Yesterday a group of 4 of us had the opportunity to experience the views of a 60 years old couple that had been married for 39 years and had close to 30 grandchildren. We first heard from the man who was a leader of a mosque in Delft. We were there to work in the soup kitchen for a couple of hours, but instead, we were schooled with knowledge about life, relationships and the Islamic faith in a township in Cape Town South Africa.
The man started his informal lecture with historic information about his family's ownership of land. His great grandfather was of European descent and owned a significant amount of land. Through the years during the Apartheid Regime, his family land was taken because his family was now mixed blood and "colored". He later explained that during post apartheid, he was able to repurchase some of the land that his family once owned. This is now where the mosque and soup kitchen stands. He plans to use other parts of the land to build and orphanage. He said that there are a lot of orphans out there and they need a place to be safe and taken care of.
The man also initially approach us with an explanation of how there are different kinds of Muslims. It almost seemed as if there was an attempt to convince us as Americans that all Muslims are not bad and that we probably have misconceptions of who they really are. He explained that are extremist and fanatics that do bad things in this world, but he is a Sunni Muslim and they are very peaceful in their practices in life. He talked about the use of prayer and the commitment to do good for all of mankind. He also talked about how people of other faiths were welcomed to use their mosque for prayer. We were able to see some of this peacefulness and kindness through the work he was doing for the community through the soup kitchen and the way we were welcomed into his home.
He invited us to his home which was only a couple blocks away from the mosque. We did not even realize we were going to his home until we got there. We went into the house and he informed his wife that they had company. Our group later talked about it and felt there were some clearly identified gender roles. This was indicated by the expectation that this woman who was clearly tired and was not expecting us was supposed to get up and entertain us based on Muslim custom. Auntie Pradu, a stout woman that does not show her 60 years of age, came out of the back area of the house to greet us. She made sure that we all were provided with a beverage and then she began to speak with us. She asked us all where we were from, our ages and what we were studying in school. She paid us all complements on our appearances and then shared with us knowledge about her take on life.
She talked about her relationship with her husband of 39 years and the importance of communication and understanding. She also spoke about the value of family and living in a way that promotes responsibility and care for each other. She also talked about the importance of living space and provided a comparison of small spaces that the shanties provide and how the home that they now live in used to be much smaller. They found it important to build a larger space so that as she said "the spirit and individuals in the home have room to grow". She talked about being self reliant and the different ways that she was able to work to make money for her family. She is a very skilled cook and this is the skill she used to help make money for the family.
Their home was not very big, but was nicely kept and there were nice things and nice furniture in it. They employed a cleaning lady that helped to provide a living for that woman. Auntie Pradu talked about the importance of education and how she has helped to financially support her children through school. She said that she is actually still taking courses herself. She believes that education helps to develop the community. She said we must exercise our mind or we are dead. She also emphasized the point that they felt that they did not need to have a lot of things, but just the things that they need. We thought this to mean that there was no need to acquire more than you need to be comfortable.
Clearly with a sense of obligation to family and community, we had the opportunity to meet a 10 day old baby that Auntie Pradu had brought home from the hospital to raise because the mother is strung out on drugs. She welcomes the mother to come and see the baby, but said that the mother has only been to see the baby 2 brief times in the 10 days. She spoke of the practice in their family and community to take in orphans because they feel that someone has to take care of these children; "We must do things because we care about human life". She also attributed all of the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to helping her stay young.
Before we left their home, Auntie Pradu said that she wanted to cook for us and asked how many students were there with us. She then told us that she would cook lunch for all 25 of us the very next day. We then said our goodbyes and headed back to the soup kitchen. We felt very welcomed in their home and amazed but appreciative of her offer to feed us.
Our group met up again with Auntie Pradu's husband and he shared a little more information with us. He talked about the condition of our hearts being viewed by our creator and that this is where the goodness of all of us exists. He said that we should do good, be good and good will come back to us, but not in a way that we should be looking for it to come back. This is what his faith teaches.
"Good manners supersede knowledge". This was a quote from the man meaning that anyone can be kind to his/her fellow man/women. You don't have to have tons of schooling or money or status to be good, caring and sharing to your neighbor. We all believed that this is what we understand to be Ubuntu - we are who we are because of each other. If we do good to others we are doing good to ourselves.
We were all a little taken back when the man shared some of his views about apartheid and how well it worked to keep order in the communities therefore providing safety. He explained how aspects of the communities have deteriorated because of drugs and alcohol. He talked about the profound affect this has on children, families, ability to work, and the overall condition of the community.
Lastly he talked about the importance of forgiveness and in our lives. Even though it was a lengthy lesson filled with lots of information and a rather strong religious overtone, we found the sharing of his knowledge to be refreshing, enlightening and full of optimism.
Recently in Chelsea Skwiera Category
1. Dairymilk Chocolate - specifically white chocolate because it's my favorite, but they are all amazing and I hope we can find this in the US because we are all obsessed with it! However, not the Turkish flavor.
2. Hunter's - South Africa's version of a Woodchuck or Crispin. The lemon-flavored kind is the best. Yummmm
3. Not having my cell phone - I do have a provided cell phone to use here but never use it and it is very refreshing to not be constantly checking my Blackberry for texts/calls/emails. Hopefully I can get out of the habit when I return without annoying people for not responding in due time.
4. Pick n Pay - That is the name of a popular grocery store here where I go almost every day! It's been fun trying new brands of food and experiencing part of a South African's everyday life.
5. Charles - Dooodts!!! He works for Interstudy and has been so great at making us feel comfortable here and just being a fun friend to hang out with.
6. Being a tourist - Yes it is awkward feeling like a tourist in a place like this, but there is just so much history here and so much to learn that it is necessary. The places we went were so amazing and if we had not done the touristy things I feel like I would be missing out on a lot of what South Africa and Cape Town have to offer.
7. Walking next to an ex-political prisoner - Today at Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned, our tour guide was a former prisoner himself and I walked next to him for a bit. It was very humbling to just be in his presence and know how strong of a man he is for all he went through and what he is able to do every day. I wish I had gotten to know his story.
8. The Muslim family in Delft - I was lucky enough to have been able to learn from a family about their views of South Africa, their Islamic faith, and how they tie in together along with some great wisdom about how they live their life. They were the kindest people I've ever met and I wish I had more time with them because in just the short time we had they were so inspiring.
9. Anthea and those at MaT - They have been absolutely wonderful teachers to us without even being teachers. I feel like they have been of greater service to us than we were to them, and they are truly inspiring people who I will strive to emulate.
10. The feeling I get from people in South Africa - This was a common theme in talking circles recently. I haven't ever felt so welcome anywhere at any point of my life, let alone in a foreign country. The people here are all so kind and like Nate said, are very moral-based. They are just good people. It doesn't matter that we are from the US, they are kind to us and smile and give and teach and we have learned so much more from them than they could learn from us.
Today we started out by going to MaAfrika Tikkun. Our group split into three separate groups for different tasks. One group sorted and organized things in their stock room, one group peeled potatoes for the kids' lunch, and the other group continued the task of weeding the garden.
After some time doing those tasks we got together and went to a Delft community center that teaches job skills. First we learned that the building was vandalized a while ago and then it was rebuilt in 39 days. It was a very beautiful center, and the facilities were very up-to-date with great resources. The purpose of the center is to help those who are uneducated and give them the knowledge and skills they need to get a job and hopefully a better life. There was a room where they taught clothes-making, a room teaching sales and business, and we saw a class of students learning about retail, and they all seemed happy to see us and even asked some of us for autographs! Not sure if they were serious though but it was funny. There was also a really cute daycare room for those who have children, giving them the opportunity to learn and get good childcare. The daycare was very colorful and had lots of toys, stuffed animals, and even super cute tinkerbell curtains. It was great to see such an awesome center that is doing great things to educate people so they can make money. It left us with a very positive feeling of the community.
Then we went to the police station. In the police station we were able to sit down with the chief and ask him questions. He explained what the crime situation today is in delft and how it has changed since apartheid. There has been a steady but slow decline in crime but there is still a lot.
Then we went to the Muslim family's soup kitchen/mosque/daycare where they graciously made a delicious meal for our entire group plus some of the people from MaT. Greg, Anthony, Kirsten, and myself (Chelsea) were fortunate to spend some time learning from them yesterday, and it is their custom to always serve food to their guests. The food was more than we could have expected; it was delicious and the fact that they were able to feed almost 30 people with one day's notice was so awesome. They are truly special people and we are going to try to stay in touch with them.
Then we went back to MaT and handed out some of the school supplies we brought for them. A lot of kids from Delft showed up to get school supplies, because word spread that we were giving a bunch out. It was a bit difficult to split up the supplies so we could give some to everyone, and some parents ended up being upset. But what we learned from this was that we did what we could, and when you are trying to do something good there will always be people who think that you could have done better. In the end, all of the kids did get something and that was the goal so it still felt successful. The kids were happy and we had a good time with them!
Today we were able to get some work done for MaT and the community of Delft. We also learned about some of the good things being done for the community and met some of the people who are doing great things. Their hospitality and generosity was shown in the delicious meal we were served in the mosque. We also learned about some of the challenges and frustrations you can go through when serving and trying to do things for others. All in all, we'd say it was a positive day that gives us hope for the future of the community. Good things are being done by good people, and by learning from them we can better serve our communities.
- Derek and Chelsea 1/11/11
Happy 2011!
Although it took some trials and tribulations to finally get here, the experience has already been so great it's indescribable. We haven't even begun doing what we came here for! It's just humbling to actually be here and experience and see what we've been learning about in Minneapolis, when it seemed like we'd never get here. But it's real life and we are actually on the continent of Africa, even though it feels like a dream! Like I'm sure others have said, pictures just do not do Cape Town justice. It's beautiful! Table Mountain is almost everywhere you look, and you can see the ocean, cityscape, and mountain all at the same time! Is it just me or is that completely unreal?
But we've just scraped the surface. We have yet to see the REAL South Africa: the biggest effects of Apartheid. That's going to be an eye-opener.
I'm excited to get going with the class and service-learning. This experience has barely begun and we have everything still in store for us. This group of people I came with is amazing and I'm excited to learn with and from everyone! Our first class is in just a few hours! We also start service-learning this week! So there will be much more to come!
