Soweto

Soweto, located just outside of Johannesburg, is South Africa's largest township and has been home to both Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Soweto is also famous for its leading role in the resistance movement during the apartheid, particularly for the youth uprising in 1976. 

We had the opportunity to visit the township while traveling through South Africa during our mid semester break. The above video was filmed in the day care of the informal settlement in Soweto. The children, ages 3-4, were anxious to show how smart they were :)

Kombi Rides

In addition to the public bus system and trains, public taxis (also called Kombis) are a popular form of transportation here in Cape Town. For only 6 rand (less than 1 american dollar) a passenger can travel anywhere in the Cape Town metropolitan area. However, there is a catch. These vans are made to seat about 8-12 people, when in reality there are at least 20 passengers squeezed into them at a time. Combining the tight quarters with the fact that the drivers think they are in a NASCAR race, it is no surprise that South Africa has the highest rate of traffic fatalities out of all the developed nations. While blasting music and honking their horn NON STOP, drivers will weave in and out of traffic, cut people off, drive the wrong way down the street, almost run over pedestrians and manage to run through a few red lights; and all in the course of a ten minute drive too. 

Today was a particularly interesting Kombi ride. With 23 passengers, it was extremely packed and I ended up basically sitting in the driver's seat. The driver, trying to be nice, kept trying to create conversation with me. However, due to his accent, I had no idea what he was saying. I opted to nod my head politely and smile in response. Apparently he must have been looking for a more detailed answer to his question because with a puzzled look, and then repeated his question. I then proceeded to ask him "What?" about 5 times before he finally asked "Do you even understand me?" I admitted that I had no clue what he was saying. He then asked "What language do you speak, anyways?" In South Africa (as in any culture), individuals who learn English as a  second language tend to be self conscious about their speaking ability. As a result, I was nervous about accidentally offending him by implying that his English wasn't 'good enough' for me to understand. So in a moment of desperation, I responded that I actually only spoke Spanish. He nodded his head in understanding and responded "Oh, I see…that makes sense." For the rest of the ride, the driver proceeded to ask me very basic questions pertaining to my stay in Cape Town while fashioning his inquiries in a very loud and drawn out voice so my 'alien ears' could understand. 

Later that day, I was out for a run with Carlyn, one of my housemates, and had told her this story. About ten minutes later, a Kombi drove up behind us hollering and honking even more vigorously then usual. It was then I realized that it was my driver from earlier that day. As they drove by, I heard him yell "HOLAAAAAAAA!!!!" out the window. Guess I will be practicing my Spanish in case I end up in that Kombi again. 

The South African Faith and Family Institute

Throughout the semester, I have the opportunity to volunteer my time at the South African Faith and Family Institute (SAFFI). This organization works to promote domestic violence awareness and advocacy within faith based communities. Currently, this issue is very poorly addressed by local faith leaders. Often, women are told that this is just 'their cross to bear' or that they simply need to pray harder and work at not upsetting their husbands. This type of response is incredibly prevalent in the rural regions of the country in which a patriarchal social system is heavily enforced. SAFFI works to facilitate dialogue between survivors, batterers, social workers and religious leaders to coordinate a better understanding of domestic violence. Their work empowers both the individuals directly affected by abuse as well as those involved with its intervention projects. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday, I have the privilege to spend a full day at the SAFFI office with the founder/director, Elizabeth Peterson. She is an extremely passionate and inspiring woman and I am so excited to get to work with her over the course of the next few months.

I hope you have the chance to visit SAFFI's website to learn more about their work (www.saffi.org.za).

In the meantime, I will be sure to keep you updated on my experiences at SAFFI, as I am sure there is a lot in store for me. 

Weekend Retreat

Our group spent this weekend at a retreat center called Volmoed, where we had the opportunity to engage in conversation with author John de Gruchy. As a part of our theology course, we read a book by de Gruchy entitled Reconciliation: Restoring Justice. In addition to our dialogue with de Gruchy, the environment encompassing the retreat center offered a very moving experience.

Not only did I have the opportunity to hike to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, but I also spent the afternoon swimming beneath a waterfall. I even gathered enough courage to try the rope swing into the water. Having grown up watching every season of America's Funniest Video's with my brother, Jack, I was well prepared for a cliche rope-swing-accident. Thankfully, it went far more gracefully than I had imagined.   

If you are interested in hearing more about the history/etc. of Volmoed, their website is http://www.volmoed.co.za/  They also have some great pictures of the surrounding area!

Although hiking is a major component of the center, I was ill informed as to the unique challenges that hiking in Volmoed would present. The surrounding area is home to a very large baboon presence. Needless to say, in addition to enjoying the scenery, much of my attention was focused on avoided baboon poop…too bad I'm a poor multi tasker.

Stormers Rugby

I went to my first ever rugby game last weekend!! The South African Stormers were playing the New Zealand Hurricanes at the Newlands Rugby Stadium, which is just a 5 minute drive from our house. Despite not knowing a thing about rugby, I had a wonderful and was excited to see the Stormers win 39-26.