This blog will be a reflection on my time volunteering in South Africa. I will discuss the experiences of both volunteering in Cape Town and Robertson. My discussion will also focus on the issues that South Africa faces today and what are the possible solutions, if any. Finally, I will talk about my overall impression of my time in South Africa relating to culture, people, and the Cross-Cultural Solutions program.
As a volunteer in Cape town I worked with a music and drama group called Siyaya. They are a professional performance group made up of 14 young adults from the ages of 18-26. Siyaya was created as one of the many programs at the JL Zwane Community Center in the township of Guguletu, which means "Hope of ours" in Xhosa. They mainly performed at health clinics in the townships that treated people affected by Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. These health clinics are extremely over crowded and many of the people will wait for several hours before they're able to see a doctor. The Siyaya group will come into these clinics several times a week to perform music and drama that promotes HIV/AIDS education in a fun and entertaining way. My job was to work with Siyaya on vocal technique, teach them new repertoire, and work on ways to market the group in hopes of getting them more performance opportunities. A lot of these aspects of my volunteer work were ideas that I came up with that I thought would benefit the group.
All of these ideas sounded great to me on paper, but to actually execute them is another story. I still remember coming in the first day and working with the group on vocal warm ups. I was so nervous, because all of the members were around my age. I thought to myself "Why would any of these people want to listen to me? What do I have to offer them that they actually need?" I felt like I was taking a giant leap of faith into a dark pit that I wasn't sure if I was going to land on my feet or completely crash. It was a tremendous experience to feel success on this journey as the Siyaya group listen to me and performed the warm ups with a good amount of success. A good deal of the group had some trouble with the breathing exercises I taught them, which made me relieved in the idea that I could teach them something that they could improve upon in the future. Although I had a good deal of success there were also weeks where I experienced some obstacles. One major obstacle was the idea of trying to create an online marketing presence for Siyaya. It was a very frustrating situation as the internet in South Africa was very unreliable and I had a lot trouble creating an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) and other online marketing materials. these were materials I used a lot at the record company I worked for and also when I managed a local funk group in Cleveland. Unfortunately, creating these materials in South Africa was a more demanding task due to the lack of technology in the township areas. Overall I think it was all apart of the experience. If I hadn't had difficult experiences like that one, then I wouldn't be able to appreciate my successes as much. I also wouldn't be able to understand the fact that there is only so much that one person could do in the matter of ten weeks.
My two week volunteer experience in Robertson, South Africa had me experiencing similar feelings to my work in Guguletu, but was also very different. I went to the rural farmlands they called "The Land of Wine and Roses" 2 1/2 hours east of Cape Town after spending my first 4 weeks in Cape Town. I remember being very nervous about leaving Siyaya, because I didn't want to abandon them especially after we started making some real progress. I also knew that I didn't want to give up an experience like this. I came to South Africa to experience as much of the culture as possible and the differences between urban and rural South Africa are vast. It was a difficult opportunity to pass up. Fortunately, Bongani the director of Siyaya was very supportive about me going, which was very relieving. In Robertson I was going to work at a primary (elementary) school called "De Villiers". Another volunteer and I were going to work in a computer lab teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th graders how to use basic computer programs. In the first couple of days I felt really unhappy with how things were going at this placement, because we worked with younger children who didn't know how to even use a mouse. The other problem was the fact that many of the children only spoke "Afrikaans", one of the 11 national languages. It was very difficult emotionally for me to come in after I felt like I had a good grasp on what to expect after volunteering in Guguletu for several weeks. Although it was difficult in the beginning, shortly afterwards we were able to teach older students that could understand English. We worked a lot on typing skills and soon had a agenda worked out where we would practice typing lessons through a great free online program. We would also mix it up where the could play typing and math games. In the end I was able to create a typing packet that our supervisor, Houman Joseph could easily use to teach his kids. In the end I felt like our volunteer work was a success. Not only did we experience a lot with our time volunteering, but Houman was great in the fact that he took us around Robertson in his truck and showed us the townships and gave us an insight to his community. Robertson was such a magical place with it's beautiful land and mountains. The people around us were so kind and inviting. We were treated to delicious baked treats called "fat cakes" from complete strangers. It's unfortunate cause with beauty also comes an ugly side. The racism there was definitely apparent among the whites, coloreds, and blacks. Again, colored meaning a mixture of different ethnicities (i.e. black, white, indian..etc.). I still remember Houman driving the other volunteer (Ty) and I around in his pick up truck. Ty had to sit in the back in the pick up hitch as there was only room for 2 people in the front. I asked Houman, "What would a white person think if they saw a colored person driving around 2 white people, and especially with the fact that one of them was sitting in the back of a pick up truck." Houman laughed and said that they wouldn't believe their eyes. Sure enough we passed by a couple white people that turned around several times in a look of amazment. It was those kind of experiences that really made me realize how far back South Africa is in terms of human tolerance. Even though I only spent 2 weeks in Robertson the people like Houman and his family made the experience unforgettable.
In all that I've read and my understanding from my experience volunteering in South Africa, there are many problems that are holding back South Africa. In the history of the apartheid government, which began in 1948, the black and colored population majority was systematically removed from their original homes and placed into decrepit and unsanitary living areas called "Townships." While that was happening the white minority, which made up maybe 20% of the population took more than 85% of the land. It was an ugly system of legalized racism that not only removed people from their homes, but denied them basic human rights including, education, health benefits, jobs, etc...based on the fact that the white government did not believe that blacks and coloreds deserved the same rights they had. Eventually political parties like the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) formed to fight against the government powers. Political activists like Nelson Mandela, Steven Biko, Archbishop Desmund Tutu and many others led these parties to eventually cause a global disturbance in the international community, which helped contribute to the dismantling of apartheid. It was a long and dreadful process, which led to more than thousands of brutal deaths, many which were in secret because the apartheid government's secret police force would round up anti-apartheid activists and would take them away to be never heard from again. In the end the apartheid government did, under a brutal context, deny other races human rights for almost 50 years as it was finally dismantled in 1994. Now in 2010, 16 years after the apartheid government was dismantled, you need to ask yourself, "How long do you think it takes a country to turn around in terms of understanding that human rights should be granted to all people no matter what color they are?" I'm not saying that all whites in South Africa were racist, and in fact a lot of them opposed the government just as much as the blacks and coloreds. My main point is that along with being a brutally repressive government, apartheid also brainwashed the white minority population into believing that blacks and coloreds were communists and out to drive the whites into the sea. With that kind of political propaganda being shoved into your face for nearly 50 years it's no wonder why racism in South Africa is still rampant. As Americans we can definitely relate to racial inequality in our history with events like the civil rights movement. As we've come to understand our country, there have been great strides in equality for all human-kind. Even so there is still lots of work to be done in terms of excepting differences in humans. In my perspective I believe that South Africa is kind of like America back in the 1950s where they still struggle with human rights for all races, because of the psychological impact of their history. In my mind it's going to be a long and arduous process for all people to be accepted. I believe that a good portion of the solution is in the hands of youth and their understanding of past events and using that understanding to come to a point of reconciliation among all people.
When I first came to South Africa I felt somewhat prepared for my experience with my small knowledge of their history. I realized that even knowing what I did, no one is ever prepared for the experience until they get off that flight from Cape Town international airport and see the miles of land covered in a blanket of shacks made from tin metal and wood. It is a shocking spectacle that strikes a very dark chord in your body.
Just as soon as you feel that sudden shock, the quicker you begin to acclimate to the sights and culture that makes up life in Cape Town. It's an erie thing for me to think about because everyday when I drove to the township of Guguletu I was so used to the sights of the townships that it felt normal. The reality was that these areas of extreme poverty that were covered in trash and riddled with drugs, crime and violence were a product of the Apartheid government. The feeling of shock returns upon your departure. As I said in my previous blog, the last week of my volunteer program was the most difficult because you realize that you're about to leave these people in the drop of a hat. It's a difficult reality because you return home to a huge suburban home that is a place of almost complete safety.
After some time when you reflect on your experiences and the work you did, you understand the subtleties of the impact you made. When I worked with Siyaya and the choir I felt like I really engaged with both groups. I'd like to think that I inspired members who were new and struggling to strive and become leaders and the members that were veterans to continue to enhance their craft so they would become the best musicians they could be. In Robertson, working at the primary school I taught typing and saw many students improve in such a quick period of time. My supervisor Houman Joseph was an amazing person who took me around Robertson to get an inside view of the culture, which revealed many differences from rural South Africa to more urban life. He introduced me to his beautiful family and within the matter of a couple weeks I felt like I was already a close friend and knew so much about his life. Overall the biggest impact I made and that any volunteer I think can make within a short period of time is the idea of cultural exchange. I really believe that everyone should experience going to a third world country in some point in their life. Not only does it open your eyes to the hardships that people face all over the world, but to interact with the people, is to get an inside understanding of their culture. In that regard you are able to develop perspective and bring back an insight to the world that you can share with the people around you.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who have supported me in my development project entitled "Kevin Tackles South Africa". It's been an honor to write this blog and share as many experiences as I possibly could with all of you. It's also been very therapeutic for me to write my ideas down, because I feel like I'm embracing all that I have taken from this experience. Now as we have come into the New Year I'm deciding on a different career path. I love music and all that it has given me with my college studies and my work with Telarc/Heads Up records, but now I feel that it's time for me to pursue a job that deals with development work specifically related to Africa. I've continued my reading and personal studies on the history of Africa, by exploring books like "The Fate of Africa", by Martin Meredith. An extraordinary account of the modern political history of every country in Africa from the beginning of independence in 1951 of Ghana to the present. I'm continuing my readings with books about Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Darfur. In terms of the job hunt I've been pursing many opportunities with several organizations. None have proven successful quite yet, but I'm hoping that when they do I can continue writing this blog, sharing my experiences with everyone about what's happening in the world and what can be done to help.
As always I love to hear from anyone reading this blog. So please, I invite you to send me your comments, questions, or if you just want to say hello! It's been great to hear that so many people are reading it, so I want to keep it up. Below are my contact details, so feel free to reach out to me anytime. Thank you again for all of your support and best hopes for a prosperous year in 2010!
With All Of My Love,
Kevin Gschwend
Current Address:
7300 Brickyard Road
Potomac, MD 20854
phone: 301-758-7916
e-mail: kevin.gschwend@gmail.com
www.kevintacklessouthafrica.blogspot.com
Kevin -- I'm volunteering at CCS in Cape Town and today we went to JL Zwane Siyaya. Are you the Kevin who taught them "I've Got You Under My Skin"? They performed it today and it was absolutely gorgeous. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteDeb Hartnett