Back to work!

The past few weeks have been amazing! Getting to know South Africa better with Dan :)

This weekend in De Doorns was quite an amazing experience!

For the planning side, it seemed the weekend would turn out to be pretty ordinary. We organized a 2-day meeting for capacity building for the newly formed CBO. I would take notes for the meeting, but for the most part it would be mainly the members of the CBO deciding where they wanted the organization to go and discussing how they would get there.

Little did I know it would be such a fantastic weekend! When we arrived Friday afternoon I was shocked at how big the garden had grown! The Maize was much taller than me and even Dan! So for the garden, it was a quite exciting weekend. Dan and I spent Saturday morning harvesting some of the vegetables; our first harvest!

Some of the veggies (mainly the radish) had been neglected and should have been harvested last week, but we were able to save a few that hadn't been attacked by little bugs/creatures. But the main harvest was the beetroot! I've never seen so many large & lovely beetroot! We harvested a good 10 or so, and left the rest to grow a bit more.
We also harvested some of the rocket to thin it out a bit and make room for the other leaves to grow in full. After the harvesting, we spent some time weeding to make sure the rest of the veggies could grow in peace.
It was a proud day in the garden!

Other than the garden it was a very exciting weekend having Dan there. I'm still pulling for him to write down his own experiences (hint hint hint)... but I'll give you an overview for now.

Friday night at the meeting, it was a very focused on the internal development of the group, so not much outside help could be given (I was even only there to take notes mainly). This is a good thing for the group, helping them learn to self-sustain, however it did mean there wasn't much for us to do during the meetings. So while I stayed to take notes, Dan went off exploring in the township. He got to wander around and get to know the area a bit, and even found a pub to explore. He's said that was quite an experience in itself, (getting patted down at the door, everyone staring at him when he walked in, ect.. but I'll let him fill you in later ), but he definitely got a feel for the township-- unlike any experience I've had yet!

So far in my visits to De Doorns I haven't had much of a chance to spend time exploring the township (other than our meetings and staying with my host family), even my host family insists that I don't walk back to the Church by myself in the mornings. So on Saturday while our CBO had their development meeting, it was a really great opportunity for both Dan and I to take some time to explore the area together. We wandered around a bit, and I took Dan to meet the family I stay with. We chatted there for a bit and he got to know them, showing off his Afrikaans with them a bit.

Afterwards, we continued our walk around town, getting a lot of waves & smiles & "hi"s from the little kids. We walked around a bit and one family that was listening to music and standing in their yard invited us in to sit and chat. They were very friendly and we got to know them a little bit. One girl had just had a baby (3 weeks old! about the same age as my niece!), and I chatted to her a bit. What a cute little baby! Dan sat and chatted with the older gentleman, who explained that the little kids were his grandkids, and that he had a daughter that would be perfect for Dan! Sadly he declined, informing the man that we were dating, but they seemed okay about it.

It was a pretty cool experience, and it seems like the best way to get to know the community is to just explore and spend time getting to know the people that live there. I am so grateful that Dan could come this weekend because with out him I never would have had the chance to explore (as my project manager is usually quite busy, and I'm told that I shouldn't explore on my own). Hopefully I can incorporate more explorations in the future weekends to come, but I am so grateful for the experience this weekend. I feel like I know the town a little better, and feel like less of an outsider.

What a great weekend, with a great guy :)

I'll write more soon!

Laura

Campaign Approved!!

We just got our funding approved for the project! So we're officially announcing it in the community on March 20th. This is the pledge that supports our campaign, but the main part will be the activities that I listed in the last post :)

The campaign was originally started in 2010 as a response to all of the threats of xenophobia that our clients (refugees/asylum seekers) at the Scalabrini Center were getting from South Africans. There was a widespread  national threat that when the 2010 World Cup finished and all of the foreigners left, the rest of the foreigners (migrants/refugees) would be run out of the country too. This campaign shared a positive message through out the country, and our donors have agreed to help us run another campaign this year, with a bit more attention to the specific school involvement, as well as the greater community involvement too!

Unite Africa! 

xoxo

Unite As One Campaign

Here's an overview of our new project. However, we're still waiting for the contract to be signed, so I guess its the tentative plan. Hopefully the donors send the contract through by the end of the month, so we can really get started!

The Unite As One campaign school project will focus on 20 schools in the greater Cape Town area. Continuing from the past year’s campaign, the purpose is to reach young persons (grade 9 and/or 10) focusing on human rights and an appreciation for cultural diversity. The school project will involve various organizations to promote cultural diversity through film making, documentary screenings, cultural diversity workshops, murals, soccer tournament, Ambush Theater, and a World Refugee Day awareness event.

In two of the 20 schools there will be a film making training implemented to 15 students. This training will include media skills, storytelling and cultural diversity workshops. The end result will be 5 documentaries (each 5 minutes long), exploring different aspects of cultural diversity and identity, from differing perspectives.

All 20 schools will receive 2 documentary screenings, in coordination with STEPS for the Future. Each documentary screening will be implemented by trained facilitators, including a discussion and question session after each film focusing on positive aspects of cultural diversity. The first documentary will act as a general opening to the campaign, facilitating discussion about the issues, raising awareness about the campaign. The second film will follow within 6 months, and will focus on identity, again facilitating discussion and positive aspects of diversity.

In 12 of the schools (10 around Cape Town and 2 in De Doorns), the Institute for Healing of Memories (IHOM) will conduct Cultural Diversity Workshops. Each of these 12 schools will receive 3 workshops, taking place in between the two documentary screenings. These three workshops will revolve around elements of cultural diversity, through learning about South Africa’s past, along with discussion and activities.

In 10 of the 20 schools, murals will be painted with the students. Through these murals, we seek to promote discussion and interaction about refugee rights and positive aspects of cultural diversity in each community. The murals will be the same design in each school, bringing a visible aspect of unity amongst all schools involved. These murals will be in highly visible places (ie. The front of the school) to promote the Unite As One message of unity.

A soccer tournament will take place in June. The teams will be comprised of both foreign nationals and South Africans, to help increase interaction and promote cultural diversity through sport. Before the tournament, anti-xenophobia workshops and activities will take place, promoting unity.

For the Ambush Theater performances, these will occur once per week throughout the campaign, in the communities involved in the project. This theater troop will perform drama scenes in public places, (train stations, busy streets, taxis, shopping malls, ect.) to the unsuspecting public. These dramas will focus on educating people about violence and human rights, as well as xenophobia. These performances will help involve the greater community around the schools.

This project will also include an awareness day event for World Refugee Day, here at the Scalabrini Center. This event will celebrate cultural diversity and refugee rights through musical performances by Driemanskap (hip hop artists), Congo my Foot (kwasa kwasa), KIAT (from Zimbabwe), and a South African Marimba Band. These performances will be followed by an open mic session, where ideas and community voices can be heard. This project will combine all of these mediums to spread the message of unity and support for cultural diversity. 

Week 7 & Week 8: time off and time Very on!

Last week my project manager was in Lesotho for the week, so I worked on preparing my own questionnaire (/pilot study for my PhD project) and prepared everything for the next week's busy weekend in De Doorns.
Timing worked out quite well last week, as it was my first weekend off, and it just so happened to be Gay Pride celebration here! I definitely felt at home (read SF or Brighton) at Pride, and I always find such an amazing community there!

So it was quite a fun weekend! I did take advantage of my Sunday too and went to go see the gorgeous African Jackass Penguins! (Yes that's what they're called!).
And it was such an amazing weekend that I will always remember, because my BEAUTIFUL BABY NIECE was born on Sunday night!!!! :) Congratulations Kallie & Philippe! She picked a perfect time to come!

And congratulations to the first time Grandparents!!!!!!! :) such a happy weekend!! Can't wait to meet her!!!!

amazing Amandine! :) 

Week 8 was quite a busy one too!

This week we had to organize and prepare for the start of our Unite As One Campaign [which I will describe in full in the next post :)] which it mainly encourages the idea of unity in Africa, cultural diversity, and non-violence in the face of xenophobia.
Our first step in the Unite campaign is to screen documentaries to 10th grade classes around the townships/areas surrounding Cape Town (and in De Doorns).

My big role in this campaign is what I do best: research! I designed a questionnaire that will be implemented before and after the campaign, to assess the impact of our program. We'll also have a control group at each school, to make sure our data is statistically sound. This questionnaire addresses similar topics to my MSc dissertation, (prejudice, intergroup contact, support for multiculturalism) and expands on trying to understand how taking another person's perspective can help reduce prejudices (what I hope to focus on in my PhD) in a very applicable and useful way.

This questionnaire did take some time, and had to be translated into Afrikaans & Xhosa, and ready for our first implementation Friday!

Friday morning we headed out bright and early! ( beautiful sunrise again!) We made it to the first school by 8am to start our first screening. After a bit of chaos (making sure the cords all worked and that the sound/video would project, finding a makeshift screen to project on, and trying to dim the bright bright sunlight flooding in through the windows...) the screening was ready to go.


I handed out my questionnaire, in Afrikaans (as its an Afrikaans speaking school), and it went well! No major typos & people answered the questions with out problems. Then as soon as they finished we started the documentary. This was filmed by 12th graders in Maitland, a school in Cape Town, addressing issues about how cultural diversity is understood at school, and what it means to them.

1st screening (note the brightness of
the windows! but we made it work)

 After the documentary one of our colleagues facilitated a discussion in English. It was a bit difficult to get responses from the kids, since maybe they weren't comfortable discussing in English, but as someone very wise just mentioned to me, hopefully we've planted a seed in these kids, or at least an idea or question in their minds, that can grow and develop over time. Its much less gratifying than seeing the results, but I am happy to hope that we're making an impact!

Symbolically planting the seeds :)
[but this is also a picture of my seeds
I'm growing in my garden at home!
In just 1 week they're sprouting! :) ]

After a quick breakfast stop, we were on to the next school in De Doorns, this time at a Xhosa speaking school. Set up was again a bit chaotic (some of the equipment getting left in the car, but not as many lighting issues!), but we managed. I handed out my questionnaire in Xhosa, and then we screened the same documentary. This time, the facilitator for the discussion was a young Xhosa speaking girl (maybe 19?). Maybe it was the similarity in age or the ease of their native language, but the kids were much more involved in this discussion (it was also not at 8.30am, so maybe these kids were just more awake too!). We seemed to get the students to start talking about issues and they were able to voice their own opinions. This screening even though I couldn't understand the discussion as it happened, I could just feel the interest and involvement. It was a bit more rewarding, but either way, I'm hopeful that we may have planted a few seeds here too :)

Speaking of seeds, the garden in De Doorns is booming! some of the plants should be ready to harvest in 2 weeks (spinach & leafy veggies) and then in about a month, much more will be ready! I'll add more pictures  soon!

So this busy week was quite a good week. It's nice to see plans that are followed through, as I think we started trying to plan these screenings the first week I arrived! Follow through is one of my favorite things :)

Speaking of following through on promises.....
Dan arrives in Cape Town in 2 days!!!!!!! 
He'll be here for 3 weeks, and we will get to explore Cape Town and the garden route as well! I am soooo excited! And have been counting down the days and hours until he arrives :)

For the next 2 weekends I will not be in De Doorns, as there are 2 sessions of Capacity Building workshops planned, to help build the newly formed CBO. So in the next 2 weeks the organization will grow and learn more about how to be efficient and self-empowered to keep the organization running strong on its own.

At the end of the month I'll be back in De Doorns, this time with Dan too! He'll get to see what its like, and maybe I'll get him to write a blog entry too :) (hint hint)

I'll write more soon!

Here's a picture of the mountains that I took on my cycle ride home yesterday. The clouds just majestically roll over the mountains here, so beautiful and delicate. nice juxtaposition to the industrial building and graffiti, if I do say so myself :)

Lots of love!

Laura

Week 6: Grassroots Soccer Weekend

This weekend we headed out quite early again in order to make it to the school in De Doorns by 8am. This weekend we focused on Grassroots Soccer (GRS), a program they've been running in De Doorns for a while now. Its a program that teaches kids about HIV/AIDS and life skills through soccer. The GRS organization trains "coaches" to implement their program, and that way they can reach far and wide with their program. They've trained some of the members of our organization to be coaches, so last year they've been implementing this program to the kids in the area.
This week we presented certificates the kids who had passed the program at the end of last year. They had a short assembly/meeting before school, so we stood in front of the school and handed out the certificates. We also announced that we'd be starting the GRS program again.

As for our community organization, this weekend they were focusing on being re-trained to be GRS coaches. They had a 2 day training workshop, to tighten their skills and work on team building. Now, they're all ready to start implementing the program again! :)

Whilst the team members were in the training, Sergio (my project manager) and I worked in the garden. Its growing quite big and very green! Unfortunately its also growing loads of weeds.
So we spent the whole weekend weeding the garden, on hands and knees, in the hot sun!
But it was worth it! Take a look!

Before: WEEDS EVERYWHERE!

After: Weed free! You can actually see the rows! :)

Hard work is paying off!! :)

Its great to see the little plants grow, and now you can actually tell where we planted! :)

Over this week they'll work on transplanting the veggies, as some are too close together!

Can't wait to see the progress!

So it was a lovely weekend, and sadly next weekend we wont be going to De Doorns, as my manager will be in Lesotho [pronounced Le-sutu](cool country entirely surrounded by S.Africa!), so we'll see how the garden is progressing in 2 weeks time!

Lots of love!

Lo

Week 5: BITE ME...

... is apparently what I said to the ferocious-looking stray dog on the porch of my host family's house.
OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH!
I never thought a beagle could be so nasty, but their bite is most definitely worse than their bark.
Well to be fair, its merely a blue-ish/purple bruise now, no blood drawn [don't worry!], but yes, I guess township stray dogs don't mess around.
So that was a lovely end to a long day in De Doorns! Oooch.

This week we left around 5.45am on Friday, to make it to the school in time to announce our new round of Grassroots Soccer training sessions [a grassroots program that teaches kids about HIV/AIDS and life skills through soccer]. We made it there bright and early, and watched a lovely sun rise on the drive there.


Going to the school was a neat experience, and  it will be exciting to get to work with the local kids more through out the next few months.

The rest of the day we ran errands:

• We met with a farmer, who signed a contract for our associate organization to start the solar panel project in town [building a small plant & generating a moderate amount of power in the valley]. 
• We met with the local banks to see how difficult it would be to open an account for our new organization (TDG).
• We bought new tools and chicken wire to add to the fence to keep the rubbish [burning & other kinds] from floating on into our garden.
• We added the wire to the fence, watered the plants, and weeded the terrible weeds away from their death-grip on our poor baby seedlings.

                                                          All in all it was  a pretty productive day!

The radish is still doing the best!

Friday night we then had a meeting to plan the budget for TDG, which took a few hours of long, concentrated work. After the long, intensive meeting I headed back to my host family, where I was unwelcomed by that ruffian beagle dog. Long day!

Saturday we couldn't stay around for long as we had another meeting at 12 back near Cape Town in Philippi, so we got up early and headed back. 

The meeting Saturday was for a separate program that we're working on [one of the many!]. This other project is the Unite As One Campaign, promoting Unity in Africa and acceptance of cultural diversity. This year the campaign is focusing on local High Schools, getting them involved in various aspects of the campaign. We have cultural diversity workshops in 12 schools, documentary screenings followed by empowering discussions, mural paintings, awareness days [World Refugee Day in June], and a Film making project. Saturday we went to announce our film making project to the schools chosen. We'll select 12 kids to take part, and through training and facilitation, they'll learn and produce a documentary that tells a story about their area, and views on cultural diversity. Super cool! I wish I could take part!

So we showed up at this meeting, and waited for our turn to make the announcement. As we arrived there was a lady from a department of the South African government there talking about xenophobia. She proceeded to claim that at present, there is no xenophobia in South Africa, and that since the attacks in 2009, South Africa hasn't had any problems besides minor threats here and there. WOW. I found it so hard to believe that she blatently lie to all of these kids so easily. Not only is it a lie (as our interns here compile a weekly report of all the cases of xenophobia in the country/continent), but its a lie to this group of kids that have themselves experienced the xenophobia, and had to live in the camps themselves. At least it looked like a smart group of kids, and I hope they're being taught to question this "authority figure" because she was lying through her teeth! geez. 

Either way, the kids seemed very motivated to combat issues of xenophobia, as they were all at this meeting because of their motivation to be Peace Ambassadors at their school, promoting Peace and Ubuntu (borderless-ness). They were also very receptive to our proposition, and were enthusiastic to write the essays to be selected for our film making program!

The weekend was very full and also quite successful!

"Giiiiiiiiiiirllll, your trash is on Fiiiiiire"

This week on Tuesday we went back to Philippi, for a meeting and we saw these crazy black billowing clouds coming right from the area we were supposed to have our meeting. Well it turned out it was about 100meters from the office space, but still, a bit too close for comfort. As an extension of my commentary on the problem of rubbish burning in the townships, here's a great big example of how bad it can get. Not only do all of the people in the area have to breathe in this soot, but the dry landscape seems to scare me a bit, although somehow they manage to control the burns (I think/hope).

More to come next week!

Keep the Peace!

-Laura

AfriROCK!

Coolest rock ever (had to superimpose the stencil on top).
Currently sitting in our garden in De Doorns.
If I weren't so heavy I'd definitely try to bring it home with me. :]