The second round of student posts have included not only thoughts on some of their internship experiences at Olive Leaf, Thandokhulu High School, and Sonke Gender Justice Network. but also their reflections on such things as: the opening of Parliament; the budget speech by the Minister of Finance; a court protest; the Xhosa rite of passage for young men; and a theatre performance at Artscape. They also provided some insights into: the challenges encountered with the language; the valuable cultural experience of going out to clubs (thanks Jordan); the sense of accomplishment when bungee jumping; and the joys of volunteering at an animal shelter. In addition, Rachel added her growing understanding of the concept of UBUNTU, which was discussed in our class by lawyer Jeremicia Seherie, while Dan described his experience of attending the ANC Rally in Khayelitsha.
Reading through the first 30 student reflections provides evidence of both the transformative nature of this particular study abroad program as well as the remarkable students who have chosen to participate. I also think it is obvious from the collective reading of their posts that I am not exaggerating (though I have been told that I am prone to do such) when I rave about the all things Capetonian: the people, the scenery, the political engagement, the weather, the food, the wine, and the commitment to living Ubuntu.
With elections here less than two months away, this is no doubt an even more exciting time than usual to be in South Africa. Regardless of one’s politics, getting caught up in the current political conversations and activities seems irresistible—at least for me! With that said, I found the ANC rally in Khayelitsha yesterday truly amazing --– which I realize will not surprise anyone who knows the way I tend to be drawn to, and energized by, political rallies . . . and protests.
However, for many students yesterday was the first time they have ever attended such an event, either here or in the U.S.---so it was quite an introduction. Not only did we all get ANC tee shirts (that read “working together we can do more” on the back, with a smiling picture of Jacob Zuma and "VOTE ANC" on the front)
but we all had the opportunity to experience a huge South African rally!Thanks to some of the fantastic connections I made while here last year, we were able to ride one of the ANC buses to the rally (learning a few ANC songs along the way)
and then, upon arrival at the Stadium, were ushered to nearly front row ‘seats’.
Speaking of songs, although most were not in English--- the students, if not I, did a great job of singing along. The one English song sung repeatedly on the bus (perhaps because it was in English) was to the tune of “Joy to the World” (the one recorded by Three Dog Night). However the refrain to the ANC version was:
“Joy to the world, Joy to the world
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Join the ANC.”
This is but a cursory overview of the rally as i trust others will provide details of their experiences and hopefully share some of the hundreds of pictures and videos they took while at the rally ( I will be happy to post any they care to share). In the meantime, I have posted the pictures I took (some with brief captions) which may provide an inkling of what we experienced. Pictures are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/marita.mccomiskey/ANCRallyInKhayelitsha
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One other quick note: Two women, Greta Kenney and Lee Anne Thompson, former students of mine, have been in Cape Town for the past month.
When not traveling the world, both work in the field of social service -- one in Connecticut, the other in Massachusetts. While here, in addition to seeing some of the amazing sites, they have had an opportunity to volunteer at a Domestic Violence Shelter, visit a township, and fall in love with both the people and the place. Greta, a perceptive thinking and engaging writer, has created a blog entitled “One Month in Cape Town” http://gekenney.blogspot.com/Reading her blog will provide further insight into some of the things many of us have been seeing and doing while here. ENJOY!
