The End of An Adventure

SA 23 Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Project Volunteers 2011-2013

As I write this my countdown on my calendar tells me I have 19 days left in Alexandria.  As my time winds down I’m struck at how complicated my feelings are towards leaving.  Some days I think with joy and relief: only 19 days to go!  Other days the number makes me panic and wish I had another two years.  Usually I get both of these feelings within the same day, even within minutes of each other.  I’ve been thinking about all the things I will miss and all the things I won’t and wanted to share them with you. 

 

I’ll start with the things I’m not going to miss once I leave South Africa.  I will not miss…

• Children harassing me (which is happening right now as I write this: “Zoleka, do you have sweeties?”), cockroaches, bathing in a bucket, hand washing clothes, line drying clothes, burglar bars, not going out after dark, marriage proposals, electric fences, no air-conditioning, no central heating, bad internet, not understanding 50% of what is said at any given moment around me, and trash everywhere. 
• The following things I have had experiences with in South Africa and even though I know these issues exist in the United States I will not miss: blatant racism, violence against women, child abuse, animal abuse, and living in poverty.      

Things I will miss… 

• My host family.  My host sister Phakama and her little boy Qhama who recently turned five.  Qhama just started kindergarten this year and his English is getting better.  I’m going to miss him coming home from school and saying shyly “Look Alana!” as he shows me his school work. 
• My friends and South African “families”.  I’ve made some amazing friends here in South Africa and I’m so sad to be leaving them.  I can’t imagine not seeing my friend Noxolo weekly for our Girls Club and catch up session where we share things going on in our lives.  She’s been an amazing support to me and I’m going to miss her dearly.  Most of my friends here are people who I’ve worked with on projects and they know me the best – it will be hard to say goodbye to them.  I have two families that have “adopted” me since I’ve been here.  Both are going to be heartbreaking to leave.  My South African moms have taken care of me like their own daughters.  Feeding me dinner, buying me medicine when I was sick, sharing South African life with me and allowing me to become part of their lives.  I’ve gone from having no sisters to being the “American sister” of six of them!  I hope that one day I can show them the same kindnesses they showed me and some of them can come visit me in the States!  
• My Ikhwezi co-workers.  Despite them occasionally driving me crazy, they all have good, kind hearts.  They make me laugh daily and I’ll miss them terribly. 
• The youth I work with.  The disabled learners, my girls from Camp GLOW and GLOW clubs, the orphans and vulnerable children that come to my organization, the neighborhood kids, SKILLZ participants, and my students.  I can’t even remember what it’s like to not interact with these amazing young people daily.  I wish I could grant wishes, and make all of theirs come true.  I wish I could solve their problems, and protect them, and see that they all reach their goals.  I know that they were fine before me, and they will survive on their own without me, but I’ll be thinking of them and sending them love for the rest of my life.  I will worry about them, and hope that they continue to believe in themselves no matter what. 
• South Africa.  The people.  South African’s are so quick to laugh and make friends.  They welcome you with open arms, are amazingly generous, and support you like you’re family the instant they meet you.  I’ll miss the name Zoleka and being greeted by everyone I see on the street with a smile and “Molo, MyZo!”  The beauty of this country.  The ocean, rolling green hills, the brightly colored houses that line the streets.  The beautiful trees and flowers that bloom all year round.  The long summer days. And the sky that’s the bluest blue you could imagine. 
• My Peace Corps friends.  I wouldn’t have been able to get through the last two years without the friendship of my amazing fellow Peace Corps Volunteers.  When you’re questioning your sanity, or just need to complain to someone about how a massive cockroach just woke you up in your sleep, the only people to turn to are other PCVs.  They are the only other people who understand exactly what you mean without having to go into a long explanation. 
• The little things: Nando’s Peri Peri sauce, my little room, Hungry Eye’s delicious chips, being a local celebrity, biltong, children harassing me, milk tart, walking everywhere, my street, Algoa FM, my neighbors, South African slang, and probably a million other things I’ll only realize once they aren’t a part of my life anymore.

As I explained above the weirdest thing about ending Peace Corps service is the daily contradictory waves of emotions you get.  I’m incredibly sad to be leaving.  I’m beyond excited to come back to the United States.  I don’t want to leave my new families and friends.  There is nothing more I want than to see my family and friends after two years.  I can’t imagine not living here anymore yet I think about the United States and all the things I want to do there on a daily basis.  It’s the most pure and true experience of bittersweet that I’ve ever had.  I am satisfied and proud of my service, and I know it’s time to move onto the next chapter but now that the time has actually come, it feels impossible to leave. 

After I leave Alexandria I head up to Pretoria to finalize the end of my service along with several other volunteers from our group.  Some people from SA 23 have already gone back to the States, others are staying in South Africa longer.  I’m ending my service on the day we always knew we would – and there are a lot of us who didn’t change the plans.  It will be good to get the opportunity to work through all this with my fellow SA 23s.  After March 22^nd – my last day as a Peace Corps Volunteer – my friends and I will begin our travels around Southern Africa for the month of April.  I am really looking forward to this, but it’s on the back of my mind as I get ready to say goodbye to my community. 

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.  That will be the beginning.”
- Louis L'Amour

This post is dedicated to Aya – my friend.  We will always miss you.   

Teaching English

When I thought about my last three months in the Peace Corps I imagined they would be full of stress free work: transferring my remaining project responsibilities from myself to my South African counterparts, and taking my time to wrap up and say goodbye.  I imagined it would be relaxed.  In true Peace Corps fashion the unexpected came along and I’m busier than I’ve been in possibly my whole service.  I am currently volunteering as a full time English teacher at one of the two high schools in my town - Alexandria High School. 

The situation came about because since the beginning of the new school year in January, Alexandria High has been short ten teachers (in which is an already understaffed school).  The Department of Education has some internal issues which have resulted in schools across the Eastern Cape not receiving the number of teachers they are supposed to have.  Therefore schools like Alexandria High find themselves in desperate situations with children coming to school and no one to teach them various subjects.  The children come to school and go to class if they have a teacher.  If they don’t, they go to sit in the school hall for that period.  Most classes are sitting in the hall for multiple periods a day. 

A few weeks into the school year I met with the Principle and offered to help if I could.  They asked if I could teach English and I agreed.  A month into the school year the students hadn’t had a single English class.  I began right away and started with six different classes grades 8-11.  Most of the students take English as their “First Additional Language”, and their “Home Language” is Afrikaans.  They couldn’t believe that I can’t speak or understand Afrikaans and it’s quite a departure for some of them, especially the younger students, to be expected to speak English all the time. 

In the last few weeks my students and I dove in head first as we try to accomplish as many required “tasks” as possible for all the classes so they can have grades for the first term.  I am enjoying teaching, the challenge, and getting the chance to spend time with some of the community youth I didn’t know before.  On the first day of class I explained how I’m from the United States and allowed questions.  The best questions were: do I have Rick Ross’s phone number, am I friends with Demi Lovato, and in the United States do I drive a Bugatti.  To their disappointment the answers to all of those questions was no.    

Being back in a high school classroom everyday has me thinking a lot about my own experiences and noticing the things that are similar and different.  It makes me appreciate my education and the opportunities I had more than ever.  The challenges the school, teachers, and learners face can feel overwhelming to me but they push through and do the best they can with what they have.  Some differences between Alex High and its learners from my own experiences in high school are: required uniforms, no lunch periods or cafeteria, no passing periods or lockers, and no gym class.  They don’t have regular use of technology in their classes no teachers have computers or TVs in their classrooms.  The support staff is very small with two administrative staff, a few grounds and cleaning staff, and a part time “Learner Support Agent” who deals with counseling.  The extracurricular activity options are really limited which is the opposite of how it was at my high school.    

The similarities are numerous but have more to do with the teachers and learners than anything else.  The students love participating in sports, the big ones here are rugby, soccer, and netball which is a no-dribble version of basketball that’s considered a “girls sport.”  The students remind me of high school students anywhere in the world.  They are trying to figure out who they are and in that process can show many different sides.  They can be overly confident, insecure, quiet, talkative, shy, outgoing, inquisitive, and unsure but mostly they are funny.  They love to laugh and tell jokes, and as long as it doesn’t take up too much time I don’t mind.  Some are eager to learn, others aren’t.  Some are very well behaved, others…not so much.  They are high school students and they are fun.        

On Valentine’s Day there was a school dance and I volunteered to be a monitor.  It was so fun to see what a school dance is like in a small town in Africa!  The grade eleven students were responsible for running it.  They had to bring food and refreshments for the tables they decorated, and help clean up afterwards.  Before the dance a group of students who weren’t actually attending had come to the school and were sitting outside.  When I asked them if they were going to go in they said they had just come to see the different dresses – it was like they were there to see celebrities! 

A DJ from the community was brought in and played the most popular current dance songs - mostly “house music” by different African DJs.  One of my favorite moments was at the end of the dance when they played Gangnam Style and everyone got on the dance floor and did the moves.  It made me laugh, and I imagined the same thing happening at high school dances all over the world.  Not even tiny Alexandria, South Africa can escape the phenomena Gangnam Style.

 

I don’t know what’s going to happen when I leave in a few weeks if the school hasn’t found another volunteer or been approved to hire the ten teachers that they desperately need.  In the meantime I’ll try and teach them as much about English as I can and hope that my brief time with them has helped a little! 

Random story:

Even though my time here is almost done, I still have new experiences happening!  The other day there was a larger than normal group of kids standing outside my room watching me boil water for my bath (HOW they can possibly think staring at me while I do these completely normal tasks is interesting is still beyond me).  I needed to brush my hair so I did and then cleaned out my brush of the broken hairs.  As I dropped the tangle of hairs into my yard a gust of wind blew my hair into the air at which point all I heard was “MLUNGU HAIR!!!!!” (white hair!) and a race ensued to grab my discarded hairs.

Once they got them, they proceeded to sniff (I mean, really, really sniff) them, rub them on their faces, and put them on top of their own heads.  It was both slightly disturbing, and hilarious all rolled into one “is this happening?” moment.  I’m going to miss this place.      

 

Fun Times at Tyhilulwazi

Being back in Alexandria and back at site means back to my normal routine.  One of my favorite things is my Tuesday and Thursday mornings spent with the learners of the Tyhilulwazi (Tee-lu-waz-ee) Disabled Center (TDC).  Working with these learners has been a highlight of my service, and something I look forward to each week. 

The Tyhilulwazi Disabled Center is for the disabled people of Alexandria to come and learn basic skills, some education, and have a space safe to be themselves.  According to South African law all children regardless of ability have the right to attend school.  Unfortunately in reality this isn’t happening.  There are absolutely zero tools for the schools in Alexandria to deal with disabled learners.  They have no special education teachers, classrooms, or training to deal with disabilities.  If a child is severely disabled they will not attend school of any kind.  For the learners with less obvious disabilities they might be enrolled in school and it won’t be until they fail a low grade repeatedly that they are removed from school with nowhere to go. 

Luckily for the disabled people of Alexandria they have the TDC.  The TDC is run by a kind Mama named Mrs. Bloko.  Mrs. Bloko founded the center and she has one other regular volunteer, but other than that they are on their own.  They deal with all ranges of disabilities from physical to mental.  The spectrum of disabilities at the TDC is surprising and a challenge to deal with when attempting to create a curriculum or do any sort of basic skills or educational lessons.  They have some learners who are non-verbal and wheelchair bound, others who have no physical disabilities but cannot write their name - and everything else in between.   

Mrs. Bloko has no educational background in special education or formal training for working with disabilities.  What surprised me was that there is no record of the disabilities that her learners have.  I’ve seen that one learner has down syndrome, and two are deaf.  Other than those which I happen to know myself, I couldn’t tell you a single other disability that anyone has.  This makes it extremely challenging to properly create effective programs for these learners but like many things in South Africa – it’s just the way it is.  Despite what I see as a major challenge and problem – I can say that at least they have somewhere to go and receive some kind of support.  It’s not ideal, but it is certainly better than nothing.   

The work that I do with the learners could be described as physical education.  Every Tuesday and Thursday all those that are physically able make the short trek from the TDC to the sports center.  Our favorite game to play is “rounders” which is kick ball.  It’s more sort-of-kick ball because rules aren’t really followed.  Most people never touch a base and run in any direction possible to not get “out”.  Sometimes we have free days and then the boys usually play soccer, with the girls preferring netball (a no-dribble version of basketball).  Other activities we’ve done are relay races, stretches, basic workouts, and cricket.  We always end up back at rounders though!  I love it because it provides an opportunity for everyone to participate regardless of ability.  Everyone gets the chance to come up, kick the ball, and run around the bases (or near them). 

It’s been so fun to see some of the learners really show their skills in sports and excel!  We have some great athletes and I wish there was an outlet for them to regularly build on these skills.  On the other side of the spectrum we have some learners who still need to be prompted after they kick the ball.  Aviwe is my favorite.  She will stop the ball after it’s pitched to her, place it where she wants it, kick it, and then needs directions.  “Baleka, Aviwe! Baleka!” (Run, Aviwe! run!) can be heard every Tuesday and Thursday from the sports center.

I’m really going to miss my TDC buddies – they keep a smile on my face the whole time I’m with them.  We can’t really verbally communicate since none of them can speak English and my Xhosa is extremely limited, but we don’t need words for all the fun we’re having.  They know I care about them, and they care about me too.  I can tell when I’m half a block away from the center and I can hear them shouting “Zolekas coming!”  Makes me smile every time. 

An Adventure Holiday

As some of you know I took what was quite the epic vacation this December.  Last year I explored the East coast from where I stay to Durban in KZN so this year I thought it only appropriate I go in the opposite direction.  Luckily, my friends agreed! 

Our holiday consisted of two parts, traveling to Cape Town along the Garden Route and then Cape Town itself. 

Garden Route/Little Karoo: 

After renting a car in Port Elizabeth our first stop on our trip was a place called Nature’s Valley which boarders the Tsitsikamma National Forest.  We went zip lining in the forest and it was a ton of fun!  Our lead guide was named Yolo and he made me believe that I had to go backwards because I was left handed.  I am apparently exceptionally gullible.  We had a lot of fun doing this and I highly recommend zip lining if you ever get the chance.  Very cool.  

Our second stop was Oudtshoorn in an area called the “Little Karoo”.  This is the land of ostriches.  You can tour one of the many ostrich farms and even ride an ostrich (which is apparently cruel so we decided to not do it despite the temptation).  We came this way to see the Cango Caves and do the “adventure tour”.  Talk about an adventure!  We had to squeeze sideways through “Lovers Lane”, shimmy our way up the “Chimney”, and blindly slide down a tunnel.  These caves were at one point in time shelter for actual cave men – the Khoisan people.  Evidence of this was in rock paintings inside the caves (which have all unfortunately been destroyed).  Again, it was very cool.

Oudshoorn to Mossel Bay – what should have been a short trip – turned into a four hour detour on a gravel road.  Thank goodness we’re Peace Corps volunteers and we “packed our flexibility.”  We stopped a few times for some scenic pictures, a quick dance party, and our sanity.  Upon arrival in Mossel Bay at our train-turned-backpackers accommodation we immediately wanted drinks and food.  *As a side note: a train-turned backpackers (beachfront!) sounds like a good idea.  Not so much a good idea when your dorm is the width of a small train, lined on BOTH sides with bunk beds, and is literally booked full.  There was no floor space because it was covered in massive hiking backpacks so getting to the bathroom, changing, moving at all was literally impossible.  Our sense of humor about this didn’t really exist after again, FOUR HOURS on a GRAVEL road.  Oh and our butter had melted in the trunk and got all over two of our bags.  We laughed at this like insane people for probably ten minutes straight.  It’s all we could do…

 

Anyway, food and drink.  We go to the restaurant/bar attached to the backpackers and take a load off.  This is our interaction with our waiter Mike after we’re seated:

Mike: “Oh, are you from Canada?”

Us: “No, America!”

Mike: “So.  What can I get you.”

Clearly the right answer was Canada.  This was made abundantly obvious over the rest of our stay as we would try and ask him something and he would continue to walk past us as we were mid-sentence.  Oh, and the next morning he fake seated my friends.  He took menus, pretended to walk my friends to a table, yet kept walking and closed a sliding glass door behind him…

It. Was. Weird.  He also obsessively and continuously flipped a towel on/off his shoulder, occasionally switching the shoulders.  It was quite entertaining.  Waiter Mike had no love for us, and unfortunately by the end we had ZERO tolerance for him and his shenanigans.  Who fake seats people?!  We were quite happy to continue our trip leaving Mossel Bay in the rearview mirror.      

 

We hit up the Southernmost Tip of Africa – Cape Agulhas on our way further West.  It’s pretty cool to say I’ve been to the very bottom of Africa! 

Then came my favorite part of the trip – cage diving with great white sharks!  It was absolutely amazing and one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had!  We went out on a boat into Gansbaai (Gans Bay) and I was terrified.  I have a love/irrational fear of sharks.  I’m one of those people who will be in a pool and suddenly have a fear that a shark is going to attack me and I frantically swim to edge and get out (other people do that too right………?).  I blame TBS for having the JAWS movie marathons when I was in grade school.  JAWS 4 did the most damage I think.  Anywhoo my other irrational fear was that the cage would somehow detach from the boat and I’d either have to swim with the sharks to get to safety or sink to the bottom of the ocean.  So basically I’m the perfect candidate to go cage diving right?! 

I was scared and nervous until we saw our first shark; after that it was pure excitement.  My friend Sam and I had just finished putting our wet suits on and we were on the bottom deck of the boat patiently waiting for that first sighting.  The company we were with chums the water and also uses a massive tuna head as bait.  We were discussing how disgusting the tuna head was when suddenly we hear “SHARK APPROACHING FROM THE LEFT!” and at that moment a great white’s massive jaws came out of the water in an attempt to get the bait right in front of us.  It was amazing!  After the first shark they put the cage down on the side of the boat and four people went in at a time to view under water.  Sam and I got to go into the cage for two different 30 minute viewings.  You’d bob in the cage (and attempt to not let your feet float out the back through the bars) and wait for the instructions: “shark approaching from right GO DOWN GO DOWN GO DOWN!”  Then, you hold your breath, go underwater, and look to your right as you watch the shark swim in front of the cage to check out the tuna head.  There was one scary moment when I was looking at a great white straight on as it came towards the cage but it turned before it got too close.  Even though there wasn’t the possibility of danger, there’s nothing like looking straight on at an approaching great white to let you know who the boss is.  If you’re ever in South Africa, and want to go Cage diving you HAVE to go with the “Shark Lady” (previous customers – Brad Pitt and Princes William and Harry) it was amazing! 

There was actually a scarier event that day – having to drive our manual shift car to and from the shark diving which was 40 minutes away from where we were staying.  That was my fourth time EVER driving a manual shift.  Previous times include: 20 minutes in the Oregon State University parking lot, 30 minutes around Alexandria, 30 minutes the night before cage diving just to make sure I could actually do it.  So I was TERRIFIED.  Luckily, we were leaving super early in the morning so there was almost no traffic on the way there.  I only stalled a total of like 5 times at stop signs, which to me, is great!  I still can’t reverse…

Cape Town:

We met up with other Peace Corps volunteers in Cape Town and rented a house with them for the rest of the vacation.  We celebrated Christmas with a gourmet dinner that was simply delicious!  We visited the National Art Gallery, the National History Museum, shopped, ate delicious food, went to a Goldfish concert (youtube them – so good!), Kaulk Bay, an awesome wine tour, the beach and had an overall great vacation!  NYE we went out on the tourist trap Long Street but it was actually really fun and we got to meet up with a lot of other PCVs from other groups who were also staying in Cape Town.  I wore heels for the first time in two years.  Huge mistake.  It was still a really fun night though!     

Besides the house we were renting belonging to a semi-hoarder, there being no curtains anywhere including the bathroom which looked directly into another houses kitchen, and the fact that we were essentially paying to dog-sit, there is one funny story about where we stayed.  The almost break-in! 

Everyone was downstairs in the backyard when I went upstairs to get something.  I was staying in the master bedroom with a balcony off of it.  As I turned on the bedside lamp I saw a man come out of crouching position on our balcony.  I froze in terror.  I literally couldn’t move and I just remember thinking…do I scream? Do I run?  What do I do?!  That’s when he speaks to me through the window:

Potential robber: “I have asthma.”

Me: “What?!”

PR: “I have asthma, can you help me?”

Me: coming out of shock…”NO! NO I CAN’T %$#&^*@ HELP YOU!  GET THE *#%$ OUT OF HERE!”…followed by other strongly worded statements like: “WE HAVE DOGS!” and “WE’RE CALLING THE COPS!”  After about 30 seconds of me screaming at him he just simply climbed off the balcony never to be seen again.  It is still completely unknown how he somehow scaled his way up our house to the second story balcony.  Especially if he had asthma…

My vacation ended on the 1^st of January but I had a slow reintroduction to life in reality as I spent a few days with the Smith family at the Cannon Rocks Kiteboarding competition.  It was a great time, the weather was lovely, and it was cool meeting a whole bunch of kite surfers and hanging out with new and old friends. 

Life back at site has been great!  I was glad to be home in my comfy bed and back to a semblance of a routine.  There is lots of work to be done in the next weeks as I prepare to leave South Africa.  Finish reports, write a summary of all the work I’ve done that goes on record for 90 years, and make sure that my programs can function once I’ve left.  Not easy tasks to accomplish but I know everything will get done!  In the meantime I’m following some great advice and living in the moment! 

“May every sunrise hold more promise, and every sunset hold more peace.”
- Blessing

 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I hope you are keeping warm as winter approaches, even though I hear it’s been unseasonably warm in Chicago lately!  Here I can finally declare: summer has arrived!  I have to say if I can’t have a white winter, a hot beach holiday is not a bad trade.  The year is winding down here in South Africa which means one thing - vacation!  The school year in South Africa begins in January and ends in November with summer break taking place from now until half way through January.  The students have finished writing their exams that they’ve studied so hard for, and summer holiday has begun!

December break feels like a country wide vacation because it is not just the schools that close for extended periods of time.  My organization for example will close its doors December 14^th and not reopen until the schools do.  In my opinion this is fantastic and I’m sure I will never have this much vacation time at any other job.  The holiday time here isn’t quite like how it is in the States.  Here Christmas things made an appearance in big city stores before October – my friend’s theory is this is because they don’t have Halloween or Thanksgiving to hold it off.  I would have to agree, more evidence of this came when I attended a festive Christmas dinner the day after Thanksgiving. 

Vacation time in the township is a chance for everyone to do things that they’ve put off for a while.  One example of this is the intensive all house cleans where all furniture is removed from the house and every square inch is scrubbed inside and out.  My host sister spent over two full days with hired help doing this!  Many people will spruce up their homes with a new paint job (in awesomely bright colors).  Some have cement or dirt floors that they cover with the floor equivalent of wall paper, and December is the time to replace these papers.  I’ve seen countless people walking back from town with rolls of flooring slung over their shoulder.  This is a time for getting things done! 

Christmas is widely celebrated here as most people are Christian.  While Christmas for some South African’s might be similar to what we are used to in the States, Christmas in my township is quite different.  Looking around in my town you wouldn’t know that it’s Christmas time because there aren’t decorations up (with very rare exceptions).  The Xhosa people I live with don’t set up Christmas trees in their house, hang stockings, wreaths or lights, but they still have plenty of Christmas traditions.  Christmas morning starts with a trip to church in their new Christmas clothes.  After church little children will go around the neighborhood with bags and collect sweets and little toys from their neighbors.  Extended families will come together for a big Christmas lunch and parties afterwards.  Children are familiar with Santa Claus but don’t believe that he brings them gifts.    

Many families in my township are in poverty and can’t afford to give gifts on Christmas day.  Despite this most families will find a way to make sure that everyone at least has a brand new Christmas outfit – “Christmas clothes” are a very big deal.  Another big holiday tradition is to go to the beach on New Years Day.  This is the one day a year that people will go to the beach which is only a 20 minute drive from our township.  At the beach they go swimming, braai (bbq) and party!  You would not believe how crowded the beaches of South Africa are on New Years Day – it is a country wide tradition! 

It has been sort of bizarre coming from 23 years of white, winter, consumer Christmases - to summer with almost no commercial indication that it’s Christmas time – but it’s actually kind of nice!  I look forward to next year when I’ll be home for a winter holiday, but in the meantime I’ll take my Christmas on the beach and not complain!  I’m celebrating the holiday season my own way by watching holiday movies and listening to Christmas music.  I also set out my little Christmas tree thanks to the Smith family!

My big vacation of the year is finally here and begins on this Friday!  The “holiday” kicks off with our PC Close of Service (COS) conference in Pretoria.  I honestly can’t believe that this is here – this is the event that happens to prep us for when we finish our service in March (by the way my OFFICIAL end of service is March 22^nd!).  All of SA23 (the group I arrived with in South Africa back in January 2011) will come together for this final conference.  We will get all the details and logistics of what’s to come.  I haven’t seen most people in this group (with the exception of three people in fact) since back in March – so I am VERY excited to see everyone again! 

The conference will take place at a nice lodge outside of Pretoria (and the last night is my birthday and there is a This is Africa (TIA) themed party which I’m going to pretend is my birthday party!).  After the conference three of my PCV friends and I will head back down to Port Elizabeth to start our journey on the “Garden Route” on a road trip to Cape Town!  We’ll be on the Garden Route in the Western Cape for five days as we make our way along the coast.  We have lots of adventures in store including zip lining and caving!  I’m really, really excited!  We will end our road trip in the beautiful city of Cape Town and there with other Peace Corps Volunteers, and my South African friend Michelle I’ll celebrate Christmas and New Years.  As if that wasn’t enough, after I come back from Cape Town with Michelle I’ll spend the week with her and the rest of the Smiths at the Cannon Rocks Kite boarding Classic – a kite surfing competition.  Pretty much I’m in for a month solid of fun in the sun! : ) 

Happy Holidays to all of you!  I hope you all have a great winter break and whatever you celebrate I hope it’s filled with lots of happiness and joy!

Traditional Xhosa Work

One of the coolest parts of living in another culture so different from the United States is getting to learn about and participate in different traditions.  Here in the land of the Xhosa people I’ve had the opportunity several times to attend traditional events and it’s always a great time!  The first weekend this November was a big deal for my host sister Phakama’s family as they held the biggest kind of “traditional work” you can have – slaughtering a cow. 

The people where I stay refer to their traditional ceremonies that are centered on giving gifts to their ancestors as “traditional work”.  There are many kinds of ceremonies that a family can do.  While each one can have a different specific purpose, the general reason for having traditional work is to please the ancestors, which in turn should result in good luck for the family.  The most common traditional works are either the brewing of traditional beer (called umqomboti pronounced: um-com-boat-ee), or the slaughtering of a goat or cow.  A cow is the biggest deal because it is the most expensive (around 1,000 dollars which here is a BIG deal!).

 

In the case of Phakama’s family, she herself had purchased the cow, but the weekend long event would take place at another family member’s house.  The preparations for the event took the entire week.  A particular Aunt had to come into town and sleep at the house where the event was taking place because she was responsible for brewing the umqomboti which takes a full week to make.  Phakama spent a lot of time at the house cooking for her other family members that had come into town to help with the other preparations like setting up the family’s yard.  In the front yards of Xhosa families you will find a wooden post with animal horns attached to it.  This is the place where the offerings to the ancestors are given.  When a traditional event is going to take place a fence is put up around this area, and the branches of a particular tree are added to the fence, almost like a screen. 

These and other preparations take some time, and by Friday close family members have begun to arrive for the big day which is always on a Saturday.  On Friday night the cow arrived, and on Saturday at noon the ceremony began.  A male member of Phakama’s family conducted the ceremony (it is always a man) with the family sitting around the inside of the fence in a semi circle.  The Tata (a respectful way to refer to an older male) gave an impassioned speech to the family and the ancestors.  When it came time to slaughter the cow, other male relatives joined in helping to tie the cow down.  Things were very tense for several minutes because the cow would not moo. 

In Xhosa tradition if the animal to be slaughtered doesn’t “cry”, as they call it, right before it is slaughtered there is a very serious problem in the family.  It is a very bad omen, and extremely bad luck if the animal won’t cry.  Our cow was not crying and the family was starting to get upset.  At last it did and everyone jumped up and was crying with happiness and relief.  I even felt a huge sense of relief, and was really happy for Phakama that everything turned out okay. 

After the cow was skinned and cut up, they began to cook it.  At this point lots of family members and people from the community start to show up waiting to eat the meat.  No formal invitations are given out for these events but throughout the weekend many people from the community will stop by to partake in the festivities.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to come to one of these events, and no one gets turned away.  The meat gets cooked in very specific ways during these events.  It can only be cooked with water and salt in huge iron pots over fires or over the coals directly.  At the front of the house the men cook, and at the back of the house women are also cooking over a different fire.  As the meat becomes available it is distributed to the family and the people who have come to be part of the celebrations.  It must be served on a specific kind of branch with leaves.  This was the third cow slaughtering I had been to and the only one where I actually saw the cow being slaughtered.  I did eat a little piece of meat, but I am very picky about what meat I eat anyway.  My friend Noxolo came with me to the event and we were given a plate full of all liver pieces.  I let Noxolo who is a self-described meat lover eat the whole thing.  The only down side is you can’t request a fillet at these events! ; ) 

A common thing taking place in my community (and undoubtedly around the world) is the blending of Western culture with traditional ceremonies and rituals.  Alcohol plays a large part in these events and in addition to supplying the food, the family is responsible for supplying people with drinks.  In the old days the only alcohol consumed would have been the umqomboti, now days because of people’s preferences there are all kinds of alcohol served at these events.  Another blending of modern culture and tradition is the clothes you must wear.  For the family – the women will generally be wearing traditional dress.  The levels of how traditional the clothes are vary on the family, but it always involves either a skirt or dress.  For older women who are married they will wrap their head in a scarf.  I’ve noticed the men at these events tend to wear whatever they want (unless the family is very traditional which I’ve only seen once).  The youth take these traditions less seriously and some girls will wrap a towel around their jeans and call it a day. 

Even with the “modernization” of some parts of these ceremonies, the Xhosa tradition and culture remains very strong.  I really enjoy getting to experience these unique parts of South African culture.  It’s a privilege to be able to see how other people in the world live and get to experience first hand what they believe. 

Girls Leading Our World :: Camp GLOW

Last September as Noxolo and I were coming up with the goals for our Alexandria Girls Clubs one of them was “to hold a Camp GLOW”.  That goal finally became a reality this October 1^st – 5^th as six counselors and twenty learners from Ukhanyo Secondary School and Alexandria High School joined us at Bushbuck Adventure Camp for a week like nothing we had ever experienced! 

Planning Stages

As soon as I heard of Camp GLOW (a program that was started by PCVs in Romania in 1995) I knew it was something I wanted to do with my time in the Peace Corps – and I knew it would be my biggest project.  I worked in the Leadership and Service office at ISU – leadership development is kind of my nerdy thing.  After participating in a life-changing week long leadership program myself (and then working as the Student Coordinator of it for three years) I knew how immensely impactful, wonderful, and fun a week long leadership camp could be – and my standards were set high.  Using my experiences in the Leadership and Service office, including things from Alternative Spring Breaks I began the task of putting together a week long leadership camp focusing on four things: leadership (obviously), HIV/AIDS & wellness, personal discovery and growth, and female empowerment.  These four overarching themes directed each and every lesson and activity that we did. 

The week was put together to follow daily themes: community, the value of you, challenging the status quo, leading with your values, and taking it home.  Each day we had a goal which correlated to the daily theme as we worked through our lessons and activities.  The Camp GLOW curriculum took me a looooooooong time to put together and in total was 144 pages.  The counselor’s manuals were a detailed, step by step guide for staff.  They included: facilitator training, the daily to do list, the daily curriculum, inspirational materials, and ice breakers and energizers. 

The Camp GLOW [Rock Stars] Staff

Starting in June the planning committee (aka the Camp GLOW staff) started meeting to prepare and plan.  Putting together our staff was something that came together amazingly easy.  I needed a group of committed women, who were already positive role models in their community that would be willing to not only spend an entire week working for free, but also spend four full months planning and meeting.  I had my eyes open for good counterparts and was able to find an AMAZING group of women for the camp.  Our lead facilitators would be Noxolo (an employee of the local Department of Social Development, and Alexandria Girls Club leader) and me.  One of my best friends in the Peace Corps Sam offered to come down and help out and she served as our site coordinator.  She was my right hand woman throughout the whole week and helped to make sure it all went smoothly (which it did thanks to her!).

Our Sister Leaders – the women who would be interacting with the girls on a much more personal level as their small group leaders (aka Sister Teams) were all made for this job!  Phindiswa and Nelly both work for the Department of Education as “learner support agents” comparable to social workers at the local schools.  Elgene works as a monitor at the Alexandria Christian Academy and runs the youth programs at the church I attend.  She got her sister Kaylynn to fill in as our fourth Sister Leader – unfortunately Kaylynn was unable to actually come because she got a new job that began on the same day as Camp; but she was an invaluable asset to our planning committee in the months leading up to GLOW. 

Something that makes me really proud of our GLOW is that not only was it empowering the learners we had from the schools, but also our staff.  This was such a unique opportunity for them to learn and grow professionally and personally.  These women are passionately committed to seeing the people of their community empowered – and it is truly inspiring to see all the hard work they put into their roles as Camp GLOW staff.  I am so grateful, blessed, and inspired by them continually!  My expectations of them were extremely high and they were there ready to rise to each and every challenge I put in front of them.  They did an outstanding job and I’m so proud of all of them!

The Camp

After four months of Saturday planning committee meetings, me stalking the participants and their schools, three shopping trips to Port Elizabeth for supplies, and endless hours of preparation the week finally arrived – Camp GLOW!  All of our participants showed up (I was worried that someone would forget despite my mass text messages of last minute reminders) and the camp began!

At first the girls were shy and quite, a little apprehensive and not quite sure what to expect.  That quickly changed and by day two we could see the girls coming out of their shells.  By day three we were astounded at some of the transformations we were seeing.  Girls that hadn’t said a single word were suddenly speaking up in the big group discussions – it was so encouraging.  The following are some of the highlights of the week…

Day Two:

A LOT of girls cited learning about their values on day two as one of their favorite things about Camp GLOW.  The focus was on learning about who you are, what you value – your “core values” and then congruence between your values and actions.  I think this message really impacted them! 

The challenge course – was not only hilarious but a great workout!  A lot of girls enjoyed this part of the day and working on their team building – doing activities like the human knot.  The key message of the day was that each of us has our own value that we bring to the table but it’s also critical for leaders to be able to work well on team!   

Know Your Epidemic – this was one of the only times that we actually discussed HIV/AIDS at Camp GLOW.  Part of the reason is – all of the youth in my community know what behaviors are risky and put them in danger of contracting HIV.  They know what HIV is, they understand how it can affect you, and that it can’t be cured.  What they don’t know is exactly what HIV looks like in South Africa as a nation.  It is not widely understood that HIV is actually a pandemic in South Africa and exactly how widespread it is here (and that it is not how it is in the rest of the world).  In my opinion – you cannot fight something if you don’t really understand it.  If the youth of this country don’t understand that they have a unique challenge to overcome in regards to HIV they will not be able to see an HIV free generation.  We showed the comparison to statistics on HIV in the United States and South Africa.  The small group discussions that took place as part of this session were amazing!

Day Three:

Why Gender Matters: we talked about the difference between sex and gender, did an activity that demonstrated how much influence gender stereotypes have on us, and discussed why this is important for us to talk about and relevant to them. 

Dream Big: Vision and Goals Development: Each participant went through the process of developing a vision and goals.  A vision was something that was “others focused” – an improvement that they wanted to see in their community.  The focus was not on individual desires and goals – by going through this process they could apply it to their own personal lives, but we wanted to encourage community involvement and active citizenship.  This was very powerful to many of them, especially at their age (15-19) as they generally aren’t used to thinking about how they can impact their community.  The visions and goals that they developed were so incredibly inspiring!  These ladies have big dreams and hopes for their community!

Challenging the Status Quo: The main activity addressing this was group discussions on the following things: women’s rights in South Africa, caring for the environment, racism in South Africa, and HIV/AIDS.  These discussions got them thinking about the tough questions and the attitudes and circumstances that people generally just accept as “how things are” here.  The conversations that ensued were extremely interesting.

Women Leaders in Our Community: Guest Speaker Panel.  Three women from Alexandria that are leaders in their community were invited to speak about what it’s been like for them as women leaders in the community.  The HIV/AIDS Coordinator of Ndlambe Municipality, the Ward Counselor of Alexandria, and the Project Manger of Ikhwezi Support Group all attended and shared their knowledge with us.  The girls engaged the guest speakers by asking insightful questions.  Having living examples of women from their community that have become leaders was so important for the girls – and I think made a lasting impression on them. 

Day Four:

Outdoor Adventure: Hiking.  Part of our day consisted of a two hour hike through the bush.  It was along a stream and so much fun!  Several girls’ citied hiking as one of their favorite things about the Camp.  Most of the girls don’t ever get to go hiking so it’s a rare and fun opportunity for them! 

Embracing Failure: in their Sister Teams the girls talked about new ways to look at failure.  We were encouraging them to dream really big with their visions and goals - “great leaders have a healthy disregard for the impossible” after all.  In order to prepare them for the challenges that lay before them we wanted to provide them with a new outlook on failing.  The following quotes were just some of the inspiration we provided for the new viewpoint: 

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” – Robert F. Kennedy, former United States Congressman

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”  –Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of England

Juggling Life: Stress Management.  This was a session that a large majority of girls cited as being something they had learned at Camp GLOW – how to manage their stress in positive ways. 

Seeing the Possibilities: I Can’t Funeral.  After their final sister team reflections where participants got to meet one on one to share each others positive qualities we held an I Can’t Funeral.  Each of us wrote down things that others have said to us, or that we say to ourselves that are negative.  We each then read these things out loud to the group (it was optional but everyone chose to participate) and then threw the paper into the fire “burying” those negative messages.  This turned out to be an extremely emotional activity with a lot of girls letting out things that they had clearly been holding in for a long time.  Sharing these deep things with each other allowed them to finally release that burden and find the support that they needed to prove their own self worth to themselves.  It was extremely touching and empowering.

Day Five:

Taking It Home: we discussed the different ways they can apply what they have learned at Camp GLOW at home, the potential challenges they thought they might face, and how they could address each one of those challenges.

Celebration: Silent Thanks – as one of our last activities we all got a chance to anonymously thank one another.  With our eyes shut and back facing the inside of the circle five girls came into the middle at a time and touched the shoulders of people for statements like “someone that always makes you laugh”, “someone you liked getting to know better”, and “someone you want to thank but haven’t”.  It’s a very feel good activity! 

Acknowledgements and Certificate Ceremony: I surprised the staff with gifts – picture frames, water bottles, and bracelets for all of their hard work.  To our huge surprise the Sister Leaders and the girls had organized gifts for Sam and me – also pictures with an African scene and really cute necklaces!  It was such a surprise I couldn’t believe it!  We all got our certificates and then it was time for the final activity before Camp was over. 

Touchstones: everyone got a small glass pebble to remind them of their time at Camp GLOW.  I gave a final speech which ended with the quotation by Robert Kennedy: “It is from numberless acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of home, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Feedback

One of the great things about such a long program is you can see the transformation in many of the participants.  Yet it can be very difficult to actually assess how successful a program was besides qualitative stories.  As part of our monitoring and evaluation of Camp GLOW each participant filled out a pre and post camp survey to assess their knowledge and skills gained.  We also had feedback forms which asked: what did you learn about yourself this week at Camp GLOW, and what was your favorite part of Camp GLOW.   

I’m proud to report that there were great improvements on the post Camp surveys which showed that after the Camp all of our objectives were successfully met.  Yay!   

Feedback Forms:

The following are a few examples of what the participants of Camp GLOW had to say…

What did you learn about yourself at Camp GLOW?

I learned how to make healthy decisions for my self.  I learned how to resolve conflict, about leadership, and my values.  I also learned about how HIV/AIDS affects my country and the youth. 

I learned that I can achieve my goals and visions and I can be what I want to be in life.  I learned how to make important decisions and that I can be a leader in my community and I shouldn’t let anyone discourage me.  I should have faith in myself if I want to change the way my community is.  I can work with people and everyone should be respected no matter what our age group is.

I have learned how to: communicate with people and teammates, my values as a person, how to look at failure, and how to manage my stress.  I have the ability to be a role model for my peers, and finally I have learned that I can be a leader and I will be a leader. 

In this week I learned everything about community.  I learned how to manage stress and how to live with my values.  Mostly I learned about how to behave as a girl, how to make good choices, and how to handle peer pressure.  As a young teenager you must follow your dreams.

What was your favorite part of Camp GLOW?

My favorite part was the challenge course because there I faced my fear of failing and heights.  So I enjoyed it a lot and it has taught me to not fear failure because it is how you learn and it makes you stronger. 

My favorite part was when the Sister Teams were together.  We learned that everyone is special in different ways, and we laughed together. 

My favorite part of Camp GLOW was the making and understanding of new friends.  The best part of Camp GLOW was the learning part because I was asking the Lord, let this Camp give me something to live for and instead of something you guys gave me a lot to take home and apply in my own life.

My favorite part of Camp GLOW is when we were talking about our values because I never thought our values are so important and that they make you who you are.  You should respect others values and you have to lead with your values as a person so that you can succeed. 

The following are notes I wanted to share that I got in my Happy Bag.  Two of them make my life and two of them are just hilarious:

“I want you to know you are the best thing that ever happened to me I LOVE YOU!!!”

“You have a lot of energy you don’t get tired, you always teach and talk but I like you……..”

“You’ve showed me what humanity means in so many ways.  I have changed as a young person: Thank u”

“Thankz to you & Noxolo this camp is very nyc [nice] I thought it would be boring love u a lot”

: )

I want to say a HUGE thank you, dankie, and enkosi to the following people and organizations for making Camp GLOW possible:

Noxolo, Phindiswa, Nelly, Elgene, Sam, Kaylynn, Almare, the Bushbuck staff, Ukhanyo Secondary School, Alexandria High School (special shout out to Mr. Meyer and Mr. Wentzel), Ikhwezi Support Group, Life Christian Center, Sunshine Coast Charity Trust, SA Chicory (thanks Henry!), all the local businesses who donated (there were lots!), all of my lovely friends and family in the States who after countless times of me harassing them for money for this or that - they STILL donated, and last but absolutely not least the participants!  I’m so grateful to all of you – a thank you will never really express exactly how much I appreciate a community coming together to try and make a positive change in the world!

After all…

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world..." - Gandhi