This past week, most of my
colleagues were away at a conference in Johannesburg so work was a little bit
slow. However, I began working on a project to find funders and support
agencies for a youth engagement campaign EJN is working on and it gave me a chance
to finalize and submit a research grant I’ve been working on, which is a huge
relief.
After class on Thursday, half
the group headed to the township Ocean View for a weekend homestay with a local
family. After a short bus ride, we were welcomed graciously by Chantel, a
social entrepreneur from the township who started a homestay partnership
between the UConn in Cape Town program and Ocean View to promote community
engagement and foster a more authentic and inclusive understanding of the daily
life of regular Cape-tonians among study abroad students.
My host parents, Auntie Anne and
Pastor Freddy were far from regular. They welcomed Derek, Abby, and I into
their home as if we were family.
After a dinner of shepherd’s pie, we
headed over to a community hall for a ballroom dancing lesson. It was so fun. I
loved talking to the kids about how they became involved in dancing and was
excited to note that I wasn’t as bad as I was expecting to be. I guess those
years of musical theater actually did pay off in the real world!
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| Becca at Sports Day in Ocean View |
The next day was sports day with the
all pre-schoolers/kindergarteners in Ocean View. Derek, Abby, and I headed over
to Josh and Drew’s house to help out their host mom who runs a day-care to
bring the kids over to the sports field. Obviously I knew that no event
involving that massive number of kindergarteners could be organized, but
considering the conditions, I think it went pretty well. It was so windy that
at some points we could barely stand, and so they had to cancel a few of the events
and cut the day short. It was still so fun just to play and run around with the
kids. The whole experience really made me miss being a camp counselor. We then
headed to the house of a friend of Chantel where we enjoyed a delicious lunch
of chicken and salad and chocolate ice cream. Derek, Abby, and I returned to
Auntie Anne and Pastor Freddy’s where we took a much-needed nap.
That afternoon, Derek, Josh, and I
headed to Chantel’s youth group. The program that she works with is similar to
the program at the Mannenberg People’s Center, where there are programs
available to the kids to empower them to continue their education and help them
deal with daily stresses of being an adolescent and living in Ocean View. We
arrived late to the first session and ended up just playing musical chairs and
laughing.
The second session was a really
different experience. We started off just introducing ourselves and answering
questions about living in the United States and Ocean View. The director of the
program then handed out papers and pens and asked us to draw a cross that had a
space big enough that we could write inside of it. She asked us to write down
our problems in this space so that god could notice them and help us.
Immediately my mind went to frustrations I’ve been having—the regular stress of
living in an unfamiliar city.
“Maybe when you go home your father
or uncle touches you in a way that makes you uncomfortable,” she said. “Maybe
your parents are drunk when you come home and they hit you or make fun of you.
Maybe you don’t know if you’re going to get to eat every evening even when
you’re hungry. Maybe you are worried because you hear gunshots every night.”
I felt like somebody had dropped a
boulder into my stomach. I don't even know how to really explain how I felt. In
a way, it was so disempowering because I spend my time learning about the
issues related to poverty and political unrest and think that I understand them
pretty complexly. But when you actually are talking to a human who is talking about
going through that it's just completely life altering. People talk about how
making big changes takes a long time but when you meet kids who are
experiencing terrible things right outside the room you’re in, the urgency of
it really sets in because they don't have time. They are a real person who's
going through it right now and it's not fair because they've done nothing to
deserve the lot they were given in life. It's honestly impossible to put in
words. And still they were there, smiling and joking and living their lives.
I felt pretty drained after that day
and after dinner I went to bed fairly early.
On Saturday, we slept in and then
headed to the mall for breakfast at Spur. The restaurant was described as
“Tex-Mex” but the breakfast special they ordered for us was much more similar
to a full English breakfast. At first I thought that was weird but then I
realized how its kind of the way in the U.S. we have “Asian” food. It doesn’t
make sense that we generalize something so culturally important as food of an
entire continent.
After breakfast, we walked around
the mall a little, browsing a bookshop with Pastor Freddy while Auntie Anne
went grocery shopping for the braai they were planning that night. Abby, Derek,
and I also bought ingredients to make brownies because they had told us earlier
that that was one of their favorite desserts.
Their son and 4-year-old
granddaughter, Keesha was waiting when we arrived home. Then Freddy, Keesha,
Derek, Abby, and I met up with Josh, Drew, and their host dad to check out a
farm. We got to explore some art galleries and pet camels!
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| Abby & Becca |
We headed home to relax and make
brownies. Keesha ended up using this opportunity to sneak large spoonfuls of
batter. We made chocolate chip pecan and marshmallow brownies, both were
delicious according to Pastor Freddy. After the braai, Josh and Drew came over
again and we sat around and chatted for a while.
The next morning we woke up early to
go to church. The service was small (about 6 people outside of the three person
congregation and Derek, Abby, and I), but very spiritual and involved a lot of
music. After the Sunday roast, we headed to Chantel’s where we
recapped and then headed home to Rondebosch. I was actually really sad to
leave. I had a great time with my host family—it was nice to be part of that
dynamic again and it made me more excited for my parents to come. I was even
thinking about bringing them to meet Auntie Anne and Pastor Freddie.
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