We Help Our Children

For the past four weeks, I have been working at an NGO called We Help Our Children. WHOC’s mission is to offer leadership and life skills training for children and youth mainly exposed to vulnerable and high risk situations. The programs focus on the holistic growth of the youth in the area, through camps and training programs. My worksite director is Karl Linderboom, and he is the Program Director at WHOC. He is very passionate about what he does, and his care for the youth of the community is contagious. Throughout my time in Wentworth so far, I have seen first-hand the need for programs for the youth to get them off the streets, and really get them talking about the problems they face in this community. Since I have been at WHOC, my main project has been the Peer Mentors Program. I have made PowerPoint presentations, edited learner manuals, and gone all over the city requesting donations from large companies to fund the program. As an NGO, WHOC must get all the money for the training through donations and community partners. I found that asking for money in Wentworth was harder than any engineering test I have ever taken at Duke. A few companies would let us talk to the boss, who would offer verbal support, but when it came time to fork over the donations, they apologized and said that it was a very bad time for their company. Most of the time, however, the secretary would look at me like I was speaking a foreign language (which I have been told I do, because of my strong “American” accent), then just tell us that the director was busy, and send us on our way. Eventually, we focused our donor search on companies where Karl had a personal relationship with the boss, and we ended up raising the money we needed on the last day. This money would pay for the hall hire, printing costs for the manuals, and refreshments for the learners. We also went to ten different schools in the Wentworth, Bluff, and Merebank areas to invite the schools to pick 11^th grade students that they thought would be great leaders and mentors in their school. Visiting ten schools in one afternoon was very tiring, but it was a cool experience to see that schools that were right down the road from each other had such different demographics of students and faculty. They would even treat us differently, as the schools that were primarily Indian offered us tea and biscuits, while the primarily white schools on the Bluff were all business.

            This week, I finally got to experience the fruit of my labor. We hosted the Peer Mentors Program at a local community center from 10-1 each day from Monday to Friday. There were about 20 grade 11 learners there, as well as Karl, Jarryd (a WHOC volunteer), and myself as the facilitators. I was a little nervous to begin with, as I often work with young kids, and not high school students. When I asked them how old they thought I was, most of then agreed on 26, and were shocked when I told them I was 19. I then explained to them that I had been in their shoes not too long ago, and found out that I was even the same age as some of the grade 11 students there. The first thing we did was ask the students what they thought were the main problems facing the youth in Wentworth. I was amazed to hear what the students had to say, mostly because they were the same things I would have said about the youth in America. When I explained to them that American teens also struggle with drugs, alcohol, sex and peer pressure, they were shocked. One of the girls even said to me, “But you guys are all rich!”. I laughed out loud and explained to them that the country as a whole may look rich, but that we struggle with a distribution of wealth problem, just like in South Africa. They were taken aback by the fact that there are homeless people in America, and that we do not all live like the people in their favorite show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Listening to these students this week has been such a great experience, and I really hope that the program is helping them to think about the choices they make, and realize that they can truly make a difference in their community, even if it is a small one. As Karl says, if we plant the seeds in 20 learners, and they each plant the seed in 20 more, and so on, then we will have a whole garden. I’m glad to be a part of the WHOC mission! 

Working in Durban

All 9 of us have been busy at work here since our first Monday (the third day of the trip). I am lucky enough to work at the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance. It's an environmental rights group that fights for the rights for Durban citizens to live in a clean environment. That, however, is nearly impossible. Residential and industrial areas are built literally next door to each other. And pollution runs rampant, which has plagued the community for years. Levels of asthma and cancer are far above any norm. Government lacks the fortitude to fight this as they do not dare to risk losing companies to other resource-rich companies that might be more friendly to their polluting ways. Thus, it has been left to SDCEA to fight the battle.
I have been helping them fight against an emission that has been producing a powerful cat-urine odor at night and early in the mornings. This odor is more than just a nuisance; it has been giving people headaches, sinus-issues, and nausea. And these effects last long after the smell has gone. Many schools in the area have been affected, not just directly by the smell, but by unhealthy staff and students. And this has been going on for twenty months. The health department has said that locating the offending industry as a very difficult challenge. But if this difficult challenge is not worth taking, what challenge is? It is an incredibly frustrating battle to fight, but also a worthwhile one. People deserve a cleaner environment to live in. When people’s health is being so dramatically affected, everyone is losing productivity and happiness unfairly. Businesses need to clean up their negative externalities (econ55 coming in handy) and I am proud to be part of the fight to force the offending party to stop their poisoning. It’s not what I may have expected to be doing here, but I could not be prouder to be part of it.

Weekend #1- The Drakensberg

I guess this post is a bit late (definitely a theme with this blog as a whole…) but here’s a bit about our first real weekend in South Africa.

We left early Friday morning to travel to Mnweni, a mountainous area in the Drakensberg region near the border of Lesotho. We stayed in rondavels, small circular hut type buildings, at the Mnweni cultural center. Agrippa, the owner of the center, took us to visit a nearby school, which we brought books and a bunch of soccer gear, including some sweet soccer cleats that hopefully will be well used at the school. Christy and Keith definitely helped bring most of the stuff, which deserves some acknowledgement here too.

After visiting the school, we went on the first of a couple hikes we had planned for the weekend. This was a shorter hike to some nearby cave paintings as well as a trip further up to the house of our guide, Caiphus. Most of these cave paintings were done by the Zulu to show what animals or other things they had seen in the nearby area. In a nearby area, Caiphus told us there is a drawing of an elephant, although he hasn’t ever seen one in the area. The most interesting one at this site was a half man, half-buck creature, which Caiphus said signified a spiritual leader. We then went to Caiphus’s house where we met his father (the house Caiphus lives in was built on land that was first owned by his great-great-grandfather), three of his five children, and his wife, who graciously provided us a great lunch. After visiting for a while we walked back down the hill, and most of our group continued on back to the Mnweni center for the night.

Amit and I stayed with Caiphus to spend the night at his house. When we said goodbye to the rest of the group, we went to find Caiphus’s cows to bring them back home for the night. This was a pretty cool experience, and one of my favorite parts of the trip. We ran into one of Caiphus’s  sons who was celebrating a victory over a nearby school at the sports competition earlier that day. It’s interesting how what was considered a “hike” for us today is what children like these walk to school every day (and on Saturdays as well, sometimes.) It definitely puts the idea of skipping class in a whole new context. Whenever a cow would start heading the wrong way, Caiphus would pick up a rock and throw it at the cow to get it moving back in the right direction. It was a fun time, and I’m definitely glad I decided to spend the night up the mountain.

At about 6 we went back down the hill to go to Caiphus’s traditional Zulu dance practice. There’s a Ph.D. student from Penn trying to record as many of the traditional Zulu dances and songs as he can, and Caiphus and his group have been practicing a lot to be ready for the recording day on July 1, which is also going to be a big gathering, festival-like day for everyone living nearby. When we were almost there we ran into someone who let us know that no one was showing up to the practice because it was too cold. We were a bit disappointed, but it was still an interesting experience. We went back and Caiphus’s wife again made us some fantastic food, maize meal with beans, gem squash, and chicken. We then helped lock up the family’s two horses, so they would not get stolen by the Lesotho people who sometimes cross the border and steal from the people in this area. We went to bed pretty soon after that, the earliest I’ve been to bed since I was a kid, maybe, but I was so tired I didn’t really mind. And it was already so dark, we weren’t missing out on anything still going on.

With no other lights in sight, the sky was absolutely magnificent. There were so many stars in the sky, more beautiful than any I’ve seen anywhere other than in middle of nowhere, upstate New York.

At about 6 in the morning we got up to head back down the hill to meet up with the rest of our group to get ready to go on the 8-hour hike planned for the day. This one was much more exciting to me because we got to really hike, and not just walk on the nearby roads. Some of the places we had to walk up were pretty treacherous, but there were only a couple cuts done as damage, and maybe a broken bone or two (just kidding, duke engage). About halfway through our hike we came to some more cave paintings, which I thought were cooler than the ones from the previous day.

One of the cave paintings was of many people surrounding a fire where they were calling on a snake-like god to help direct them. After the hike, one of the guides at the Mnweni center told me that when this ritual was performed, the people would then wait for one of the people to get a nosebleed, which would be a sign that the spirit had entered them and given them the direction that they should go to hunt. This was particularly interesting to me because Christy had gotten a nosebleed just after we left those cave paintings. Huh.

Although we did a lot of hiking, I thought this was a pretty relaxing weekend overall (maybe just because I love hiking.) It was also a good weekend to help get a better context about the country of South Africa as a whole. Where we are the majority of our time is a fairly urban area, which, other than a much greater difficulty of getting a Wi-Fi connection, doesn’t feel too different from many other cities even back in the States. This weekend we got to see that not all of South Africa is like this, and there are incredibly rural areas such as Mnweni that are only a few short hours away from these big cities. As fun as I thought the weekend was, I was definitely ready to get back to my worksite, the Isiaiah 54 Children’s Home, which I’ll write about in a post soon.

Next Stop, Homestays: Our first weekend with our new homestay families

Sunday June 17, 2012

            After spending two weeks together at the Le Horizon guesthouse located in an area of Wentworth called "the Bluff", it was time for each of us students to move in with our homestay family, with whom we will be spending the remaining six weeks of our time in South Africa.  Luckily, I felt no butterflies in my stomach upon moving in with a new family because Keith and Admay had so wonderfully organized a "meet and greet" dessert and tea the previous week during which almost all of us were able to meet our new "families" before leaving the comfort of our DukeEngage Durban group.  Friday was a relaxing night with a hearty meal of Nandos, a popular South African chicken restaurant.  The following morning included a trip to a local shopping center for groceries and a birthday present for a girl whose 21st birthday party I was to attend that evening with my homestay mother Jean.  Coincidentally, the 21-year-old girl was in fact my worksite director's, Ms. Field, daughter.  The party was held at the Bluff Golf Course and when you try to imagine this party think of those extravagant "sweet sixteen" parties shown on TV or a small high school prom.  It was great to be out with local residents of Wentworth, and I was particularly thrilled to be sitting at a table with two women who I knew from Assegai Primary school.  Meeting their husbands and children, two of whom were about my age, was quite a treat.  I got to further sample South African specialties including an extremely spicy chicken breyani (a dish of curried chicken and potatoes over rice), a macaroni and cheese specialty (much different than the Kraft Dinner we typically think of in the United States), gem squash, and a hot, traditional pudding and custard.  I was also introduced to some of the local music, referred to as "house music", much of which is sung in Zulu or Afrikaans.  After a late Saturday night, Jean and I rose early to go to church at 8:30am on Sunday.  Although I don't go to church regularly back home, I welcomed the opportunity to see what church was like in a country half-way around the world from my home.  The church I attended was a 75-year-old building that has been designated a "heritage site".  While the church was far away from those in the United States, the experience felt very similar to churches there, with the message of the day focusing on thoughtfulness before action so as to avoid any rash or sinful behavior.  I can already see that the homestay experience aspect of this program will be one of its most valuable because it allows students to truly become integrated into the Wentworth community and interact with those who live here every day.  

Happily and Safely Arrived in South Africa!

Hi all!

All nine of us have been adjusting to our new South African lives for the past week and we've had quite the interesting time so far. After arriving at various times last Friday, we had a relaxing weekend when we visited a local market, spend time at the beach, and enjoy some bunny chow—a local delicacy consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with meat. 

We then started our first week of work. We are working at a number of diverse worksites; here is a list of where everybody is working. 

Michael - South Durban Basin Area Based Management

Jonathan - South Durban Community Environmental Alliance

Marcayla - Trauma Center 

Anna - Izandla Zenkosi Community Development Centre

Christy - We Help Our Children

Sam - Isiaiah 54 Children's Sanctuary

Amit - St. Monica's Children's Home

Lauren - Assegai Primary School

Monalisa - Blue Roof Wellness Centre 

Before all of us arrived to South Africa, we were instructed to read the book We are the Poors by Ashwin Desai. On our first Monday settled in our guesthouse, we were surprised to learn that Ashwin was coming to dinner! It was fascinating to discuss the local community's history and social problems with him. 

We will all live in the guest house for the next few days before we all switch to our respective homestays. Hopefully at that point we will have strong enough internet to have the ability to post photos along with text on our blog posts. 

Until later!