PICTURES!!!!

Hey guys!
So I am posting the links to the four new albums I just put up so you can see all of my pictures from the past month and a half.


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065399&id=1143060270&l=628830f3d7

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065398&id=1143060270&l=71e81b531d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065397&id=1143060270&l=90c9611941


Miss you lots!


C

Breaking Radio Silence

I am breaking radio silence for the first time in four weeks. I don't really know where to begin, because my experiences continue to be overwhelming. I want to describe every ounce of what has been going on in my life, but that would require a novel and I am sure you would get bored. Ill begin briefly where I left off from my last post. 

 When I left off we were about to leave for Swakopmund. It is on the coast of Namibia and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I watched the sun set over the Atlantic for the first time in my life and it was beautiful. The first full day we spent at the Rossing Uranium Mine. Namibia is something like the 3rd largest exporter of uranium in the world although not one of the uranium mines in Namibia is owned by a Namibian company. I am taking a class next semester about multinational corporations, so that I can better understand the effects of having multi national corporations control the resources of a country. From the examples I have seen in Namibia, the influence does not appear to be a beneficial one for the people of Namibia. 

The next day we went to the Export Processing Zone offices. Namibia has EPZs all over the country, they basically allow foreign companies and investors to come in and set up companies without paying taxes. The whole idea behind the EPZs was to create jobs, but they haven't at all. Instead they discourage and hinder the development of Namibian companies and engage in huge human rights abuses. The process, I believe, is extremely detrimental to Namibians nor Namibian economic growth. 

 I see a lot of horrible conditions and unsolved problems here, it is very important to learn about the issues facing a country, but it can be overwhelming if you never see or hear of a solution. That is why I was really touched when we got to visit the Sunshine Center for Disabled Children in Walvis Bay. It might be a small center which can only serve a small amount of children, but it has saved and enriched the lives of the children which it has served. In Namibia, and probably other developing countries, because non-disabled children are often forgotten members of society, those with disabilities fall even further behind the children without them. They are left at home alone or abandoned, because it is expensive to care for a child with special needs. Some times they are beaten because they are seen as a bad omen to the family. The Sunshine center takes in these children and develops individual learning plans and creates a safe space for them. We met a young boy who had fetal alcohol syndrome but had been taken in and worked with one on one, so that he was now going to be able to attend school.

The most upsetting story however, was of a young girl who was born without disabilities, but had been so horribly abused that she had brain damage, loss of sight and was wheel chair bound. The center had helped her regain some of her motor functions, she could sit up completely now and was regaining some of her sight. She was such a sweet young girl and we got to toss the soccer ball back and forth for a bit, which was a really good time for both of us. The center teaches different skills to the children as well, so that they can get a job and start to learn how to manage an income.

Before we left, this young boy with down syndrome came and gave me a hug. I was startled at first, but it was such a genuine, loving hug. There was no intention other than to express happiness and I wish it could express how it made me feel, but I feel as if there isn't a word or phrase which can truly  measure how happy it made me. We move so fast in our daily lives that stopping to really express happiness and love are activities that seem to take backseat to whatever else we may be doing. We assume our love for one another is implied, so we forget to show it or say it, yet that reminder of happiness and love can be the most powerful feeling and for me often times it overcomes, all the negative feelings I may be harboring. Try and give someone a real hug today, for no other purpose than to say how much you love that person, it sounds corny I know, but just try it. 

 After leaving Swakopmund, we had about a week before we left for the North. When we arrived in Ondangwa we spent one night in a guest house before departing for our rural homestays. I was really nervous, because I had such a tough experience on my urban homestay. This home-stay could be in a house without running water or electricity, which could make a tough family dynamic even harder. Before meeting our host families, we visited Ruacana Waterfalls. The falls border Namibia and Angola. They were beautiful and at one point we sneaked across the Angolan border and dipped our feet in the river. There is a point where you can walk below the falls and it is so cool, you get pretty much drenched from head to toe, and if you have contacts it can be pretty tricky to keep them in, but past that it is awesome. the falls just crash down around you and there is a beautiful rainbow which extends down the river.

That evening when we returned from the falls we met our host families. My dad (Tate) and a my host sister, Moijtie came to get me and we rode in the back of the truck, down the railroad tracks to our farm. The property was beautiful. Since they are surrounded by farms and most of their extended family lives on their land or next to it, there are vast open fields, littered with small farm houses surrounding us. The house is encircled by planted mahangu, beans and corn. In the yard there is also a garden which has lime and guava trees. There is a large coral on the property for the cows and goats, which were not there while I was but, random herds of cows and goats came on to the property to graze so often that it felt like they were. The rest of my host family consisted of two host brother, Boy and Patrick, a host cousin, Tomas, my Meme, and my host nephew, Junior. They were all so welcoming, I shared a room with Moijtie and we would go into the main house for dinners and breakfasts. Meme made the most amazing food. The first night we had cabbage, carrots and potatoes which were so delicious, with chicken and mahangu porridge. Snacking is not part of their culture so when they eat meals they often take huge amounts, whereas my meme was insulted as I tried to explain that I did snack often and also ate lunch so I did not need as much food. I was also careful about how much I took, because you can throw food away, it is wasteful and insulting, so I figured it was much easier to go for seconds than to have to take too much and have to finish more than I needed. 

The next morning I woke up early to go for a run, and my host brother Patrick was tasked with accompanying me. My meme was worried I would be attacked by a dog, so she sent him out after me at 6 in the morning. It was still dark when I began my run but then the sun began to rise and it was the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen.

For the rest of the week, I would meet up with the family for dinners and then for breakfast Patrick and I would eat together and then trek out to the railroad tracks where I would meet my friend Siobhan and we walk to the guest house to meet with the rest of our group. Every morning I had fresh guavas (which I had never tried before, but were amazing). Over the weekend, Meme taught me how to make mahangu porridge and we made dinner that night as well, which consisted of carrot salad, beef, and pasta with sauce. On Sunday morning, Moijtie and I woke up early to go the salon. We both got extensions, which she picked out for me. The experience was painful to say the least, but a fun cultural experience. My real hair was braided circularly into my head and then the extensions were sewn into my hair. It took the women at the salon 30 minutes to find extensions that even remotely had a similar hair color to mine and even then the texture was completely off. I sat there getting them done for 2 1/2 hours. My head was so sore and I asked Moijtie when the soreness usually wore off and she said probably after 3 weeks or so. I took mine out the next because I am a baby and I also had no idea how to wash my hair. That process took three hours. But it gave me interesting insight in to what many black women go through to have "good hair".  Nobody at the salon could understand why I wanted to change my hair. I consistently told Moijtie she had beautiful hair but she insisted she didn't. The standard of beauty that women are forced to strive towards all over the world is infuriating. This trip has shown me (through conversations with my host families, comparisons of South African magazines versus US ones and discussing with my housemates) just how much women and men at times, are taught that the natural way they are isn't good enough and it is infuriating. 

Anyways, after getting my hair braided we went to my host grandmother's house. She lives in a traditional style home with different huts set up for different things, such as cooking, eating, sleeping, greeting, etc.That night my friends Siobhan and Pat came over for dinner. 

Tuesday was the last night of our home-stay. That night my meme gave me a traditional Ovambo dress and necklace as well as vambo beads, which women wear underneath their clothes tied around their waist. Moijtie and I have the same Vambo beads. She gave me a beautiful basket and the mahangu I had pounded earlier to take back to the US and make for my family (so everybody better be ready to eat it) :). The next morning she sent me on my way with 12 guavas and another necklace for mom, so that my meme in Namibia and my meme in America have the same necklace. 

I felt so different leaving this family.They were so welcoming, they made me feel like a part of the family instantly. They included my in all parts of their daily life and were as eager to learn about my cultures and traditions as I was about theirs. I really missed them when I left. 

The next three days we spent in Etosha National Park. It was a lot of fun and we saw tons of cool animals, including a pissed off black rhino which attempted to charge our combi. The coolest thing we saw was ten giraffes attempting to scare off four lions that were in their territory. On Friday, the group split up to go our separate ways for spring break. 16 of us headed for Botswana, 3 went for a rafting trip on the Orange River, two went back to Windhoek and two went on a trip with their parents. 

Botswana and Zimbabwe were so much fun that I do not have time to do them justice at the moment. So hopefully today or tomorrow I will be able to tell you about them. For now, you are almost totally caught up on my daily happenings, and I love and miss you all. 

Kala po Nawa,

Cassie

Left some stuff out!

Hey guys, I totally forgot a part of the trip I had written about and saved but forgot to post- it's a bit old, it describes Pretoria and my first impressions of Namibia.

Ok so I left off in Pretoria. If you looked through the pictures the last album had a bunch from Pretoria. We only spent one day in Pretoria. We got there in the afternoon on Monday and then spent Tuesday exploring. On Tuesday morning, we woke up and went to the Voortrekker Monument. The Voortrekker Monument is a monument to the Boer (Afrikaner) people who fled into South Africa from the British and attempted to make a life for themselves. Their story is very similar to that of the American pilgrims. The British persecuted the Boers and didn’t allow them into society so they went on a long pilgrimage into the undeveloped or un-colonized part of South Africa. The problem was, different African tribes, mainly the Zulus were already living there, much in the same way that the Native Americans were already living in the US.

The monument depicts the struggle of the Boers against the British and then the Zulus. It is like, all history; one-sided in the sense that it depicts Zulus killing Boer women and children, and the Boers as being kind peaceful settlers who merely wanted to share Zulu land. That is in actual fact not what happened. Zulus killed Boers who tried to take over their lands, but when given the chance Boers also killed many Zulus, women and children included, although our guide of the museum claimed that no Zulu woman or child was ever killed by a Boer. The monument depicts Zulus as savage, and Boers as heroes. Although one could say any monument we have depicting any part of the American pilgrimage west, is the exact same thing. In fact American history and Boer history are disturbingly similar. Both Boers and American colonists were attempting to rid “their” countries of British rule. Before they could take over that country they had to either wipe out huge parts of the already existing population (Native American or Black African) or colonize/ enslave the rest. Once they did gain that freedom, they set in place segregation policies ensuring that both Native and Black populations would be kept separate and unequal. The only difference is that our country is a bit older and law did not outline our segregation as clearly. This similarity is something we were kindly reminded of by our older Afrikaner tour guide, when we started to insinuate the racist and horrifying history that was depicted in the monument.

On another note, an interesting black mark on British history that I never learned about until now, was that during the Boer-British war in the early 20^th century, the British put Boers mostly women and children, in concentration camps, and tons of Boers died or were killed in those camps. It’s not talked about here in the same way we don’t really talk about the Japanese Internment camps we put people in as well.

Anyways after the Voortrekker Monument, we went to Freedom Park, which is a park dedicated to freedom struggles all through out history and all over the world. It includes a dedication to all different faiths and a wall of all the recorded names of people who died in different struggles in Southern Africa. Including different massacres, the Boer-British war, the slave trade in Southern Africa of Indians and people who are now referred to as coloreds. It is a really beautiful park. At its highest point it has a direct view of the Voortrekker Monument and Parliament, which a law mandates, cannot be blocked. 

            After lunch we went to the US Embassy in Pretoria to learn about the different policies the US is involved in South Africa. A lot of the policy is geared towards education and HIV/AIDS although other top policy issues included the alarmingly high rate of gender based violence and the lack of resources for rape victims, the high unemployment rate, corruption and lack of resources for a large percentage of the country. It was interesting to hear the policies from an outside perspective, meaning what the US and other countries do for these problems as outsiders unable to actually make policy but more required to work within the policy barriers that exist. It seemed as if this left them very limited, which is understandable, it isn’t the US’s job or place to create policy about South Africa, only the South African people can do that. Even so, I believe that the emotional tie people have to the ANC allows the ANC to get away with a lot more than they should and no be accountable on issues that matter. The country has a 40% unemployment rate- that’s almost 20 million people who are unemployed and thus at risk or already living in abject poverty.

The rest of the day was left to pack and get ready to leave for Namibia in the morning. We all went out to dinner as a group. It was a really fun night, even though the next morning we got up at 4 to leave for the airport. After making it through to Namibia we spent about an hour driving to Windhoek. On the way we saw a giraffe and some baboons. Namibia or at least the Windhoek area is much more undeveloped and mountainy and filled with wildlife. Mountains surround all of Windhoek and it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Namibia as a population is very small; it is 2.2 million (so by comparison, the entire population of Namibia could fit in Soweto). Namibia is the least densely populated country outside of Mongolia, and the country is enormous. Windhoek is so different from Johannesburg, for the obvious reason that it has a much smaller population, but it doesn’t necessarily seem smaller in size. The downtown in comparable to the downtown of Evanston, maybe slightly larger but not by much, but the actual city of Windhoek spans very far, with many different neighborhoods and townships.

When we finally got to the house we were able to unpack before a brief safety meeting and then dinner. After dinner a bunch of us walked up to the Tom Thumb to get some snacks and explore. Windhoek has lots of very steep hills and is very high up in elevation, so walking is nice but can wear you out a lot more than you would imagine. The house is really nice, we have five bedrooms, three of which have six girls each and two which house the three boys and two other girls.  My roommates are Laura, Amanda, Yvette, Katie Matmiller (we have two Katies, and three Catherines including myself), and Tamara. Laura and Amanda are both from Clark University, Yvette goes to Harvard, Katie is from Valparaiso University and Tamara goes to Pacific Lutheran in Seattle. They are all so nice. Katie is one of the sweetest people I have ever met, she is so bubbly and nice and Laura and Amanda remind me a lot of friends from home, Yvette is so dedicated and hardworking, she has to do all this extra work for Harvard to get credit for any of her classes here so she gets up almost every morning at like 5:30 or 6 to start working on all the stuff she has to do.

Anyways, I really love all of the people in my group. I have made a ton of friends and there are people here who I instantly connected with. Everyone comes from very different backgrounds (religious, economic, social, where we live in the states) and that is a really great learning experience. So that was day one in Namibia. The next day we did a tour of Windhoek. We started by driving around the downtown area and then over to Eros and Klein Windhoek. These areas are mostly white and extremely wealthy. Namibia like South Africa is still very divided racially and the wealth of the country is extremely skewed. Five percent of the people hole 95% of the country’s wealth. After seeing those areas we drove by Hochland Park and into Katatura. Katatura and Khomasdal are sort of comparable to Soweto in the sense that during Apartheid, the Blacks and Coloreds were forced to move into Katatura and Khomasdal and not allowed to live or be in the city area and certainly not in the wealthier areas unless it was for work. To be colored means an entirely different thing in Windhoek than it does in Jo-burg. It generally means people of mixed race, here or people who were of more Asian descent, like Indians. There is still some hostility as well between Coloreds and Blacks because during apartheid, Coloreds were viewed as above Blacks and some of them are still fighting for that distinction now. Hochland Park is supposed to be were many middle class Blacks and Coloreds live and where the poorer whites live.

Recently I drove through Hochland Park and it is interesting what is considered poor for whites in Namibia versus what is considered poor for blacks and coloreds. In Khomasdal and Katatura, the houses are very small and scrunched together. It looks very similar to many of the pictures of Soweto. These areas include people with a range of different incomes, from extremely poor to middle class and some select upper class. But the houses for the poor in Katatura are shanty like or one-room houses. In Hochland Park there are many houses, which would rival what would be considered middle to upper middle class houses in the US, and certainly many that would rival houses on the North Shore. The poor whites in Windhoek live a very different lifestyle from the poor Blacks and Coloreds in Windhoek, and while it wasn’t the lower class whites living in the large houses, the neighborhoods and the houses they lived were of a much different standard. I would imagine that is due to the forced overcrowding in townships and purposeful disadvantaging of all non-whites under apartheid regime that caused the racial caste system to develop in the way it did here.

At the end part of the tour we drove through the informal settlements. The informal settlements start at the end of Katatura and are just miles of hill and mountainsides covered with shacks and shanties set up by people trying to find work in Windhoek. There is no sanitation, there are water pumps that the government has set up and schools, but it is overwhelming to see how far the informal settlement stretches and it is literally right on the outskirts of Windhoek. I have some pictures that I will put up later that show very small parts of the settlement. My internship is actually right on the outskirts of the settlement and several of the girls are working in orphanages in the settlement. It is government sanctioned and there are street signs and other random formal government signs and items but the settlement itself is extremely dangerous and unsanitary, as well as inaccessible to relief in many places if it were to flood or a fire were to occur.

After our tour of Windhoek, I had to spend the rest of the day in bed because of dehydration, the sun is so intense here combined with the increase in altitude, makes it really hard to judge how much water to drink and everyone in our group has had a sick day at least once so far.  The second day in Windhoek, we went to the US embassy for a safety briefing about the dangers in Windhoek and Namibia. They were generally the same as in all major cities. Don’t walk by yourself at night and try not to be easy targets in terms of pick pocketing. Everyone will be happy to know that the terrorist threat in Namibia is very low, duh. However, I was briefed on how to not look like an easy terrorist target as well, should the problem arise.

After the meeting at the embassy, we did what was called a Katatura quest, where three group members and then a member of the University of Namibia get a taxi on our own and go to visit different places in Katatura, find lunch by ourselves and then take another taxi home. It sounds very easy, but there were points during our walking around Katatura, where it was very clear that if we had not been with our UNam student who was from Katatura, we would not have left there with any of the belongings we started our quest with. I believe white person wandering around Katatura with a map, is the exact definition of easy target. At various points in the walk, Mami, our “guide” would say, yeah those guys want to rob you, they know my brother so they wont mess with you while you are with me, but don’t come here alone. It sounds like she was saying it jokingly, but she didn’t mean it to scare us, she just really was concerned about our safety at different points. I don’t mean to give the impression that all people in Katatura steal, more so that there are some who are in complete and desperate poverty, as in many places in the US, and those people in Katatura go looking for people who look lost, or misplaced or have their hands too full, solely to steal from them, and being that Katatura is almost 100% black or colored, being white in Katatura makes you look lost or confused, and thus an easy target. The people who rob or steal would do the same to someone from Katatura; they just tend to be smarter about not getting robbed because they live in those areas. 

Pictures!!!!

So I had some faster internet time and thought I would upload some pictures from WINDHOEK!!!!!!

Me with my host family, Tully, Bjorn and Volofi

Chilling in Parliament

The informal settlements

Looking down Simpson Street (the street I live on)

Sunset over Windhoek West (the neighborhood I live in)

Getting ready in our farming gear

Before....

After!

Ongini Namibia!

Jan. 28
Our guide for the Katutura quest was a UNamibia student from Katutura- we started at the largest Lutheran church in Katutura, which has a female pastor. She was very involved in issues facing in Katutura. There is a large problem with gender-based violence here as well as teenage pregnancies and a high prevalence of HIV. She said that many times she felt completely overwhelmed and unable to do anything for these young women because she didn't have the resources to do so. After going to the Church we stopped at an orphanage which I will be volunteering at with a couple other students in the group on Wednesdays and possibly Fridays as well. When we went to the orphanage the only children there were very young, because the older kids were at school. The kids were so cute, but it was upsetting because when we walked in there was a little baby on the floor crying and no one was picking her up or anything. The kids don't have access to ways of bathing or clean clothes, and the place is overcrowded so the boys sleep on the floor and the girls sleep two or three to a single bed. Most of the money goes towards ARV drugs for the children who are HIV positive. 
There is a problem in poorer urban areas of young girls getting pregnant and (because abortions are illegal here), feeling completely out of options so they abandon their babies on the doorsteps of orphanages or by rivers or in grassier, overgrown areas. There is also a problem with women breaking up with boyfriends and then the boyfriends coming back and attacking them or killing them, there was a huge article in the Namibian recently about how another young woman was killed by her ex-boyfriend. The gender roles, like the racial roles are changing here because the country is changing and there are some in both instances who are unhappy about that change. Women are still predominately viewed as the lesser sex here and the also contributes to the high level of violence, because there is an attitude that women don't have the authority to say no to men. There is definitely a level of boldness that I experience with men here that I am not used to, and most times when I respond in an offended or bold manner, the men are taken aback and immediately assume I am not Namibian. It isn't all men who are over the top, or harassing, but the few that are definitely get to me from time to time. I do think its awesome that everyone calls me sister here. I like that. "Thanks sister" "Hey sister". Love it.

Jan. 29-30
 This weekend we had free, except Saturday afternoon we met with some other U Namibia students to start making friends. At first I was kind of annoyed about the student forum, because this was the first weekend we had free and everyone was really tired and just wanted to hang out and do our own thing, but it ended up being so much fun. We played Mafia, which I haven't played since I was ten, but it ended up being hilarious, I was one of the mafia members, but I managed to argue my way out of getting killed off and no one figured out that I was mafia, until the end. Two of the guys came out with us later that night John and Tuli. Tuli lived in the US for awhile because his parents were getting their masters at American universities. They are both so nice and I think we are going to hang out with them again next weekend. Anyways that night we celebrated two group members birthdays'. We started at a little bar attached to a hostel, which is right at the corner of our street called the Cardboard Box. Being 23 people we completely took over the bar. It was really fun though. Then we went to this bar called Zanzibar which looks like a dance club in Chicago or Iowa City for that matter. It was so much fun! We all went home around 4am.

Sunday was rest day we had our first community event in parliament gardens which is so beautiful, it is where the old houses of parliament are. We just discussed how everyone was feeling, and some people really opened up about how they had really been having a hard time adjusting, which was good to hear, because I think all of us were struggling with the adjustment a bit. It is so much fun, but sometimes being in a new place where you don't speak most of the languages and the culture is very different from your own, it is hard not to feel home sick. I also had a hard time at the beginning of the program because things would happen that I would normally laugh about or talk to my friends about, but we weren't all completely comfortable enough with each other to do that yet. It is so exciting now though because I feel like everyday I find something out about someone new that makes us closer and I am making some really great friends here. 

Jan. 31, 2011
Monday we started our internships, which I was really nervous about. When I got to my internship I was given my project and immediately completely overwhelmed. I was supposed to design a project involving community gardening and urban agriculture and relate it somehow to the empowerment of women. Then find the funding and the space and build those gardens. Ok, lets start with problem number 1, I know nothing about agriculture let alone urban agriculture and all the research I had done on development and women had been on micro loans and economic empowerment. I spent the rest of the reading material on urban agriculture and I had a list two pages long of terms to define. Problem 2, I have no idea how to get funding, I have never had this much responsibility and there aren't a whole lot of internships I imagine I will have later that will give me that kind of responsibility. I came back feeling completely exhausted thinking about how under prepared and lost I was, but I also was a little bit excited that this project was completely new and I was going to get to learn all of this really cool stuff about urban agriculture. 
Since the first day things have gotten harder, but also easier in some respects. My crash course in community gardens and urban agriculture has made me realize that in terms of a development field I really like it a lot. I keep thinking of all of these different ways it could be used for so many issues developing areas and countries face. It can be used in non-developing countries too, which I find so cool. I have developed a new project based on the old project which we have space and funding for the community gardens and this Wednesday Feb. 16 (sorry I am throwing off the time line) I start clearing the space for the gardens and getting ready to plant. I adapted my plan so that I work with this shelter for abused women and children to build the gardens and then help them teach women how to use the gardens for immediate food consumption as well as for growing food to sell, but then I created my own project where I take the garden models to school, orphanage and community leaders and discuss the idea of a farm to table project where we implement gardens in the backyards of schools and orphanages. Some schools already have the gardens, but there are many other ways they can be used. For instance, science classes, economics lessons, different after school projects to tend the gardens and the project I am most interested in is a girl's program where the garden is used for nutritional lessons in conjecture with a curriculum that teaches girls to respect their bodies and empower them to take control of their bodies and body images. Obviously I won't be able to see all of these things through, but if I can get the ball rolling that would be so great. Even still, there have already been a ton of stalling points and setbacks so I am trying to take this as a learning experience no matter what happens. I know a lot of other people in my group are really having a hard time because they feel like they are hitting a wall as well at their internships, these organizations don't run the same way some of the organizations, they are used to working at, run in the US. They are often completely understaffed, and underfunded and so it takes a long time to get things done. 

Feb. 1
Today we drove out to this beautiful Eco-lodge set against the mountains about 45 minutes outside of Windhoek for a team building retreat, with all the staff and students. We have Sarah, Evelyn and Jenobe as cooks and Sarah and Lucia coordinate the home-stays and are generally in charge of the house. Then there is Passat, who drives the combis (buses) around, he has kind of become our father figure. He drops us off at internships and makes sure we are ok and picks us up. He is so great. Then there is Jessy, the student intern and kind of adviser to the students. She is really close in age to us and lives at the house as well and is there to handle house issues or personal issue and to be a friend but also make sure we don't run wild. She is so great and amazing and she is also a guide almost for the city and different activities because she did the same trip a year ago. Love her. Then we have our professors: Linda, Nespect, Romanus and Urbanus. Linda teaches the development class and is from the US, Nespect teaches and coordinates Internships and class for internships and is Namibian, Romanus teaches history and Urbanus teaches political science and they are also both Namibian. Everyone is so great. Urbanus is hilarious and Romanus is so nice. During the retreat we played different games and had group discussions about everything from sexual orientation to religion, race and gender. Some of the topics were really hard for people to talk about , I personally had a hard time talking about religion because I don't have any experience with any religion in particular outside of my brief encounters with the Catholic church when I was baptized and took my first communion, although I don't remember much of either of those experiences. I ended up having a great discussion with Evelyn and two girls; Ariana and Claire. We all had very different relationships with religion and beliefs but it ended up being one of the most open discussions I have ever had, which was great. At the end of the day we had a three legged race, which was so hilarious to watch teachers and students stumble all over each other. It was particularly fun to watch Urbanus and his team because Urbanus is like a big bear and at one point he fell on top of my friend Christine and the whole team came down with them it was so hysterical. 

It rains on and off here. Some days it will rain all day some days it won't rain at all, but usually it's pretty sunny and then between 3-5 there are the most ridiculous rain and thunderstorms which pass through and then stop after about five. The rainy season has about 4 more weeks so everything is so green and overgrown it is beautiful. I don't think I have ever been happier than since I have been here and I think that has to do with the beauty of the outdoors here. I can't get over it. 

Feb. 2-4
Today we had our second day of interning but we only went half day, then on Thursday we had our first history class with Romanus. We learned about all of the different tribe and clans in Namibia and the history of Namibia (very brief overview). In the late 1800's the German's proclaimed Namibia a German protectorate, later in the 20th century South Africa and the Afrikaners took over Namibia and it remained under apartheid until March 21,1990. 

Namibia is very interesting because it is a huge country but only has 2 million people, it is the 2nd least densely populated country in the world, Mongolia is the first. The tribes here include the Nama, the Damara, Oshivambo, Herero, Tswana, Himbas and many others, within in those tribes there are many different clans or groups. For instance within Oshivambo there are the Kwanyama speakers, Oshindonga, and 6 other groups I can't remember. I am learning Oshindonga- it is really hard! Tonight we got picked up by our host families, for our urban home stay which lasts until next Saturday. I am really excited because my family is biracial which I thought would be a really interesting dynamic in Namibia, since that isn't very accepted here. My mother, Tully, is black and my father Bjorn is white, German. Their family (they have two daughters Inga is 11 and Erna is 9 and a son Volofi who is 8 months) speaks four languages, German, Kwanyama, Afrikans and English. They live in Khomasdal, which used to be were the colored people had to live during apartheid but has since been opened up for everyone to live in. During apartheid, Blacks were forced to live in Katutura, coloreds had to live in Khomasdal and whites were allowed to live wherever they wanted. A lot of people post-apartheid moved back in to the areas they had been moved out of and it was seen as a great step forward if you could reclaim the home or area you had been forcibly removed from- these  areas included places like hochland park, an area which looks like Southern California or miami, Windhoek west, where the CGE house is, Windhoek north, Eros, and Klein Windhoek. Within Katutura, blacks were divided by tribes as well, only furthering the racial divides. The remnants of these divides can be heard in opinions of some coloreds and blacks. There is some tension between coloreds and blacks, because during apartheid the coloreds were seen as above blacks (because they looked "whiter), and when apartheid ended, many are still scrambling to regain that status. 

Feb. 5-13, Urban Home stay
My urban home stay was a very tough experience. This home stay makes me even more homesick too, being with a family that isn't my own. Its also hard because English isn't their first languages so they speak in Afrikans or Vambo and then occasionally translate for me- which makes sense I came to their home and country I should speak their language and I am trying to learn both, but I obviously don't understand most of the conversation. Lot of different languages in my head making my head spin :). I really like my family, but it is very difficult, because our cultures are so different and sometimes it is really exhausting having to remind myself of all of the different cultural aspects that go along with living there. For instance, I have to remind myself not to take a lot of food, because if you put food on your plate you must eat it, you don't throw away food here, it is too expensive. The first two nights that was hard because I would take more than I needed and then have to eat it all. You have to be very water conscious here as well, which is interesting because I think it is partially why my family didnt really drink water, and always looked at me strangely when I did. Also there is an order for who eats first. The dad gets the plate first, then the boys, then the mother, and so on, etc.  The big US storm is all over the news. Its amazing how much US news dominates every other type of news. During the week I go to class and hang out CGE house until about 5:30 and then go back to my host family's house. I have to say I am so glad I am not a vegetarian, because there are a bunch on my trip and that is an idea that DOES NOT TRANSLATE at all. They think being vegetarian means you eat chicken. So at least I am not a picky eater. The food thing is hard here though because the meals are a lot different. There are no veggies or fruit anywhere which makes sense because those are very expensive, there is a lot of meat and a ton of carbs, which is fine but sometimes you just really want an apple or tomato or something.

Speaking of lots of meat, last Wednesday before the home-stay started, a couple of us went to try out this restaurant for dinner called Joe's Beerhouse. It is touristy beyond touristy and it had the most white men I have seen in one place in a long time, but it was really fun (don't worry Dad and Paul I will take you there for dinner). It is basically a game restaurant, I shared a safari platter with my friend and we had kudu, zebra, crocodile, impala and chicken. Have to say...crocodile tastes exactly like chicken. Anyways the place was really fun, and built completely Eco-friendly, besides the killing of all of the game in Africa. :)

Back to home stay highlights, the interesting family dynamics and perspectives on life I am picking up on are just so overwhelming. For instance, the mother is black and the dad is white, but the mother consistently tells her children that black men are lazy and that all white people are so pretty. So her daughters talk about how they wish they could look like me, because I am white and therefore pretty. They are already being told at a young age that the standard of beauty is unattainable to them because they are not white, but being half white the anglo-features they do possess are what make them beautiful. It is another way of subconsciously being told they are sub-par to white people, which is very sad, because they should feel beautiful no matter what their skin color. I can say that however, because I apparently am the standard. Also, the oldest daughter is not mixed, the mom had her from a previous relationship so she is already being told that everything about her looks and demeanor are not as good as her sister or her white counterparts. I was talking about it with a friend and it reminds me of the way our society shows women the standard of beauty which is often times equally as unattainable, but that both groups are being told that whatever they are isn't good enough. I have encountered a lot of racism on this home-stay, which makes it more difficult to handle. For instance two friends of my host-father's dad, came over last Sunday and they are old school apartheid loving Afrikaners, and they were just spewing the most racist comments I have ever heard, and I felt totally helpless because I wanted to say something, but also wasn't sure whether it was appropriate for me too, since no one else was so I just went into my room and did homework. I felt really bad because every part of me wanted to scream at these people. The only thing I'll repeat was that they said "black coffee is for black people, I like my coffee white, like I like my society",and then repeated it in English so I could understand it and started laughing. UGH. That was a really bad day and I was really appalled that the dad didn't say anything, because they were saying this stuff in front of their kids. 

Anyways, the next weekend was better. We went back to Tully's mother's house and had fat cakes and meat which were the most delicious thing I have ever had in my whole life, and I met Tully's sisters and there kids as well. Tully's cousin was having her hair braided and they wanted to put weave in my hair too, but couldn't get it to stay. Also there was a black mamba, at the house (I know I almost passed out), apparently it was someone's pet, yeah some people have the deadliest snake in the world as pets, and apparently it gets out on occasion. Maybe they like waking unsure if they will die on the way to the bathroom who know, but I would bet that it is an effective security measure. Anyways so I was grabbing something in the house and I heard Tully shouting and I asked what was going on and they said that the neighbor's black mamba had gotten out again! I watched my step the rest of that that's for sure. Before we left, Tully's mom told me she was going to make me a traditional Vambo dress, so I am really excited about that.  That was my last day with my host family, and the next I went back to the house around noon. I miss them, but I was really glad to be back at the house. My friend Laura was the only one who got back as early as I did so we hung out by the pool and then went and got lunch from the market and did laundry which was really nice. 

Today I am back at my internship and you are finally completely caught up. I know there is more I could say and I will try and add more detail but for now, you know everything that has gone on in my life. Tonight we have a community event and this weekend I think we are going hiking around the Windhoek area which will be fun, i think there is also a soccer game sometime this week too, we are also starting to plan our spring break trip to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe side!). Also next week we leave for Swakopmund and Walvis Bay (I hear Brangelina has a house there).
Love you all, miss you tons,

Cassie

Salaghashe Johannesburg and Soweto!

Jan. 19, 2011

The day began with another nice long run around Rosettenville. I don’t think very many women run outdoors, or else we look very strange when we run, because everyone tends to stare at us. The days have been so packed. We have speakers and museum tours, and by the end of the day we are all so exhausted.

            Today, we started the day by visiting with the General Secretary for the African Council of Churches. He was very interesting to talk to because he was very careful in catering his discussions to all faiths or belief systems and not making it solely about Christianity. The Church, however, is very important in the liberation struggle of South Africa. It was the only place blacks were allowed to gather, because all other organizations were banned. So it not only acted as a place of worship, but also a place for organizing and seeking sanctuary.

            Today the church’s role is no longer for political sanctuary and meetings, but they do act as messengers and role models for many black communities. That’s why they are currently trying to engage in programs, which economically strengthen the black communities in South Africa, teach about HIV/AIDs and act as a form of therapy for those still struggling with the remnants of the Apartheid.

            This brings us to the next group we met with, the Khulumani Support Group. The Khulumani Support Group is a support group for victims of apartheid regime. Many people didn’t not get closure, or a chance to participate in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, only 22,000 people participate, Khulumani currently has over 60,000 members. The programs involve community reconstruction, the telling of stories about what happened to each other, and the celebrating the memories of those who were lost in the struggle. I bought a book of stories to bring back as well as a t-shirt. Trauma is a huge issue in South Africa, and for many people Apartheid trauma is still a very real and prominent part of their lives which disables them from restarting their lives and moving forward.  One of the men who was speaking on behalf of the support group was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and he expressed very powerfully, who trauma is prohibiting the South African people from truly governing themselves. They can’t move forward, so whites still control most of the economy, and while the physical apartheid regime no longer exists, the economic aspect remains.

            After lunch, we went to the Apartheid Museum. It was amazing. I could easily have spent four hours there. The museum takes you through when the first whites came to South Africa, and the progression into colonization and apartheid onward. There has always been conflict between the Afrikaaners (Boers) and the Black South Africans, because they competed for the space that was left in South Africa, that the British hadn’t taken over. The British and the Afirkaaners fought many battles and the British continued to win, but in the early 1900’s they made peace with each other and cut out the Black population, from then the Apartheid began to grow, and the division and degradation of blacks only grew with it. The museum was heartbreaking and completely overwhelming. I thought I had a fair amount of knowledge about South Africa and what I am learning is that I had almost no knowledge, I have spent the past couple of days feeling completely overwhelmed.

            At night we went the Market Theater and saw the Songs of Migration, with a very famous singer, who was also a famous liberation fighter. They picked songs from the slave trade in the US, Jewish songs from the Holocaust, religious songs and African songs of migration. It was really great to see and so much fun.

Jan. 20, 2011

On Thursday in the morning we met with the ANC (African National Congress), the ruling party in South African parliament. We were very interested in their approach to the many issues facing South Africa, but they seemed unable to give us clear answers on many issues, which they said was because they were unprepared for the meeting, due to short notice. One thing they did mention which I found interesting was that many of the people struggling with education and unemployment is the apartheid generation, because they received the “Bantu Education” which was not very strong and didn’t set them up to succeed.

            After meeting with the ANC, we met with their opposing party in Parliament, the Democratic Alliance, they were much more forthcoming with their opinions on different issues facing the South African people, but I feel that has to be taken with caution as well. They explained that the main problems facing South Africa were unemployment (which is around 40% if you include the people who have stopped looking for work), crime, HIV/AIDS, corruption, and a lack of resources such as housing, water, and electricity. What I have gathered from both presentations is that a lot of the ANC’s power comes from the emotional link many people have with it, as the liberation party, but a lot of the DA’s support comes from younger generations as well as Indian, Colored and White voters. Everyone was pretty exhausted tonight; I think all of the running around has finally hit us.

Jan. 21-24, 2011

 This morning we met with the Treatment Action Campaign. They are working in the fight against HIV/AIDS and have many programs in and around the Johannesburg area. These programs include raising awareness in young people, working to prevent mother to child infection and help people get access to the ARVS they need to combat the disease. The man who came to talk to us was named Lucky Boy; he was hilarious and so passionate. He expressed that one of the huge problems with getting treatment was the stigma with having HIV. This discouraged a ton of people from seeking treatment for fear that someone would find out that they have the disease, and either their family or community would disown them.

            After the treatment action campaign we went to Constitution hill. Constitution Hill is the site of South Africa’s constitutional court is held, as well as a famous prison where during apartheid many political prisoners including Gandhi and Mandela were held. The prison was terrifying, we saw the isolation cells as well as the regular cells and they had an exhibit on the torture techniques used on prisoners. The living conditions for blacks and other non-whites were appalling, they had to eat right next to wear their sewage flowed and they weren’t fed properly, while white prisoners were fed far more decently.

            Tonight was the first night of our Soweto home stay.  Katelyn and I stayed with Nontyatyambo (No-cha-chambo) but we called her “Mama”. She has four children, three sons (Sipho, Madzenga, and Luyola) and a daughter, Yoliswa. Sipho and Madzenga are in their 30’s and Luyola and Yoliswa are closer in age to Katelyn and me. The first night, we watched South African soapies (Generations and another one) and watched a movie with Yoliswa and Sipho and Mama.

            One thing I really learned from this home stay and also just from the experiences here, is that time is much less important. We might say dinner is at 6 and start cooking at 7 and not eat until 8, or say we were going to leave to go somewhere in a few minutes and not leave for another 2 hours. This was very difficult at first for me, because I am used to being far more scheduled. So on Saturday morning, Mama told us to sleep in so we though we would wake up at around nine. Everyone else got up and ready around 11 or so, because Saturday is their rest day, and didn’t really get to do anything until about two. The rest of the day was very fun though. Mama and Yoliswa started teaching us Zulu and one of the men working at the gas station was so impressed that we spoke it, that he started bargaining a dowry price for one of us with mama. J That night we had an amazing dinner, with chicken legs and squash and this dumpling bread. In South Africa, everything is eaten with your hands; you use the bread in the meal to scoop up all of the sauces and dishes and just eat the meat with your hands. I learned this when I was looking for a fork and could only find 1 or 2, but there were tons of spoons and knives. After Mama went to sleep on Saturday, the three Lous’ (Lou, our host brother, his cousin Lou and their friend Lou), they called themselves Lou because they didn’t think we would be able to pronounce their real names, took us to their friend’s birthday party. We left at about 11:30 pm and came home around 2am. The party was set up on a street with a huge white tent that had a DJ booth and food and a drink cart (we didn’t drink, because during home stays it is CGE policy to stay alcohol free). The party was so much fun and it was a lot like the partying that goes on in the states just more people and more dancing. Dancing is a huge part of the culture, people form huge circles and different people get in the middle and dance. The dancing isn’t like grinding or other club dancing, it’s a form of expression and movement, which is really great.

            Our friends explained that a lot of Sowetan parties take place outside because all you have to do is set up the party. There aren’t any permits and no one really cares if they are outside. It was so much fun, it was probably the most fun I have had at a party in a long time. Everyone was extremely friendly and fun to be around and really welcoming.

The next day, Katelyn and I actually slept in, and after waking up we went with Sipho and Yoliswa to get meat for the Braai. A Braai is an Afrikaans word for barbecue. All over Johannesburg and Soweto mostly, there are shops called Buy and Braai. What happens is you buy the meat and then go outside to the grill and grill it there. It is a way for people to get together on the weekends and catch up. We bought the meat but brought it back to the house for the Braai later that night. After that we took a walk around Pimville (the part of Soweto we were staying in) with Sipho and his friend. He kept making fun of us for walking so fast, because we had nowhere to go, again this is another culture difference, in the US we walk fast because we are usually walking somewhere and it is very rarely we slow down just to stroll. On the walk everyone was so friendly, they would say hello, how are you and introduce themselves, then ask how we were enjoying South Africa. This is customary, in most African cultures you stop and greet people, and take the time to ask how someone is doing. I was really thrown off by this at first, because I was in a mall one day and this woman came up to me and started asking me about myself. My initial reaction is that she was then going to ask me for something (typically American, thinking someone wants something, because no one just stops to randomly ask how you are).  She asked me why I was here, what I was studying, and then she said “have a great day and enjoy South Africa”, and walked away. I was in a supermarket in Windhoek and someone asked me if I was from the US and then said welcome to Namibia and walked away. People are much more welcoming and friendly, and if you don’t respond or try to ask for something without greeting its very rude.

            I really enjoy the friendliness its refreshing that people stop to slow down in their days just to see how others are doing. There is something about it that instantly makes you happier. Anyways on our walk Sipho stopped at his son’s mother’s home. She lives in a tin shanty, but she invited Katelyn and me and offered us a cold drink (which means soda, I again figured this out when someone asked me if I wanted a cold drink and I said yes I would like a water and they looked at me very strangely).  Sipho then went outside to talk to friends while we talked with Putu’s (Sipho’s son) mother. Putu wasn’t there he was already at Mama’s house, because Lou, Katelyn and I picked him up earlier. He was an adorable but very high-energy kid. When we went into the mall with him, he held my hand the whole time, it was pretty cute. Anyways, Putu’s mother offered us pig’s feet, which out of courtesy and curiosity we tried. I have to say it was about the grossest thing I have ever eaten, but I am glad I tried so I can now say, when it is offered to me, that I KNOW I am not a fan.

            After the walk Yoliswa, Putu, Yoliswa’s boyfriend, Katelyn and I went bowling, after bowling we went home for the braai, and then said goodbye to Putu and went to bed, the next morning, we sadly had to leave. Leaving was really hard for me. I can’t explain or completely understand the feelings I developed towards the Nhodlovu family, but I really miss them and I felt like I was leaving home when I left Mama and everyone. Thankfully I have all of their information so that I can keep in touch with them, which I have every intention of doing.

After leaving, we went back to the guest house and got the rest of our stuff, and headed to Pretoria. That afternoon we had the afternoon off, so my friends Helen, Claire and I went in the pool and walked around Pretoria for a bit. I know this blog is still a couple of days behind, and I will finish most of it soon, but I wanted to partially catch you all up. Miss you tons.

Love,

Cass

Oh ya words I have learned:

My name is Thandy: Love

Katelyn's name is Nhomsa: Peace

Sawubona (Sa-wu-bwona): hello

Umjani (Oom JANi): how are you

Ingiapela (Ing-iA-Peela): Im fine

Salaghashe: Goodbye (when you are leaving)

Halaghashe: goodbye (when someone is leaving you)

Umuthli: You are beautiful

Tsa: No

Yebo (yay-bo): yes

Ika-malame(Eek- a -ma- la-may): My name is

Uyapapa (Ooh- ya-papa): you are annoying me

Pictures!!!

hey guys,
Since I am having trouble posting pictures on here, here are the links to all of the pictures I have been taking. 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063624&id=1143060270&l=18692e1ece


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063620&id=1143060270&l=baff3d23dd


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063625&id=1143060270&l=d9ec20a75a


Cass

Greetings from Soweto

Day 1: some of the girls and I woke up early and walked around the area to get a feel for our surroundings, we are very close to a secondary school as well as a main road with lots of shops and food stores. After the walk we came back and had breakfast and then met with a man named Molefi, who spoke to us about the Black South African Liberation struggle.

Molefi was part of the liberation struggle in the mid-80s during a period of extreme disorder. In the early 1900's there was a struggle between the British and the Afrikaaners, the Afrikaaners (mainly Dutch) felt that they were mistreated under British rule, so they formed a treaty with the British which, by leaving out the Black South Africans in the treaty, deepened a huge racial divide and was the true beginning of the Apartheid. Later on the British rule pulled out and handed control of South Africa to the Afrikaaners, who started instating rules, to make life better for Afrikaans people (white south Africans), these rules became the cruel harsh standards of the Apartheid. 

Molefi then explained about the important events of 1976- the Soweto Uprisings and how the youth of SA really became the front runners of the liberation struggle. He finished by discussing some of the problems that still face SA today. It is an extremely complex country, and while race plays a huge role in it, many in the Liberation movement are quick to assert that the liberation struggle was not as much about race against race but about fighting back against the oppressive regime that Black South Africans lived under. He expressed that the future of the country is in the hands of youth, because many older S. Africans are still dealing with the traumas of the apartheid or many older white South Africans still hold opinions and ideals that are discriminatory. In the end he expressed that the government is all about reconciliation, but there wasn't ever a united South Africa so this isn't a reconciliation it is a new union, and that is how it must be dealt with.

Molefi was very interesting and fun to talk to and he also acted as our guide through Soweto later in the day.

SIDENOTE: in South Africa a township refers to a predominately black area and a suburb refers to a predominately white area.

After Molefi spoke, we left for Soweto. Soweto stands for South West Townships of Johannesburg, there are many townships in Soweto, the largest having 200,000. The estimated population of Soweto is 3 million people. 

We first visited one of the wealthier townships of Soweto, Molefi explained it is practice of some prominent black south africans to stay living in Soweto even when they are wealthy. I was surprised by this, the houses in the first area were nothing like what I had heard, read or expected them to look like.There is a park on the outskirts of this area with a small ravine dividing this area with a much poorer area of Soweto called the hostels, but this is just another small part of Soweto, which is quite large. It was so strange to see two incredibly disparate areas right across the ravine from each other.

After discussing how each of these different parts of the community developed we drove by the Chris Hani hospital and the University of Johannesburg in Soweto.

Then we visited the Regina Mundi church. The man who took us around the church was very friendly and really funny...he kept asking questions like "do you know Madonna is? and don't tell me she is a pop star" or "do you know who that man is...don't tell me morgan freeman" 

The church is actually very important to the Soweto community. It is the largest Catholic Church in Soweto and everyone from Mandela to Bill Clinton have been there. 

It is important because during apartheid regime all black organizations were banned and the church became a place of refuge. During the Soweto uprisings students fled to the church and police fired bullets and tear gas into the church and entered the church shooting. A lot of the bullet holes are still visible, as well as damage to the alter from the butt of a rifle.

After we left the church we went to a B&B in Soweto called Robbie's Place. The food was delicious and I tried a traditional dish called "pap" which is sort of corn meal and other things. It was very interesting.

After lunch we went and visited the site of the student marches, we walked the route the students took all the way to the Hector Pieterson Museum.

Hector Pieterson was a 13 year old boy who is considered one of the first to be killed in the school uprisings. The students were peacefully marching and singing to protest the use of Afrikaans in Black S. African schools, which was the language of their oppressor.

The South African police opened fire and in the uprisings in other areas of the country that followed it is estimated that more than 1000 students and protestors were killed.Some of the people killed weren't even protesting, they were caught in crossfire when the students started running. 

The museum was extremely moving and very sad, they showed videos from the Soweto uprisings and the Alexandra protests and Joburg and Capetown protests.

Before exploring the museum, we spoke with Hector Pieterson's older sister Antoinette, she was marching during the protests, and Hector was curious so he followed her, but he was only 13, so he wasnt really involved. She expressed how scared she felt when she saw her brother join the marches, because she saw the police waiting for them and like any big sister, she was concerned about the safety of her brother. After the shooting started, she realized they had gotten separated and soon found out what happened as a man ran by her carrying her brother. There is a famous picture of the young man carrying Hector with Antoinette by his side. 

One thing that really struck with both Molefi and Antoinette was the way they talked about the apartheid. They were both very clear that vengeance was not their goal, change was. The disorder that was created after the violence against students was to make the country "ungovernable" so that the regime had to change.

Antoinette was very forward when she spoke about her brother and the uprisings, and she was very clear that even after all of those events she knew that her enemy was apartheid regime and all those involved with it, but not all whites or all white south africans. I was amazed and humbled by both her and Molefi's ability to not develop opinions about a race based on the actions of a group within that race, even though the reverse and worse was done to them.

That ability takes a lot of courage, but Molefi also expressed that the trauma of apartheid is still present in many Black South Africans and that it is hard for the country to move forward when people cannot deal with those experiences properly and there are not enough resources with which they can do so. 

The last place we visited was the house of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. Winnie still lives in Soweto, but Nelson only lived in his house in Soweto for 8 days after he was released from prison, although he lived there for 8 years before he went to prison. In 2008 the government bought back his house and restored it to the way it was originally when Mandela lived there. On the walk from the museum to Mandela's house (about 4 blocks) two little boys came up and started hugging us and then started walking hand in hand singing the South African national anthem, it was pretty cute, they wanted sweets in return for their performance and luckily someone in the group had some candy to give them.

Mandela's house was originally Mandela's first wife's family home, which they moved into and had four kids in. Three of the children died and the couple divorced and he married Winnie. Winnie lived in the house until Mandela was released from Robben Island, and they both moved. 
 here are me and two other girls in my group in Mandela's courtyard.

The house is a very small three room house, but it is larger than many of the houses in the rest of the township. There are fire marks around the outside of the brick and bullet marks from where police would shoot at the house to terrorize Winnie and their children. Also on the street is the house of Desmond Tutu. After the Mandela house, we left for St. Peter's Place again. We stopped only to take pictures in front of the World Cup Stadium.

According to Molefi, while the World Cup cost a significant amount of money, it did result in the reconstruction of many damaged roads and the placement of a better public transportation system. We ended the day watching Sarafina- a movie about the Soweto uprisings, and having a nice meal at the house.

Day 2: It rains in very strange patterns here, rainstorms will last for five to ten minutes in the afternoon and it will stay about 80 degrees and then turn sunny again, this goes into the night and clears again in the morning. 

This morning we started the day with a quick run around the area again, and then went to breakfast and left early to go to visit a secondary school in Soweto. The school, St. Martin's is a semi-private school and it is one of the highest performing schools in the townships. We had students who took each of us in small groups to visit different classes. This was by far my favorite part of the trip. My group's tour guide was so fun and really interesting, when I asked her what she was the one thing she wanted in school, she said resources. The buildings of the school were relatively old and they used to have a computer center, but all of the computers were stolen. 

She was very interested in forensic science. A lot of the girls were very interested in science and several of them wanted to be chemical or mechanical engineering. I was really struck by the drive of these kids and their grounded sense of direction. Molefi, explained that education in South Africa, has always been seen as a way to change your position and achieve your goals and so for kids, school is very important and they start planning life goals at a very young age. 

This may be my experience, but I don't believe that the students I have encountered in the US valued school as such an option in the same manner of importance. I was also struck at the school by the number of girls who were interested in science and math subjects. Most of the young women wanted to be involved in economics or science and some of them were interested in law. The boys had similar aspirations in math and many were interested in debate. All of the kids were really welcoming and interesting to talk to. One of the groups I talked with spent a lot of the time swapping stereotypes about our countries, they would tell me different stereotypes about the US (everyone is a celebrity, or everyone knows celebrities) and I would tell them different stereotypes about South Africa. They were really interested in race relations in the US, and whether there was still racism or not. 

They then explained about their race relations and the biggest issues they thought they faced. Even though some of the conversation was heavy, we also talked about favorite sports and music and swapped Facebook information too. 

One thing they thought was very interesting, is that they couldn't understand why most of us only spoke one or maybe two languages, most of them speak four or five. This is because in the townships, they grow up with friends, whose home language might be Tsonga, Zulu or Xhosa or any other home language and to communicate with each other, they each learn these languages. Then they learn english and sometimes Afrikaans. In Soweto, to pass each grade, a student must get passing grades in their home language (schools instituted this policy to make sure students stayed in touch with their heritage and understood parts of their history). 

I loved being at the school. Everyone was so friendly and it was really great to talk to the students, because they were so engaging and interesting. After the school, we went to Kliptown, one of the poorest, if not the poorest area of Soweto. We drove by Molefi's childhood home on our way to Kliptown in Sofiatown, he explained that as soon as he became politically active he had to move, because his house was across from the Sofiatown Police Station. 

He also explained that gangs are not a problem in Soweto, because the community is so centered and cohesive that any time one tries to form, they go to the police and tell them to shut it down, or they will handle it violently. It's amazing that through sheer community force, they have managed to keep gangs almost completely out of Soweto. The gangs are concentrated in areas where immigrants from Zimbabwe, Nigeria and other African countries, live. The Zimbabwean violence has become a real problem because they form gangs and attack other South Africans, but the Nigerians fight mainly within the gangs they form themselves. Drugs are another problem however. There is a huge problem with young men in Soweto using crack, crystal meth and heroin. 

When we got to Kliptown, we first visited Freedom Square, which hold a monument dedicated to the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter is a set of ideals put forth by the people of Soweto, for the government and people to abide by. It is essentially a set of human rights. Kliptown, however, is a perfect example of a group of people who have been denied basic human rights. The South African government keeps promising to invest money to build up its infrastructure and they have created many jobs in the area, but are now promising those jobs to others and actively trying to exclude the members of Kliptown. The residents of Kliptown don't have flush toilets, they have a bucket, that is shared by three to four families and is collected once a week. Kliptown was a very overwhelming experience, which I find hard to describe because it really is like nothing I have ever experienced. Everyone in Kliptown was so friendly and genuine  and they all stopped to say hello and good morning and they live in such extreme poverty. The woman who took us around Kliptown was part of a community empowerment organization, which regularly meets with the government to discuss different improvement strategies, and has continually met resistance.

After lunch, we went back to the guest house and met with Dale McKinley, a political economist. He spent about an hour discussing South African political economy, which was so interesting, but I have already written a novel about the first two days.

Ill post pictures from day two when the internet works better and will upload the pictures :)