This weekend was an adrenaline rush. We went on a road trip along the coast of South Africa on what is popularly known as the Garden Route. Five of us hopped in a car with a map and some PB&J’s to drive as much as we could in a two-day trip in what was supposed to be at least a ten day road trip. The plan was to leave at 7am on Saturday morning but we ran into a couple obstacles that greatly delayed our trip. We had forgotten our passport which was required to make payment on the reservation for the car and we also had trouble finding the rental place in the city. Finally we got on the road around 11am. We made minimal stops and made it all the way to Plettenberg Bay to stay in a youth hostel for the night. Along the route there hundreds of people hitch hiking. It seemed as if it was a common form of transport. Even men in business suits were waiting for a ride. It would be my first time ever staying in a youth hostel. It was beyond freezing in the hostel. I wore all the clothes that I was wearing for the next day, my coat, two scarves, and a rag on my head. I looked like a crazy person but it was so worth it to be warm.
The next day the biggest adrenaline rush came. I decided to bungee jump off the highest bungee jumping bridge in the world. No one had been sure the night before that they were actually going to do it. I was definitely a chicken. I had once cried my way off a roller coaster and this was definitely a time where I would want to cry my way out of bungee jumping or someone was going to have to push me off. But we drove up to the bungee jump anyway the next morning. Sarah signed up right away and then Avery. Once I looked at the bridge, I started to feel sick to my stomach. It took me like 20 minutes to sign up because I was so unsure if I wanted to take such a large risk. Finally, I just paid the money and once you pay there are no refunds so I guess in a way you have to do or I would have wasted almost $80. When it was finally time to jump, we walked this really long and jagged walkway underneath the bridge that led to the bungee site. It was almost as frightening as the jump. If you looked underneath your feet, you were literally are hundreds of meters up from a valley filled with trees and a stream. It was like being at the top of a skyscraper and looking over the edge of the building. I could not look down of course before the jump. I just looked straight forward so I wouldn’t chicken out. Surprisingly, I was very calm but I know my face was blank and my body language gave off a nervous vibe. I just felt like it was the end right before the jump. Sarah had given one of the girls on the trip, Lizzie, her mother's phone number so that she could call if anything should happen…. As they were hooking my feet up, the people kept talking to me but I had no idea what he was saying or what was going on. All I could think was I was about to kill myself and why would I do this? As I scooted up to the edge I just closed my eyes and then leaped into the air. The feeling was awkwardly not adrenaline filled for me. It was the anticipation of the jump that had my adrenaline pumping. But the jump was beautiful and smooth. I felt light and I was just gliding. Of course I screamed when I jumped off but then once the jump was over I just kept saying OMG to myself. The view was beautiful. It was great! But I would never do it again. It is a once and a life time thing.
After bungee jumping we went to an ostrich farm and road some ostriches. This for me was much scarier than the bungee jumping. I was so terrified. Ostriches are the most awkward and ugly animals I think I have ever seen. They are just so big. So in order to ride the ostrich, the people working at the farm would grab them by the neck with this medal hook at the end of a wooden pole and then put a bag over its head. Then they would push the ostrich over to us so that we could mount it. There was no saddle, stirrups or reins. It was just a bizarre experience. And in some ways I felt bad that we were riding them because I felt like we were torturing the animals…We sat at the edge of the ostrich’s back because there is hump in the center of its back that makes it difficult to sit in the cent and we rapped our feet around the front part of its body to stay mounted. The most ridiculous part is that we grabbed its wings to use as reins. It was such an unnatural thing and all I could think is that this animal was not ever meant to ride. The men working at the farm gave us no instructions and just told us to get straight on. Before we had even entered the area to ride the ostrich they pointed at a sign saying, RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I am assuming this was kind of like the sign I saw when I petted the cheetah. But no they are not comparable. The cheetah just laid there while I petted it, when riding the ostrich, it was just me and the ostrich….. I was so scared…. The thing kept hissing at me. I screamed and yelled the entire time I was on it…Avery even fell off the ostrich onto the ground because the ostrich was not having it…. She also got stumped as she tried to mount it…. But she was brave and it didn’t even faze her….. She got right back on that scary animal… I would have been like I am through after that beast knocked me off….Sarah was another brave one too. She was riding it like she was a pro…. The event was hilarious and bit ridiculous…..
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
July 24, 2009 MIDSUMMER REPORT
Volunteering at SAEP has been as much rewarding as it is challenging. My first days at the organization were filled with frustration due to the work culture of a non-profit organization. It was a totally new experience characterized by a more relaxed atmosphere. I was welcomed not with a tour of the office or any formal lunch dates to get to know the staff but instead a 200 page binder that provided background on my research and explained what I would be doing for the next 9 weeks. Having worked at an international corporation the summer before, my expectations of the work environment were very different. The internet often doesn’t work, the computers are over a decade old, there is limited office space, and I was given no direction for anything. My first few days at SAEP were filled with aggravation but it has made me more resourceful during my time here.
As I have gotten more acclimated to the work environment, my research which involves visiting the crèches (pre-schools) gave me a more rewarding experience. My project is to provide SAEP follow-up research on the status of each crèche. The information I am collecting includes inventory, finances, registration and requirements, and other basic needs that should be fulfilled by each crèche so that they can eventually act independently of SAEP. My research will better assist SAEP in deciding what areas of each crèche most need assistance in order for them to “graduate” from SAEP. More specifically, my work is part of the Early Childhood Development section of SAEP. The most difficult part of my project has been the language barrier. Sometimes it is difficult for the principals to understand my questions. They often just nod their heads and say yes even when they do not understand instead of asking me to rephrase the question or statement. The office etiquette is somewhat different and often unpredictable. The principals will often arrange meetings and not be there when I arrive or sometimes we have our meetings out in the middle of the playground instead of in the office.
I go out to a township known as Phillipi on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays of each week. My Mondays and Fridays are used to document my interviews with the principal. I usually spend one day at each crèche just observing their daily habits and schedule and then I come a second time and interview the principal. My days at the crèches are often spent helping the staff cook, playing with the children, some cleaning. Some crèche principals have asked me to help make them make phone calls to places like the Department of Education so that they can fulfill the requirements to become an official school. My main crèche is known as Sackingomso Educare. This is where I have gotten to know the children and the staff the most. Although I have spent the most time here; however, it is always a challenge to learn the children’s African names. Sometimes the kids laugh at me when I try to say the clicks in their names. The children do not know very much English so my authority as their “Sisi” (Sister/Teacher) is somewhat limited.
Lastly, my development has been a very important part of my summer. I keep a weekly blog to track my progress and document my thoughts and reactions. I have also incorporated my coworkers and my roommates to help me achieve my goals. I get a lot of feedback in both settings. While I am confident that I will achieve my work goals by the end of my 9 weeks, my personal development has been the most difficult and I do not feel they will be fully achieved. Progress feels slow for my personal development plan but the community I have developed since I have been here have been very encouraging and often remind me that I have conquered the first step of recognizing things I need to work on as well as being aware of my goals in every setting. I will continue to keep you all posted on my experiences and progress in Cape Town.
As I have gotten more acclimated to the work environment, my research which involves visiting the crèches (pre-schools) gave me a more rewarding experience. My project is to provide SAEP follow-up research on the status of each crèche. The information I am collecting includes inventory, finances, registration and requirements, and other basic needs that should be fulfilled by each crèche so that they can eventually act independently of SAEP. My research will better assist SAEP in deciding what areas of each crèche most need assistance in order for them to “graduate” from SAEP. More specifically, my work is part of the Early Childhood Development section of SAEP. The most difficult part of my project has been the language barrier. Sometimes it is difficult for the principals to understand my questions. They often just nod their heads and say yes even when they do not understand instead of asking me to rephrase the question or statement. The office etiquette is somewhat different and often unpredictable. The principals will often arrange meetings and not be there when I arrive or sometimes we have our meetings out in the middle of the playground instead of in the office.
I go out to a township known as Phillipi on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays of each week. My Mondays and Fridays are used to document my interviews with the principal. I usually spend one day at each crèche just observing their daily habits and schedule and then I come a second time and interview the principal. My days at the crèches are often spent helping the staff cook, playing with the children, some cleaning. Some crèche principals have asked me to help make them make phone calls to places like the Department of Education so that they can fulfill the requirements to become an official school. My main crèche is known as Sackingomso Educare. This is where I have gotten to know the children and the staff the most. Although I have spent the most time here; however, it is always a challenge to learn the children’s African names. Sometimes the kids laugh at me when I try to say the clicks in their names. The children do not know very much English so my authority as their “Sisi” (Sister/Teacher) is somewhat limited.
Lastly, my development has been a very important part of my summer. I keep a weekly blog to track my progress and document my thoughts and reactions. I have also incorporated my coworkers and my roommates to help me achieve my goals. I get a lot of feedback in both settings. While I am confident that I will achieve my work goals by the end of my 9 weeks, my personal development has been the most difficult and I do not feel they will be fully achieved. Progress feels slow for my personal development plan but the community I have developed since I have been here have been very encouraging and often remind me that I have conquered the first step of recognizing things I need to work on as well as being aware of my goals in every setting. I will continue to keep you all posted on my experiences and progress in Cape Town.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
July 20, 2009
Today I freaked out because I thought I lost my passport. I basically ripped my house apart for an hour. This was the first time I realized how important my passport was for the rest of my travel plans for the summer. It has my Vietnam Visa in it and it will get me out of South Africa at the end of my trip. I was not so much concerned about getting out of the country but I was concerned about Vietnam because it take 3 weeks to process a new visa and another $100. Since I am living on a budget and all my trips are right after the other, I would have been screwed. Liese kept asking me if I need help as I was panicking but I only brought so much stuff and I had already gone through all of it. Finally I just sat down on my bed and inhaled, trying to think back to time I last saw it. Then I found it! It was between the pages of one my books. Thank GOD! I showed up to work so late but I felt like I had a really good excuse...
Work was not work today.... When I arrived the internet was down for almost three hours so nobody was doing any work. We were mostly just sitting and chatting. There was a bake sale on the third floor of our building so we all went upstairs instead of working and had some treats. Then my coworker Ellie took us on a hike. The entire early childhood development office left and walked up to the University of Cape Town. We were given a tour of the campus and than taken on a hike in the woods behind the university. It was beautiful. It was my favorite view in Cape Town. It was overall a very relaxing day besides my hectic morning raid for my passport.
Work was not work today.... When I arrived the internet was down for almost three hours so nobody was doing any work. We were mostly just sitting and chatting. There was a bake sale on the third floor of our building so we all went upstairs instead of working and had some treats. Then my coworker Ellie took us on a hike. The entire early childhood development office left and walked up to the University of Cape Town. We were given a tour of the campus and than taken on a hike in the woods behind the university. It was beautiful. It was my favorite view in Cape Town. It was overall a very relaxing day besides my hectic morning raid for my passport.
Monday, July 20, 2009
July 19, 2009
This weekend was really busy. A lot of people were visiting Cape Town for a really huge AIDS conference. My friend Avery, who took a seminar on South Africa with me before coming this summer came down from Pretoria and stayed with us. My roommates and I showed her around town and went out a couple of times. She is also here for the AIDS conference. I participated in the AIDS march on Sunday after church. It was pretty exciting. Everyone was singing African songs and dancing. We stood out like a sore thumb. People always stare. I still wonder why they suspect I am different. The children were so fascinated with Sarah and Jessica’s hair. They would come up to them and just stroke their head because I am assuming that they are very curious about the long straight hair. Before the march started we all stood around talking. We were yelling “Amadla” which believe means freedom. People were passing out baggies of water and posters while we waited for the march to begin. It was a very peaceful demonstration. We were also suspicious of what type of demonstration it would be because we had a Stanford Student out in Cape Town on a Fulbright Scholarship that was killed in a protest. She was targeted because she was white and the people that committed the crime were sent to jail because the case was considered something like “an act of passion.” I do not know if I am using the right term but because it was a freedom march the case was looked upon differently.
After church on Sunday we also went to visit my friend Ntombi at her house. She invited us over to show us around and she also took us down the street from her home in Gugulatu where we had some traditional South African beer made by the local women. I have to say that beer is universally nasty….. This beer had bits of sediment in it and tasted nothing like alcohol. It was like someone rung a sponge into my cup and then I had to drink it. Although it was not the best drink I ever had, I am glad I got to try it. While we were all trying the beer this handicapped man came up to us in his wheelchair and started to make a scene. At first I thought he was just greeting us but his speech started on high and then went downhill. He told us how he was so happy we had come to visit and welcomes us humbly to South Africa. But then he started to say people needed to see how they live, that the African people have nothing, and that he lives in a shack. He also said he is now 58 years old and has nothing to show for it and the government has down nothing to help the people. He continued by emphasizing that he was handicapped and that he could barely use the bathroom because it is not accessible for the handicap. His greeting which became a speech was somewhat overwhelming and I began to cry. I was embarrassed and ashamed that I was there trying their beer. We had all just come from church dressed in nice clothes and appearing foreigners. For the first time while I was in the townships I felt like a tourist and it seem as though I should not have been there. When we he started making this speech, everyone was to leave instantly because it was just an uncomfortable situation. Even the adults that were sitting around the house watching us have the beer wanted him to be quiet. They explained to Ntombi that he was only doing it so that we would give him money. And I sure was ready just to empty my purse and give him everything. His speech made me feel bad for who I am, where I come from, and how I live. Sometimes I wonder how I sleep I night knowing these people are actually living like this while I get to shower whenever I want with clean water, have a blanket and a bed at night and basically live in excess….
After church on Sunday we also went to visit my friend Ntombi at her house. She invited us over to show us around and she also took us down the street from her home in Gugulatu where we had some traditional South African beer made by the local women. I have to say that beer is universally nasty….. This beer had bits of sediment in it and tasted nothing like alcohol. It was like someone rung a sponge into my cup and then I had to drink it. Although it was not the best drink I ever had, I am glad I got to try it. While we were all trying the beer this handicapped man came up to us in his wheelchair and started to make a scene. At first I thought he was just greeting us but his speech started on high and then went downhill. He told us how he was so happy we had come to visit and welcomes us humbly to South Africa. But then he started to say people needed to see how they live, that the African people have nothing, and that he lives in a shack. He also said he is now 58 years old and has nothing to show for it and the government has down nothing to help the people. He continued by emphasizing that he was handicapped and that he could barely use the bathroom because it is not accessible for the handicap. His greeting which became a speech was somewhat overwhelming and I began to cry. I was embarrassed and ashamed that I was there trying their beer. We had all just come from church dressed in nice clothes and appearing foreigners. For the first time while I was in the townships I felt like a tourist and it seem as though I should not have been there. When we he started making this speech, everyone was to leave instantly because it was just an uncomfortable situation. Even the adults that were sitting around the house watching us have the beer wanted him to be quiet. They explained to Ntombi that he was only doing it so that we would give him money. And I sure was ready just to empty my purse and give him everything. His speech made me feel bad for who I am, where I come from, and how I live. Sometimes I wonder how I sleep I night knowing these people are actually living like this while I get to shower whenever I want with clean water, have a blanket and a bed at night and basically live in excess….
July 18, 2009
My development plan is becoming more difficult with every passing week. It is also sometimes discouraging when I cannot observe much progress. I am getting a lot of feedback from my coworkers. One really great piece of advice was that the goal shouldn’t be to change myself but to change the way I am perceived by other people. Another great piece of advice was that I should pick and choose my battles more carefully. I never thought it would be this difficult to change my personal habits. They have been so ingrained into my behavior and the person I have become, it seems impossible to shake. I also realized that I left an important element out of my plan. I knew that Sarah and Liese would play an important role in my progress but I totally forgot to explain to them my goals. Bus my coworkers suggested that it is good that I didn’t tell them in the outset because now they have had time to observe my tendencies and now they can better observe whether I have made progress. I also had an advisor at work that was supposed to be helping me with my development plan but she left this week for 3 weeks. This is not helpful but I will work it out. I now have temporary advisor but I don’t think it will be productive to explain my development plan to my temporary advisor as she will not be working in the office very often and will be helping at a distance(email, phone, etc).I have been working on my email etiquette. I sometimes feel dumb when I am writing to one of my friends or my family using “Hello Mom” and “Best, Brittni.” I figured I would use it for everyone so I would get in the habit.
Work this week was really busy. I have been continuing my interviews. The most tedious part about interviewing is recording the information into an organized document afterwards. I have not been doing a good job of this. My advisor also decided that I should add more crèches onto my research. This may affect whether I can finish the project. I have faith I will get it done though. Wednesday was the dirtiest I got with the kids. I felt like a walking germ. Kids coughing in my face, the neighborhood dog jumping all over me, helping to build a roof on a house. It was truly a long day and then I went to see Harry Potter after my long day of work, not haven taken a shower…. One little kid was licking my co-worker, Adanna on her neck as she held him in her arms. Adanna and I both went to Sackinghomso that day. It was a somewhat frustrating day because the principal was putting off the meeting she had arranged with her. I felt so gross but I am still alive so I guess it wasn’t so bad.
Sarah and I went sightseeing downtown today. We visited the Castle of Good Hope which is the oldest building in Cape Town and currently acts as military post. We went into the dungeons of the military post and got to go into the artillery and torture rooms. It was pretty cool. We also visited District Six Museum. This museum was made in commemoration of the families that were forcibly moved out of their homes in the 1960’s because the government decided to declare their neighborhood, District Six, a white’s only neighborhood. Over 60,000 families were removed and all of their homes were bulldozed. This displacement greatly contributed to the development of the Townships/Cape Flats. When President Mbeki was in office he was able to reverse the discriminatory laws that displaced thousands of people and today homes are continually being returned to their rightful owners. The people that do not want to return are given about 17000 rand (a little over $1700) as compensation. This obviously does not make up for their loss and some families are still struggling to get their homes back because of the broken judicial system. After this museum we went to the Slave Lodge, which was my favorite. The Slave Lodge explained the complete history of how the VOC or the Dutch East India Trading Company developed the system of slavery. Interestingly, the African people in the areas of Cape Town were not the original people enslaved by the VOC, they actually imported slaved from Madagascar and Mozambique first. The African people in Cape Town were originally the colonialist’s business partners but eventually they were enslaved too. Slaves were often given names from the Bible which was often also done to pets as well. There was also a section of the museum that focused on Steve Biko that emphasized the parallels between American leaders and movements. Most notable was the Malcolm X as having overlapping strategies for empowering their followers.
After our museum quest I went to a braai for one of my coworker’s birthday and then late met my roommates on Long Street where I learned how to belly dance. I was really awful. It ended up being and early night because Sarah was feeling sick and my feet were hurting from trying to dress too cute.
Work this week was really busy. I have been continuing my interviews. The most tedious part about interviewing is recording the information into an organized document afterwards. I have not been doing a good job of this. My advisor also decided that I should add more crèches onto my research. This may affect whether I can finish the project. I have faith I will get it done though. Wednesday was the dirtiest I got with the kids. I felt like a walking germ. Kids coughing in my face, the neighborhood dog jumping all over me, helping to build a roof on a house. It was truly a long day and then I went to see Harry Potter after my long day of work, not haven taken a shower…. One little kid was licking my co-worker, Adanna on her neck as she held him in her arms. Adanna and I both went to Sackinghomso that day. It was a somewhat frustrating day because the principal was putting off the meeting she had arranged with her. I felt so gross but I am still alive so I guess it wasn’t so bad.
Sarah and I went sightseeing downtown today. We visited the Castle of Good Hope which is the oldest building in Cape Town and currently acts as military post. We went into the dungeons of the military post and got to go into the artillery and torture rooms. It was pretty cool. We also visited District Six Museum. This museum was made in commemoration of the families that were forcibly moved out of their homes in the 1960’s because the government decided to declare their neighborhood, District Six, a white’s only neighborhood. Over 60,000 families were removed and all of their homes were bulldozed. This displacement greatly contributed to the development of the Townships/Cape Flats. When President Mbeki was in office he was able to reverse the discriminatory laws that displaced thousands of people and today homes are continually being returned to their rightful owners. The people that do not want to return are given about 17000 rand (a little over $1700) as compensation. This obviously does not make up for their loss and some families are still struggling to get their homes back because of the broken judicial system. After this museum we went to the Slave Lodge, which was my favorite. The Slave Lodge explained the complete history of how the VOC or the Dutch East India Trading Company developed the system of slavery. Interestingly, the African people in the areas of Cape Town were not the original people enslaved by the VOC, they actually imported slaved from Madagascar and Mozambique first. The African people in Cape Town were originally the colonialist’s business partners but eventually they were enslaved too. Slaves were often given names from the Bible which was often also done to pets as well. There was also a section of the museum that focused on Steve Biko that emphasized the parallels between American leaders and movements. Most notable was the Malcolm X as having overlapping strategies for empowering their followers.
After our museum quest I went to a braai for one of my coworker’s birthday and then late met my roommates on Long Street where I learned how to belly dance. I was really awful. It ended up being and early night because Sarah was feeling sick and my feet were hurting from trying to dress too cute.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday July 14, 2009
So we had a braai (Afrikkaans for barbeque) on Sunday. It was an absolute disaster. We knew it was going to rain on Sunday but my feeling about rain is that it really should not inhibit our plans but I was so wrong. Janine insisted on doing all the cooking so I didn’t really help with that. It was supposed to be a really South African experience. She invited all her Afrikaans friends and I invited people from work and some people from Stanford. It was raining really bad outside and people had a difficult time getting in the house because of the rain. Evidently the rain was reaching people’s thighs. I was somewhat oblivious because I was inside just enjoying conversation, food and drinks, while Liese was shuttling people back and forth from the front gate with umbrellas to the house because she was the only one that brought rain boots. We had to supply everyone towels and clothes. I still do not know where my two Stanford sweaters are. Anyways once everyone was there, Janine started panicking because she couldn’t find her cat and the house looked like it was going to flood. The garage was also getting flooded and she was worried about her car. We evidently live in the lowest point in Rondebosch, so our house is very vulnerable to floods. The last time the house flooded, the water reached the attic. Finally I realized the extent of the storm when Janine told us to grab our passports pack our bags, and grab all of our cash. Everyone had to evacuate the house. No one had any food yet. Everyone was just getting there but she was worried that we would get trapped in the house. Liese and I were contemplating checking into a hotel for the night. At this point the house was chaotic. Everyone was rushing up and down the stairs moving all Sarah’s clothes out of her room up to the attic. When I think back on this it is very comical. Once we had everyone out of the house Sarah, Liese, and I went to Janine’s, niece’s house to try and wait it out. We had some interesting conversation with Nu (her niece) and her roommate Laura. They are both from Zimbabwe, which they refer to as Zim. They told us about how they were violently pushed off their farms by the government. Nu and Laura shared that men with machetes, guns, and other weapons showed up to their farm and forced them to leave or die if they stayed. They had no choice but to leave. Currently most people that can leave Zimbabwe have left already because these forced removals have caused the entire economic system to collapse. Now there are Africans living on these farms that do not know how to farm so Zimbabwe is no longer exporting any food. She also explained that though there was clearly large inequality the economic system, in some ways having the whites continue to own the farm was to Zim’s advantage. The system that was put in place would have helped the African people to assimilate into the farming business. These white farms employed up to 400 workers and a school was also in place to educate the people. The forced removal of these white farmers totally damaged this system and now everything is falling apart. People who owned farms were required to hire so many African workers and were also required to have a school on the farm to teach the workers. We also talked about the African prospective of American. You can probably guess what that was, a strong disdain for American attitudes. It was great getting together with people our age; we also mocked each others accents and talked about the differences in our upbringing. It was really cool getting to know them.
Monday I went to the International film festival in the city. I saw the most amazing movie. It was called the “The Age of Stupid” which referenced the ignorance that plagues the world. It basically argues that the world is knowingly committing suicide because we are not doing enough to combat global warming. I went with my friend from work, Ellie. The movie made her really sad but it made me really mad at myself for being so wasteful and our world leaders for being all about money. The movie discussed the American problem of consumerism. Some little kids in Iraq who were clearly resentful of American destroying their way of life expressed that American are wasteful. One example the two kids gave were that American never wear their shoes until they fall apart. In Iraq they explained after their shoes are worn out, they simply fix them and keep on wearing them. It also revealed the horrible things that Shell Gas and Oil Company has done to small villages in rural areas of Africa. They are deepening poverty levels by polluting the water, preventing fish from growing full size and eliminating all clean drinking water. They also promised these villages that they would contribute monetarily to their development in exchange for allowing to them to drill for oil but nothing has been done to improve the living standards. After watching this movie I thought about how wasteful I was with everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This movie predicts that the world will basically at its end in 2055 if we continue with our wasteful habits because global warming effects will be accelerated. What can we all do individually to make a large difference?
Monday I went to the International film festival in the city. I saw the most amazing movie. It was called the “The Age of Stupid” which referenced the ignorance that plagues the world. It basically argues that the world is knowingly committing suicide because we are not doing enough to combat global warming. I went with my friend from work, Ellie. The movie made her really sad but it made me really mad at myself for being so wasteful and our world leaders for being all about money. The movie discussed the American problem of consumerism. Some little kids in Iraq who were clearly resentful of American destroying their way of life expressed that American are wasteful. One example the two kids gave were that American never wear their shoes until they fall apart. In Iraq they explained after their shoes are worn out, they simply fix them and keep on wearing them. It also revealed the horrible things that Shell Gas and Oil Company has done to small villages in rural areas of Africa. They are deepening poverty levels by polluting the water, preventing fish from growing full size and eliminating all clean drinking water. They also promised these villages that they would contribute monetarily to their development in exchange for allowing to them to drill for oil but nothing has been done to improve the living standards. After watching this movie I thought about how wasteful I was with everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This movie predicts that the world will basically at its end in 2055 if we continue with our wasteful habits because global warming effects will be accelerated. What can we all do individually to make a large difference?
Monday, July 13, 2009
July 13, 2008
FYI (FOR YOUR INFORMATION), every time my friends and I go out here in Cape Town, we are very safe when we go out and drink. We travel in groups and we stay together the entire time. We don’t walk the streets at night even if we are in a group. We always take taxis. We all have cell phones, I never carry a purse, and I always have mace on me. And I honestly think alcohol is among the nastiest drinks on earth. There is something about being in a social setting with people your age that makes not drinking antisocial. I don’t want to be the anti social person. There are some drinks that I can tolerate that taste like juice. One time when we went out on Long’s Street I just had some coffee and the question of the night was why I hadn’t I gotten a drink. In some ways it was annoying for people to keep asking that questions about my drink preferences so I prefer to just go with the flow, order a fruity drink and go along with my peers.
Let me tell you about my roommates… Since I haven’t said much about their personalities….Sooo we are a very interesting dynamic. Sarah is “wild woman.” Liese is “by the book” and me I guess I’ll leave it to them to describe. Sarah is from the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. She is interested in the becoming a doctor in the future and is into Public Policy, specifically concerning health. Sarah has a very interesting background. She was born in Korea, lived in Canada for awhile where she went to a French immersion school, and then her family immigrated to the US. She is very religious which I would say was motivated by her father’s role as a Minister. Sarah likes to party all the time and has let us know that she doesn’t need much sleep to function. Sarah would go out every night if she could. But I can’t hang; so I guess Liese and I both are party poopers. Liese and I would both would rather chill some nights and just curl up in bed and watch movies or do something at home and go out a couple nights a week. Sarah is also the celebrity gossip queen. She likes looking at gossip websites and finding out the scoop. She also loves to read in general (books, news, etc). Sarah is really outgoing and really fun to be around; I do not think there are any dull moments with Sarah.
Liese is also very interesting. Her name is pronounces like “Lisa” except the “s” sounds like a “z.” She is very particular about this. She is also a genius. The girl has a 3.9 at Stanford and is double majoring in Anthropology and Human Biology. When she was younger she used to be a competitive dancer. Now her ankles are really weak and she trips a lot whenever we go out. One day I am going to have to save her life because there are so many times when I think she is going to hit the ground face first. I laugh all the time about this. She is super intense about her work. Something I have also noticed about her is that she is super into following all rules. That is why I mentioned before she is the most responsible out of all of us. I think this quality will make her a really great doctor. She will not miss a beat. She really knows what she wants and she has her academic life all planned out on a spread sheet. Her organization makes me look really messy. I like being around her because she knows so much. She is always telling me a lot of really interesting facts…. She is like a walking and talking dictionary. She tells me I eat too much meat. She says it is going to take a toll on my kidneys…… But I love meat for every meal….
I have not written a blog in awhile because I have been lazy and my internet does not work very well. This is not good as one of the things that I wrote on my development plan is to keep with my journal so that I can assess my goals at the end of the summer. Progress has been limited…. As of last Thursday, I have been in Cape Town for 3 weeks. I had a three-week evaluation with my mentor last Friday. It was very interesting. In her evaluation she told me that she really enjoys my energetic personality and admires my ability to self-direct my research. However…. Yes, there is always a “however.” She feels that I can improve my email etiquette and be more aware of my surroundings. Some examples that were relevant to her concerns was when I accidently shut one of my coworkers in the office when we were all going out to the townships for the day. My only defense to that concern was that I honestly thought she was staying back because she was sitting down for a really long time as if she wasn’t leaving with us and most times everyone doesn’t go because we do not have enough room in the car. I guess I should have asked. As for emails, she said that I should respond to every email with a “thank you” if I request information or when I send emails with attachments I should write a message describing what it is. These are both understandable comments concerning email etiquette. I guess I have somewhat changed my professional posture in this work setting. When I worked for Pricewaterhouse Coopers last summer, I definitely always responded to emails and used proper language because I had to communicate with partners. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, the work setting is very laid-back and somewhat not as professional as many of the work experiences I have usually had. People come and go to the office as they please. There is no monitoring throughout the week. I could go the entire week without reporting anything on the progress of my work.
I decided to do some sightseeing on my own. Ever since my roommates arrived, I have been trying to do everything in a group because it is safer, cheaper, and most of the time more fun. But sometimes I feel like I am not doing the stuff I actually want to do because the entire group doesn’t want to. So I caught the train from work after my eventful work evaluation and went downtown. The train is the sketchiest form of transportation. I was really uneasy the entire time I was riding the train. Most of the time when I travel throughout Cape Town people stare a lot. There are a couple reasons why I think they stare. One they may obviously see that I am American and are just curious. But another reason I believe to be very unsettling is that I hang out with my two roommates most of the time. One is Korean, the other White, and I look colored to the people here. Colored is a type culture that describes people that are mostly mixed race and speak Afrikaans. Colored people can also be white or African descent. Having these races interact in Cape Town is a little unusual because of the racial separation that is still very apparent in Cape Town. When people stare it just makes me feel like they are plotting to do something. The stares aren’t friendly either; they are rarely accompanied by a smile or “hello.” When I finally got to the train station it was a relief. I clung to the guards in the station so I didn’t look like I was a lost foreigner. I simply followed them straight out as if I knew where I was going. When I stepped out the of the train station, there was a market. The market was a little different; the stalls had people running barbershops businesses and woman braiding hair. I headed to Long’s street which has a lot of small boutiques that have African jewelry and furniture shops. I window shopped for a while. I bought my only pairs of clothes for the trip. I got two dresses from a shop that only sales clothes made by South African designers. After, Long’s Street I went to the Two Ocean Aquarium close to the waterfront. I felt like a really BIG KID in the aquarium because everyone that was running around there was under 4ft tall and under 10 years of age. The aquarium was okay. I tried to read all the blurbs about the fish but for the most part I felt like the facts were complicated. I also have very bad memory so I would probably not remember the blurbs anyway. The most interesting part of the aquarium was when they had the turtle and ray feeding. The fish were like 3 times the size of me. When the people in the tank were feeding them they would put their entire hand in the mouth of the ray. But the turtle crushes the food when it eats so they didn’t do that for them. I don’t know why but sharks are the most fascinating to me. In the last 14 years, the size of shark population has been reduced by 80% due to overfishing. We kill over 100 million sharks every year. There are also over 300 species of sharks and only 40 of them are deadly to humans. After I finished at the aquarium, I walked around the waterfront, went to my favorite crepe place in the mall. I also saw some live African performances. Then I headed home.
The next day we rented a car and drove 2 hours to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. It is supposed to be the farthest southern point of Africa. Although, some people tell us that is fact is not actually true. Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope is mostly scenery and wildlife. The trip to Cape Point was interesting because this was the first time any of us would be driving on the right side of the road. I thought I was going to die at first because Sarah put the car in neutral when she was trying to reverse…..I was beginning to think she lied to about having a driver’s license… But after a little practice around a nearby parking lot she got the hang of it. We got there and back safely.
Let me tell you about my roommates… Since I haven’t said much about their personalities….Sooo we are a very interesting dynamic. Sarah is “wild woman.” Liese is “by the book” and me I guess I’ll leave it to them to describe. Sarah is from the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. She is interested in the becoming a doctor in the future and is into Public Policy, specifically concerning health. Sarah has a very interesting background. She was born in Korea, lived in Canada for awhile where she went to a French immersion school, and then her family immigrated to the US. She is very religious which I would say was motivated by her father’s role as a Minister. Sarah likes to party all the time and has let us know that she doesn’t need much sleep to function. Sarah would go out every night if she could. But I can’t hang; so I guess Liese and I both are party poopers. Liese and I would both would rather chill some nights and just curl up in bed and watch movies or do something at home and go out a couple nights a week. Sarah is also the celebrity gossip queen. She likes looking at gossip websites and finding out the scoop. She also loves to read in general (books, news, etc). Sarah is really outgoing and really fun to be around; I do not think there are any dull moments with Sarah.
Liese is also very interesting. Her name is pronounces like “Lisa” except the “s” sounds like a “z.” She is very particular about this. She is also a genius. The girl has a 3.9 at Stanford and is double majoring in Anthropology and Human Biology. When she was younger she used to be a competitive dancer. Now her ankles are really weak and she trips a lot whenever we go out. One day I am going to have to save her life because there are so many times when I think she is going to hit the ground face first. I laugh all the time about this. She is super intense about her work. Something I have also noticed about her is that she is super into following all rules. That is why I mentioned before she is the most responsible out of all of us. I think this quality will make her a really great doctor. She will not miss a beat. She really knows what she wants and she has her academic life all planned out on a spread sheet. Her organization makes me look really messy. I like being around her because she knows so much. She is always telling me a lot of really interesting facts…. She is like a walking and talking dictionary. She tells me I eat too much meat. She says it is going to take a toll on my kidneys…… But I love meat for every meal….
I have not written a blog in awhile because I have been lazy and my internet does not work very well. This is not good as one of the things that I wrote on my development plan is to keep with my journal so that I can assess my goals at the end of the summer. Progress has been limited…. As of last Thursday, I have been in Cape Town for 3 weeks. I had a three-week evaluation with my mentor last Friday. It was very interesting. In her evaluation she told me that she really enjoys my energetic personality and admires my ability to self-direct my research. However…. Yes, there is always a “however.” She feels that I can improve my email etiquette and be more aware of my surroundings. Some examples that were relevant to her concerns was when I accidently shut one of my coworkers in the office when we were all going out to the townships for the day. My only defense to that concern was that I honestly thought she was staying back because she was sitting down for a really long time as if she wasn’t leaving with us and most times everyone doesn’t go because we do not have enough room in the car. I guess I should have asked. As for emails, she said that I should respond to every email with a “thank you” if I request information or when I send emails with attachments I should write a message describing what it is. These are both understandable comments concerning email etiquette. I guess I have somewhat changed my professional posture in this work setting. When I worked for Pricewaterhouse Coopers last summer, I definitely always responded to emails and used proper language because I had to communicate with partners. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, the work setting is very laid-back and somewhat not as professional as many of the work experiences I have usually had. People come and go to the office as they please. There is no monitoring throughout the week. I could go the entire week without reporting anything on the progress of my work.
I decided to do some sightseeing on my own. Ever since my roommates arrived, I have been trying to do everything in a group because it is safer, cheaper, and most of the time more fun. But sometimes I feel like I am not doing the stuff I actually want to do because the entire group doesn’t want to. So I caught the train from work after my eventful work evaluation and went downtown. The train is the sketchiest form of transportation. I was really uneasy the entire time I was riding the train. Most of the time when I travel throughout Cape Town people stare a lot. There are a couple reasons why I think they stare. One they may obviously see that I am American and are just curious. But another reason I believe to be very unsettling is that I hang out with my two roommates most of the time. One is Korean, the other White, and I look colored to the people here. Colored is a type culture that describes people that are mostly mixed race and speak Afrikaans. Colored people can also be white or African descent. Having these races interact in Cape Town is a little unusual because of the racial separation that is still very apparent in Cape Town. When people stare it just makes me feel like they are plotting to do something. The stares aren’t friendly either; they are rarely accompanied by a smile or “hello.” When I finally got to the train station it was a relief. I clung to the guards in the station so I didn’t look like I was a lost foreigner. I simply followed them straight out as if I knew where I was going. When I stepped out the of the train station, there was a market. The market was a little different; the stalls had people running barbershops businesses and woman braiding hair. I headed to Long’s street which has a lot of small boutiques that have African jewelry and furniture shops. I window shopped for a while. I bought my only pairs of clothes for the trip. I got two dresses from a shop that only sales clothes made by South African designers. After, Long’s Street I went to the Two Ocean Aquarium close to the waterfront. I felt like a really BIG KID in the aquarium because everyone that was running around there was under 4ft tall and under 10 years of age. The aquarium was okay. I tried to read all the blurbs about the fish but for the most part I felt like the facts were complicated. I also have very bad memory so I would probably not remember the blurbs anyway. The most interesting part of the aquarium was when they had the turtle and ray feeding. The fish were like 3 times the size of me. When the people in the tank were feeding them they would put their entire hand in the mouth of the ray. But the turtle crushes the food when it eats so they didn’t do that for them. I don’t know why but sharks are the most fascinating to me. In the last 14 years, the size of shark population has been reduced by 80% due to overfishing. We kill over 100 million sharks every year. There are also over 300 species of sharks and only 40 of them are deadly to humans. After I finished at the aquarium, I walked around the waterfront, went to my favorite crepe place in the mall. I also saw some live African performances. Then I headed home.
The next day we rented a car and drove 2 hours to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. It is supposed to be the farthest southern point of Africa. Although, some people tell us that is fact is not actually true. Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope is mostly scenery and wildlife. The trip to Cape Point was interesting because this was the first time any of us would be driving on the right side of the road. I thought I was going to die at first because Sarah put the car in neutral when she was trying to reverse…..I was beginning to think she lied to about having a driver’s license… But after a little practice around a nearby parking lot she got the hang of it. We got there and back safely.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
This weekend was awesome!!!!!!!!!! So Friday Sarah, Liese, and I met up with the Duke and UNC students from my work for a night of Bar Golf. Jessica also decided to hang out with us that night. This was my first time playing and it ended up be a crazzzzzzzzzzy night. So there were 9 holes and the object of the game was to have the least amount of points at the end of the game. Therefore if you were playing to win, which I was, you had to drink mostly eagles, which were -2 points. Each bar had designated drinks and as the night went on the drinks got worse and worse. We had 40 minutes at each bar with 5 minutes walking time to the next bar. A girl named Ainslie at my work was the official timer. And if you went to the bathroom, were late to the next bar, didn’t finish a drink or ordered water you had to add points to the score. Whisky and water had to be the worst drink I ever had in my life. I couldn’t even drink it. I just gave it to someone else in the bar it was so bad. By the third bar, the game had really brought out some personalities….. Me and Jessica snuck into a club through the kitchen because we did not want to pay the cover fee. It had the best music of all the clubs but it was very segregated. All the people in the club were Indians so we obviously were sticking out being the only white and black girl in the club. We danced for a little bit and then ran out the back door again. As we ran out Jessica handed the workers tips for letting us come in.Jessica has by far been my favorite person in Cape Town. She is just really fun and gives a lot of great advice. She also has a really big heart. She is always giving selflessly and you can just tell by the small thing she does. She loves people and she doesn’t judge. She can find a way to feel comfortable in any setting and she is a great people person. It sad to think that it took a flight 20+ hours away from my campus to find the Stanford students I can most relate to. It makes me wonder how many others I have not met.
After a long night out on the row of bars in Observatory we managed to wake up at 8am the next morning. I honestly was not trying to move. I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for my roommate Liese, who has shown to be the most responsible out of all of us. She woke me up with 20 minutes to eat and shower before the cab arrived at our house. Headache and all I was off to Table Mountain, which according to our cab driver is in the running for 7th place to become one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Table Mountain has 300 routes up and down. It is also over 1000 meters high. It takes 2 ½ hours to hike up to the top. Hikers have died every year on the trail; therefore, we were warned to stay on the trail at all times. We went on the hike with people from that Sarah’s work, the Gender Health and Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. Amad was the expert hiker and our guide up the mountain. He made sure we had plenty as breaks as we were hiking. It was really difficult to hike. And for me it was more difficult than it had to be because of several reasons: lack of sleep, hangover, lack of water and food. I had rushed out of the house so fast that morning that I had forgotten water which was the most important thing. The hangover gave me a throbbing headache which was made worse by the fact that I had just gotten my braids in a couple days before and my scalp still felt like it was being ripped from my forehead. It was all good though, I made it up that mountain like none of that was bothering me. I brought my ipod and listened to Beyoncé all the way up the mountain. Comparatively to other hikers we were really really slow. One guy had gone down and up the mountain twice on the path we were taking before we made it to the top. When we got to the top, you could see all of Cape Town on one side and the other was a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. There was a restaurant and a bunch of gift shops at the top. It was a perfect day to hike up the mountain and probably one of the few days while we are here that we will miss the rain so it is good we got ourselves out of bed. We did not end up walking down the mountain. We instead, took a revolving cable car that took about 4 minutes to get down the mountain compared to our 2 ½ hours up. At the end of the hike we were all happy we made the trip up the mountain because we were able to appreciate the scenery and feel a since of an accomplishment after hiking up the mountain.
After our long hike up the mountain we went to eat at a café and the rested up for the night. I had to go to sleep if I was going to go out on the 4th of July. So for the 4th of July we celebrated with a group of Yale students that live in Sea Point. They had a barbecue with 4th of July balloons and drinks to top it off. We ate hot dogs and some other American style food on behalf of the holiday. Most of the Yale students work with me at SAEP (Austin, Adanna, and Ellie). There are also some other Yale students that are staying with them that are working with other organizations. The Yale students live in luxury. They live in one the nicest places in Cape Town in an apartment that faces the ocean. They have personal drivers to take them to and from work and have organized trips designed by their school for some weekends while they are in Cape Town. It must be nice…. After this party we went to another party with people from Sarah’s work..... I just could not hang. By the time we got to this spot I was so out of it…. I tried to be social…. They had fireworks and everything for the party…But I had to turn in early and I just caught a cab home along and went to sleep…
The next morning we all went to church with Jessica in Guguletu. I am starting to understand the organization of the service. They always start with a little AIDS education and then they go into empowering the people, introducing visitors, etc. Nosi, Luzuko, and Knesa, the kids I had gone with my first weekend did not join us this time because their mother had forbidden them to go to their church again. It was sad because I was excited to tell them about R Kelley, since they were really into celebrities. We ended ups topping by their house to say “hi” afterwords. I told them I have been learning some Xhosa, and they laughed when I told them the words I knew because it made no sense. After our visit to the township for church we went home and just rested…. It was a long weekend…
After a long night out on the row of bars in Observatory we managed to wake up at 8am the next morning. I honestly was not trying to move. I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for my roommate Liese, who has shown to be the most responsible out of all of us. She woke me up with 20 minutes to eat and shower before the cab arrived at our house. Headache and all I was off to Table Mountain, which according to our cab driver is in the running for 7th place to become one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Table Mountain has 300 routes up and down. It is also over 1000 meters high. It takes 2 ½ hours to hike up to the top. Hikers have died every year on the trail; therefore, we were warned to stay on the trail at all times. We went on the hike with people from that Sarah’s work, the Gender Health and Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. Amad was the expert hiker and our guide up the mountain. He made sure we had plenty as breaks as we were hiking. It was really difficult to hike. And for me it was more difficult than it had to be because of several reasons: lack of sleep, hangover, lack of water and food. I had rushed out of the house so fast that morning that I had forgotten water which was the most important thing. The hangover gave me a throbbing headache which was made worse by the fact that I had just gotten my braids in a couple days before and my scalp still felt like it was being ripped from my forehead. It was all good though, I made it up that mountain like none of that was bothering me. I brought my ipod and listened to Beyoncé all the way up the mountain. Comparatively to other hikers we were really really slow. One guy had gone down and up the mountain twice on the path we were taking before we made it to the top. When we got to the top, you could see all of Cape Town on one side and the other was a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. There was a restaurant and a bunch of gift shops at the top. It was a perfect day to hike up the mountain and probably one of the few days while we are here that we will miss the rain so it is good we got ourselves out of bed. We did not end up walking down the mountain. We instead, took a revolving cable car that took about 4 minutes to get down the mountain compared to our 2 ½ hours up. At the end of the hike we were all happy we made the trip up the mountain because we were able to appreciate the scenery and feel a since of an accomplishment after hiking up the mountain.
After our long hike up the mountain we went to eat at a café and the rested up for the night. I had to go to sleep if I was going to go out on the 4th of July. So for the 4th of July we celebrated with a group of Yale students that live in Sea Point. They had a barbecue with 4th of July balloons and drinks to top it off. We ate hot dogs and some other American style food on behalf of the holiday. Most of the Yale students work with me at SAEP (Austin, Adanna, and Ellie). There are also some other Yale students that are staying with them that are working with other organizations. The Yale students live in luxury. They live in one the nicest places in Cape Town in an apartment that faces the ocean. They have personal drivers to take them to and from work and have organized trips designed by their school for some weekends while they are in Cape Town. It must be nice…. After this party we went to another party with people from Sarah’s work..... I just could not hang. By the time we got to this spot I was so out of it…. I tried to be social…. They had fireworks and everything for the party…But I had to turn in early and I just caught a cab home along and went to sleep…
The next morning we all went to church with Jessica in Guguletu. I am starting to understand the organization of the service. They always start with a little AIDS education and then they go into empowering the people, introducing visitors, etc. Nosi, Luzuko, and Knesa, the kids I had gone with my first weekend did not join us this time because their mother had forbidden them to go to their church again. It was sad because I was excited to tell them about R Kelley, since they were really into celebrities. We ended ups topping by their house to say “hi” afterwords. I told them I have been learning some Xhosa, and they laughed when I told them the words I knew because it made no sense. After our visit to the township for church we went home and just rested…. It was a long weekend…
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Today I visited a different crèche than Sakingomso. My advisor and I decided that the research would achieve better results if I spent a day at each crèche before I actually did the interviews. Sometimes this will help with the questions because the principals do not always understand what I am saying and they will often nod yes as if they do. The crèche I went to today was called Zamukhanyo. It means with clear eyes they can see the light. When the principal tried to explain the meaning to me she used a metaphor; she said it was like using a torch to light a fire and that by equipping the children with social, academic, mental, and other skills she would be giving the children the tools to create opportunities for themselves. The principal at Zamukhanyo was called Nburito. This crèche was far superior to Sakhingomso. They were housed in an actual building, the outside play area was cleared of all sharp objects, and they had an actual set curriculum. The kids were also much cleaner. I was less apprehensive to touch these children as they looked healthier. They were also very well behaved and loved to play with me. None of the kids tried to hit me here and they all played very nicely together. At Sakhingomoso, the kids fed each other sand, slapped, and hit each other. All the kids refer to me as “missy” at Zamukanyo. I wonder if they know that I do not understand a word they say to me because they still call for me and ask me questions and tattle on the other kids. Most of my interaction with the kids was during recess. All of them wanted me to push them on swings. When I pushed them I would say “wee” as they flew up into the air. Than all the children started to copy me and say “wee” every time someone was swinging. Then I got on the swings and all the kids surrounded the swing and they all wanted to push me. They also wanted me to pick all of them up and throw them in the air after they slid down the slide. I was getting so tired but they kept calling for “missy.” I have picked up some of the words and phrases they use in the classroom. I do not really know what I am saying but all the kids respond. I do not think they kids really understand the meaning of the English words they are saying either. One kid sometimes chanted “there is a fire in the mountain” and when he says this all the kids respond with something in Xhosa while running around in circle around the playground.
Later on in the day the cook walked me down the street in the township. These were moments when I felt increased anxiety and uneasiness. The glares that I get just look so suspicious. Sometimes I think I blend because of my brown skin and braids so I assume they cannot tell I am a foreigner. But other times I feel as if they “just know.” Of course as soon as I open my mouth and say hello, everyone knows, so I try and stay quiet and just act like I know what I am doing and where I am going. As we were walking to the corner store, I saw a man outside his shack cutting the heads off of goats and chickens. They eat the head here. Actually they eat every part of the animal, eyeballs and all. It was a little bit freaky to see this because blood was still leaking out off the heads they were all just sitting in a pile. When I got back to crèche and they offered me chicken for lunch, I simply could not eat it. I was sickened by the sight of the animal heads.
Later on in the day the cook walked me down the street in the township. These were moments when I felt increased anxiety and uneasiness. The glares that I get just look so suspicious. Sometimes I think I blend because of my brown skin and braids so I assume they cannot tell I am a foreigner. But other times I feel as if they “just know.” Of course as soon as I open my mouth and say hello, everyone knows, so I try and stay quiet and just act like I know what I am doing and where I am going. As we were walking to the corner store, I saw a man outside his shack cutting the heads off of goats and chickens. They eat the head here. Actually they eat every part of the animal, eyeballs and all. It was a little bit freaky to see this because blood was still leaking out off the heads they were all just sitting in a pile. When I got back to crèche and they offered me chicken for lunch, I simply could not eat it. I was sickened by the sight of the animal heads.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I went back to Sakingomso today and started my research. I had to basically spend an hour and a half interviewing her. When I called her the day before, she did not mention that the crèche were going to be under construction this week so this ended up limiting the interview. She had no financial documents to show me so we just had to stick with questions mostly concerning infrastructure, curriculum, and staff training. Again, working for this organization is such a different experience. I never have been so informal in a work setting in my life. It was odd for me to have our interview basically in the middle of the playground. We sat in two chairs, no desk no electronics or anything to assist with documentation and I wrote on my note pad as I asked her questions. Having spent time there before, interviewing Phelisa, made the interview go much more smoothly. Phelisa speaks great English but she does not always understand what I am saying or asking so some things I was familiar with and could answer myself. For instance, I asked her to explain their curriculum and their daily activities and she didn’t exactly answer that with complete understanding of what I was asking. The thing that shocked me the most during this interview is how much it takes to open up a school. The staff do not get paid adequately because their salary depends on whether parents pay school fees. Phelisa explained that a lot of times they do not pressure the parents to pay because they know they are struggling to eat and pay for medical problems. She said that some of them only get paid $100 dollars a month. But this obviously sometimes decreases. It is hard to believe that people live on such little money.
The meals they serve the children also depend on the money they get from parents. The meals don’t have very much nutrients and proteins. I brought my lunch to the crèche today and I shared my food with the staff. They seemed really excited to just have some sliced cucumbers and strawberries. I was also drinking bottled water and all the kids flocked around me wanting a sip of my water. I didn’t understand at first why the kids wanted my water so bad because they get plenty of food and their parents pack them juice. One little boy wouldn’t leave me alone and followed me around for all his recess trying to get my water. He even tried to like hurt me by throwing stones and hitting me with metal rods. It was kind of frightening. He also kept punching my leg… I guess I will never bring my lunch again… The kids at Sackingomso are really violent sometimes…. It bothers me that the teachers do not do anything…. Today I also met another new little girl that had some sort of mental problems. After snack time she was running around with food all over her face and half chewed remnants still in her mouth trying to get my attention. She also followed me around most of the time.
Overall the day was eventful and a lot different than my first couple visits. I learned about the things that they actually needed. It gives me a better prospective of my so called public service in the US. While I know that community service is helping the community, I often give material things to organizations that need it. Many times I have run clothing drives and other drives to collect items to give away to organizations and groups that need them. But I realize that a lot of time I would be helping them out more if money was given because when we buy things and give it away we are deciding what they need… which is not fair, we are taking away their ability to make choices for themselves. The money would go towards areas that could help them out a lot more in the long run… the best thing I could recommend to people is do what I am doing and actually go and work with the organizations so you can actually see and ask what the organizations needs… Many times Americans do not want to do this type of ground work… I am not saying go to a foreign country or anything like that. I am just saying find an organization or a group of people that you’re interested and helping and learn about the people so that you can truly value and understand what your contributions are doing for them. I can guarantee if everyone did this, prospective would be broadened and more group and organizations that need help would get it.
The meals they serve the children also depend on the money they get from parents. The meals don’t have very much nutrients and proteins. I brought my lunch to the crèche today and I shared my food with the staff. They seemed really excited to just have some sliced cucumbers and strawberries. I was also drinking bottled water and all the kids flocked around me wanting a sip of my water. I didn’t understand at first why the kids wanted my water so bad because they get plenty of food and their parents pack them juice. One little boy wouldn’t leave me alone and followed me around for all his recess trying to get my water. He even tried to like hurt me by throwing stones and hitting me with metal rods. It was kind of frightening. He also kept punching my leg… I guess I will never bring my lunch again… The kids at Sackingomso are really violent sometimes…. It bothers me that the teachers do not do anything…. Today I also met another new little girl that had some sort of mental problems. After snack time she was running around with food all over her face and half chewed remnants still in her mouth trying to get my attention. She also followed me around most of the time.
Overall the day was eventful and a lot different than my first couple visits. I learned about the things that they actually needed. It gives me a better prospective of my so called public service in the US. While I know that community service is helping the community, I often give material things to organizations that need it. Many times I have run clothing drives and other drives to collect items to give away to organizations and groups that need them. But I realize that a lot of time I would be helping them out more if money was given because when we buy things and give it away we are deciding what they need… which is not fair, we are taking away their ability to make choices for themselves. The money would go towards areas that could help them out a lot more in the long run… the best thing I could recommend to people is do what I am doing and actually go and work with the organizations so you can actually see and ask what the organizations needs… Many times Americans do not want to do this type of ground work… I am not saying go to a foreign country or anything like that. I am just saying find an organization or a group of people that you’re interested and helping and learn about the people so that you can truly value and understand what your contributions are doing for them. I can guarantee if everyone did this, prospective would be broadened and more group and organizations that need help would get it.
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