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.
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Had a hand drumming session with my boys Anthony and Nate. It was refreshing and impressively collaborative. We'll have to do it again real soon guys!
I've already blogged a bit on the New Year's celebration, but just wanted to add a little more reflection to try and stay somwhat chronological in the reflections of my thoughts.
Long Street celebration for 25 newly assembled U of M academics about to embark on some pretty challenging topics of racism, segregation, inhumane treatment, poverty, oppression, and disease. We were also going to be able to see some the most awesome displays of natural beauty my eyes will ever see....but until then, we party with the South African locals. We enjoy the beginning of the South Africa Global Seminar community building through the festive celebration of bringing in 2011 together.
Back from my writing break. I have been experiencing this seminar from several different perspectives. I am a student attempting to learn about the history of South Africa. I am a teaching assistant and fellow learning about the logistics and planning that goes into leading a global seminar in the hopes that one day I will instruct my own. I am also a social scientist interested in group dynamics and how groups and communities construct themselves. We have an incredibly dynamic and diverse global seminar community. It has been a joy thus far observing, engaging and developing with this amazing group of students.
I have had several conversations with multiple sub-groups about their interpretations on how small groups within the big group are established. Here we are in South Africa where racial segregation has been a significant part of their history in policy and practice. We are a small diverse group of college students from the U.S. as a part of a global seminar community, but given the choice still manage to experience segregation. We wonder how does this work? Is it more natural to gravitate to those that are more like us? If so, to what degree would that "more like us" look like? Race, gender, age, and/or status/position. Could it happen by majors, fields of study or classmanship? I don't know of any solid answers to these questions, but just thought I would throw it out there to possibly engage some dialogue around segregation and similarities.
For many that know me well, and not so well, I have been viewed as a person that over analizes things. There is much truth to this form of processing I do - Everyday! One might imagine that this visit to South Africa has got my mind working overtime. It is true. Today has provided us with a much needed day off - a time for reflection - to attempt to organize the multitude of overwhelming thoughts and emotions evoked from this Global Seminar experience thus far.
Forgive me if I get to bouncing around with the sharing of my thoughts, but I hope it all comes together to make some kind of sense. This morning I awoke a bit groggy, but somewhat excited because we don't have anything scheduled in the way of seminar curriculum - a free day! A few of the ladies and I set up hair appointments right down the block at a convenient store/beauty salon.
The store owner walked down the street to a neighboring salon and called a couple of friends to make sure accommodations were made for all of us to be able to get our hair done. An impressive community effort! My dreads were done by a young man that completed his work faster and with craftsmanship than anyone that has ever done my hair. I was very pleased and tipped accordingly. The whole group of stylists were very appreciative of my gratuity. Their smiles were very bright and long lasting.
I returned to my living area to find that everyone had gone somewhere, which I greatly appreciated in order to really be able to engage in my reflection process. I made myself something to eat, did a load of laundry, tidied my sleeping area and then sat down to construct this writing.
Some of us started our trip with enormous disappointment. I will refer to us as the Delta 4. We are the 4 global seminar participants that with the help of Delta Airline, missed our scheduled flight out of Mpls International airport. 6 lines, 5 hours, and a few assertive conversations later, we were rescheduled for a flight leaving 2 days later. In my experience that day, there were relationships forged between the 4 of us and I felt a sense of responsibility for this group to insure their safe arrival to Cape Town. 2 lengthy flights later with a stop in Amsterdam, we landed safely in Cape Town.
I experienced great anxiety, frustration, fatigue, anger, helplessness, exhaustion, impatience, and hope during our challenging airport ordeal. We were instructed on several occasions by Delta personnel to stand in various lines of great length only to be told that we have to go to another. My feelings of anger and frustration were subdued only by the thought of my need to maintain to avoid ending up on the " no fly list". It ended up that we all persevered by getting tickets for a new flight, and agreed that we would arrive back at the airport on the day of departure 4 hours early. The flights were long, the food was mediocre, but the flight attendants were incredibly pleasant.
In order to not make reading my entries too painful with too many lengthy stories at a time, I will stop here. I will continue to share about my reflections in a somewhat chronological format and continue to hope they make sense.......stay tuned.
Greetings family and Friends,
As if it has not been reiterated enough, Cape Town, South Africa (SA) is an amazing place.
Yesterday was an incredibly fun-FILLED day full of activities and knowledge filled experiences.
Our group took a tour of Cape Town where we learned some of the history of SA. We had the opportunity to see the site of District 6. This is an area of SA where black Africans were forcibly removed from their homes by the apartheid government and relocated to far away townships. Their homes were bulldozed over to insure they would not try to return to the area.
We also traveled up the famous Table Mountain (under consideration to be one of the 7 natural wonders of the world) and witnessed the beautiful expensive homes built along the mountain sides. We learned about different parts of the mountain like Devil's Peak, Lion's Head and Signal Hills. The city view from the top the mountain is breath-taking.
We had lunch at a cafe on the beach at the foot of the mountain. It was on the Atlantic Ocean side of the cape. The food was excellent and the water was cold and wavy. There were many street vendors selling their goods (arts, crafts, jewelry etc.). These locals like to engage in bartering prices for their goods.
Cape Town is truly rich in ethnic diversity. The diversity was greatly felt/seen during our New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Cape Town. Black African, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Dutch culture make up the ethnic diversity of Cape Town, South Africa. You can hear it in the music, taste it in the cuisines and see it in the dress and appearance of the people.
I was often greeted and seen as a "Rasta" because of my darker skin and dreads. It did not mean that I had to have a Jamaican ascent and an affinity for the gonj, but just my color and "good" long hair:) I felt quite welcome and a sense of belonging - even respected. They didn't even know me. Best New Year's ever (at least to date)!!! South African's really know how to party. It was like Mardi Gras on the downtown streets at midnight and well after. Stay tuned..........
Greg
