Term Vac!

It is finally here-- spring break, or as they say here at Rhodes, term vac! On Wednesday I will be leaving on a two and a half week road trip across South Africa. We are planning to spend the first two days in Port Elizabeth and then drive along the Garden Route to Cape Town where we will spend a week and a half. Needless to say, a two and a half week break is unheard of in the States, so I could not be more thrilled! Some of our plans include going to a vineyard, catching a rugby game, seeing penguins, and whatever else we can get into! On the way to Cape Town it will be Lauren, Rachel, and myself, and on the way back Alex & Kara will be joining us. Wish me luck as I head off on this wild and crazy adventure!

"Africans Ready for African Pope"

I was just on CNN and saw this interesting article "Africans ready for African Pope". This was the first time I have heard anything about Africa getting their own pope. I do believe that it is an interesting issue. The African continent faces many different and specific issues that are not universal. Having a pope for the continent could help bring religion to a more applicable and realistic level. More than 80% of Africans surveyed say Africa is ready for an African pope, but fewer believe the world is ready.  When interviewing different people from around the African continent, responses varied: 

"I don't have a problem [with it], but will he stop the ongoing war in some African continents?"

"He may be like the rest of them and just stay in the church; anyway they don't make any difference in Africa."

"An African pope will bring about more unity on the continent and confidence in Africans."

When examining what the African continent hopes to see from the next pope, CNN reports:

"The poverty in Africa is shocking and sinful; the social condition of the continent is perplexing, and the human suffering is not only unacceptable, but also inexcusable... Many Africans hope that the future pope will challenge his fellow African bishops and priests to become the voice of the voiceless, and to not live above the people or exploit their vulnerability."

"African Catholics expect the next pope to raise the bar of ethical, prophetic, sacrificial  and servant leadership in African Catholicism-- to hoist the banner of righteousness and moral rectitude, and political activism and solidarity. To lift millions of Africans from the pit of poverty so that they will have a voice and contribute in building a better society."

"The African church should be a church of the poor, a church with the poor, a church for the poor that si on the side of the poor so as to give them a voice." 

It will be very interesting to see how these two issues pan out over the next few weeks. 

Little Reminders

Once again I am reminded how absolutely blessed I am to have made the decision to come to Rhodes. This evening, our hall warden invited all of the international students to her flat for tea and biscuits. She just wanted to check in and see how we were doing as well as get to know us. We spoke about the Rhino poaching dilemma facing South Africa as well as the education crisis. For those who don't know (I didn't before I got here), Rhino poaching is a huge problem in SA and has become a matter of national concern. 

Facts:

Over 1600 known rhinos have been poached in the past 5 years. There are only some 18800 white, and 4880 black rhinos left in South Africa, which is home to 74% of Africa's rhino population

In 2011, there were 448 rhinos poached, in 2012 there were 668, and so far in 2013 there have been 148.

The warden also talked about the education crisis in Grahamstown. Due to lack of teachers, resources, and supportive households, many students are struggling in school. Very few students are continuing onto university and many are not graduating. She said that this morning she went to go talk to her old high school to try and motivate the students by saying that education is the only way to get out of their situation. This woman is truly an inspiration. She created a foundation four years ago that works with many of the existing programs in the townships and creates mentoring programs between Rhodes students and the community. It was just a wonderful way to start the week by having a conversation with this amazing woman. 

Post Secret Inspiration

 (For those who haven't been on postsecret.com, it's a website for people to send postcards of their secrets. Needless to say, this one definitely spoke to me.)

Backpackers!

This weekend, Kara, Alex, Lauren (all BC ladies)and I decided it was time to take a break and head down to Jeffreys Bay for the weekend. JB is one of the most notorious surf towns in the world (ranked #3 best surf spot). Friday afternoon we packed our backpacks, quickly grabbed a sandwich in town, and headed to catch our bus. It was about a three hour drive from Grahamstown to JB.

After our long ride and nearly missing our stop, we arrived in JB. We grabbed a cab and headed to Island Vibe, our backpacker for the next three nights (*hostels in SA= backpackers). 

For some reason, the staff at the hostel immediately decided that I was to be called Chelsea Clinton for the entire weekend. Im assuming a combination of being an American with a first name Chelsea led to this nick name. No matter where I was, grabbing food, at the bar, reading, I would hear "Chelsea Clinton" and see someone laughing and waving. The staff were amazing. Most of them were just surfers who worked and stayed at the backpacker. 

Everyone was super friendly and we met a ton of Europeans who had awesome tales of their adventures backpacking across SA. One 27 year old from England decided to do a world trip and is spending the next 11 months traveling around the world. Everyone was so cool and so chill, which made for an awesome weekend. Most of our weekend was spent at the beach, where I learned that you can still get burnt when it is cloudy...who knew? Our nights were spent at the bar and stargazing. It was such an amazing weekend and it was so cool to get to know the other girls better. Life chats included education reform, extraterrestrial life (my vote: yes), racism, and anything else you can imagine.

 This weekend was a constant reminder of how lucky and blessed I am to get this opportunity to travel and around and hear people's stories and learn about their lives. This weekend made me SOOO excited for our term vac (spring break) coming up in a week and a half! I will post more once we have some plans set! 

Welcome Dinner!

On Friday night we had our hall's welcome dinner! It was a chance for everyone to dress up and have a formal dinner in our dining hall. All the wardens extended a welcome and warm wishes for the new academic year. My only complaint was how hot it was, but compared to the weather back home, I can handle the heat! 

Myself and Annie (Boston)

All the international ladies in our hall! (L->R: Elena (Italy), Jenna (New York), Annie (Boston), Me!)

Carey-Anne wanted a picture with the internationals

Community Engagement

One of the main reasons I chose to come to Grahamstown, South Africa was to participate in community engagement , or as we know it volunteering. This was important to me not only because I have a passion for learning about different projects and organizations, but I knew that it would also help me gain a more comprehensive understanding of the social injustices that are prevalent in South Africa today. This weekend was community engagement training. Both Saturday and Sunday we had various lectures and speakers from 8:45-1:15. Needless to say waking up at 8 on a weekend, was tough work, but luckily the training was enlightening and allowed me to hear some new concepts I hadn't heard before. 

The first talk we had introduced what RUCE (Rhodes University Community Engagement) was. According to RUCE, it is a commitment to forming a new society. Since 1994 (end of apartheid), social structures have still remained unequal in SA. In 1997, universities in SA were mandated to become more involved in their communities. 

Volunteering in SA has evolved from a welfare based approach --> needs-based approach--> asset based approach. 20 years ago, the welfare based approach was what was dominantly used. Basically, it looked at the basic needs and provided it. For example, they would see a community without food and then provide it. There was little interaction between the communities and the donors, which led to an extreme power imbalance. The next approach was a needs-based approach. This approach decided to ask the community directly what it was they needed. The idea behind this approach is that the community knows itself best, and therefore knows exactly what it needs. While the intentions behind this approach are good, it did not give the community any agency. It was still an unequal relationship because they were just being supplied with materials. These communities still remained dependent on someone else to support them. Finally, the asset-based approach  As the name suggests this approach focuses on what the community already has. Instead of looking solely at what they need or their deficits, it appreciates all that the communities already have. This approach has changed the nature of the relationship between volunteers and the communities because this approach allows the community to have something to offer. The goal of this approach is to allow communities to see all the assets they possess and allow them to be "agents of their own emancipation" (awesome quote the speaker used).

They also spoke about the "Dos and Dont's of Volunteering in Grahamstown". Here are the main points:

- South Africa has the largest economic gap in the world (most unequal) 

-The Eastern Cape (the provenience where Grahamstown is located) is the provenience where this gap is most prevalent

-Be cautious of how you are perceived 

For me, one of the most enlightening parts of the training was when they played this video:

This video, while hilarious, presents a concept that those of us from the West often don't realize. I have seen numerous commercials that show poverty sticken children with no food and asking for donations. It portrays Africa as a continent with no development and are completely dependent on Western aid. The way Africa is constructed is that it is a helpless victim. It was enlightening to see how those from Africa perceive those commercials and this "radi-aid" commercial provides us with an example of how ridiculous those commercials truly are. 

While there is a crisis in Africa, it is important to be critical of how we portray that crisis and also what we are actually doing to help. Confucius said "give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime". It is important to see if we are just giving the communities what they need (food, water, shelter), or if we are empowering the communities to do it themselves. 

So needless to say, it was a great training, despite not being able to sleep in all weekend. I have decided to volunteer at Jabez Center and the Raphael Center. Both centers deal with HIV/AIDS and working with children who are orphans. 

"Jabez Aids Helath Center is a community based organization that was set up in 2005. Working in the Catchment area, the Center assists people from Joza, Tantyi, Fingo Village, and Hoogenoeg. Jabez provides care and support for individuals living with HIV in Grahamstown. The Jabez Center offers support for people vulnerable to and those infected by AIDS. Mor consistently, the center offers an after school program for orphaned and vulnerable children in the area. The center provides a safe space for kids to come together after school. At the center, kids have the opportunity to learn about the risks associated with unprotected sex, alcoholism, and other issues they may face in their lives." 

"The Raphael Center was founded for people living with AIDS. This Center reaches out into a community where the majority of people live in poverty and are unemployed. The center is committed to the community and wants to be a refuge for those who feel alone. We want them to have a support base so they can be aided in living fulfilled lives. The six programs that are currently running are: voluntary counseling and testing, training and education for people living with HIV/ AIDS, prevention of mother to child transmission, access to treatment, food support, and orphans and vulnerable children."

I have absolutely no experience with HIV/ AIDS so I am extremely excited to get the opportunity to work on something brand new, especially on an issue that is so relevant to South Africa. 

"Pistorius And South Africa's Culture Of Violence"

TIME Magazine's front cover this month looked like this:

While it has not been decided (as of today) if Oscar Pistorius murdered his girlfriend or if it was an accidental shooting, I was more interested in the "culture of violence" as stated in the article. 

The article starts off talking about how beautiful Cape Town is. The article states, "about 2 million of Cape Town's 3.5 million people live to the east in tin and wood shacks and social housing built on the collection of estuary dunes and sand flats called the Cape Flats". The article continues on to say that the further you are from the mountain (table mountain), the "lower, poorer and blacker you are". The article goes on with quotes of "South Africa's raging violent crime" and "large areas of the country remain no-go areas for the police".

When looking at South African newspapers (which is where I first heard read about the TIME article), you gain a whole new perspective. 

The Johannesburg Times wrote: 

"But as the lead article in TIME shows, attention has shifted from the fallen hero to South Africa's 'culture of violence'. The country was 'once a model of racial reconciliation'  but is now a place where murder and rape are 'pervasive and persistent', TIME says. TIME magazine takes a stab at the government: 'Why does no one trust the state? For blacks, it's partly because of South Africa's historical legacy. And for all South Africans, but particularly for whites, it's partly because the ruling ANC is tarred by corruption and criminality.'"

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/03/01/sa-violence-makes-cover-of-time

The Herald Sun (Port Elizabeth) wrote:

"The article uses the Pistorius story- which has gripped the world's attention for two weeks- as a jumping point to examining South Africa's culture of violence...Citing mistrust of corrupt police and mistreatment, TIME argues that South Africans cannot rely on the state for protection so they are forced to cope with crime essentially on their own and, over time that has shaped the nation". 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/oscar-pistorius-makes-cover-of-time-in-examination-of-south-africas-violence/story-fnd134gw-1226588289972

Some comments on the articles include:

"The USA has killed billions of innocent people around the world and destroyed many cities. How about a picture of George W. Bush and then a sixty page article about America's culture of violence?"

"Every American citizen who is smart enough won't take the TIME's serious. People are dying like flies in American schools, cinemas, and in their homes. Oscar must not be used as a yard stick to measure the element of crime and violence in SA. He must not be used by TIME magazine to stay relevant in modern society. They should rather focus their energy in reporting about the Oscars which just recently took place, because their modern day reality is about POP STAR CULTURE and watching Oprah, setting the trends on what to do and what not to do. STOP making South Africa a Gun-Criminal invested society. Yes we have our own challenges and we are trying hard on attending to them. Focus on the maniacs killing kids at schools, and then, and only then can you brand Oscar and SA as a violent society".

While I do not completely agree with these comments, I do believe that they made some good points. I believe that TIME magazine did use the Pistorius story as a way to examine and evaluate the violence prevalent in South Africa, and potentially as a way to take some focus off of us. I do not believe that we are in any position to critique South Africa or to say that their crime is "pervasive and persistent". After spending four weeks in this country, I have come to understand it in a way I would not have been able to in the States. I was honestly shocked to read that TIME had written an article on the "culture of violence" here in South Africa. 

I cannot remember a day back home that I didn't read of a murder, robbery, assault, or some other criminal offense happening. The United States has a culture of violence which can be said as a symptom of being in international conflicts/ wars for the past decade. I do not think that we have the ability to state that, "the country was 'once a model of racial reconciliation  but is now a place where murder and rape are 'pervasive and persistent'". Many countries in the world today are struggling with internal violence, including our own. And it is not only in South Africa that people may be weary of their government  There are people in the States who do not agree with our government or what they are doing.

Being in South Africa for the past four weeks, there has never been a point when I ever felt unsafe or in danger. Granted I am not in the cities, but if the danger and violence was truly as prevalent as TIME is making it out to be, then I definitely would have been exposed to it by now. I am not arguing that South Africa is the safest country in the world- it's not. However, it also isn't one of the most dangerous, at least in my opinion. 

It amazes me how quickly I was to judge this TIME article, but I truly think its a testament to the power of living somewhere new. I have had the privilege to learn about this country in a way that I might not have been able to otherwise. Without my experience here, I may have been more apt to be persuaded by this article and believe that South Africa was a crime ridden country. I wanted to show a different perspective on the article and speak to the importance to not always take news or information at face value. 

Here is the link to the article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2137420-1,00.html

Fridays with Geoff

 As I have mentioned before, Geoff is our advisor here. He is this wonderful man who is a professor in the economics department. Last week we decided to have weekly seminars with him to discuss various topics and issues relating to South Africa. 

This week we decided to discuss apartheid. Apartheid was South Africa's legal system of segregation and discrimination based on race. The word "apartheid" was derived from an Afrikaans word meaning "apartness". Apartheid was practiced from the 1948 until its official end in 1994 under the National Party. During apartheid, the rights of the majority black inhabitants of South Africa were restricted, and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule, was maintained. Afrikaners and Afrikaans are the white South Africans who descended from the Dutch. The Afrikaans language is very similar to Dutch but is basically the South African version.

After the 1948 elections, when apartheid rule started, new legislation classified inhabitants into four racial groups: "native", "white", "coloured", and "Asian". Residential areas were segregated, sometimes by means of forced removals. The government segregated education, medical care, beaches, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people.

The first grand apartheid law was the Population Registration Act of 1950, which formalized racial classification and introduced an identity card for all persons over the age of 18. This card specified the individuals racial group. As Geoff explained it, everyone was forced to carry this card, which looked very similar to a modern passport. It stated your name and the area which you lived (it may state the specific township for example). That card determined where you could work, live, or visit.

The Group Areas Act of 1950 led to residential segregation. Prior, most settlements had people of different races living side by side. This act put an end to diverse areas and determined where one lived according to race. Each race was allotted its own area, which was used in later years as a basis of forced removal. During our tour, Geoff would point out different areas were groups would be. The government would allocate a few blocks where only the Fingo's would live and then the Asians would take the next few blocks and so forth. 

During the 1960s- early 1980s, the government implemented a policy of "resettlement" to force people to move to their designated "group areas". Millions of people were forced to relocate during this time.

Other acts included the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949, which prohibited marriage between persons of different races. There was also the Immorality Act of 1950 which made sexual relations with a person of a different race a criminal offense. 

Education was segregated by means of the 1953 Bantu Education Act, which crafted a separate system of education for African students and was designed to prepare black people for lives as a laboring class. In 1959 separate universities were created for black, colored, and Indian people. Existing universities were not permitted to enroll new black students. The Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 required the use of Afrikaans or English on an equal basis in high schools outside the homelands. 

Since the 1950s, a series of popular uprisings and protests were met with the banning of opposition and imprisoning of anti-apartheid leaders. As unrest spread and became more effective and militarized, state organizations responded with repression and violence. The government responded to a series of popular uprisings and protests with police brutality, which in turn increased local support for the armed resistance struggle. 

By the late 1980s the United States, United Kingdom, and 23 other nations passed laws placing various trade sanctions on South Africa. A "Disinvestment from South Africa" movement in many countries spread. Individual cities and provinces around the world implemented various laws and local regulations forbidding registered corporations from doing business with South African firms, factories, or banks.

The way Geoff explained it, apartheid was the worst-case scenario. The US had the civil rights movement, but South Africa had over 40 years of legalized segregation.

One of the allocated residential areas

Early in 1989, Botha suffered a stroke and he resigned in February 1989. He was succeeded as president by F. W. de Klerk. Despite his initial reputation as a conservative, De Klerk moved decisively towards negotiations to end the political stalemate in the country. In his opening address to the parliament on 2 February 1990, De Klerk announced that he would repeal discriminatory laws and lift the 30-year ban on leading anti-apartheid groups such as the African National Congress (ANC).

The Land Act was brought to an end and De Klerk also made his first public commitment to release jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela. Apartheid was dismantled in a series of negotiations from 1990-1993 which culminated in elections in 1994 (the frist in South Africa with universal suffrage!). Nelson Mandela won these elections.

De Klerk and Mandela 

As someone who is extremely interested in social justice and theology, I am very interested in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that happened in South Africa. Basically the TRC was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty for both civil and criminal prosecution. 

The TRC was a tool to help the country acknowledge what happened and move forward. One of the goals was to bring the victims face to face with the perpetrators. Each side was allowed to share their experiences and get answers. The TRC provided closure for many families and allowed the country to heal together. Geoff mentioned that apartheid almost had a brain-washing affect on many of the people, similar to Germans living in Nazi Germany. People were not aware the extent of which the government was oppressing its people, whether out of ignorance or survival. 

There were three committees of the TRC:

1. The Human Rights Violations Committee: investigated human rights abuses that occurred between 1960-1994.

2. The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee: charged with restoring victims' dignity and formulating proposals to assist with rehabilitation.

3. The Amnesty Committee: considered applications for individuals who applied for amnesty in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 

A key member and leader of the TRC was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was a South African social rights activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. Tutu consistently advocated reconciliation between all parties involved in apartheid. Tutu's opposition to apartheid was vigorous and unequivocal, and he was outspoken both in South Africa and abroad. He often compared apartheid to Nazism and Communism, as a result the government twice revoked his passport, and he was jailed briefly in 1980 after a protest march.

The TRC's emphasis on reconciliation is a sharp contrast to the approach taken by the Nuremberg Trials after WW2 and other de-Nazification measures. Because of its perceived success, the SA TRC has been used as a model of reconciliatory approaches in dealing with human-rights violations after political change. Other countries have instituted similar commissions, such as Rwanda after their 1994 genocide. 

Needless to say, I have learned a lot about apartheid, but I am sure that I will continue to learn more as my semester continues! I plan on covering Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in more depth later on. For anyone interested in learning more, I would simply suggest googling "apartheid" (which is what I did for all my facts). It is such an fascinating era that can teach us so much about racism and those who speak out against it.