No, not the delicious food that you eat with chips, silly, the dancing!As previously mentioned, Isabel is quite the dancer.If I have the story correct, Isabel has danced a variety of other dances in the past and salsa is her newest craze.In the fashion of a true diehard, she is working on converting us as well.She has succeeded with Sanford.His plan is to sweep Amanda off her feet when she gets here.Ryan and I are still a little more skeptical.For me, it’s a matter of no coordination and a body that just doesn’t move like that.When I was a kid in ballet class, I was always the girl in the middle (because I was tall) moving like a robot.I think given the right dance partner Ryan could be convinced…[insert Sanford] Gigidy.
Wednesday night was yet another night of entertainment at Chez d’UACS IPSP.It started out a simple dinner party.We kept inviting Isabel to have dinner with us and the girls, but she always had plans.So this time, we planned a little more in advance.The plan was that Isabel would come and make a white sauce, the boys and I were to cook pasta and make a salad, and the girls were supposed to bring apéritif.Well, all that happened, but we also had Mark and Seychelle, other SAEP volunteers, Isaac and Lira, Isabel’s friends (pictured below), and Antoine, our 21-year-old French housemate.The eleven of us ate and drank and made merriment… and then Isabel and Isaac proceeded to give us a salsa lesson!Fortunately, by that point we all had had a sufficient amount of wine to enthusiastically participate.
Guys, it was incredible having all of these people in the same room!American, French, German, English, South African.The languages and accents were amazing.The salsa was fun, but what I’ll remember is the global diversity in our kitchen.
The Wednesday night salsa lesson was really just a preview for the real Thursday night salsa lesson at the Red Velvet Club (oh yes, that’s really the name and the walls really were covered in red velvet).Isabel’s friend John teaches the lessons and in all seriousness, he was really quite good.We were trying to learn this turn thing.Let’s preview the situation: I am five feet ten inches tall, uncoordinated, have no rhythm, and am generally uncomfortable being touched by anyone whom I do not know well.Yeah.Let’s just leave it at: no-one should be hit in the head as many times in one night as I was Thursday night.The way it worked was that the women lined up in three lines and then the men moved down the lines.It meant that there was really no choosing your partner and I was *so* relieved when Ryan, Sanford, or Antoine showed up in front of me.They didn’t hit me in the head.
We had a good time though.Who would have thought that I’d go to South Africa to learn salsa?Wouldn’t South America have been more appropriate?!
Last night we returned to Fiesta.I was excited because of the tapas, Sanford was excited about the salsa, and Ryan wanted to go to another bar (kidding… sorta).As was true last week, the tapas were delicious!This time, we did dinner in the true family-style tapas tradition (My girls—this place is totally competitive with Cuci Cuci).We each ordered two dishes and shared.It was so yummy!
I confess that I never got up and danced… two mojitos and I was still perfectly content to sit and watch.As usual, Sanford made friends and practiced his moves on the dance floor.He did a nice job, although I’m not sure if his “bucket” (6 beers in a bucket of ice and he and Ryan went through two) helped or hindered his performance.For the first time we also got to watch Isabel dance and she did such a good job.There is something to be said for this dance… I think it’s just said for petite people! :)I think that we’ll hold off on anymore salsa for a while, but it’s been a fun excursion this week!
Today, I went out to the crèches for the first time.Currently, SAEP is working with thirteen crèches in the township Phillipi outside of Cape Town.Phillipi is a black township established in the eighties after violence in a nearby township force residents out.Approximately, 110,000 people live in this relatively small area of land. You can read more about Phillipi and see a few pictures of the township at http://www.saep.org/TownshipConnection/index.htm.For those of you a little more number curious, like me, 2001 census statistics are at http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/2001census/Documents/Philippi.htm. You can see that 60% of the township is unemployed and the vast majority of them live on less than R1600 per month, with an exchange rate of 7:1, that’s less than US$230.
Not all crèches are formal, registered pre-schools.Of the ones that SAEP works with, three are not yet registered with all of the different departments necessary to receive government subsidies.Thus, SAEP is working with these crèches to meet the necessary obligations to become registered.The rest of the crèches are registered, but face a variety of different issues from structural to personnel to supplies.
For all of the crèches, SAEP supplies E-pap, a highly nutritious porridge-like meal. It comes in a variety of flavors, including vanilla, strawberry, and banana. Most importantly, the children really like it. They eat it every morning for breakfast and then the crèche provides a lunch, which is supposed to include some fresh veggies.
This morning, we went to five of the crèches.Two are brand new to the program and are in the process of meeting the requirements to become registered.The others have been in the program longer, and one has grown and improved significantly.
The first crèche that we visited was Thandolwetu.This is a brand new crèche.It only has one room and one staff person, the principal.I don’t have any pictures of the structure, because the women that were there didn’t speak any English and I didn’t want to seem intrusive.The structure was very bare, not more than 10 by 5 feet, with a worn rug in the center of a concrete floor.There were a few toys.The principle was not there and she has no other staff, so there were two mothers watching the six children.There seemed to be no organized activity and essentially it was a babysitting facility.I make no judgment in this comment; it is made simply as a fact to show the different levels at which the crèches are.South Africa has Early Childhood Development standards, but at this point, at least in the townships, they are more like goals.Some crèches are better able to meet these standards, and part of what SAEP is hoping to do is facilitate the growth of these crèches so that they are really places of learning and not just babysitting.
The second facility was Qhama.It had two rooms into which the babies (0-2) and the older children (3-5) were divided.Immediately upon walking into the room with the younger children, I was swarmed and the children were saying a word that sounded like shäp, which is an informal hello, and grabbing my hand palm-to-palm and snapping our thumbs.While the younger children seemed to just be playing, the older children did seem to be engaged in an organized activity, which stopped when I entered the room.SAEP has been working with Qhama for awhile and has seen a few improvements.When the toilet at Qhama was first installed, it was just a toilet in the ground.Later the shack was built around it.The Qhama structure, like many crèches, is a large, used shipping container.When I say large, I mean the size of a mobile home.Qhama is two containers L-shaped, another crèche that we visited today, Noluthando, is two containers side-by-side, like a double-wide.SAEP has had some success in securing these containers to use as crèches, and hopefully, some of the new crèches will also be able to obtain them.
Kiddies Educare was the third crèche that we visited and it is also one of the new crèches.It was in much better condition than Thandolwetu, although the container that it is housed in has some roof leaking problems and was just the one room.I had the pleasure of meeting Margaret, the principal, and was very impressed with the conversation that she had with Isabel.She seemed very aware and able to express herself and her desires for her crèche.Kiddies also has had the good fortune of being adopted by the Forest School in Rosebank.The Forest School has collected donation items to give to Kiddies, as well as teamed a group of dads to go out to Phillipi to do some construction.Currently, they are in the planning and budgeting phase, but hopefully before too long they will be able to get some projects going.
The fourth crèche that we visited is the crèche that best exemplifies what SAEP is able to do when the principal is organized and motivated.Originally, this crèche, Qhamani, was a one room structure much like the other that we visited.But through the fundraising and coordinating efforts of SAEP, it is now a permanent brick-faced, two-story structure.The site that Qhamani is located now is the same site that the original structure stood.While their new building was being built, a temporary structure was built from the old building materials onto the back of the principal’s home.Two weeks ago, the children moved into the new building!The exterior and structural components are complete, but the inside is still pretty raw.Isabel is working on the fundraising to get the walls plastered and tiles on the floor now.Baby steps, it takes baby steps.
Finally, we went to Nolutando.Nolutando is the double-wide crèche, which used to be two containers pushed together.SAEP coordinated efforts to get the gap sealed so that it didn’t leak when it rained.Nolutando is also an example of why a motivated principal is such a critical element to the success of the crèche.At Nolutando, SAEP has had a difficult time getting the principal to engage, and so there has been far less improvement.
There were so many things going through my mind this morning as we visited these crèches.First, I kept looking at these beautiful children with their bright eyes and happy smiles, listening to their laughter, and wondering how any leader, any adult for that matter, could live a selfish life when there are children among us.If there are angels out there, I believe that they are in the souls of children.I wanted to hug each and every one of them and tell them that I would spend my life making it a better world for them.It’s not just poverty, although that is a desperate issue, but the face of the world in general.Greed.Corruption.Hatred.Violence.It will take all I’ve got and getting everyone I know involved too, but damn it, I’m going to leave this world better than when I came into it.
Second, I was thinking about the things I *really* do take for granted.Like toilets.It’s one thing to go camping, but an entirely different thing to not have access to one on a regular basis.It is going to be so important that I remember that there are no assumptions as I go through this evaluation process.Having toilets, a solid roof, space to play are assets for these crèches because they are certainly not guaranteed.
It was a beautiful, wonderful day and I can’t wait to head back out to Phillipi and really play with these darling children.I know that everyone is really excited about their projects, but I just can’t believe that you are going to have more fun that I will getting to play with babies!
I will close this post with an apology: I am sorry that these are so long, but it’s my record as well of my thoughts, reactions, and experiences.Please feel free to stop reading when you get bored.
Monday, I began working with my International Public Service Project (IPSP)organization, the South African Environmental and Education Project (SAEP).For those of you reading not from the Clinton School, the IPSP is one of the three field projects we do to earn our degree.The first, the practicum, is a small group project during the first year. The IPSP is an individual project done with an international organization, usually abroad, between the first two years.The final, independent project is the capstone.The capstone is the culminating project that can be done anywhere, on any topic of importance to the student.So this is the second of my three field projects for my masters’ degree.
SEAP is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded by Norton Tennille in 1994.As Norton tells the story, he came to Cape Town, thought it the most beautiful place in the world, thought he’d work here five or so years, and has been here ever since.He had been working in Washington DC as an environmental attorney and sought to educate children in Cape Town of the importance of the environment.Once he got into the schools, he found many pressing issues, thus the development of the gap year program, tutoring in the high schools, and more recently the Early Childhood Development program.
I am working on the ECD side of the organization with Jane (Sanford and Ryan are working more closely with Norton and the other programs, so I’ll let them describe those).The ECD program began in 2003, when one of the gap year interns asked Jane if she could help his mother do some fundraising for her crèche (preschool).Once Jane began to talk with her, she found the issues that the crèche was dealing with to be pervasive.Shortly thereafter, Jane found out that this particular lady had joined a local forum of crèches that were coming together to work together.Initially, Jane thought that this forum would be able to provide the help that her lady was working for, only to find that the other crèches were facing the same problems.Thus began the SAEP ECD program.The progress that these crèches have been able to make in five short years is remarkable, although there is still a tremendous way to go.
My project is an evaluation of both the crèches and where they stand, as well as the impact that SAEP has been able to have on their progress.The difficulty is mostly in the data collection.As Jane described it, when the principals think that the government is coming to inspect them, then everything is wonderful, but if they think that you are a fundraiser, then everything is bad and they need more money.Not a terribly unusual situation, but the result is that the picture is very muddled.Right now, I’m working on developing observable data criteria that we can use to correlate to our objectives.I will also do brief interview/ surveys and read a whole lot of reports.It’s a good thing my glasses are up to date!
SAEP has two sets of offices.Norton and the high school programs are in Rondebauch (sp?) and Jane and the ECD program are in Rosebank.We aren’t far apart at all, but it does mean that I don’t see the boys all day.The ECD office is actually Norton and Jane’s home, so it’s very cozy.I’ve found this tea that is superb, but I can barely say the name much less spell it.At any rate, it looks like this is going to be a marvelously productive and pleasant summer!
I’ll be honest.I woke up wickedly grouchy this morning.Not really because of anything, just the wrong side of bed and very tired.But nothing works off a bad mood like some good, hard, physical work.Norton called us this morning to let us know that people were gathering downtown at TAC to put together goods to go to the various centers around town and in the townships for the refugees.We headed down there and worked in the sorting room.When goods got delivered they came to us and the food and clothing items got sorted.We sorted the clothing by adult, teen, child/ male, female/ warm, not warm.When we first started working, the place was a mess and we spent more time looking for the right bag than actually sorting.Very subtlety, we got that ship organized and moving.
It was something to think about though.I started out frazzled.Disorganization makes me pretty crazy, but there was so much going on and so many different hands that it had little chance to get set up at the beginning.Over and over again, I am reminded how the earliest stages of any project, big and small, are crucial.Today, there was no deliberate move to be leaders, but by the end of it, the main TAC person in our room was thanking us profusely and made the comment that she just didn’t have to worry about the clothes sorting because we had it running so smoothly.Other volunteers were asking us questions and moving into the system without difficulty.Just because we organized—ourselves and the system.And even in the chaos of a hundred people moving in a hundred directions, TAC was more effective then the government at assessing the needs in the centers and getting goods delivered.Bureaucracy really slows a system down.For future reference, TAC would be a great place for someone to do an IPSP.
After several hours, Eloise and Pauline came and picked us up and we went to an Africa Day concert in Company’s Park.Around Company’s Park are several museums and the Parliament buildings.We didn’t go in any of them, so I hope we’ll g back, but I did take a few pictures.The concert was amazing and I loved hearing all of the variations of the traditional music.It totally reinforces in my mind how little rhythm I have.
We left the concert and headed to an area called Camps Bay.I’m not really sure which direction we were heading, but we were at the bottom of some mountains.As we headed up the mountain, we were in this dense, dense fog.Couldn’t see anything.And then, all of a sudden we kinda broke through them and we were above the clouds.You couldn’t see anything below the clouds, and above them the sun was setting in the most beautiful hues of pink and orange and purple.The photos really don’t capture the full spectrum and richness of the colors, but I tried.
Once the sun set, we went back down the mountain and played on the beach just a little while.The water was CA-OL-DE!But I have officially stuck my toes in the ocean this summer, and a South African ocean at that!We then had drinks at a little café off the sand and then headed home.Sanford did dinner tonight and OMG! (Julie West) it was good.That boy can COOK!It was chicken, but it was juicy and tender and very well seasoned.Taking turns cooking dinner is going to work very well for us!
We have made our first friends in South Africa!Last night we went to a Tapas and salsa restaurant/ bar with Isabel.Isabel is a native German who has worked in a variety of countries, including Ireland, which gives her accent a bit of the Irish touch.She is working in the Early Childhood Education area of SAEP with me.Apparently, she really loves to salsa dance and does it quiet regularly.The current plan is for Sanford, Ryan, and me (and Heloise and Pauline if we can convince them) to go take a beginners’ salsa class on Thursday.Goodness!Last night was a real blast though and the food was fabulous.I’ll be honest—I’d been hungry and had an upset stomach for three days at that point, so I was delighted to eat some good food!Upon our return to the house, we proceeded to play Gin Rummy and Spite and Malice and conduct our own karaoke session… thus ensued our plans for next weekend: find a karaoke bar!
Today were our first ventures into the Cape Town Townships.We were delivering food to centers with Norton in response to the violence that has been occurring the last few days.There are hundreds of refugees leaving the townships around, particularly, Jo’berg, but as of last night Cape Town as well, due to the violence and rioting.The issues are mostly economic—xenophobia as a result of inadequate jobs for natives and non-South Africans seeking jobs in the, relatively-speaking, better South African economy. (It’s a very angry Southerner meets a Mexican immigrant feeling.) A paper that I read covering the problems, which I thought was *very*good can be found at: www.mg.co.za/xenophobia.I thought it was particularly good because it seemed really well balanced.It was critical of Mbeki’s absence and distance from the ‘common’ South African, but it was also critical of Zuma for not taking a stronger stand against the violence and the ‘tests’ to determine if those that are being attacked are South African Zulu or not.My interpretation of the information that I’m getting is that Mbeki is a little like Woodrow Wilson, in that he’s very academic and not particularly personable, while Zuma is a lot like George W. Bush—he is using fear mongering and us versus them rhetoric, and a charming façade, to gain power.Having taught, I know that making connections and finding similarities is just the way the brain works to process new information, but I do find it remarkable how many similarities can be drawn between politics a world apart.
It’s hard to even begin to explain or describe the townships.I make no presumption to know or understand the kind of poverty experienced in South Africa, but I think it’s the ‘urban-ness’ of the township poverty that was so hard to process.I imagined, based on the news and movies, a terrible poverty, looking more like villages with shacks and dirt roads and little access to electricity.But the poverty of the townships is people living on top of people.I haven’t taken pictures yet, because I’m still uncomfortable as an outsider and feeling like I’m invading privacy by photographing, but in order to picture it:Imagine those Home Depot backyard storage/ garden sheds, only made of many different pieces and not sturdy at all.Then, imagine hundreds of them lined up next to each other with virtually no space between them left and right and very limited space front to back.That’s what the townships look like.
We were out there on a Saturday morning, so there were lots of people out on the streets. I did kind of like the feeling of everyone being out together and the children roaming in packs.I know that the townships are dangerous, but at least this morning, it felt like a bright, lively neighborhood.On the sides of the main road, people were cooking braai, which just means grill, but it was every meat imaginable, right there on the road.We were advised not to eat it, because it could easily be a source of Hepatitis A, and I love me some BBQ, but with the smell of that much meat cooking, it was even hard for me not to feel queasy.
After we dropped off the food, we ran by one of the high schools that SAEP has students in.Norton was supposed to have had a meeting with several former students there, but because of the issues with the refugees, he was unable to make it.When we got to the school about sight students were standing outside.We ended up having a forty-five minute conversation with them about politics; South African politics, Mbeki and Zuma, the current violence.It was an invigorating conversation.I especially loved hearing the young women talk about the issues.The older I get the more adamant I get about women’s issues and the problems our gender faces.I know that sounds like a duh! statement to those who know me well, but before it was just passion and righteousness, now it is frustration!Today, there was a quote in the South African paper from Barak Obama saying how Hillary Clinton should be commended because she had broken down barriers that would benefit his daughters.I don’t want to have to wait another generation to tackle these problems.And the quote bothered me in part because it just goes to show how far we have to go… the women’s issues just aren’t even really being talked about any more!We make 75 cents to every dollar a man makes, but it is still rationalized and ignored.No!Women who never leave the work force to have children, who advance at the same rate as a man, still make only three-fourths as much!But for some reason women have stopped talking about it as well, as though talking about it admits some kind of defeat for the last thirty years of work.Dumb.It was absolutely fantastic to hear these young women talking about these issues and framing them in terms of women’s involvement.It was brilliant.
Following this conversation, we returned to Norton’s house to make peanut butter sandwiches to be delivered that evening to the townships.This is where we connected with Heloise and Pauline, our other new friends.Heloise and Pauline are in South Africa working with SAEP’s Gap Year Program.They are both working with SAEP as a part of the undergrad degree programs; Pauline’s is a business program and I forget Heloise’s program.They are from the French Alps and go to school in France.Heloise and Pauline were some of the very first SAEP people that we met and learn to appreciate.Every Friday, one or two of the SAEP staff cooks lunch for the rest of the staff.Heloise and Pauline made lunch on Friday, which we had the pleasure of enjoying.Once we finished our 400 million peanut butter sandwiches, the five of us left to have dinner together.
Dinner was at Chez d’UACS IPSP!The girls dropped us off and then ran home for a minute.While they were off, Ryan, Sanford, and I started dinner.Let me just say, this is the way people are meant to prepare dinner.We were all working on the various parts of my shepherd’s pie and singing to oldie but goldies.When the girls returned, we ate and then enjoyed a game of sugar bean poker.Oh yes, BIBY crew, you trained me well!We had a great time and it bodes for a really fantastic summer.
I am in South Africa!Good Lord.In typical Sarah Argue fashion, my departure did not go as smoothly as one might desire.Got all packed up to find that my suitcase had a big rip in it… might have just ignored it if it hadn’t been for the ocean and continent that it had to go over.So then I packed all of my stuff into a much sturdier (and thus heavier) bag of my mom’s.Yeah, when I got to the airport I had to take stuff out.Having a bag that won’t fall apart means that it also takes up more of the limited weight allotment.Fortunately, however, my shampoo, body soap, and face wash weighed a good ten pounds, so I didn’t lose too many additional vitals.Consequently, I am particularly dirty right now, but Ryan gave me a bar of soap and well, let’s just say it’s a good thing I brought a hat for my hair!
The flight across the Atlantic went well.There were lots of decent movies and I was up really late Monday night, so I slept well.I did go through the whole box of Dramamine though… turbulence and I don’t agree so much, so it also helped me sleep.When we landed in Dakar, the Segal security came on board and ripped up the plane.Seriously.They took the seats off and lifted all the head rests, but the best part was when they came through the aisles spraying pesticides.We didn’t have to fill out customs forms to enter South Africa, but we got sprayed with pesticides.Yipee!The flight from Dakar to Jo’berg seemed to take forever, but even then sleeping passes the time so well—and I also won’t be watching any movies for the next few days.I think my retinas are burned.
The most excitement of flying for twenty-four hours occurred when we landed in Jo’berg to find that the airline that was supposed to take us to Cape Town was out of business.SAY WHAT?! You would think Orbitz might have tipped us off about that in the 1300 emails they sent us about the five minute changes in our flight time, but no.So Mango Express got us on a flight five minutes before it took off and we landed in Cape Town earlier than originally scheduled.We then enjoyed our first South African meal: a burger at BJ’s in the airport.Yummy.I think I’ll make it the whole rest of the trip without eating there again!
Last night, we stayed in a dorm type room close to the offices of the rental folks.We played Settlers of Catan and Gin Rummy to keep us up late enough to sleep long enough to avoid jet lag.Strangely, we didn’t have much trouble sleeping in this morning.It feels really weird having lost a whole day of sunshine.The weather is beautiful today as we head out to explore the city.So we’ll make up for it!!
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Have just returned from first seeing the city I daylight.What has struck me the most is how *not* different it is than other big cities...we ended up at a mall to find those few last issues items (particularly ones addressing electricity and phones).We may have solved the electricity issues, but not the phones.David, the guy who set up our housing, gave Sanford and myself SIM cards, which fit nicely into our phones, but then it asked for some kind of password, which we didn’t have.We now have one password, but there may be an additional password that we need from the States.We’ll see.This post is also being written well before it will be posted as we also will not have internet access for a week.Not too big of a deal, although I wish that I could call home at least briefly.But I think since I had to buy a towel and a power converter and groceries and a charger for my camera this afternoon… it’ll just have to wait!
As I was saying, Cape Town doesn’t exactly feel African yet.In fact, the Harbor, where we were this afternoon looked very much like the harbor in Baltimore.Downtown bumps right up to it, there’s the big mall, and lots of restaurants.I know that I’m not in Baltimore though because my accent is getting even more looks than usual.The mall even had many of the same stores as a common mall in America.My favorite “American” store though was named Martha’s Vineyard and was full of arts and craft trinket type things.Who knew Cape Town would have such an excellent understanding of goods from Martha’s Vineyard?!
We also experienced on this excursion our first taste of South African Cream Soda.A girl on our flight told us we must try it, so we did.It’s green.I don’t mean pale, light green; I mean crazy, bright green.It’s more tangy than our cream soda, but just as delicious.We had with our dinner: pizza.So we haven’t branched out much with our food choices, but we’ll get there.We’re taking turns cooking dinner this week and we were pretty tame with those choices as well, but I think as we get to know the grocery store, then we’ll branch out a little more.Since we ate lunch so late, dinner tonight was peanut butter sandwiches around a couple of games of Settlers.I think that clearly we are pretty bright bulbs to have thought to bring a game other than cards as a source of entertainment.Tomorrow we will initiate the frisbee at the park down the street.
That covers the first 60 hours of this adventure.Considering everything that could happen on a trip half way around the world, it’s gone amazingly well.Much love to all!
No, not the delicious food that you eat with chips, silly, the dancing! As previously mentioned, Isabel is quite the dancer. If I have the story correct, Isabel has danced a variety of other dances in the past and salsa is her newest craze. In the fashion of a true diehard, she is working on converting us as well. She has succeeded with Sanford. His plan is to sweep Amanda off her feet when she gets here. Ryan and I are still a little more skeptical. For me, it’s a matter of no coordination and a body that just doesn’t move like that. When I was a kid in ballet class, I was always the girl in the middle (because I was tall) moving like a robot. I think given the right dance partner Ryan could be convinced… [insert Sanford] Gigidy. 
