Two days...

Aaaack! It's difficult to imagine, yet incredibly close. *laughs* Meaning I need to finish up this blog already! Okay, so, the last major bit of stuff missing from this esteemed epistle is the township stay.

Quinton Redcliffe, one of the study abroad coordinators, worked through "2 Way Travel", a volunteer tourism company.

http://www.2waytravel.com/

The cool thing was that we worked directly with Mike, one of the directors. Khanyisa Community church is his home church, and we were more intimately involved with the community than most. During our time, we were supervised by Mzura, who is also a youth leader at Khanyisa--the guy had an amazing amount of enthusiasm, seemingly 24/7 (though I'm sure he slept sometimes--can you sleep enthusiastically?) Also, some of the local youth who were involved in the church helped us on the work projects, including Abbie, an blessed young woman of God with a seriously fast wit, and Martin, a true artist who made and fixed up our meager attempts at concrete-laying into a smooth surface.

Our 7-day Homestay in Tambo Village

Sunday - Day 1 - April 13

We arrive at Khanyisa Community church in Tambo Village.

http://www.khanyisa.org/ - Khanyisa's website

Tambo Village is a small community between the coloured township Manenburg and the black township Gugulethu. We went from the church to our homestays. Myself and Heather were with Mama Nokuzola (hereafter known as "Mama Nokz"), a single mother with an 18-year-old daughter, Thembisa (means "promise" in xhosa) and a young son, Sibumylo (sp?) who is in primary school. Char was supposed to stay with us as well, but she was still feeling sick from the allergic reaction she endured on the Eastern Cape trip. Mama Nokz is from the Eastern Cape originally--her husband died, and now she supports her family through beadwork. She makes beautiful stuff, and has contracts with several schools who sell her wares, so it's a good, stable form of employment. And of course, visitors like us buy a ton as well, especially when we know exactly whom it's benefiting!

They actually put us in nice places: all of them had flush toilets and running water, and Mama Nokz gave up her room to us. In addition, nearly every home I went to had a TV, even the really poor ones in Gugulethu! It's the oddest thing, how TV would be such a priority; many South Africans love their "soapies". I'm not sure why this is--it's one of those surface aspects I'm still struggling to relate to an understandable deep concept.

Anyway, then we went back to the church for the morning worship. It was really cool! They sang songs in xhosa and English, and the transcription & translation were on the overhead, so it was easy to sing along--and it made learning xhosa words easier! There was dancing too--just a joyful time. The sermon was on reconciliation, which was ironic considering all the Bethel students are Reconciliation Studies majors. I found the message really compelling, as it was about how, in order to reconcile with someone, you have to acknowledge that there is a problem, that the relationship is broken and that there is hurt between you and the other person(s). I think it can be so easy for me to just want to skip over to the "fixing" part, because I don't like and am not especially comfortable with dealing with emotional stuff. However, in order for true healing to take place, you have to recognize that there is a wound to heal, and allow yourself to grieve for that. He used the text of Philemon, with the reconciliation of Philemon and Onesimus the slave.

Afterwards we went to Mzoli's, a place in Gugulethu to get...meat. Lots of meat. Lots and LOTS of meat. And that's pretty much it. You sit outside under this tarpish sort of veranda at plastic tables with plastic white chairs. It reminded me a lot of a classic American barbeque joint--the ones with the REAL, slow-cooked barbequed meat. First, there was a large bowl of water with a few lemon slices--as a refresher for the hands instead of moist towlettes, I guess. Then they brought out this HUGE bowl of cooked meat--just piles of chicken pieces and pork chops and boerwors. Everyone just grabbed some for their plate. There was also a large bowl of pap, and some relishes to put on the pap. Very tasty meal. :-D

Then we walked back to Tambo and just chilled out for the rest of the day. I was outside, playing games with the local kids. Supper was again pap and chicken and stuff, and I was actually hungry--there were so many people at lunch that there wasn't really food leftover for seconds--and the locals kept insisted the guys eat more, rather than the girls. Hmph. Still dealing with the attitude that girls are always these dainty, carb-loving pasta-and-salad eaters and so can't appreciate a good-sized hunk of meat. *laughs* Seriously, it's all good. We wnt to church that night, which was a nice, low-key service involving small group reflections on the meaning of reconciliation. I mentioned that, in America, reconciliation between races/classes/etc seems to be at a standstill due to political correctness. In order to reconcile, one needs to face the conflict and pain, and PCness is all about denying that conflict and trying to paste a plaster over it. Meh.
Bed!

Monday - Day 2 - April 14

Today was up, breakfast of oats, and then over to the church for orientation and an introduction to our first project. We were laying a concrete floor in the house of Mama Nomsa, who is confined to a motorized wheelchair. Her current floor was rotted wood, making it difficult for her to get around. We also aimed to lay a pathway for her from the road to her house, because when the rains come the dirt gets all muddy and makes it difficult for her to get her wheelchair across. We were also going to paint her house.

So, today we worked on clearing out the house, mixing concrete, and clearing out the yard. I had a chance to speak with Mama Nomsa. She works with the Vukani community development project.

http://www.vukani.co.za/ - Vukani homepage

She focuses on providing help to the disabled, arranging for them to have counselling, job training, etc. She lost use of her legs due to polio when she was twelve--I can only imagine having polio and all that stuff during Apartheid, when medical care for blacks was poor and often non-existent. It was really a blessing to be able to share stories of working with organizations for disability empowerment.

After work, we were able to just relax in the evening with our host family. We watched TV and talked.

Tuesday - Day 3 - April 15

Today was more work on the job site, digging a trench for the pathway and also cleaning up the rest of the yard. There was this one patch of grass that was seemingly lushly overgrown, but when Brittany and I walked on it, we kept hearing this plasticky-crunchy sound. So, it was on with the gardening gloves and digging through the grass to pull out everything from plastic potato chip bags to used diapers. Apparently the neighbours had been using Mama Nomsa's yard as their own personal trash bin. Alcohol bottles abounded. I mentioned to Brit that this would be an excellent job to give to anyone who thinks "recycling is a gimmick." Foil and plastic do NOT decompose. Period. :-p

In the evening we had a discussion time at the church about how racism particularly affected Tambo Village. Apparently the church's location is something of a boundary line. On one side the residents are 90% coloured, and on the other, 90% black. It's amazing the amount of racism between coloureds and blacks. We also heard personal stories of racism related by Mzura and were able to discuss the situation. Char came for this meeting, and we also prayed over her for her healing. She was encountering problems getting credit for the experiential part of her schooling because she wasn't able to be in Tambo.

Wednesday - Day 4 - April 16

Today it was more work on Mama Nomsa's house--and Char joined us today! She was feeling So much better--praise God! Gotta love prayer power. :-) She joined us in Mama Nokz house, and she helped her with cooking and things; those two ladies were really a blessing to each other. Today was also the day that there was some dietary talk with Mama Nokz. We had been placed with her precisely because Heather is a vegetarian and I have food allergies, and she was doing well to provide us with food we could eat. However, dear Mama did not know that, when working hard, I need protein, and so she was feeding us lots of rice and veg and pap, which was GREAT--but too many carbs (and "too many" is "over a cupful") makes me really exhausted, and I was waking up every day tired, moreso than I should have been. Fortunately, everything was sorted out. :-) This night we went to cell groups, which was fun and really helped us feel like part of the community.

Thursday - Day 5 - April 17

Today we were in Gugulethu, walking among the rust-reddish metal shacks. We were laying a new concrete floor in the house of a woman who's house had burned down. Apparently there had been a terrible fire in the townships--and the newpapers made little-to-no noise about it. :-( It's like they're this whole other world--during my time there, I had a hard time believing I was still in Cape Town, only some miles from Cornerstone College; only the mountains in the distance showed that I was indeed within the city limits.

Work this day was crazy-exhausting, because it was all indoors working with the concrete, and by now all of us were coughing from the sand and concrete dust that flew up every time we lifted our shovels, and misted the air. Today everyone else had vetkoeks, or amaquena, as a snack--unsweeted fried yeast doughnuts. Due to allergies, I could not partake, which, honestly, I did not mind. After work we were supposed to have a movie night with some of the people from Tambo, but all of us were tired and wanted to spend more quality time with our host families.

Friday - Day 6 - April 18

Today we went back to Mama Nomsa's house. She wanted her house painted pink, so pink it was painted--I now have a pink splotch on one of my sneakers, so now I am always wearing pink. ;-) *rolls eyes* We also worked on the pathway some more and Jacklyn and I weeded and reorganized her garden. This whole time we were working on her house, she looked so pleased, and was so involved. Her smile was miles wide. Apparently she didn't get many visitors.

In the afternoon we helped out at a "Sidewalk Sunday School" community youth outreach, which was great, except it was very loud, so for much of the time I removed myself to a place where I wouldn't be doubled over in pain from the sounds. So I prayed there for various things and people-watched. That night we attended the local youth group, which was fun, although tiring--with people 24/7, I was starting to get seriously emotionally exhausted at this point.

Saturday - Day 7 - April 19

Today was a rainy day--Char, Heather and I woke up, and then lazed in bed, listening to the rain pitterpatter on the tin roof, snuggled in our beds. Mama Nokz and her family did likewise--no one budged for a bit. Due to the rain, we were unable to do outdoor work, so we were able to visit with our homestay families and we also had the option of helping out with Saturday's "Sidewalk Sunday School." At night, there was a braai for us, the youth, and our homestay families--sheep! It was good, although the food was limited for me due to allergies. Oh well. The cool thing was that Mama Nokz and Thembi are also introverts, so our whole homestay family ended up leaving the party early to relax in front of the television at home. :-)

Sunday - Not Really a 'Day', Just a Morning Service - April 20

As the title says, we packed up, breakfasted, went to church, and then returned to our "regular" homestay families, heart-warmed, but also exhausted, and looking forward to relaxing our last two weeks here.
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Okay! Next post will be my last official post in South Africa!