The Amazingness of Pajama Pants!

So I have been here for a little over five weeks and I must tell you that I do not think I am fully settled into this whole situation yet. Every week it seems like something or someone new is introduced into my schedule. I am really happy that even though I have fully committed to life in Cape Town for the next bunch of months, there are still new challenges, new situations, new ideas to acclimate to. While I had the opportunity to acquaint myself with classes last week and the beginning of this week, today I ventured out to Kensington, a coloured community in Cape Town, for my first experience with UCT’s volunteer corps, SHAWCO (student health and welfare centers organization). Fun fact about SHAWCO: it is the largest operating, student run NGO in the world. Anyway with absolutely no clue of what to expect, a group of around 20 UCT students were warmly welcomed into the auditorium of the community center to a clamoring of claps and table-banging. Without any curriculum in hand (or anyone who knew what we were supposed to do for the first 10 minutes), we each walked over to and sat down at different tables with a group of 4-7 kids. Along with a native Captonian girl who I met on the bus on the way, I joined a group of seven fifth grade girls. We all said our names and discussed what we wanted to be when we grow up and while I was under the impression that we were there to teach English, they all were clearly capable of communicating with us. When the curriculum was finally given to us, I realized that we were not there to teach English but rather Math. I have not done math for a while but I figured it could not be too difficult to teach at a fifth grade level. You all probably think the same thing, well I challenge you to explain rounding to the nearest thousandth to 4 little girls at the same time who use different mathematical terminology.

While there were a few stumbles along the way, I definitely caught a glimpse into how beneficial this aspect of my abroad experience will be. These girls were so excited to meet us and were so dedicated to the work set before them, it was clear that this program (called KenSTEP) is something that means a lot to them. It is “marketed” to the students as a special program for those who have excelled in school and for that reason these girls definitely took pride in being there. Looking around at the decrepit buildings and the littered streets, I wondered what the lives of these children are like. I honestly do not know that much about Kensington’s economic, educational and social circumstances. I do not know how many kids further their education past standard 10 (grade 10- when it is legal for them to start working) or truly see the value of learning, I definitely need to learn more. What I do know is that this program has the potential to not only expose them to more knowledge, but introduce them to an atmosphere that values academic progress and cultivates goal setting. I feel so privileged to be a part of this environment. I feel as though I can learn so much from these adorable, intelligent, kind girls who will hopefully learn something from me. On Mondays I will be volunteering in a different location, Khayeletsche, a black township, with a different program, IT which teaches computer literacy to kids in grades 8-10 (I think it is a little funny that I am teaching math and computer literacy). I think that the contrast I will be exposed to of a coloured community and a black township will be such an enlightening way to learn about different groups of people in South Africa as well as their circumstances.

Another less hands on method of learning about South Africa (and its neighbors) that I have committed devoted myself to is reading. I finished both Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom” as well as a disturbing biography of Zimbabwe’s atrocious dictator of 27 years Robert Mugabe, a name that is not as well known as it needs to be throughout America. Mugabe, like Mandela, was a freedom fighter, who struggled for Zimbabwe’s (then known as Rhodesia) independence in the 60’s and 70’s. After more than a decade of imprisonment, he was released and became the president of a new, independent country that he planned to turn into a socialist state in 1980. He very quickly exploited his power persecuting and in some cases executing hordes of both black and white people. All the while he masked his terrible actions, corruption and cheating and those of the corrupt members of his government as a democratic system that thus legitimized his actions and beliefs. All of this has led Zimbabwe to become an economically unstable country whose land is unhealthy and yields few necessary resources and crops and has seen a significant percentage of its population leave, driven away by fear. Sadly there does not seem to be any substantial hope of change in the near future.

It was so interesting to read this book after having read about Nelson Mandela’s journey. Both men suffered a great deal and were persecuted for their honorable convictions. Each of their work spawned an opportunity to make the countries they fought so far into safe, accepting, realities; yet only one of them proved successful in doing so. Nelson Mandela’s faith, kindness, insight and ability to unite those around him regardless of race, class or creed will inspire anyone who is willing to hear his story. On the other hand, Mugabe’s horrendous exploitation of the liberation movement could only be used to support the need for colonial rule in Africa. Each country in Africa that was once under colonial rule has its own story of struggle, triumph and heartbreaking failure. I feel responsible to learn about as many of these countries and those responsible for their contemporary status because Africa is no longer just a concept for me. It is not that primitive, foreign continent on the other side of the ocean; it is a fluent reality that is still in need of immense change, but positive recognition as well.

My archaeology class has also allowed me to reach this realization. I recently read an article that pinpointed one of the primary problems with the area of study in Africa is that it creates the illusion that present-day Africa is the model used to determine the pasts of other countries and continents. It is viewed as primitive, tribal and static and therefore is believed to offer insight into what other worlds were once like. But Africa is so much more than this and the parts that are believed to remain a historical exhibition continue to develop new, complex technologies and social contexts.

Along with cultivating an appreciation of the complexity of the parts of Africa that are supposedly archaic, archaeology has also has led me to an understanding of the different processes, circumstances and resources that are necessary for a specific item to exist. It is an area of study that has started to force me to acknowledge the cultural significance of every physical thing around me, which is a lot in today’s world in comparison to Iron Age Africa in 2000 BC. It is interesting to take this class at the same time as my poverty, development and globalization class since it seems like a societal archaeological study in a way. To be so aware of where a pair of jeans comes from, who makes them, the various materials necessary to produce them, who wears them, is to recognize the various intangible meanings of what seems to be a simple physical object.

I apologize for the insufficient segue (I just learned how to spell this work that is so exciting) …..Returning to Mandela/Mugabe comparison (though Mugabe does not deserve to be place in the same sentence) I went to a shir on Monday night in Sea Point (the cool community with the three-headed rabbi that I am going back to this Shabbat) where one of the Rabbis and around 7 kids around my age discussed what it means to be free, and if being an observant Jew, grants one access to freedom. We discussed that there are two words in Hebrew for freedom that can provide insight into this question. The first word, chofesh refers to a very technical freedom. When a general in the Israeli army dismisses his or her soldiers, he says chofshi- you can go. This is the type of freedom that liberates someone from restriction. The second type cherut (if I remember correctly) does not have an English equivalent. Based on our discussion, it seemed to me that this freedom is something less definable and requires work, it is something that still includes some sort of struggle but leads to a better place then one was in originally. Discussing this with a friend on my program tonight, he decided that this could be deemed a freedom of consciousness, something that allows you to understand, to apply meaning to things that would not otherwise possess any. This type of freedom is the type that I believe my Judaism entails since there are clearly rules related to observing religious practices. Oh right, I was going to connect this to Mandela and Mugabe. So I think that Nelson Mandela and countless other brave freedom fighters were uniquely capable of achieving both types of freedom for countless people. Not only did he technically help grant rights to anyone nit white in South Africa, but he exposed everyone in the country to a non-racial tolerance that placed a new emphasis on the quality of one’s character and not the color of one’s skin. And now that I have been exposed to a person who had that same opportunity but failed to take advantage of it and instead stripped many people of a freedom that they only tasted for a short period of time, I feel compelled to find a new book about a good guy, about someone who has created both chofesh and cherut.

One last thought, I recently discovered that one of the most simple and enjoyable parts of my day is when I put on my pajama pants. If you think about it, this is the most perfect time in the whole day. Changing from normal clothes to pajamas signifies that while you have accomplished something during your day (something that required presentable clothes at least) you now have time to reflect on that, halt that physical aspect of work and wind down (you may still have school work, but now is the time for you to choose what you would like to focus on). Your day is not done, but the obligations no longer exist. You are now simple comfortable.

South African Ulpan:

Kiff – (sort of an adjective but it functions more as a general response) - pronounced: umm….kiff? – cool

“Josephine, I got us tickets to the Spice Girls reunion concert,” said Suzannah, “kiff” replied Josephine in excitement.

Cheers!