last names are, and with that information she has been able to inform them of their own slave ancestry. Many people will stop and listen and contribute during her tours while they are just walking past; sometimes they are rare individuals who know a great deal about the topic or on the other hand they are generally uninformed and listen eagerly. Sometimes tour participants are extremely resistant and do not want to accept the influence that slaves had in the construction of the city and its culture.

Lucy explains this material with such passion that it was impossible to not be drawn in. For my activist project I’ve decided to help her with her marketing so that more people can hear about and learn about their city’s slavery history. I got this idea because we were once discussing the challenges of being a tour guide and working in the world of social history museums, and we agreed that it would be very useful for her to have a life history and a condensed version in pamphlet form. So, I’ve been working on this with her and hope it will be of great use to her once finished. The idea is that the life history and accompanying pamphlet can be used to show her story of growing more aware of her own heritage and becoming interested in healing the “wounds of the past” (as she would say). As mentioned above, getting conversations started is necessary in ending racism and if this material can help her reach out to more people, than I think it will be a worthwhile project.

Teddy's take on a few books

Since arriving here I’ve encountered tons and tons of great books! I want to share some of these here for anyone who might be interested.

Each one is a page-turner and is culturally informative regarding South Africa.

First People of the Cape; Alan Mountain - Mountain describes in detail the cultures and lifestyles of the Khoekhoen and San, drawing on archaeological findings and going back tens of thousands of years to provide a historical context for the interactions later to come between them and the Europeans. This is when the book gets really interesting, as Mountain describes the early political/cultural sources of the apartheid regime of the 1900s.

My Traitor’s Heart; Rian Malan - Malan, an Afrikaner born in South Africa during the early days of apartheid, describes in this book his experiences as an anti-racism, anti-apartheid individual and as a crime journalist in South Africa during apartheid. His opposition to apartheid and racism contrasts sharply with many of the people in his family tree, including DF Malan. This book reads really fast and is extremely, extremely informative about the different cultures in South Africa and the day-to-day experiences of all under apartheid.

Have you seen Zandile?; Gcina Mphophle - this is a play which takes the audience through the early life story of Zandile, an extremely happy eight year old who lives with her grandma near Durban. She’s taken away unexpectedly and much to her and her grandma’s distress; the story then follows her into her late teens as she gradually learns more and more about her mother’s past. This story is one of loved-ones being separated and torn apart, but is much more; it shares quietly and subtly through this main plot the effects of apartheid on the family and the individual’s personal growth.

Unrelated to SA, but still great:

A Fine Balance; Rohinton Mistry

This story describes the lives of a wide cast of characters in an unspecified city in India - each one comes from a different background and totally different life experiences. Included are an uncle and nephew who lost a close relative in an incident of voting related violence, a young widower who is committed to living independently despite the strong cultural expectation to remarry, and a slew of other intervening characters who represent varying degrees of political progressiveness and conservativeness in the Indian context. The plot thickens around their interactions, before each of which Mistry gives the background of each character.

Teddy asking "How to take what we’re learning back home?"

With the semester really underway now, but with the end still fast approaching, the question comes up a lot of what exactly we all can do back home with the information, knowledge, and experiences we’re gaining here. This goes for all of us of course as we’re learning so much about the respective fields we’re interested in and having related experiences which help us in so many ways, sometimes in unanticipated ways. It’s very exciting for sure!, but still - how do we take it all back home?

We’re all engaged in various fields - education, healthcare, legal advocacy, etc. With everything everyone is learning in all these different fields, I’m sure we’ll all be able to contribute greatly back home. For me, the work of organizations and individuals that are focused on racism has grabbed my interest and attention the most. I have had many conversations with people of all backgrounds who focus on this; they have taught me tons and so I am in a bit of learning process right now when it comes to the details of Cape slavery and colonial racism and how each led to the current situation in society. When it comes to what I want to do back home with what I’m learning/seeing here, I am definitely and absolutely interested in joining organizations which address racism.

For the time being, I am getting a lot out of meeting often with Lucy Campbell, who organizes tours of Cape Town addressing its history of slavery and racism. Further, from our class with Prof. Marita McComiskey we’ve been reading powerful literature on racism in America. The authors we’ve read include Robert Jensen and Tim Wise, who present the history and nature of racism in compelling language, instilling a sense of responsibility in the reader.

Teddy on finding the balance

So, today is Monday the seventh of March and I’m going to unfortunately get this blog in late. However, the past two weeks have been extremely busy and I’m only now sitting down to write it. All of us here in the UConn group have been pretty much running around (almost crazily) trying to do a million things and while that’s the main reason I never found the time to write this blog, the other reason is that the activities we have been doing have all been vying for my attention. In the past two weeks I have seen an incredible concert at the Kirstenbosch Gardens, visited an extremely underdeveloped neighborhood in one of the townships, gone on some incredible rides with the cycling team, completed a human rights training weekend with the NGO Africa Unite, read history and historical-fiction books detailing some of the worst injustices in South African history, and gone on a relaxing hike up the Lion’s Head. Further, I’ve met dozens of extremely interesting people who all have shared stories with me that leave me stunned. So... how could I choose one topic to write about?

Ultimately, though, there has been one topic in particular which has kept popping up among the UConn students: how do we make sense of the fact that on one day we can be working with people living in extreme poverty who are denied a majority of their fundamental human rights, but then the next day we can be lounging on the lawn at Kirstenbosch Gardens with dramatic cliffs overhead while we listen to funky, jazzy, techno? Or, how are you supposed to feel about visiting a restaurant like Mzoli’s in Gugulethu where you are literally surrounded by small house-shacks and poverty yet dining with representatives of every social group in the city?

I really don’t know, but from talking to lots of people the general consensus seems to be that you’ve got to keep up your own spirits by doing fun things you enjoy even if they’re privileged experiences. Brenna Regan put it really well to me when we were at the Gardens just yesterday, saying that if you don’t keep yourself happy you won’t have any energy when you get back to your internship during the work week. And so far that has seemed very true.

Teddy regarding his work at Christel House

In this blog entry I would like to describe my internship at Christel House South Africa which is located in Ottery, near Cape Town. Susie has already beaten me in writing a general description of Christel House which you can read here if you’d like: http://cptadventures2011.blogspot.com/2011/02/susie-learning-new-lessons-in-grade-r.html

Her internship is much different from mine, though. Susie is mostly working with the social workers and meeting with the learners to help them overcome the challenges they’re facing at home. As for me, I work mostly with the fourth grade, which is divided into the classes 4a and 4b. Specifically, I work with Mrs Marilyn of the 4b class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I frequently help in running portions of class, assisting with the material on multiplication, division, natural sciences, English grammar, and many other topics. I also help tutor the students during their in-class assignments and help Mrs. Marilyn prepare materials for each class. If the leerlinge (“learners” in Afrikaans) finish their work a few minutes early or have behaved especially well in class, they enjoy showing me Google maps. They love to show me places they know of in South Africa and also enjoy seeing places I’ve been to in the US. Several of the learners have expressed interest in graphic design so I occasionally show them some online graphic design forums where professional artists display their work. These learners really enjoyed seeing how their interests could be turned into real careers!

The 4^th graders are all exceptionally bright and eager to learn. As they get older they understand more deeply the gift Christel House is giving to them by offering a free education and meals during the school week. From my position in the school I do not ever really hear specific stories about the students’ family situations, but I have of course learned a lot about some of the common issues they are all facing. Many of the learners come from motherless or fatherless families or have parents addicted to drugs. Others are struggling with these situations along with many others at the same time. It is impossible to not think every day about the struggles the students are up against without my respect for them increasing. It is inspiring to see how focused they can be on their work despite all the other things that could understandably distract them. Not to mention, it's amazing to see how they just want to greet everyone with a giant hug every morning!

Despite their home-circumstances the students are usually in great moods when they’re at school. Christel House works very hard to provide a comforting, understanding, and supportive environment to create this effect. Though the teachers need to be stern in the classroom to ensure the students are learning, they all engage with the students after class by talking with them about sports or music, and help them plan fun events for holidays like Valentine’s Day. During this recent Valentine’s Day a couple periods were set aside so that each class (including 4b) could have a Mr. and Ms. Valentine’s Day celebration. A few days later I asked the marketing department if we could arrange for the 4^th graders to visit the Picton Castle, a 179 ft tall ship from Nova Scotia which was visiting Cape Town. The trip had already been planned for many other grades and the 4^thgraders were readily included. They got to learn all about long-distance sailing, hoisting sails, life on board a large ship, and all sorts of other related topics. You can check out the ship here: http://www.picton-castle.com/ship-and-crew.html

It’s these sorts of events that maintain the comfortable feeling the students have at Christel House - they are very confident that their teachers are looking out for them and want them to enjoy life, but also want them to succeed in school so that they can move up and out of the poverty they currently live in.

The school does not only focus on the students, but also on their students’ parents. They run numerous workshops to help the parents organize their lives better and improve the home-environments for the children. Thus, the school is not only a school in the conventional sense - it works to improve whole communities. It achieves this further by continually selecting students from the same collection of neighborhoods; this helps establish relationships between the families.

I could easily talk endlessly about Christel House. However, I am still learning more about it as I work with the teacher. In the next few weeks I will get to shadow and assist the marketing department and administration staff which I’m looking forward to a lot! Ultimately, I am getting a lot of experience with regards to how a school such as Christel House approaches its work. 

Teddy remembering his first month in Cape Town

So, despite how we’ve only been here such a short time I already feel like I’ve settled in really well. What also surprises me is that in such a short amount of time I have already done so many things I would want to mention here! That said, Im just going to let this blog ramble from one experience to the next as they come to me...

First of all, I’ve been working on learning Afrikaans. Given how similar it is to German (which I already know) I’m already able to make simple conversation with strangers about directions, getting taxis, ordering food, etc. I’ve already been to my first bike race which was held at a race car track. It was pretty much a training ride because the wind was ridiculous and broke up all the riders into 4-person echelons. My internship has been pretty much incredible... too much to describe here, but will next week. I went to the “opening of parliament” which is when the South African armed forces and the president parade up to the parliament building on the day it opens (I got to see Zuma sitting in a bullet-proof van with big glass windows!) Moving on, I’ve eaten tons of incredible food at so many different types of restaurants, reflecting the huge diversity here in Cape Town. There’s probably only one other city like it in this regard, being NY. I’ve been guided through the center of Cape Town on a tour of its slave history and have been to the District 6 museum. I have also visited all my classmates’ internship sites.

One thing that connects all of these different experiences together, though, is the fact that I’ve been having some really great conversations with all the people I meet. When I was in a bike shop recently the owner and I talked for almost an hour about many things, all related to social norms and race relations, etc. He told me all about the differences in running a small business before apartheid and after, what it was like for customers of all skin colors to adapt to a different in-store environment, and the flaws of many of the political parties and why people will still vote for them. Guys on the cycling team have shared with me their differing opinions on the two main political parties, the Democratic Alliance and the ANC. I’ve learned that many people will continue to vote for the ANC because of its critical role in ending apartheid regardless of the current corruption and its failure to meet promises. This is a matter of loyalty, but I’ve heard that as time passes many people are beginning to consider other parties, mainly the DA. Criticisms against the DA are numerous, but generally revolve around saying it doesn”t work to fight the status-quo in the business world which is largely a white-dominated sector. Changing topic, after talking to taxi-drivers for a few minutes in Afrikaans they’re usually interested in learning what an American college student is doing trying to learn the language. This conversation happens almost every time I hop in a cab and often leads to the drivers sharing their stories from during apartheid. This is because, though Afrikaans is generally accepted as a normal means to communicate, it has a very controversial history: many people were forced to study in it during apartheid. This of course sparked a lot of social outrage, especially in 1976 when the Soweto uprising occurred. One of my taxi drivers had a very close friend who took part in these protests and was able to talk about them from a personal perspective. Today there are still many who actively dislike speaking Afrikaans because of its close connection to the apartheid government which oppressed them in so many ways. Hearing the above taxi-driver’s story has increased my level of understanding and I have a lot of respect for what he and his friends went through. That said, I’m really looking forward to our trip to Johannesburg where I will continue learning more.

So, I’ll end my rambling here and will prepare a much more structured blog for next week describing my internship at Christel House - a school in Ottery, near the center of Cape Town.  

Teddy's revising goals for the semester

I arrived in Cape Town less than four days after returning to NYC from Chennai, India, where I had been for nearly two weeks. So, needless to say, the past three weeks have been culturally rich and diverse, leaving me very eager for just a single day to wake up late and calmly soak in my current surroundings.

I haven’t had this opportunity yet, which I’m really looking forward to whenever it does arrive, but in the meantime I’ve been able to dive into South African culture with the help of Marita and Vernon’s fast-paced orientation program. The past several days have been a whirlwind of meetings with passionate educators of South African society, eating unbelievable food, visiting unique museums, visiting my classmates’ internship sites, and training rides through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen on my bike.

I brought my bike in order to race with the University of Cape Town cycling team. And while my training rides are primarily for training, they have offered me some of the best opportunities to reflect on what I’m seeing and learning in South Africa. While riding I often find myself comparing the problems South Africa deals with (which my group has been learning about) with the experiences of the people living in the safe, wealthy neighborhoods I ride through (where the quietest roads are).

For example, while riding on a beautiful mountain road adjacent to vineyards and cute Dutch cottages (with leafy branches reaching out over me from private gardens), a vintage German sports car will pass by and I find myself thinking about how it had probably been brought into the country in a time when thousands of people were being forced from the lively city center to the distant Cape Flats, separated based on ethnic groups. Or, when passing by a vineyard it is impossible to not think about how its first vines were probably planted by foreign slaves (who now receive little to no recognition for the back breaking work they did).

At first I wondered if I was just one of a few others who were also repeatedly stressing over the diversity of lifestyles and how they relate to the country's history and problems. After speaking to many of my other classmates, though, it’s definitely a trend. In fact, many of us are also trying to reconcile the socioeconomic struggles of South Africa with the variety of lifestyles that we witness here. So, that said, I’ve revised my goals for myself here; I don’t want to just learn about the different subcultures here and their histories and important facts - I also hope to understand better over the next semester where and how the subcultures, from all social backgrounds, work together and how they're still trying to improve relations.   

Teddy's ready to go

Having been accepted there are numerous opportunities I’m looking forward to pursuing while in Cape Town and throughout the Western Cape. Needless to say, I am extremely excited about heading to Cape Town in general, but specifically I am most eager to spend time at the Christel House working with the students and talking with the teachers. I requested an internship in education because my main career goals are in education in developing regions, so this is an ideal opportunity for me to learn a lot.

Other than the internship I am most looking forward to all of the cultural activities I’ll be able to do with the other UConn and UCT students. I’m hoping to spend lots of time visiting restaurants, museums, art galleries, concerts, etc. I’m also very into road bike racing and have already signed up with UCT’s team - I am very eager to race with them!

Most importantly, though, I hope to One, finish the semester having made many friends in Cape Town and Two, will have grown more culturally aware.