NGOs, Baha'is, and Video Conferences - times in South Africa: part II

Alright, I am back to finish writing about South Africa.  I regret that I tend to be so bad at updating this quickly after port.  Here I am, finally finishing my post on South Africa, and we will be docking in Mauritius tomorrow at eight am.  I mean, I wish I was more diligent about this for my sake too because I want to make sure that I remember everything the way I want to.  I also need to remember to write more about being on the ship.  Even though, at this point, the novelty of the boat has sort of worn off.  It’s still exhilarating to walk to class and see nothing but ocean, but on the other hand, I find myself, when I’m doing school work in the “study hall,” which is really just a dining room, thinking something like “I JUST WANT TO BE STILL!”  The boat rocking definitely gets to you.  It’s hard to write a paper when you are rolling in your seat.  Anyway, I’m not complaining.  There is a life long learner on the ship, Gretchen, who, when she catches anyone complaining, puts her arms up over her head in a circle shape to signify “we’re going around the world, morons.  Why are you complaining?”  She’s totally right.  So what I’m saying here is that I will try to do my best to update more often.

The fourth day in South Africa, I was free to do what I wanted, meaning, I didn’t have any pre-planned SAS trips.  I got up really early with Kirra and we went to breakfast at this cute little café in the mall with a couple other girls and our friend, Eric.  Kirra, Laurel, and Katie each had things they were leaving for pretty early, so after breakfast, Eric and I set out to find some adventure.  We started by going back to the ship.  Ha.  We wanted to get our computers and find some internet so that we could find something great to do.  While we were leaving the ship, we ran into the Global Nomads who invited us to go with them for the day.  So, this requires a back-story:

The Global Nomads Group is an NGO based out of NYC and their mission is to connect students around the world through video conferencing.  I’m sure you can imagine what a videoconference is, but for those of you who may be less familiar with it, a videoconference is essentially a phone call, but through the computer or a satellite with video and audio.  So the kids get to talk to and see each other and ask each other questions about their countries, their lives…really about whatever they want to know about.  The GNG consists of six people total, and four of them are on our voyage right now.  Tonya, Johanna, Kim, and Jon.  I heard about the GNG and knew what their mission was, but I didn’t really get it until after I got to see one.

So, back to my story:  Eric and I hopped in the Global Nomads taxi and we took it to a conference center where we met a group of South African high school students.  The school they were from, Pinewoods, is one of the first schools to fully integrate after apartheid and they base their student population on the population of the Western Cape.  Western Cape is the province that Cape Town in is.  So that means the majority of their students are black and there are more colored students than there are white students.  When the students got to the conference center, Tonya, a Global Nomad explained to the students what was going to happen, and they had a chance to brainstorm what they wanted to ask the students in America.  Eric and I also had an opportunity to meet the students and get to know them a little bit.  We spoke with three different, high school classes in the US that day: one in New Jersey (about 15 minutes from NYC), one in Miami, and one in San Antonio.  It was fun to see and hear about the differences in cultures just between the students in the states.  The videoconference theme was on Globalization, how it affects the high school students and what evidence exists to back up various theories on globalization.  The students asked amazingly thoughtful questions about politics (Bush vs. Obama, or Apartheid and it’s legacy), about teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS, about sports and the World Cup, and about music.  Jani and Megan also attended this videoconference, and at the end, the South African students were able to ask Eric, Megan, and me whatever questions they had left.  One student asked us about mac&cheese.  She said that she heard mac&cheese gets eaten in the states ALL THE TIME because it’s really cheap and that college kids eat a ton of it, but in SA, mac&cheese is special, because the ingredients are expensive, and it’s like a “Christmas meal.”  A lot of the questions, while being funny, actually expose a certain insight about the differences (or similarities – I explained how we also have a “Christmas” mac) between the cultures.  When it was time to leave, the students specifically asked Eric and me to return on Thursday (this was Tuesday) when they were having the wrap-up to their video conference.  My heart melted a little bit, and so I decided I’d sell my ticket that I had for Thursday and go back to the videoconference.

After the videoconference, Tonya, Johanna, Jani, Megan, Eric and I were trying to figure out cab situations to get back to the waterfront when Tonya’s phone rang.  She sounded wicked excited and when she got off the phone she told us “My friend, Pamela, just called me.  I haven’t seen her since I was fifteen years old at a summer camp up in Maine, and she lives here now.  She’s going to pick me up and we’re going to go to a devotional service.  Do any of you want to come?”  --Aunt Cara and Grandma Smith, this is for you.--  So I asked what sort of devotional service she meant and she explained to me that she and Pamela are both practicing Baha’is, and they were going to go to a Baha’i gathering in a township, “did I want to go?”  Um, let me think… YES!  And then I got to thinking… they met at a summer camp in Maine and they are Baha’i, was it Green Acre?  YES, it was, and so I launched into this story about how I really don’t know all that much about the Baha’i Faith, but that my Aunt is Baha’i and my grandmother was Baha’i, and my aunt got married at Green Acre and everything.  So Tonya was thrilled to take me along with her.  Jani and Megan decided to tag along as well.  When Pamela got to the conference center to pick us up, we all piled into her car (which was a five person car and was filled up with Pamela and her three wonderful kids), so Tonya and Pamela sat in the front, and Jani, Me, and Megan all sat in the back with the kids on our laps.  We wore seat belts – not that that makes it much safer, but…When in Rome… Anyway, these kids were amazing.  The kids were all born in Rochester, New York, and they moved to two different places in California before finally moving to Cape Town about a year and a half ago, and they already speak Afrikaans and Ktosa, two of eleven of South Africa’s official languages.  Ktosa is one of the African languages with clicks in it, and so for most of the car ride, we practiced our clicks.  Also during the car ride, we listened to the kids tell us their “South African Adventure” stories, which most of the time included big animals like elephants and whales.  The kids were 10, 8, and 6 years old...and just wonderful little beings.  Our first stop on our way to the devotional service was the Kayaletcha Township.  This is one of the most famous townships outside of Cape Town, (I’m not sure why), but we were there to drop off a pair of shoes.  Pamela’s family was allowing a student from the Kayaletcha Township stay with them because he attends the school that her kids do, and he has to commute a long distance each day.  He was living with them to decide if it was worth moving from the Township.  Anyway, this boy, who is also 10, was in the 8 year old class with Pamela’s son, and so they are best friends.  When we got out of the car in this township, we were inundated with hugs.  It was wonderful.  The family of the boy with the shoes was so thankful that Pamela would go out of her way to drop off the shoes, that they were almost in tears.  It was a cool moment to be in.  Then, this boy’s whole family, introduced themselves to us, one by one, and gave us the South African hug, which is three hugs in one.  We talked for a little bit, and then we had to be on our way.  On our way to the devotional service, we stopped by a stand to pick up a township treat.  Pamela and her kids were raving about this bread, and so she stopped and bought us all one.  It was the same “fat cook” (I really regret that I can’t remember the Ktosa word for it) that I had at the Habitat house.  Me oh my, that stuff is good.  So, after a short car ride to another township called Delb (I think), we got out to a train of kids running after our car because we were carrying the drums.  When we got there, it wasn’t time for the devotional service to start, so we played a MASSIVE, and I mean huge, game of soccer in the township.  Also, a cool moment that I don’t want to forget…  I have been collecting sand in each port, but this day in South Africa, I didn’t have a zip lock bag with me, and just as soon as I asked Jani if she had a bag (which she didn’t), a littered bread bag blew in the wind right to my feet.  Jani said, “Well, there’s one.  It’s just for you. Use it.”  I was skeptical at first, but I decided that I really wanted this township sand, so I picked it up, and the brand of the bread was “Albany.”  Not that I really believe in superstition or divine happenings, but that was pretty cool.  As I was filling the bag, more and more little hands were helping me fill my bread bag of sand, one of them being Fatiema, who became my best friend for the rest of the time we were visiting.  So when it was time for the devotional to start, we all piled into a township house.  There were the five of us, Pamela’s husband, Daft, and two other college-aged kids, and then about 50 children all under the age of 13.  Pamela started this devotional service, but then, it was ENTIRERLY run by the kids.  Pamela made prayer cards that the kids pass around and read from (in at least two different languages) and the kids played drums and sang many different devotional songs.  Fatiema basically walked me through each part, as well.  She was tap on my shoulder, and then whisper to me what we were going to be reciting or singing next.  I actually recognized some of the songs!  At the end, they sang the South African national anthem, which I was able to really sing along with, and they were so surprised that I knew it (Thank you, Paul Simon.)!  After the service, which was awesome, though I didn’t get too much of the religion aspect because it was run by kids (☺), the kids of the township performed a dance for us while I talked with the college students.  They were both students at the University of Cape Town, and both declared their Baha’i membership (?) at fifteen and teach religion classes in this township with the kids on Saturdays.  I got their e-mails so that we could stay in touch.  Pamela’s kids went home with their dad, Daft, and Pamela drove us back to the waterfront where our ship was.  We talked a lot on the way home about moving to another country, about the dangers of living in South Africa, about the Baha’i faith, about Green Acre, and about Pamela’s wonderful kids.  I also got Pamela’s e-mail address so that I can stay in touch with her family as well.  We said a meaningful goodbye, and then Jani, Megan, Tonya and I went out for a traditional South African dinner. 

That night, and since then, I’ve been doing as much wikipedia (it’s one of our only free websites, so I can’t get any real information) research as I can on the Baha’i religion.  While it is probably the only monotheistic religion that has an appeal to me (equality among men and women, familial importance, education, meetings in homes rather than huge, scary “mega churches”…), it is still a religion and I just can’t agree with some things.  For instance, even though the Baha’is, as all religions, ban homosexuality because “marriage” is for a “man and woman,” tend to be most supportive if a member of the Baha’i community does come out as homosexual; but I just can’t get behind the idea of asking someone to “fix” themselves when they are not doing anything wrong.  I, while I don’t need to drink, don’t like it when something or someone forbids me of anything.  That being said, I got all of my information from wikipedia, and would love to discuss the issues with a person – Aunt Cara, I’m hoping.  There are a few questions I have about the faith as well.  For instance, I know that one of the tenants is that the Baha’i community calls for an auxiliary language in addition to one’s mother tongue.  What language?  Arabic? Persian?  The Bab is an Arabic word for the Gate, I assume he named himself that because he was seeing himself as the gate between the new and the old, the good and the bad…also, the “holy” books of the Baha’i faith are called Al Kitab [whichever], which means book of [whichever] in Arabic.  I wonder about the auxiliary language.  I also like how the Baha’i faith seems to have taken all the best bits from the Islamic religion and made it better.  Anyway, it is a good conversation.  I’m glad I had the opportunity to seize the day and visit that township with such wonderful company.

The next day, I joined the Global Nomad Group again for another videoconference with a NGO located in South Africa called LoveLife.  This again, needs a back-story.  One of the greatest parts of Semester at Sea is our Interport Student program.  In each port, we pick up one or two students that live in the next port, and for the time we’re at sea, we learn from each other.  In Ghana, we picked up two interport students, and I was lucky enough to make good friends with our student named Bulelani (Boo-Lay-LAni).  Lani works for the LoveLife program.  Like I said, LoveLife is a NGO, and they work exclusively with South African youth between the ages of 12 and 17 on how to prevent HIV/Aids.  They have centers called “Y-Centers” (Youth Centers) where the kids can go to socialize with other kids, use computers and the internet, play football or rugby indoors or outdoors, make PSAs for radio stations, and where there are free clinics and counseling.  The rates of HIV in South Africa among women between the ages of 18-25 is 1 in 3, so this type of information and this sort of environment is invaluable for these kids.  LoveLife partners with Kaiser, Int. as well, so LoveLife gets a pretty substantial amount of funding to make public advertisements and campaigns.   So, Global Nomads and Lani hooked up and set up a videoconference between some students at LoveLife and two US high school classrooms, and I tagged along to see what a satellite conference was like and to check out B’s work.  We got there at about 10 am, and the conference wasn’t scheduled until 3pm, so we got a tour of the facility, got to meet the staff, learn about their newest campaign which is “Make a Move,” and it’s tied in with the World Cup that will be in SA in 2010.  We also took a walk around the township, Langa, that this particular Y-Center was located in.  We got lunch, and then the kids arrived.  This particular videoconference’s theme was on HIV/Aids, and so we prepped the kids on what sort of questions they wanted to ask the US students and what they wanted to know about life in America.  These kids were particularly interested in the rate of teen pregnancy in the US (it’s very high in SA), and what crime rates in US neighborhoods are like (the students in SA explained that they are most often scared to walk around in the neighborhoods because of the chance of being mugged or raped…in their OWN neighborhoods).  I think the American students were surprised and upset to hear the rates on rape and about feeling unsafe in their own communities, and I think the South African students were equally surprised to hear that teen pregnancy is just as big a problem in the US as it is SA.  The students, of course, wanted to talk about pop music and sports, and dating too, but that is why these videoconferences are SO IMPORTANT.  Students from all over the WORLD get connected and learn that while their cultures are so different, people all over the world are exactly the same.

If there are only two things that I’ve learned so far on this trip, they are that 1) this world is seriously f-ed up, and 2) people all over the world are the SAME.  Everyone suffers, and yet everyone perseveres and cries the same, laughs the same, and most importantly, loves the same.

So, after a meaningful discussion with the staff and the students at LoveLife after the conference, e-mails were exchanged, and B and I had a pretty sad goodbye.  I’ve decided though, that goodbyes are not that bad if you say “I’ll see you soon,” and truly mean it – even if you mean after death; life and everything about this earth is totally impermanent. 

That night when I got back to the ship, I went out with SASers for Alyse’s birthday.  We went to a great seafood restaurant on the waterfront and then we got gelato and crepes and went back to the ship for a movie night.  It was a pretty great birthday party.  I try my best to make sure that people with birthdays on the ship have a good day, because I think that while having your birthday on Semester at Sea would be a wicked story, I also think that it would be one of my worst homesick days.  So, after the movie, Alyse and I stayed up really late just talking about everything and having lots of hot tea.  It was a nice night.

The next day, Alyse and I went out for a WONDERFUL breakfast that included the fanciest eggs benedict that probably exists, and really wonderful granola, and I met up with the Global Nomads for one last videoconference.  This one was the same school, Pinewoods, from Tuesday (this was now Thursday – our last day in port).  The students videoconference-ed with the same three schools from the States, but this time it was a little bit more casual.  Instead of talking about only globalization and sticking to the topics that they prepped, they spoke a lot more about teenage life in their respective countries.  They even each performed their national anthem for each other.  These videoconferences are powerful stuff.  Also during this videoconference, another NGO joined us.  They are Grassroots Soccer.  Look them up.  If I don’t get the Nature’s Classroom job I’m hoping for, I will apply to intern with this group.  They’re awesome.  Two “team members,” Alan and Elise, from Grassroots Soccer were at the videoconference, at after the conference was over, I got to go with them and Tonya to their office in downtown Cape Town.  It was another really lucky situation I found myself in Cape Town thanks to the Global Nomads, and what an excellent time I had.  Alan just graduated from Middlebury College in VT and is interning in SA for six months, and Elyse went to Dartmouth and she works for Grassroots Soccer and lives in SA all the time.  I got their e-mails to stay in touch too.  After a quick tour of the office, we brainstormed ways that GNG and GRS could work together in the future, and then we had to book it out of there to make it back to the ship before on-ship time.  Alan and Elyse drove us back to the ship, but we got stuck in some serious traffic so we had more time to visit, and they were even able to get out of the car when we got to the ship and take a little “outside tour” of the ship.  It’s pretty nice digs. 

So, I know this is a little rushed at the end, but I just wanted to get it all out.  All in all, I learned SO MUCH, so so so much, and met really incredible people in South Africa that I plan on staying in touch with more a long time.  I will return to SA one day.

--Stay tuned for the update on Mauritius; my goal is by the end of the day.