What we have been doing instead of writing blog posts...

We have been privileged and lucky enough to spend time with the organization Sisters4Sisters, a grassroots organization working to provide a platform for women and youth who have been victims of domestic abuse and are survivors of difficult situations.  So far, we've spent four days with the Young Girlfriends program and a day with the Youth Boys program.  We were charged with putting together a youth empowerment workshop.  Last Wednesday we spent time with the program's leader, Eunice, to find out what her visions for the workshops were.  After running a few ideas by her, we got to work planning three days of activities not knowing how many girlfriends or boys would show up and whether we would even have an impact.

We put together the following schedule/activities:
Thursday (mainly devoted to Young Girlfriends)
Icebreakers (All My Friends and Neighbors; Names; Goals for the workshop)
Vision Boards
Fitness and Wellness (dance station featuring the Wobble led by Megan and Aimee; Yoga session led by Shannon; cardio/abs/push-ups station led by Stephanie, Rebekah, and Lauren)
Lunch and Evaluation

Friday (mainly devoted to Young Girlfriends)
Icebreakers led by members of the Young Girlfriends
Nutrition presentations
My 2 Cents- an activity where particpants disagreed/agreed with certain statements on a variety of issues including peer pressure, body image, religion, and HIV/AIDS and discussed their perspectives
Lunch and Evaluation

Saturday
Icebreakers (playing soccer; name game)
Youth Boys: discussion of current issues facing males aged 13-20 including life goals, masculinity, relationships, and HIV/AIDS; vision boards
Young Girlfriends: Arts & crafts; "recess games" including hop scotch and drawing with chalk


We couldn't have asked for a better response!  The most popular activity was creating vision boards.  We brought a pile of magazines, markers, scissors, glue sticks, and sheets of paper so that everyone could create a board that featured words and pictures depicting how the girls and boys viewed themselves now and in the future.  The Young Girlfriends and Youth Boys were open and honest with us and definitely appeared to leave more empowered.  As we got into our van, there weren't enough hugs to go around.

Our hope is that the Young Girlfriends and Youth Boys are able to flourish in the future.  Just today we met with a group of Young Girlfriends who are in perfect position to take over leadership once we leave.  The sky is the limit, and we will be willing to help in any way we can from the U.S.

It's a small world after all

The winds have slowed down in Cape Town and our involvement with various organizations and groups has picked up!

The highlight from January 2 was visiting Africa Jam. This organization is a nonprofit that has established partnerships both in South Africa and the United States. As you may be able to guess, their focus is music! So when we first arrived at Africa Jam's location in the middle of Khayelitsha we were welcomed with several dance performances by the "junior" class (10-14 year olds) and the "senior" class sang two songs for the visitors. The 10 AU Alt Break-ers were there as well as a larger group of volunteers from Minnesota. Other than singing and dancing, Africa Jam provides scripts and acting lessons to the youth. The program is designed to give the youth an energy outlet and form of expression, stronger relationships with God, and opportunities for community involvement.

Then we went to a carnival. Let's just talk for a hot second about how small this world really is. So in Joburg, we met this guy, John, at the hostel. We gave him and his 85-year-old backpacking friend, Herb, a ride to the airport so they could continue their adventures. Well we totally lost track after we boarded the plane and had no intention of keeping in touch BUT as we were walking down the sidewalk on Long Street during the carnival in downtown Cape Town, WE RAN INTO JOHN!!! We all thought it was pretty funny. So that was fun. And then Rebekah found out that Herb lives 3 blocks away from her (give or take) in New York. Small world, right?!

By the way... sorry we have kind of been MIA this past week. It has been BUSY BUSY BUSY. More updates to come!


(Hi, Mom!)

Happy New Year!

Hello from Cape Town! It's 2013!!

We arrived without any problems yesterday afternoon and were welcomed into our new home-away-from-home in Observatory. The house is equipped with 8 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen/laundry room, two fridges, and three coffee makers! And a pool! But don't worry, we are staying humble and living a simple life with only cold water.

After we settled in the neighborhood and went on a grocery shopping adventure, we freshened up and made a toast (with sparkling apple juice) to the legacy of our new sisterhood. Then we met some students from Illnois and Pennsylvania at a local bar to ring in the new year. We were home at 12:26 which may sound early and lame, but I would like to announce that we have set a new New Year's Eve record for AU Alt. Break!

 

 



South Africa definitely doesn't put the same monetary value on New Years celebrations, but I think we have all agreed that one cultural difference is that people are more enthusiastic about the new year. Since we have been here, we are consistently greeted with "Happy New Years" and smiles!

We woke up this morning at the same time that most of our friends back home were probably beginning their celebrations. After making breakfast and using one of the french presses to brew some coffee, we all piled into our Scooby-doo style stick-shift van with our trusty driver, Loyiso. The view as we drove around Table Top mountain was absolutely captivating and, before we knew it, we were at the waterfront. According to our itinerary, we were supposed to tour Robben Island; unfortunaely, the winds (which were whipping through the air at a brutal 72 km/h) were stronger than the ferry, so it was closed. The Robben Island exhibit was closed and just gave us the opportunity to shop for souveniers.

We explored Nobel Square, which commerorates the 4 "local" Nobel Peace Price winners, ate a picnic lunch by the water, and Mindy even tried a new job as a Haggen-Daz ice cream shop worker! (It didn't last long -- she ate too much of the ice cream.)

Our afternoon was quite adventerous! We went to the beach with the hopes of catching up on some reading, soaking in some summer sun, and getting a quality ocean-side nap. Well, remember those 72 km/hr winds? They were worse at the beach. Much worse. Shannon was the only one brave enough to completely submerge in the water. (crazy girl!) Mindy, Megan, and Stephanie tipped their toes in the water without the intention of getting wet, but mother nature had a different idea for us. The 12 ft. waves crashed in and not only worreid us for our lives, but also caused a sand storm! So the rest of the group stayed huddled up trying to protect any skin from the harsh beating of sand granules. Needless to say, the 2 hours we were planning to stay at the beach turned into 20 minutes.

Our journey to Cape Town so far has been a good chance to relax and get a feel for the city. Tomorrow starts off our more service-based activities! Updates to come!

Keep sending prayers and positive energy our way! Love to all xx

Photos from the Sisterhood!

Hi All! 

I'm sure most of you are wondering whether the AU South African Sisterhood - your dear daughters and change-makers - are faring! 

For a quick slideshow of our adventures and smiles, visit our album!

More to come about Jo'burg later - until then, much Love, Peace, and Happiness from Cape Town! 

- Mindy 

http://vidamindy.blogspot.com/  

 

The Very First Day

Hello from Johannesburg!

Everyone (eventually) triumphed over some inclement weather challenges leaving DC and we've arrived at Gandhi's Backpackers in Joburg. Today was a great first day! The weather was sunny & beautiful today here (it's the middle of summer in the Southern hemisphere), which is a welcome change.

First, we visited Constitution Hill, where we toured an apartheid-era prison. Gandhi was actually imprisoned there for about 7 months total between 1908-1913 for organizing Indians in South Africa to resist laws requiring them to carry laborious identification passes everywhere. We also visited the South African Constitutional Court, known for upholding landmark human rights cases since it began in 1996, including abolishing the death penalty, legalizing same-sex marrriage nationally, voting rights for prisoners, and access to suitable housing and healthcare.

We picniced in a beautiful park before heading to the Apartheid Museum, famous for being the most comprehensive & well-done tribute to the historical significance of institutionalized racial segregation - literally "apartness" - in South Africa. There happened to be an extensive temporary exhibition chronicaling the life of the one and only Nelson Mandela, who has recently returned from the hospital (supposedly recovering well from a lung infection) to the village where he was born, Qunu.

More adventures to come - everyone was a bit tired when we left the Apartheid Museum, but hopefully by tomorrow we'll all be well-adjusted.

Sending lots of love from our whole group!!

Freedom

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,

but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedoms of others."

- Nelson Mandela

We are all inspired by Madiba on a daily basis and are praying for a thorough and comfortable recovery for him as he fights a lung infection. In the last few days before our trip, we've all been thinking about what freedom means and how we can live freely as active global citizens. How have you seen this idea of freedom in your life in the past few weeks?

Summary: South Africa’s Economic Apartheid: Could growing frustration over the country’s economic disparities have major repercussions for the ruling ANC?

In this episode of “Inside Story,” presenter Shuilie Ghosh speaks to Anthea Jeffery, head of special research at the South African Institute of Race Relations; Adam Habib, labor law expert and professor of politics at University of Johannesburg; and Tony Dykes, director of Southern Africa, which is an organization working for justice, democracy, and development.  The episode focuses on the proposition that South Africa is engaged in economic apartheid almost twenty years after racial apartheid was formally ended.  At the time of the episode’s filming, protests of South Africa’s miners had begun to intensify and South African forces had fired bullets against miners.

South Africa’s total mine reserves are valued at $2.5 trillion and are some of the most valuable in the world.  The mining sector accounts for 18% of GDP in South Africa.  However, many of the people who work in the mines live in poverty making on average $500 per month.  With unemployment at 22% since 2000, these workers are increasingly providing for additional dependents in their families who are unable to attain work.  Many miners have demanded increased wages and benefits, but miners have become divided.  The dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is believed to be closely tied to the state and to the mine owners, while the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has promised war over pay and living conditions.  The mine owners have continued to become richer while the mine workers have not gained any benefits.  The current situation has been labeled as economic apartheid.

Anthea Jeffry argues that since the ANC came to power in South Africa in 1994, distance between the ANC and the electorate has grown.  She goes on to explain that there has been increased unemployment, awareness of corruption, factionalism, and the sense that the ANC has been callous towards its supporters.  She concedes that the division between those who have and have not always been large.  Jeffry has observed that each year there are more dependents because of high unemployment and that the ANC has tried to focus on redistribution rather than growth and that this has priced unskilled South Africans out of jobs.  Jeffry goes on to argue that the most critical need in South Africa is to amend labor laws and improve the schooling system so that there is a sense that Africans have a part in the economic system.  Jeffry concludes that current President Jacob Zume is not likely to be voted out of office because he is Zulu and there is no clear contingent against him.

Adam Habib disagrees with Anthea Jeffry and argues that the problem in South Africa has been its focus on growth rather than redistribution.  He argues that there is a need for an industrialization plan that will increase unskilled jobs in the market.  Habib goes on to posit that the miners find that as much as the ANC has abandoned them so has the business community abandoned them.  This has meant that “mine workers feel marginalized and they feel like they have been forgotten by the power holders in society.”  Habib concludes that Jacob suma will likely be re-elected as president of South Africa because he has a large home base that accounts for half of the state and because there is no contender.

Tony Dykes argues that there is a continuing divide based on race and gender and a growing divide based on class.  Dykes sees the Black economic schemes as having been for the benefit of the elite rather than for local citizens.  He thinks that the recent protests in South Africa serve as a wake-up call to everyone to get their act together and play a role in the economic transformation of South Africa.  Dykes agrees that Jacob Zuma will likely be re-elected by the ANC, but cautions that the election should be about not only the leaders but about the ANC’s policies.

Reaction

            It appears that the so-called “economic apartheid” is not new to South Africa.  Economic inequalities have increased for years, but there were present in 1994 when formal racial apartheid ended.  The recent protests by mine workers in South Africa have illuminated the issue.  It is important for South Africans to become engaged in the issue and to institute policies that can help everyone.  This is especially important as South Africa’s total share of GDP in Africa begins to decline. 

South Africa’s Economic Apartheid: Could growing frustration over the country’s economic disparities have major repercussions for the ruling ANC?, Al Jazeera.com, Sept. 6, 2012, 11:45, http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/09/20129682047476842.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount