7/30/09- Geology rocks!

I am a bit too tired to write a detailed entry (welcome back to the life of teaching), but I do want to share how the last few weeks of school have been.  We spent last week observing classes to see how things work at the school, and this week we have had the opportunity to actually teach. 

It has been a bit nerve wracking to enter into a new school with so many faces attached to long, confusing names that include a q…which represents a clicking noise (haven’t mastered that one yet!), but I am beginning to get my bearings.  I have been lucky enough to work with an English/geography teacher named Mr. Minyi, who is also an interim administrator.  On one of the first days he saw my hope in creating environmental lessons and handed over some geography textbooks.  I was excited to see that much of the geography curriculum focuses on the environment and ecosystems.  So, over the last week he has given me creative freedom to design cross-curricular lessons in both the 10^th and 11^th grade geography classes that focus on outdoor education. 

In the 10^th grade class we are creating a geological map of the campus.  We are going to study different rock types and students are going to investigate where the rocks possibly came from.  Since many of the rocks were mined, we are going to extend the lesson to incorporate a history lesson about mining conditions in South Africa.  We may also take the students on a field trip to visit the historical gold mines in Jo’burg.  I am super excited to see how this all turns out.

In the 11^th grade class, students are studying the different ecosystems on campus.  They are participating in nature observations and will then conduct research on specific species they find.  Once they present their research, they will create a gigantic food web linking many of the species on campus….we’ll see how this lesson goes.  These guys are not as excited as the grade 10 students…maybe I just have more of a knack with 10^th grade students though.

This week we also led our first teacher training on using reflection as a means to judge the effectiveness of your lessons.  It went pretty well.  We will hold teacher-training workshops on the next three Wednesdays.  Teachers from the township high schools will also attend.  We are headed to observe a township high school tomorrow.  I am really interested to see the difference.

A few days ago a few of our students gave us a tour of the township.  To be honest it made me kind of sad that I cannot be staying in the township.  Life there is much like it is in West Africa, very lively and communal.  I loved seeing all of the street vendors, creative fashion and hearing all of the music bumping on the street.  Mike was more than brave to drive Dolores…I probably would have hit someone.

7/26/09- Glorious Dolorious!

We are happy to report that we have added a new member to our family.  We rented a super old school VW Citi Polo for our stint here in Jo’burg.  Her name is Dolores.  As much as we love our two-bedroom place on LEAP campus, the campus is very remote.  We cannot even get to the grocery store, and Jo’burg is very much a car city, so we are extremely happy! I haven't taken any pics yet but found this great one online!

Oh, and since we are on the subject of animals, check out pics from our trip to the petting zoo.  Sorry our cubby friend is upside down...

And here are some pics of my roomies and one of me chillin' in the jacuzzi...

7/21/09- Sharp as an arrow

Ring, ring…ring?  Isn’t the bell supposed to ring?  Isn’t today the first day back at school after winter break?  Well, yes, but there are no bells ringing at this school.  So I arrived in Jo’burg a few days ago and have to say, I just didn’t understand how a school that looks like this really functions.  First of all, the school looks nothing like a school.  John Gilmour, the founder of LEAP, explained to us a few weeks ago that he thinks it is completely ridiculous that schools spend so much money building facilities when there are plenty of buildings that already exist.  This goes to explain why LEAP 1 and 2 are in office buildings and LEAP 3 is in a swinging 70’s ranch house. John G. believes in investing the school’s money in the things on the inside of the building…like teachers!  No class at LEAP is over 25 students.  The Life Orientation classes (life skills/group counseling) are taught by two teachers.  Some teachers have lighter teaching loads so they can split administrative duties.   Yes, the science class is taught in what used to be the bar, and the Life Orientation class is taught in the master bedroom (with jacuzzi!), but one of the staff members explained, “we love this place because we want the students to feel at home,” and that they do.  At breaks the kids fix themselves a PB&J in the kitchen, lounge in big beanbag chairs next to the pool, and kick soccer balls around in the spacious front yard.  Since most students have such cramped, often stressful lives in the townships, it really seems like this is their home away from home.  And the students seem to really appreciate it.  Not only do they split up cleaning duties to keep up the entire place, but I saw smiles all around and so much focus in the classrooms.

Another exciting feature on the property is the barn.  We actually started the day with a “community meeting” in the barn.  Everyone dragged a chair over from the main house, set them up, and to my surprise, two students stood up and led the meeting while the staff sat in back.  One boy, Tommy, started out by asking for a bit of reflection on the holiday events.  There had been a few activities organized for the students to participate in over the break and he wanted people to report back.  Students were pretty shy, but slowly stood up and gave some details.  After a few students stood up and said they went to the zoo and saw some pretty cool animals, the student facilitator interrupted and said, “Look, you are only stating the obvious.  You know you should be sharing what you learned, how you were challenged and how you faced those challenges.  You should also be using this time to thank those who helped provide this opportunity for you.”  Another student also stood up and said, “I also notice that people are laughing at those who are sharing.  It is tough to stand up and talk.  Some people may be sharing things that are meaningful, so we need to be respectful of that and not laugh.”  After that the sharing became much deeper.  Students who had the opportunity to take the five-day trip to Cape Town (with an 18 hour bus ride each way!) shared how it was a life changing experience for them.  Others shared the challenges of bonding with the students from LEAP 1&2.

After everyone finished sharing, Tommy shared his experience.  He attended a leadership conference that encouraged dialogue between white and black students from different schools across South Africa.  He split a dorm with a white student who opened up to him right away and even engaged him in a pillow fight on the first night.  For some reason, he explained, he just could not feel comfortable, “I realized that apartheid was over for him a long time ago, but I am still holding it in here,” he said with his hands on his heart.  He continued,  “but I learned that I have the power to make things change.”

Seeing Tommy take ownership of his feelings and realize that he is part of a powerful change was unbelievable to me.  Even though he is still the victim of a horrible, completely unequal society, he was not pointing fingers and putting blame on others for the injustices he sees around him.  He only looked forward to the hope that he sees in South Africa’s future. He was so full of hope that he continued speaking for 10 more minutes, non-stop.  Each point was as meaningful as the first.  Throughout his long speech, the kids started getting a little antsy, but not one single cell phone went off, not one laugh or rude comment either.

Tommy ended his reflection by saying, “At the conference I learned that a leader is like the tip of an arrow. In order for the arrow to pierce something and make an impact, it has to have the power and force of its people behind it.  One cannot work without the other.”  Again, I was so impressed.  Everyone clapped and finally an adult stood up to speak about some logistics regarding the day’s schedule…oh yeah!  That’s right…we were at school.  I had forgotten that again. 

7/16/09- Off to Jo’burg!

Tomorrow I will be headed to Johannesburg with two fellows- Karly and Mike.  Karly is a jr. high teacher from San Diego and Mike is a videogame designer from the Bay Area. They are both really nice and amazing cooks!  We will be living on the LEAP 3 campus…can’t wait to see our accommodations!

 

7/15/09 – A second chance

This afternoon we went back to REALISTIC to conduct more interviews.  Our main focus today was to interview the REALISTIC staff.  I knew that the staff had to be amazing, since they were taking so much time out of their lives to help these young men recovering from substance abuse, but the more we talked with them, the more I fell in love with this organization.

REALISTIC was started by a man named Solomon.  We were introduced to Solomon by John Gilmour, the founder of LEAP schools. We soon found out that Solomon is a very busy man.  Every time we went to the REALISTIC camp, Solomon would pick us up, usually a bit late because of meetings he was at, and then drop us off and continue with his busy life of meetings.  He was always so sad because running his organization takes so much time and all he wants to do is spend more time with the Realists. 

On the way up to the camp today I started to ask him about how he started REALISTIC.  Luckily Karen was able to pull out her camera and we were able to conduct an impromptu interview as we were driving.  He explained that he worked as a prison warden for 10 years.  After seeing so many young people from his community come into prison, over and over, he decided that something had to be done to help these at-risk youth.  So, he decided to quit his job (which his wife was thrilled about), and give it a go.  Because of his connections within the prison system, he was able to have social workers refer at-risk youth to his program.  That was about 5 years ago.  Now he has around 15 cycles (20 to 30 people in each cycle) of at-risk youth go through his program.  He has had amazing success and has seen many young men turn their lives around, get off of drugs and find jobs within the community.  He had also worked hand-in-hand with John Gilmour to help counsel some of the at-risk students from LEAP.

I soon noticed that he and John Gilmour were quite close.  Solomon is around the LEAP offices every day.  When I asked him how he met John, he just laughed and said, “It is a long story.”  So of course I probed him further until he told me some more details. When Solomon was a young teenager John Gilmour taught at a private white high school in Cape Town.  He used to drive a bus through the townships to pick up students for a drama project.  “I was always the first guy to gather people together [for John’s project], he explained” Young Solomon would also sit on the bus as John G. drove around.  Solomon approached John one day and said, “If they decide to integrate your high school, I’d like to go there.”  So, a few years later, after apartheid was over, they did decide to integrate the school, and Solomon was one of the first 10 black students to attend Pinelands High School.  “It was very hard for me to go there,” he explained, “I felt like I had to be the best at everything in order to prove myself.  I had to be the best in sports; I had to get good marks too… I would do homework every night, work on Saturdays and study all day on Sunday.”  When I asked if the students and the staff accepted him being there, he smiled again.  “Well, John was very supportive.  He would drive his big silver Mercedes over to pick [the black students] up every morning.  But, if other teachers passed us walking on the street, even in the rain, they would just drive past.  It was so hard.  Sometimes I think to myself, was that really, really me?”

Since then John Gilmour and Solomon have stayed close.  John has since moved on to open the LEAP schools and Solomon has founded REALISTIC.  Since the “offices” of REALISTIC are only an 8X3 room in the back of a larger room used for counseling the Realists, John allows Solomon to use LEAP offices for photocopying and making phone calls.  The more I talk with these guys, the more I understand the long chain of people working in South Africa to make a difference in other people’s lives.

When I was up at the camp today I started to chat with Wanda, a restorative justice counselor at the camp.  I asked him how he became involved with REALISTIC, and found out that he also had an interesting connection.  “I was serving as a prisoner on death row when I met Solomon…  He was a prison guard there and saw the work that I was doing.”   Naturally, being the first time I had ever spoken with someone who had been on death row, I needed to find out more.  “I was a political prisoner,” he explained. “But, once apartheid was over they reexamined many cases and my sentence was lessened to 22 years.”  He continued to tell me how hard it was for him to be locked up for 22 years.  While he was in prison his wife died and his children grew up.  He continued, “Building relationships with people after being in prison for so long is hard.  I am still working on that.”

Now that he has joined the REALISTIC community he has inspired so many other young men.  While he was in prison he acted as a father figure for many young men coming into the system.  He organized and coached soccer teams and created other opportunities for mentoring young men.  Solomon saw what a powerful leader he was while he was in prison and the minute he was set free, recruited him to work at REALISTIC.  Now Wanda is mentoring young men so they stay out of prison.

7/14/09- “A resident, a neighbor, and a citizen of the nature of South Africa”

This week the LEAP students have the opportunity to go to school (even though it is their break) to participate in workshops that we (the TWA fellows) designed for them.  I was really curious to have a better understanding of how the students connect with nature.  Since I am involved with incorporating environmental curriculum in into our classes in the US, I was curious as to how the students would perceive similar lessons here.  After spending a little time in the townships, I noticed many of the same environmental problems that were in the village I lived in during my Peace Corps stint in Benin.  There is a lot of trash on the ground, lots of toxic dumping, trash burning and, in the townships, there are very few trees or plants. 

There were 11 girls that participated in the workshop.  I asked students to go outside, observe a living organism for 10 min, take notes on a sheet I provided with sentence starters like “I feel like…I look like…I am surrounded by…I can be harmed by….”  Then the students were asked to come inside and write a poem from the perspective of the plant.   This was my first time working with the LEAP students, so I did not know their writing skills.  I was not expecting too much, but boy was I wrong.  The minute they came back from their observations, they just started writing up a storm.  Some students had their poems finished in 10 minutes, so I encouraged them to write another.  We had poetry reading at the end of class.  Not only did the girls write beautiful poems, but they made personal, political and scientific connections in their poems. Here is one of the poems from a girl named Happiness.  She wrote about a mimosa tree.

 

I am a resident, a neighbor, and a citizen of the nature of South Africa.

By Happiness Poma

 

I am a resident, a neighbor, and a citizen of the nature of South Africa.

I look like a baby’s hair brush,

with red hair covering my green silky body

with my red, spiky soft hair,   

so wild, observing the goodness of my home.

Immigrants think I am an awareness of danger,

for they do not know that I am a spark of beauty.

I am an outstanding individual,

flexible with small, tiny round nails at the edge of my hair.

I stand up straight with not even a loop,

for I am confident, even success is the blanket of my soul.

I am a resident, a neighbor, and a citizen of South Africa.

 

I am happiest when the sunshine heats my hair.

I glow and shine. I open my arms

and stretch my entire sparkling body so proudly,

for I am a resident, a neighbor and a citizen of the nature of South Africa.

 

I am truly loved by that specific person that had a thought of building a tree here.

I know that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him/her.

I am also loved by my neighbors- trees, grass, leaves and branches,

for they are residents, neighbors and citizens of the nature of South Africa.

 

I enjoy moving when the wind approaches to dance with me

when I am happy, enjoying and appreciating my life.

I am proud to breathe, the amazing breath

that was breathed by my beloved ancestors,

for they also were the residents, neighbors and citizens of the nature of South Africa.

Yes, they were.  Yes, I am.  Yes, we are.  Oh yes, we are

the residents, neighbors and citizens of the nature of South Africa.

 

 

7/13/09- Taking ownership

I have to say that today was one of those days that I couldn’t really believe I was living.  I had a chance to go back to the REALISTIC rehabilitation camp.  Just as a reminder, REALISTIC is a substance abuse rehabilitation program for young adults.  The program starts with a 20-day camp in the mountains, followed by two months of 9-5 daily sessions in a township center.  The Realists (those undergoing the program) are just at the end of their 20-day camp.  We visited this camp on my first day in Cape Town.

I was a bit bummed because I had bonded with a particular Realist.  When I showed up this time I was looking forward to hanging out with him again and possibly interviewing him.  When I could not find him amongst the group, one of the facilitators told me, “He had to leave because he started promoting gang boss behavior.  He was going to ruin the whole thing for everyone here.”  I was sad to hear that and hope that he is not going back to his old way of life in the township.  Without support from the program, who knows though. 

I was going back this time to hang out with the Realists and to work on a digital story telling project. A group of us have decided to create a project that documents stories of the people we meet while we are here.  Since we were so inspired by the stories of the Realists, we thought it would be valuable to formally interview them on camera and hear their stories, thoughts and perspectives. Going into this I felt really nervous.  I guess because I was never a professional journalist, I doubted how well I would do interviewing someone on camera. 

When we arrived we were able to sit in on a group therapy session held in their local language, Xhosa.  Then we broke for lunch, where I could speak with the realists over some tuna casserole and beans (the food here in Cape Town is so not REAL African!!), I sat next to a Realist who asked me what I thought I’d be getting into by coming to “a center for druggies and gangsters”.  The question seemed bizarre to me because I had only seen these guys at the camp and they just seemed like normal guys.  I told them that and that I was very happy to be there and hoped that I could capture some of their stories on camera so students in America who are facing similar difficulties could learn and be inspired by the steps they are taking to improve their lives.  One Realist expressed gratitude that “someone would come from so far and want to visit them.”

After lunch the Realists play soccer and have an hour and a half of free time. One of the facilitators pulled two boys away from the game to be interviewed.  Unfortunately, many of the Realists were not fluent in English, so I think he chose two who spoke English the best.  We interviewed the two young men together because we thought they would feel more comfortable that way.  I was working with a woman named Karen, who is not a fellow, but was hired by Teach with Africa to document our work for the first few weeks of our time here.  She is completely awesome and has a long history of working in the music industry, but is now a media teacher at a private high school in the Bay Area.  She was behind the camera while I interviewed.

I started by interviewing the Realists separately.  Our first interviewee shared how he started using drugs because they were so readily available in the townships and he was curious about experimenting with drugs, just like many teenagers. Someone in his family referred him to REALISTIC after he had gone on a drug binge that was so bad that he had no memory of how many drugs he actually used throughout the week prior to the program.  He said, “If I didn’t end up at REALISTIC I would be dead right now.  I still had money in my pocket, which means that I would have kept buying drugs until the money was gone.  I was already so high that anymore drugs would have killed me.”  He was thankful to be alive.

The second young man felt apprehensive about being interviewed because he had never actually touched drugs in his life.  He was at REALISTIC because his younger brother has a drug problem.  He wanted to learn more so he could help his younger brother.  He explained that he has been able to stay off drugs because of a paraplegic elderly woman he looks after in his township.  She is a friend’s grandmother and is helps inspire him everyday.   He is hoping to become a lawyer when he is older.

Towards the end of the interview the two young men addressed many questions together.  I asked them if they think the government should do more to stop drug use in the townships.  To my surprise they both replied that it is not the government’s responsibility.  One Realist said, “the government is already giving so many people free money every month to live off of.  It is more than enough to survive.  Instead of using this money to feed their children, many parents are going to the park and buying drugs.  It is the responsibility of each person to start making better decisions.  If a person makes the right decisions, they have the power to change their life.” I found this perspective completely refreshing.  So often in our lives we like to blame others for our problems.  While others may be partially to blame, spending time blaming them is just wasting time.  These young men have stopped wasting time and are taking active steps to make their lives better, even though the reality they seem around them everyday is so royally screwed up in so many ways.  Their ability to look beyond that and look to themselves for the answers was very inspiring.  

7/12/09 Tough questions

For the last four days we have been doing some “deep hanging out” with the LEAP student alumni (LEAPSA).  They planned a series of workshops for us to participate in and we planned a series of workshops for them to participate in.  I had the opportunity to learn about Xhosa culture, traditional South African dancing and gumboot dancing.  This was, of course, the day after the hike, so my legs were already killing me.  That was four days ago and my legs still hurt!  The dancing was awesome though.  Some of the fellows learned how to drum and we learned a short dance.  They put us on the spot and had us perform in front of the LEAP 3 Jo’burg students before they headed back on their 16-hour bus ride.

In the afternoon we learned something called gumboot dancing.  This is a type of dancing that came from the mineworkers during apartheid.  You have to wear bug rubber goulashes and stomp and slap your boots to make different beats.  It was difficult, but really fun.  The LEAPSAs were awesome teachers and now I have a few African dances under my belt…err, gumboots.

On Friday and Saturday the LEAPSAs attended our workshops.  Most of our workshops focused on study skills because now that the LEAPSAa are in college, many are having trouble studying and passing classes.  I love that LEAP continues to support these students.  I don’t know of any high schools in the US that help their graduates succeed in college.

I helped organize a workshop on American culture and values, which Jay, an ex Peace Corps Volunteer, and I presented on Saturday.  We started off the workshop by asking the simple question: “Based on what you have observed from TV and your interactions with Americans, what have you noticed about American values?” 

The LEAPSAs were very honest and brought up everything from the American Dream to drag queens.  They asked a lot of honest questions that we were able to address.  One of the things they brought up was the “fake American smile.”  They brought to our attention that it is viewed as totally bizarre that we walk by total strangers and smile at them.  They see this as totally fake and unnecessary.  They only smile at someone if they are hanging out and having a good time.  I am now working on this because I am a big fake smiler.

The toughest part of the workshop came when they asked about AIDS in America.  I told them that we do have people with HIV/AIDS in America but the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection is found in the African American population in urban areas.  A few students got pretty upset and asked the question “is that really true, or does the media just portray the black population in a negative way?”  The LEAPSAs continued to tell us that this is a huge problem in South Africa. The media always discusses AIDS in black populations, but not white.  They also feel that all the statistics are skewed because they come from white statisticians.  I felt like I was in a tough position because I did not want to invalidate their feelings, but the fact remains that there is a 25% HIV/AIDS infection rate in the Langa township where they live.  This made me realize the importance of schools like LEAP. Because they have such a strong emphasis on math an science, hopefully more black doctors, statisticians and media professionals will start to emerge in South African society.  I think once this happens, more of the black population will have faith in the medical field.  Also, hopefully the media will begin to change to be more representative of the entire population’s views. All of this takes time though and there is a need for urgent change now.

 

 

7/10/09 Reclaiming the city

I didn't really think it was possible to go hiking with 90 people.  Last Wednesday I had the chance to go on my first LEAP field trip.  Sixty students from LEAP 3 in Johannesburg, where I will be working starting next week, took a 16 hour bus ride down to Cape Town to come and visit.  Students from LEAP 1 and 2 in Cape Town hosted them for three days.  Each visiting student was matched up with a Cape Town student and stayed with them in their house in the townships.  When I asked one of the students from LEAP 3 whether or not her host family was nice she said, "The student I was staying with lives alone."  It was totally normal for them, but I was pretty shocked.  I did think it was a cool bonding experience though for the students to be able to experience that. For many of the Johannesburg students, it was their first time visiting Cape Town. I personally felt lucky because when the LEAP 3 students arrived, the Cape Town students welcomed them with a ton of singing and dancing.  Since I missed the welcome singing and dancing because of my passport issues, I felt lucky to have that chance to see it. I will talk more specifics about the dancing on my next blog entry.

On one of the days we took a huge field trip.  We started the day off by going to Robin Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were held for many years.  They now have a museum guided by ex-prisoners and a nature reserve.  Most of the Jo'burg students had never been on a boat before.  We were whisked there by a super speedy catamaran that definitely made my stomach churn (yeay sea bands!).  Some of the students loved it, but most looked very uncomfortable.  One of my fellow fellows said that she sat next to two Jo'burg students who cried the whole time...poor girls!!  

On the island we were able to tour the prison, learn about things like the torture techniques used on the prisoners and how Nelson Mandela snuck his autobiography off the island.  For me the highlight was seeing the students view Mandela's cell.  They were really touched and took many pictures.  I was just so impressed because the students were totally attentive and well behaved.  We also took a bit of a bus tour around the island where I saw a penguin!  Our bus also had to veer off the road a couple of times to avoid running over little turtles. "Gotta protect the wildlife!" said the bus driver.  

I just have to take a moment to say that, as a teacher, I was biting my nails the whole day.  To get to and from the bus we had to walk long distances through shopping malls and other crowded areas.  We were over 100 people total and not once did anyone stop to count heads.  I was stressed out last year when I took 20 students on a field trip!  Things are so much more relaxed here.

Of course nothing runs on schedule here and we were scheduled to "go on a hike" at 2 PMish.  By the time we headed to Lion's Head state park (one of the cliffs looking over Cape Town) it was 4pm.  I was pooped, hungry, tired, had to pee all day and was so hoping they would cancel the hike, but no, we charged on!  I didn't really think it was possible to go hiking with 90 people, especially since many of the girls were wearing ballet flats and skirts.  And let me tell you, this hike was no joke.  This was literally the hardest hike I have ever been on.  Lion's Head is a small peak with all rock on top, and you basically wind around the mountain until you get to the top.  Leading up to the peak the mountain was covered with my FAVORITE TREE, the silver tree (Dad, Matt, do you remember when I pointed one out at the UCSC Arboretum?). Then the top of the mountain was all rock.  I had my first experience rock climbing and felt like I was going to die, but almost all of the students made it to the top.

Once we were at the top there was an amazing view of the entire city.  It was just before sunset.  John Gilmour, the director of the LEAP schools, used the opportunity to lead a history lesson.  He talked about how all of the different ethnic groups in Cape Town arrived there.  He pointed to parts of the city to highlight different points.  Then he talked about the time when apartheid started and how the government stated shifting black and colored populations into the townships.  Throughout the lesson he stopped three times and said, "Now we are going to reclaim the city," and had the students sing from the top of the mountain.  Each time the students sang louder and louder.  It was a powerful moment.  

One of the interesting things we observed was how the other people on the mountain reacted to the students.  This was a popular hiking spot.  All of the other hikers on the mountain were white.  It must have been a total surprise for them to see 90 black students pushing their way to the top.  The mountain top was relatively small so our group took up most of the space.  There were two other groups of people on top with us, both white.  One of the groups was about 5 British doctors who were so moved that they came to the school the next day to celebrate with the students.  The other group was clearly annoyed at the situation.  When we were hiking down the mountain a group of white hikers was wanting the LEAP students to wait on the side of the trail so they could pass.  John Gilmour said to them something of the likes of "Oh, what a surprise!  Our colonizers here want us to wait while they pass." They responded by saying, "We are just 3 people, please let us pass."  He let them pass.  As the three men and a woman trailing passed Gilmour said to the woman, "I would watch out they are trying to marginalize you."  It was really funny. He has no qualms about calling people out on things.  The sun was setting the entire way down.  

  

Holy house party! 7/5/09

Today is Sunday, our day of rest.  Over the past few days I have had a chance to bond with a girl named Lydia, who is a LEAP student alumni:

She is currently in college earning her teaching credential. As we have been talking over the past few days I asked her about her taste in music and what music is popular in the townships. To my surprise, house (techno) music is HUGE in the townships.  I really never imagined that.  Given that I have been exposed to house through my good friends Gene, Jorja and Brian, I thought it would be really fun to go out and hear some of this township house music.  So, I asked her is there is a place to do so that is still relatively safe and she said that there is actually a great place that is open during the day. 

So today, a group of us headed to this “outdoor bar and restaurant” to hear the music and relax.  I had no idea what I was in for.  After driving through various townships to pick up other LEAP Alumni students, we arrived to the bar called Mizoli’s.  We instantly saw that this was no ordinary bar.  There was a huge area with tables and chairs.  People spilled out into the streets in all directions.  Cars (specifically brand new VW Golfs) lined all the surrounding streets with the hatchbacks open and house music pumping out of each car. As South Africans of all colors, but mainly black, dressed in the hippest fashion I’ve seen (even better than SF!), were posted to their cars or dancing near by.  It was literally a huge block party.  I guess this is THE hang out for local celebrities and a mix of everyone else.  One of the LEAP alumni explained, “if you gather up any money, this is the first place you come.”  I could see why.

Lydia then explained how the food worked.  You entered into the building, which was literally a raw meat market.  You wait in a long line, pick out buckets of raw meat, pay for it and walk it back to the grill.  Then, they season and grill it up for you.  It took about an hour and a half for them to grill our meat because the place was so packed, but boy was it worth it.  It was some of the best BBQ I have ever had. 

As the afternoon grew later I continued to people watch and have a great time.  Although it was such a wonderful slice of township life, I did start to notice some things that alarmed me.  The alcohol use was insane.  Everyone, except our group, was drinking A LOT.  Normally we would have had a few with the rest, but we did not feel okay promoting alcohol abuse in the company of the LEAP students.  Seeing the amount of drinking and partying made me begin to realize why so many young adults from the townships are not making it to or through college. The only way that Lydia has been able to balance this is by not drinking.  “I don’t really go here,” she told us.  I could see why. It was a false sense of reality. She also said, “I don’t understand why everyone needs this much alcohol to have a good time.”   Lydia is obviously much stronger than many of the young adults in the township.  She feels that going to school at LEAP has helped her think, understand and stand up for what she believes in.   Hopefully she will continue to be a model for others in her community.