Week #4 Transitions and new beginnings

Waking up Sunday morning on August 23rd was very strange as the house seemed extremely empty. Only 4 people from homebase 2 left, but their personalities and their connections with myself and the other volunteers were big losses.

Although it was tough to say good bye, our group still kept their spirits high. We knew we still hadn't explored all that Cape Town had to offer, as that is almost impossible with just 3 weeks. On the positive end we knew we were done with the formal programming of CCS, and now the weeks to come would be up to us. We could explore as much as we wanted and at our own leisure. That afternoon we decided to take a trip to Hout Bay to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather. The beach was very nice, but I was dying to go out on sea and experience the Atlantic. We found a tour boat that went out to the coveted seal island, which is supposedly populated with over 10,000 seals. It was a pretty amazing sight along with an old ship wreck and a whale sighting. The best part of the tour for me was the fact that I was on the water. The beauty of the Atlantic was breathtaking. Surrounded by the mountain scapes you could see the waves crashing up on the rocks like something you saw in the movies. I also loved the waves crashing in mid ocean. There were many spots in the ocean, far away from the shore where the waves would break and create a wave that seemed so out of place that they were almost magic. Of course in reality the waves were breaking over rocks that were under the water and invisible to our sight, but to me the mist that came off the white foam of those waves seemed to belong to the uniqueness of the dynamic South African oceans.

The next day I was excited to get into placement because I was planning on teaching the kids of SIYAYA one of my favorite choral tunes. "And So It Goes", by Billy Joel has a special place in my heart as it was a tune that I did a duet solo performance with a girl named Katie McManus. It was the first time I got to sing a solo in my high school chamber choir. It was always a big deal in school to get solos in choir, and being that it was my first I definitely felt like I made my mark. More than that though the girl I sang that duet with, Katie was an incredible singer. She was also a wonderful person who was full of life and had an immense passion for the arts. At our final farewell performance she did a solo performance of a Sarah Mclaughlin tune that literally brought tears to my eyes. Katie was a good friend and she was very successful going off to the University of Rochester to do studies in religion and studio art. Unfortunately her journey was cut short as she died shortly after she graduated in a car accident when she was on vacation in the Virgin Islands. It was a huge tragedy, but every time I hear "And So It Goes" it always makes me think of her and that she's in a better place now. If anything I have to dedicate this blog post to Katie "I miss you and hope you've found peace" The kids of SIYAYA were instantly pulled in by the song and started learning the melodies and rhythms quicker than with the previous tune. I knew this song would be successful with the group and would definitely be something new that their audiences wouldn't expect.

The next day at placement the group did another couple performances at the health clinics to entertain people while they waited for their doctors. A couple other guests from America dropped by to check out the group. A gentleman named Marvin and his son came by from I believe Atlanta, but don't quote me on that. Anyway Marvin was part of a church that was interested in financing SIYAYA to go into a studio and record a CD so they could further promote the group. I thought this was an amazing opportunity for SIYAYA. The largest problem with the group that I want to try and help them with is they have no room financially to promote themselves. Another part of my job with SIYAYA is to investigate how I can get the group out to perform more in South Africa. It's always terrible to see talent go to waste and I knew exactly what that meant when I heard this group. They come everyday to practice, but very rarely do they have places to perform. I'm currently investigating opportunities for the group to perform in clubs, museums, theaters, schools, malls, and any other performance venues.

That evening I went out with some friends to the South African National Gallery of Art. While being on this trip I try every week to get some sort of cultural enlightening experience. visual art has always had a large impact on me and some of the art that conveyed the images of apartheid were very strong statements. The one that stuck out the most was a sculpture of an old wooden table with a sheet laying on top full of broken glass. At the end of the table was a bible chained to the table. This expression was extremely impactful as it represented the broken hopes and dreams of the South African people during the oppression of Apartheid.

The next evening was very interesting as I was planning on attending a choral rehearsal that was made up of 40-50 kids from the townships. Several of the members included SIYAYA personnel. The director of group Bongani, was also the director of SIYAYA. He had been asking me to come for weeks and I was finally able to free myself from the CCS programs. The rehearsal was in a township called Niyanga. Bongani picked me up along with a couple people apart of the group. When I heard the group perform it was a huge amount of sound. The volume of the group made them sound like a 120 person ensemble. They were rehearsing original tunes and western classics like "Ave Maria". They finished the rehearsal by performing African choral works in Xhosa, one the native click languages of SA. I've been taking some Xhosa lessons since I've been here and to even use the clicks in regular speech was already hard enough, I couldn't even imagine singing them. The African choral works included alot of dance choreography which brought the works to life. I have several of videos of the group that I plan on putting up on my facebook when I get a chance. The rehearsal was very much an inspiration. I was so happy to see a group of kids all so passionate about music doing something creative with their free time. One of the things that I worry about when it comes to the township life style is how so many people don't have the opportunity to participate in things like this and because of that they resort to drugs, gangs, and violence.

With all of my experiences with SIYAYA I really felt like I was establishing a strong bond with the group. The unfortunate thing was that this weekend would be the weekend I would be leaving for Robertson, South Africa to do volunteer work there with 5 other volunteers for 2 weeks. Cross-Cultural Solutions has another program in South Africa in the beautiful winelands of Robertson. This year was there 1st year for the program so it was a pilot year to test out the success of the program. Unfortunately they were not able to get enough participants so there was a decent discussion of whether or not they should cancel the program early. Our program director was able to influence myself and 5 of the other Cape Town volunteers to give 2 weeks of our time to come down to the Robertson program for no extra charge so they could keep the program going. We all decided to give it a try thinking that it would be a nice change from the Cape Town scene. As I write this blog I'm sitting in our homebase in Robertson, but I will have more about my experience in next week's blog. Just to let you know it's been really great so far. Anyways, although I was planning to leave my group for 2 weeks I knew I would be back for another 4 weeks in Cape Town to try and work more on getting performance opportunities for SIYAYA, but still it was always a little tough to say good bye and transition to a new beginning.

As the week came to a close I was able to make a stop to the botanical gardens in Kirstenbosch and a tour of Robben Island where they imprisoned Nelson Mandela for 18 years and thousands of other political prisoners during the time of Apartheid. Robben Island held a special interest in my mind as I read Mandela's autobiography "Long Walk To Freedom", which I strongly reccomend to everyone who has even the slightest interest in South Africa or the political happenings of Apartheid.

Now the time comes for me journey off to Robertson, South Africa. The beautiful farmlands surrounded by mountains resonate with a quaint farm town. The people have been extremely friendly and have welcomed us here with open arms. I'm excited to share my experiences in Robertson in next week's Kevin Tackles South Africa blog, until then thanks for reading and please feel free to e-mail or check out my pics of my facebook page!

Kevin