Leaving on a jet plane

I'm sitting in my room in Cape Town right now and I can't help but feel caught in the middle of excited to go home and share my experiences with anyone who is willing to listen and never wanting to leave. My bags are mostly packed....having packed baggage seems to be a final indicator of departing a place that I don't want to leave. After our farewell brai (bbq), it became apparent how much I'm leaving here. In a lot of ways, Cape Town has provided a new kind of security; though it's half way around the world I still oddly feel right at home. 

As I reflect on my experiences and what I am taking away, I can honestly say that I didn't do this place justice. 3 weeks of trying to understand the ins and outs of an incredibly complicated issue isn't enough. My time here was basically a time for me to get my feet wet, but I'm leaving this country wanting to dive in head first. 

All in all, despite how short my stay has been, I know that I've gained some incredibly valuable insight on the issues of leadership in a cross cultural context. I've learned that I can't expect to go to a place and simply "fix" things. As Kevin Winge said in his book, you have to enter a country right, not wanting to correct the seeming mistakes that a culture may make; it's more important to gain an understanding of the way in which people do things and serve others as a result. 

There are a great deal of things that I will miss about this entire experience. The bonds and sense of security I have acquired among my fellow classmates will be missed. It's not that we won't see each other or talk once we get back to Minneapolis, I'm sure the friendships that I have formed here will last a very long time, however, I will miss the conversations, the laughter, and mostly the mutual understanding of the elements of change and progress. 

This truly has been the time of my life, but I think it's time that I start packing. Thanks for reading.

Last few days...

I’m enjoying a day off from classes and excursions today. It was nice to sleep in for the first time in two and a half weeks. Today I had planned on climbing Table Mountain, however the clouds are quite dark over it today so hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze that in before I depart on Friday. 

It’s difficult for me to believe that I’ll be leaving South Africa in a matter of days. Many students are looking for ways to extend their stays here. I, however, am expected to start my summer employment on Monday, so unfortunately, staying a couple of extra days, weeks, or months isn’t in the cards at this time. 

Our last week in South Africa has been devoted to processing everything we have learned over the past weeks. When I explain what I’ve been able to experience in SA so far, it appears that I’ve done quite a bit, but deep down inside I feel as though I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of truly understanding the depth of the pandemic. I’ve gotten a fair taste of how Apartheid and healthcare crisis have contributed to the spread of AIDS, but one major component of the pandemic, culture, I feel has still been unaddressed. The unfortunate part understanding the cultural component of HIV is that it can only really be done by having an extended stay in a township. 

Stigma is an enormous issue surrounding HIV/AIDS. Clinics are now offering tests after midnight so that there is a greater degree of confidentiality. The JL Zwane Community Center is often referred to as the “AIDS Church” simply because it is one of the few establishments that has done a great deal to reach out to those infected. As you can imagine, the notion of stigma shows up in so many levels of the pandemic, whether it’s the government not actively addressing the issue, schools not implementing any sort of sexual education in the school systems, people being afraid to be tested because the suspicions that will be raised if anyone finds out that they requested testing. All of these notions contribute to the stigma surrounding the issue and it’s incredibly sad. 

As I’ve been reflecting on my experiences here, I’m finding that re-entering the US will probably be more difficult than adjusting to the culture of South Africa. After being here, I’ve begun to realize how incredibly insensitive I have been to the fact that the vast majority of the world only dreams of enjoying the things that I take for granted on a daily basis. In the US, even the poorest of the poor do not live in nearly as horrible conditions as those in the townships. Though it isn’t available to all, we have a number of medical professionals that have access to endless amounts of medications. In Africa, only two lines of ARVs are available to everyone, meaning once immunity has been built along those two, the person basically waits to die. In the US we have three lines of ARVs, which greatly extends the equality of life for people who are living with HIV/AIDS. I think a lot of people look at a problem like HIV/AIDS and don’t see any way where they can be helpful because it is such a large problem. Obviously monetary donations are needed the most simply to keep the programs running, but furthermore not being wasteful when it comes to food (we’re currently in a global food crisis) and limiting the amount of red meat you consume will greatly improve conditions for those abroad. Because so much food is consumed by the US, developing countries often do not receive a lot of foods that are vital to proper nutrition, especially when it comes to protein. 

All in all, I’m still very much in a reflective state of understanding how I will take this experience and incorporate the lessons into my everyday life in the US. The greater portion of this class has been gaining an education of the current affairs of SA, but I still don’t know that I particularly improved the situation I was in besides being more informed. I still feel like a lot I have left here is unfinished and it’s sort of an unsatisfying feeling. When I sit down to blog, it’s difficult to really put what I’ve experienced into words, but I know that this will be an imperative part of helping raise awareness to this cause. 

Thanks for reading!

P.S. My instructor has posted a ton of pictures from SA. Feel free to view them at www.aaroninsouthafrica.blogspot.com

TIA

Wow, I’ve got a lot to catch up on. It always amazes me how I can go two days without blogging and I feel as though I have pages of events and realizations to write about. Each day has been so incredibly wonderful, it’s difficult to do justice to it through a word processor…but I will try.

I’ve just returned home from my free day excursion. I decided to live on the edge a bit and go shark diving. Our morning started at 5:30 am as the bus driver came to pick us up at our residences. We drove to a site about two hours out of Cape Town, had breakfast and were briefed by the guides. Following our safety talk, we took a boat out into the ocean for about 45 minutes. The area we anchored in is close to Shark Island, where the majority of shark documentaries are filmed. This area is full of sharks, but is most famously known for its population of Great Whites. 

Though it is the dead of winter here, the weather was still fairly warm (in the low 60s) and the water is about the same. We are put into 8mm wetsuits and goggles and lowered into a cage that is tied to the boat. The top of the cage extends about a foot above the surface of the water so that we have room to breathe and when a shark gets close to the cage, members of the crew will yell at us to get down and tell us which direction the shark is coming from. 

The site of a 15-foot Great White Shark was really quite the rush. One swam right up against our cage and tapped its nose again the cage inches from my feet…unbelievable. A group that went later had the shark actually attack the cage and bite onto the cage! No one was hurt or scared, just incredibly excited. I’ve been fortunate enough to do a lot of extreme sort of things in my life but shark diving tops my list without a doubt.

Yesterday was also a day for more “touristy” stuff. South Africa is known for its wide variety of wines mostly because of the optimal weather for growing grapes. We began our tour by going to a smaller vineyard where we had a tour of the vines (because we’re in the dead of winter, the grape vines are harvested and dead) and then learned about the process of crushing the grapes and aging the wine. An interesting fact I learned while touring the vines was about how they spot disease in their vines. At the end of each row of the vines is a rose bush. Roses are plants that respond quickly to disease, so the farmers put a rose bush at the end of each row of grapes so that they can detect disease quickly and solve the problem before it gets too serious. 

South African wine has a much higher alcohol content that wines from other areas of the world, mostly because of the hot summers. Having a hot summer allows the grapes to get much sweeter which makes them not need to sit in the brewer as long and lose their alcohol content. Following the tour of the vines, we went for a tasting where we learned the three components of a good wine: color, smell, and taste. Personally, I enjoyed the white wines better than the reds, but ended up purchasing both. 

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time returning into tourist mode, there is something very ironic about traveling to the various venues. In order to leave Cape Town in pursuit of breathtaking views and world famous vineyards, we drive the N17, an interstate begins in central Cape Town and winds through the mountains and beaches. However, this road also cuts through the heart of the townships. Bordering the interstate are shacks lined inches apart from another. You can see the signs of civilization with clothes hanging on a clothesline, blowing the in the wind and a random African running across the interstate because there are no bridges linking the townships that straddle the busy highway. It’s almost as if the city is reminding me of the realities of this place and that the excursion I’m about to go on is not necessary. In fact, for a person living in one of these 10 by 10 shacks, the idea of even entering within Cape Town city limits (which is about 2 or 3 kilometers away) is unthinkable. 

After experiencing last week and having a better understanding of what it is to truly be in a state of need, I can’t help but feel guilty for everything I have been given. I credit a great deal of who I am and the opportunities I have been given to being raised in a privileged household – privileged not necessarily in the sense of having a family who easily puts food on the table and clothes on my back, but I grew up in loving family where I wasn’t ever put in a situation that I couldn’t handle or denied the basic human needs that many in the townships do not receive. But even these luxuries are the icing on the cake. By pure luck, I was born into a country where neighbors don’t fight neighbors and where I can feel (mostly) safe roaming the streets at night. Though Americans are often quick to complain about the current political situation in our country, we still have dodged a corrupt political and governmental system where we can trust that the police will keep us safe and our government will be informed of the happenings of our country. 

Politically, the hottest topic in South Africa is the recent of Xenophobic (fear of foreigners) attacks. Currently, Zimbabwe is at a state of civil war which has greatly affected the poorest of the poor of that country. Thousands have lost their lives as two parties struggle for power of the country. Their current president has been in power for 27 years and has been come excessively wealthy as the rest of the country is overwhelmingly poor. Because of the current warlike state, thousands upon thousands have fled to South Africa in search of refuge over the years. As more and more people flee to South Africa and become residents of the country and enjoy the rights that everyone receives, the “natives” of the townships have become restless. 

Due to a lingering economy and more “jobs for South Africans being taken by Zimbanweans,”, violent attacks have happened in townships outside of Johannesburg and Cape Town have been top news. Hundreds have died in these attacks, including a man who was burned alive in the middle of a township outside of Cape Town. The attacks are incredibly violent and disgusting. We were fortunately enough to visit a church last week in a suburb of Cape Town who is housing refugees. They have never done anything like this in the past, but as many churches have filled up of people seeking refuge in their own country (some people who have been victims of violence have lived in South Africa for 10+ years) the church knew they needed to help out. We visited with a group of refugees. One man, Sign, told about how his wife and children were still in war-torn Zimbabwe where they had just ran out of food and inflation has made it impossible to purchase anything (350,000 Zimbabwe dollars is worth about .5 Rand or about 6 American cents – a loaf of bread costs millions of Zimbabwe dollars, can you imagine the amount of notes a person would have to carry around to purchase something as simple as a loaf of bread?).  At this point, he doesn’t know if his wife and children are alive, furthermore, he has no way of knowing how to meet up with them again after the violence ceases. His story was just one of many that were heartbreaking. His final request from us was to purchase him a plane ticket to the US. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been asked to help someone get into the States – it really makes me realize how lucky I am to live in a peaceful place.

As you can imagine, these incidents are on the front burner of conversation in South Africa, but as I watched the news with my home stay family in Guguletu, it was reported that the current president of South Africa was not even aware of the Xenophobic attacks. Obviously there are heavy political undertones to Mekembe’s oversight, but it is so frustrating when the leaders of a country are more concerned about maintaining power than acting in the best interests of their citizens, in fact it’s disgusting. There is a common phrase in Africa that was mentioned in the movie Blood Diamond, TIA or “This is Africa” and it’s in this phrase where I see complacency with the corruption of governments and the overall chaos of the country. Sometimes I feel as though people have given up on demanding for more out of their political leaders and have deemed themselves helpless in the political affairs of their country. 

I promised I would talk more about my home stay experience, while I could write for pages and pages about this experience, I will try to hit on the highlights. I stayed with a grade 5 school teacher named Titi. Titi is 54 years old and has a 22 year old daughter, Mamela. She has never been married and lives in a 3-bedroom home that has all of the modern day conveniences. In Guguletu, this would be considered a wealthy household. For the first time, I saw carpet in a house. The house also had indoor plumbing and running water (which was not true for everyone who participated in the homestay). Titi did not have a shower, but there was a bath tub. I took a bath for the first time since 1997 or so, I’ve forgotten how relaxing they are. 

The beautiful thing about the home stays were the warmth and welcoming nature of our families. We were instantly referred to as our mother’s “babies” … even by “mamas” who weren’t our own. Every night we would gather at a different family’s house and have a group meal together. I was hoping that this would be a trip where I would lose weight, but after the amazing meals I was served in Gugs, I don’t think it’s possible any longer. 

The best part of the night was after we had finished eating and our host families would try to teach us how to dance. It’s a wide known fact that white people don’t know how to dance, and having a few lessons from some of our families definitely improved my skills. Something I’ve grown to love about African culture is how established singing and dancing is in their culture. At any moment, our house mothers would break into song and sing in perfect harmony. It was so beautiful. 

Sometimes I feel as though my entire time in South Africa is one of those “you had to be there” kind of experience. I’ve traveled to many places where I could paint pictures of cathedrals in Europe or show photo photos of the Great Wall of China, but when I try to explain what I’ve experienced here, I find myself resorting to the same TIA phrase I used earlier, only this time it illustrates a kind of love and genuity that I’ve experienced nowhere but here. 

In a lot of ways, living in the home stays was like paying a visit to my grandma, where she is overjoyed to see me and hear about every last detail of my life. But unlike my grandma, I’ve known her for 21 years and by the end of three days in Guguletu tears filled my eyes when I explained what my week-long experience had meant to me. It’s difficult for me to explain in a lot of ways, but I can honestly say that I’m beginning to understand the importance of truly welcoming someone. 

I know this only offers a glimpse of what the home stay was like for me, but there are still a great deal of things I need to reflect on and make sense of in order to give a more thorough analysis of. 

Well, I still have another writing assignment due for tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

*the first picture is of my roommate Sarah (girl from the trip) and Marmela, my homestay sister. the second picture is of Hillary, Erin, me, and Maryam in our matching fleece jackets we purchased to stay warm*

Back from Guguletu

It’s difficult for me to put the past week into words in many ways. I was exposed to so many new realities that I could have never imagined as being true, it’s a bit overwhelming to just start writing about them. 

I’ve returned from Guguletu and am sitting at the dining room table of our rented home in Cape Town. It’s a bit surreal to be back here mostly because it’s difficult to imagine that a few kilometers away there is an entirely different world. During most of my stay in Guguletu, I felt as though I was in a different country with a completely different culture. Coming from the gated homes of Cape Town to the shanties of Guguletu was a bit startling. Earlier today, I spoke with Seiphemo, who works for InterStudy, the organization in which our program is through, about the differences between Guguletu and Cape Town. He explained about the struggles with balancing living in the glitz and glam of Cape Town, and the simple living in the townships. In a lot of ways, I can relate to “living the double life,” mostly because my life and culture in Minneapolis is drastically different than that in North Dakota. But, the differences I find in North Dakota and Minneapolis are separated by hundreds of miles of open road. Cape Town and Guguletu are situated side by side, the only division being highways, yet the differences between the two are black and white – literally and figuratively. 

Guguletu is a township of about 400,000 located near Cape Town International Airport. As far as I know, the population is entirely black, many of who are poor and have understood South Africa in two ways: apartheid and post-apartheid. To me, it’s interesting that in the original design of Apartheid, blacks were meant to live in “rural” areas, yet the Guguletu is anything but rural. The roads are paved, there are a fair amount of cars driving the streets, the main road of the township has been lined with trees in preparation for the 2010 World Cup, there are trailers or shipping containers (similar to a boxcar on a train) housing hair salons, restaurants, or implement shops. The homes are very close together, in fact many are connected, and the streets run very close to the homes. People walk the streets and sidewalks of Guguletu, children would wave at the vans that transported us around, and some would even run along beside the vans. 

As I observed the surroundings of the township, it was obvious that there are a great deal of children left unattended during the day. We would see children as young as two or three, roaming the streets during the day with no parent in sight. This could be either that the parents are away at work or are too sick to take care of their children. Like any poorer area in the US, drugs and alcohol are problem in the township. We were told of an emerging drug, known as “tik” that has recently become a problem. Kids will take the insides of light bulbs and ARVs (antiretrirol virus drugs – used for HIV/AIDS) and smoke the substance. ARVs are increasing becoming a black market item in the name of recreational drug use. I find this to be most disheartening because currently there are millions of people waiting to receive ARVs through a government sponsored program (usually people who qualify to be on ARVs wait 9 months to receive their medication) and people who are lucky enough to receive the drugs sell them to make money. 

At this point, I’m still processing the issues that surround HIV/AIDS. As I’ve found so far, there is a direct link between HIV/AIDS and poverty as an overwhelming majority of those infected are poor. My home stay mother Titi told about how some people purposely infect themselves with HIV just so they can receive ARVs and a grant from the government. When it comes to being impoverished and hungry, HIV is the lesser of two evils. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for children to head the household after their parents die from complications related to AIDS, forcing them to quit school and find any means to make money to support themselves and their younger siblings. Some turn to selling themselves, other purposely infect themselves with HIV or being pregnant to receive government aid – there are a million different compromising ways that people can make a living for themselves and their dependents. We had the opportunity to visit a 17-year-old girl who was taking care of her 9-year-old brother after her mother died. She had been taking care of him since she was 15 and lived in a two room shack less than 150 square feet. There was no shower or toilet in the shack. Poverty is so closely related to HIV, its difficult to know what the solution to the problem is. Should the government make sure that people are hungry and their basic needs are met or should they focus on sex education (which currently is not addressed in public schools) and distributing ARVs to those already infected?

All in all, the issue is much more complicated than people simply having reckless intercourse, in many cases it’s the desperation that surrounds the poverty that causes the spread of HIV. There are a lot of people in the Guguletu community that are trying to make a difference in lives of those affected by the disease and their stories are truly inspirational. One immediately comes to mind when I think of Pricilla. A woman of about 65 years old has four children (two of which still live with her) and has taken in 9 children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. Pricilla lives in a two room home and houses 11 children (most under the age of 6) in order to keep them from living on their own.  Taking in 9 children (none of whom she knew previously) is a feat in itself, but furthermore, Pricilla lives in a state of poverty. In order to feed her children when they get home from school, she brings the young children (there are 4 of them all under the age of 4) around Guguletu with her and finds odd jobs to do (mostly cleaning or something similar) in order to make enough money to go to the grocery store and purchase food for her children. Literally everyday this woman does not know how she is going to be able to feed the orphans she has taken into her home. She receives no aid from the government. The support she gets is from the JL Zwane Community Center and from the work she does for others in the community. 

Pricilla’s home is in less than good shape. The walls that divide the rooms do not reach the roof. The only privacy in the home is the curtain that covers the doorway of the bedroom. The bathroom is small and does not have warm water for the children to bathe in. Perhaps the most disheartening part of the home was that there was no toilet paper for anyone to use, simply because Pricilla can’t afford it. They use old newspapers instead. Furthermore, the developing girls in the home do not have access to feminine products to use.

On the day we visited Pricilla’s home, we came with food to make a meal for Pricilla and her children, brooms to help clean the house and toys for her kids (they had none previously). To those who gave monetary donations to my medical and school supplies campaign, your money was used to purchase toys and food for Pricilla’s children. Edwin, a minister at JL Zwane who accompanied us on our trip mentioned how he had never seen that much happiness in a home after the children received a good meal and toys. By the end of our hour at her home, there were 30 kids in her house, all of who wondered over to get in on the excitement. It’s amazing how something as simple as bubbles can generate so much joy. 

Our group was obviously very moved the situation with Pricilla and have decided that we want help fund repairs on her home and help with feeding the children. Each person in our group of 17 has pledged to raise $1000 in order to help the family. If you are interested in donating money, please let me know. I can honestly say that any money donated with make an immense difference in these childrens’ lives simply because they are so grateful for anything they receive, no matter how small. 

We were exposed to many stories similar to Pricilla’s in that we have meant people who have overcome extraordinary challenges and have devoted their life to the improvement of their community. One of the first speakers we had was Nombeka Mpongo. On August 16, 1997, Nombeka was gang raped by 5 men walking home one evening in Guguletu and contracted HIV. At the time she had a 6-year-old son. As soon as she made her status known, she was fired from her job and turned away from many universities because she refused to register as a health risk. Her story was truly inspirational though because of her high spirit. She told of how many other people who contract HIV simply quit living, and she’s made a conscious decision to continue to truly live with her AIDS status. She has been living with AIDS for 11 years, which my Africa’s standards is remarkable. 

In addition to poverty, another huge problem that South Africa is facing in terms of HIV/AIDS is the healthcare crisis. Prior to coming to Cape Town, I attended a seminar at the U about AIDS as a global crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa comprises of about 14% of the world’s population and 25% of the worlds health-related problems. However, Sub-Saharan Africa has only about 3% of the world’s medical professionals. We spoke to Zethu Xapile who is the director of one of the health clinics in Guguletu. She told about how the clinic sees about 200 patients a day and employs one doctor, 3 medical practitioners and a staff of nurses. While the clinic serves people with any type of medical problem, it sees a large portion of its services going towards HIV/AIDS. The clinic can distribute ARVs to people who qualify. The ARVs come from a government-funded grant although the waiting list is about 3 months long and it takes an additional 6 months for the ARVs to get from the US to South Africa. 

The solution to the health crisis in Africa is complicated. A great deal of those problems could be solved by more funding to pay for more medications and competitive wages for quality health professionals. The clinic serving Guguletu currently runs on $100,000 a month, which to me doesn’t seem like much. As always in South Africa, there are undertones of apartheid installed in the system as well when considering the differences between public and private healthcare. As described by one student who visited the clinic, the place was a “zoo,” with multiple people being treated in a room and little to no organization to the clinic. In Africa, it is not customary to make appointments so many people will go to a clinic and wait for hours to be seen by a professional. We’ve been told that the heath situation in rural areas is even worse, with few resources and access to adequate medications and professionals. The healthcare crisis here is incredibly overwhelming and something that can make or break the current HIV crisis in South Africa.

Today, our last day in Guguletu, was truly a special one. We began the morning with a class discussion and then made our way to a school for black children who are physically handicapped. This is the only school in the Western Cape that caters to this population and houses students K – 12. I don’t know that I have ever laughed as much as I did in that three hours we spent at the school. When we first arrived, all of the children of the school (about 200 or so) greeted us in their commons. It was fun to watch how the children helped one another into the space. Children with trouble walking were helping push their friends who use wheelchairs. It was truly a group effort to get everyone in the room and seated. 

The high school choir sang several songs for us, which was great to listen to; their talent impressed me. Following that, all of us students divided into groups and tackled a different project in the school. Some weed whacked the playground (the playground’s grass hasn’t been cut in months and the students are expected to use their wheelchairs in order to play), other cleaned up the basketball courts, others worked with the speech teacher, some helped organize files for the counselor. I had the all-important job of helping the preschoolers paint. After they finished their masterpieces, we took them out into the freshly mowed playgroup to play. All of the students we worked with are in wheelchairs, which meant lifting them out of their chairs and into swings, onto slides and monkey bars. All of the children speak English, which is incredibly helpful. 

Along with playing with the preschoolers, a girl name Zimbini came to paint as well. She is a 13-year-old student at the school and incredibly nice. As most children in the townships, she had a fascination with my digital camera. Children in Africa love having their photo taken and looking at the picture in the window of my camera. I allowed her to take as many pictures and videos as she wanted for about 30 minutes or so. I think she took about 45 or so. By the end of the day, I almost wanted to give it to her. 

All in all, I haven’t yet touched on my experience in the home stay, which is a blog entry in itself. Despite the dysfunctions of the townships related to HIV/AIDS. There is a great deal of good in the townships as well. The warm spirit of its people and their willingness to help is truly remarkable. It’s difficult to believe that people who have come from such a hardship can maintain a positive attitude. Though by the world’s standards, many of the residents in Guguletu live in poverty, but they don’t show it. I’m beginning to believe more and more that poverty is a state of mind, not numbers on a paper. 

I’ll write more on my home stay experiences later. Tomorrow I’m off on a wine tour. Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend!

*The first and last picture are from the school for children with disabilities. The middle pictures are the toys we donated to Pricilla's family*

Guguletu

It seems as though the past week has led up to the events of today. We've devoted a great deal of time to understanding South Africa post-Apartheid in order to prepare us for seeing the true effects of it in the townships. We arrived at the JL Zwane Community Center at 9 am this mroning and were greeted by Edwin, an employee of the center for a discussion about his experiences with Apartheid and Guguletu. Edwin is a middle-aged man born of a black father and a white mother so you can imagine that he has faced a great deal of discrimination in his life. Even his own grandmother rejected him. We wrapped up the morning with two other speakers telling of their personal experiences with Apartheid. 

Following our lecture a local band peformed for us.  They are leaving for a US tour later this week. They perform in clinics throughout Cape Town singing, dancing, and acting, educating about HIV/AIDS. The group was composed of 6 singers (two boys and four girls), two guitar players and a drummer. I was very impressed by their talent. They performed a wide variety of songs and incorporated dance as well. It was nice to add a lighter note to the day after having three heavy speakers in the morning. 

Following the performance, we were served lunch by the local women of the center. By far, it was the best meal I have had in Cape Town. We were given chicken on the bone, potatoes, vegetables, chicken curry, rice, and beverages. At this point, a lot of us are really sick of eating out -- a home cooked meal was just enough to get us through the day. 

After dinner, a man gave us a tour of Guguletu from the community center. This was the first time I really feel like I've seen Africa. So much of Cape Town is similar to any other large city I've been to and seeing Guguletu really put the whole notion of Apartheid's aftermath into perspective. There are basically two types of homes in the community of 400,000 -- houses and shanties. The houses are small (probably no more than 400 square feet) and have fences built around them. The homes are not in good condition, usually run down with paint chipping off. They don't have yards, just dirt and garbage. Living in a house would be fortunate for a person, conditions in the shanties are much worse. While they are equipped with electricity, they are constructed out of anything that was available at the time -- mostly scrap metal, wood, and plastic/tarp. One particular home we visited was inhabited by a 17-year-old girl whose mother had died two years previously of complications related to AIDS and she was taking care of her 9-year-old brother. The two-room home was equipped with a makeshift kitchen and a bedroom for the remainder of her belongings. There was a single bed in the home with no bathroom. The house couldn't have been more than 150 square feet. I left the tour speechless; it is in moments like that where I don't know what to say. how could someone live in those kinds of conditions? 

After our tour, we were greeted by a schoolteacher for the community center's after school program. Helping tutor the students in this program will be one of our service project for our class. I worked with two 5th graders who were working on converting time in minutes into hours and minutes. I was told by their instructor that both students are behind in their studies and it was obvious by their problems they were having with their homework. 106 -- 60 was challenging for the students.

One of the main themes of this course is about AIDS and the effects that apartheid has had on the spread of the pandemic. At this point, the whole notion of AIDS hasn't been mentioned and it's been frustrating for me. I don't think it's an issue that our speakers have necessarily ignored; it just hasn't surfaced in our conversation. My hope is that the rest of the week will be devoted to learning more about the effects of AIDS. From the surface and going through the townships, there is little to no direct reference to AIDS. Even when I spoke to the 17-year-old girl in the two-bedroom shack, she simply said that her mother died, but made no mention of HIV/AIDS. 

Although a huge proportion of Guguletu's population is infected with HIV, the topic itself is mainly taboo. As a person who is incredibly curious about the disease, it's frustrating to feel like the world's greatest present pandemic is very much hush hush. The way america paints the AIDS pandemic in Africa is drastically different from what I've witnessed in the townships. When I think about the Red campaign or Bono's work, the notion of a global pandemic is greatly sensationalized. At this point, I'm a bit puzzled as to why it doesn't appear to be influential in peoples' lives. I'm hoping tomorrow will show me. 

Aside from my frustrations with the whole HIV/AIDS theme of our program, this trip so far has been incredibly exhausting. There has yet to be a night where I've had a difficult time getting to sleep. We put in full days, and we usually are blogging and doing other activities at night. I'm longing for the days when I could sleep in until noon...

*posted are pictures of shanties in Guguletu, me and the giraffes at the Safari, and me at the Southern most tip of Africa*

A day off...

I'm sitting in my room right now enjoying one of my favorite abroad snacks -- crackers and cheese. It sounds a little odd, I know, but there is nothing I enjoy more than high quality cheese and cream crackers. In many foreign countries, cheese is made with unpasteurized milk which makes for an irresistible snack. I miss it greatly when I'm home. 

Today was one of our "days off." I put day off in quotations because despite not having any planned activities, my day seems to fill up regardless. This morning we made our first trip to Gugulethu for a church service and the opportunity to meet our homestay families. The facility serves many purposes within the township including a space for worship, after-school programs, HIV/AIDS support groups, and other community functions. The building itself is newly finished (I was quite impressed with it) painted with bright colors and decorated in a traditional African fashion. The congregation was fairly small, I don't expect there were more than 100 people in service, but we received a warm, genuine welcome from the parishioners. 

My homestay mom is named Titi. She is a fifth grade teacher who lives with her 22-year old daughter. I don't know the history behind her current circumstances, I look forward to learning more about her situation and her views on HIV. By listening in one the service, it was apparent that the congregation is making an effort to reach out to those affected by the disease. The service lasted about an hour (which is extremely short I'm told). There was a great deal of singing. The church did not have a piano or organ, the music was started by a designated singer and the congregation followed suit in perfect harmony. The music was very moving -- all of the music was sung in Xhosa (an African language spoken among many of those living in the townships). Following the worship, a few other students and I enjoyed a gorgeous day at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront for some shopping. We also went to Sex and the City: The Movie -- a show that many of us have been looking forward to for months. 

The last few days have been quite eventful as well. We started out Friday morning with a lecture from a political science professor on current events in South Africa. Much of the lecture was devoted to his personal story as a growing up in exile. His father was an instrumental member of the ANC and moved the family around the world quite a bit. By the time he was 15 and  Apartheid had dissolved, Steve had 10 passports, all with different names on them and been exposed to the ugly side of living in hiding. His story was truly amazing, he has multiple degrees concerning sociology and international relations (including one from Berkley). He plans to get his Ph.D from the University of Geneva. 

Following our talk with Steve, we headed to the V & A Waterfront to board a boat to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 of his 27 years in jail. Robben Island is located 13 kilometers from Cape Town, the boat ride was reminiscent of our seal tour from the day before. Waves reaching 6 to 7 feet rocked the boat and some of our group members experienced sea sickness. We did finally arrive at Robben Island where we were met by out tourguide. All tourguides are former inmates or guards which brings a personal perspective to the tour. Our guide told us of the torture and abuse experienced at Robben Island, which was a "coloured" prison. His stories were mortifying, absolutely mortifying. We got to see Nelson Mandela's cell and received a guided  tour of the entire island. The island was a little community of itself, one with a school and church for the guards who lived in the housing provided.  By the end of the day, I was in favor of a much needed night of rest as we had to leave for our African safari at 5:30 am the following morning. 

We had a very cold 2.5 hour bus ride to our game refuge. The heat broke down on our bus and the temperature was about 45 degrees. In South Africa, many buildings are not equipped with heat because it doesn't get incredibly cold, however, I am quickly finding out that I did a poor job packing and did not pay enough attention to the importance of bringing warm clothes. I've already purchased a new fleece and rain coat to combat the unpredictable climate. 

We boarded our Hummer for the Safari and entered an enclosed area where they're keeping cheetahs in quarantine. They recently received the cheetahs from Namibia where they were in danger of being poached. In order to enter the cheetahs into the large reserve, they were separated from the rest of the group in order to be monitored for disease. After seeing the cheetahs we saw lions. The lions would not be allowed to enter the reserve because they were "canned" meaning they had been raised to be hunted. They have a reliance on humans for their food and therefore it is impossible for them to be reentered into the wild and expect them to fend for themselves. It was a sad story.

After looking at the lions we entered the main reserve which is approx. 5000 acres. There we saw giraffe, zebras, rhinos, wildebeests, water buffalo, ostrich, spring buck, and much more. I was basically living the lion king. We had the opportunity to see two giraffes spar -- a very rare site. Hopefully I can post the video once my Internet connection improves. Last night we had our first night out on the town for a student's birthday. It was a really good time. 

This week we will be working in the townships which means I will not have internet connection. However I will be saving my reactions to the experiences in Gugulethu and posting them at the end of the next week. Thanks for reading!