All Good Things Must Come To An End

My travels through South Africa continue to be an enlightening experience. The racial struggle is still alive and present here in Joburg and the tension is palpable. For the first time, I experienced reverse discrimination in a store, where they refused to sell me anything but were more than helpful toward my coworker who is black. Although I felt a rage I had never felt before, I realized this was important for me to experience because it is a large part of life here in Africa. My trip thus far has offered me a glimpse of the racial disparities but I had been somewhat removed from it. I had not, until yesterday, experienced it myself. Realizing these racial tensions persist in all racial groups was a difficult lesson to learn but one that had I not experienced it, I would have been slighted in my perception of Africa.


Determined to put that awful feeling aside and give Joburg a chance, I went to dinner with a coworker at a fabulous South Africa restaurant, Moya. When we made a reservation for two, the staff must have thought it was a romantic couple because they sat us at a table in a little nook, complete with candles, roses, and a beaded entry to our table. My friend (a woman) and I laughed but figured we would enjoy it nonetheless. Live Afro-Jazz and African drummers performed for our entertainment and women dressed in traditional headdresses with multicolored feathers swaying in the breeze painted our faces as we dined. The food was incredible and we feasted on shrimp, samosas, king klip fish, and lamb tangine (stew-like meal). I had ordered a glass of wine which turned out to be the home to a few bugs. Mortified, the restaurant brought me a new, whole bottle on the house. However, my friend does not drink red wine, leaving me with the entire bottle to drink alone (which this morning I'm realizing was a terrible idea even though I didn't even come close to finishing it!).


Today is my last full day in South Africa as I must leave for home tomorrow afternoon. I am saddened by the impending end to such a fabulous adventure. It has been an incredible journey of a country, a culture, and of self. I want to thank you all for sharing in my South African adventures and for your kind words and wishes. I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Joburg

Joburg is a fascinating city where the oppression of the country can be felt more strongly than the other places I have visited. The disparities between the rich and the poor are vast. Sandton, where loveLife's national office is located, is the hub of wealth and fortune. The surrounding neighborhoods of Craighall and Hyde Park boast some of the grandest estates I have ever seen, even more elaborate than Beverly Hills. However, not far from these mansions are run-down houses and closed store fronts. Electricity is a commodity here in Joburg and power outages are common. My hostel, the Backpackers Ritz (don't let the name fool you, there is nothing ritzy about it!), turns off all electricity at 10:30 pm and turns it back on at 7:30 each morning.

Although about 10.5 million people live in Joburg, there is no public transportation, including taxis, so getting around town is challenging and often expensive. Last night, I went to a gym and then realized I had no way of getting back to my hostel because even though it was only a few blocks away, I could not walk alone. Luckily, a woman who worked at the gym offered me a ride to my hostel and I had my first experience with "hitch hiking" if you could even call it that!

Working in the national office, I have been busy working on an article describing my experience with loveLife. The article will be included in loveLife's monthly newspaper, which is read by about 7,000 loveLife staff around the country. The media partnership is an important component of loveLife's approach to spread HIV and sexual health awareness. Without the media exposure, the youth and schools would not be aware of the program and the opportunities it offers.

Sadly, tomorrow will be my last day working as I must return to reality on Thursday. I plan to spend my last day at the Orangefarm Y Center, where I will enjoy my final dose of inspiration from the South African teens.

Something I will never get used to is the availability of free condoms everywhere you look in South Africa. Obviously this is part of the country's push for safe sex and HIV prevention but condoms are available in places you would never expect, and they are always free. I just realized that in the bathroom at the loveLife offices, there is a basket of condoms by the sink as we see mints in our bathrooms. My hostel offers condoms by the communal dining table and you often see condoms available in shopping malls and even restaurants. People here were appalled when I told them that we charge people for condoms in the United States, which made me think about how our HIV statistics might be affected if we offered free condoms and made safe sex and sexual health practices a stronger part of the national dialogue as well.

Zebras, Rhinos, and Giraffes oh my!

After a week on the loveTrain in rural South Africa, I was excited to go to La Palala game reserve with David Harrison and his family. La Palala is a private game reserve in the Limpopo province, not far from Botswana. It is the home to black rhinos, white rhinos, zebras, giraffes, impala, nyala, wildebeasts, warthogs, leopards and many more.

After driving for three hours through Gauteng and Limpopo provinces, we turned off the tar road and traveled into La Palala game reserve on the deep red dirt road, navigating around boulders and dashing nyala. Right past the entry gate, we were greeted by a herd of white rhinos and a pack of warthogs. The warthogs were bouncing around the rhinos, irritating them and causing them to stomp and snort, reminiscent of Pumba from The Lion King.

We continued to wind through the reserve, keeping an eye out for animals and spotting zebras, giraffes, wildebeasts, impala, and more warthogs. Finally, we arrived at our campsite which was hidden among the trees and situated on a river bank. We idled away the afternoon reading in the sun and taking short walks through the bush in search of animals. As we walked through thick bush that engulfed our legs, David warned us about black mambas, cobras, and black scorpions, all of which are present in La Palala and quite poisonous. Although I was now a bit cautious, when we emerged from the bush and came to the top of a hill, I was blown away by the beauty of the red earth contrasting with the rich gold bush and vibrant green trees.

As night began to fall, we watched the nearly full moon rise and nighttime creep over the horizon. After a hearty dinner of campfire stew, we headed to bed keeping an eye out for snakes, scorpions, and leopards.

The next morning I awoke with the sun, refreshed and invigorated by the crisp air. I had made it through the night without being eaten by a leopard, bitten by a black mamba, or stung by a scorpion!

Ready for some game viewing, we quickly packed up camp and headed to meet a guide for a wilderness walk/hike. Because we were in dangerous black rhino territory, each adult was assigned to a child in the case of emergency. We were told that if we came across a black rhino that we were not to run but find a large tree and either climb it or hide behind it (very comforting to start a hike this way!).

Shortly after we began the climb, we came to ruins from an 18th century village. Remnants of grinding stones and iron tools created from the iron-rich earth, remained from the once inhabited village. On the top of the mountain, we came across more ruins from a 17th century village. Stone walls remained from the hilltop village, revealing floor plans from huts and the king's quarters.

Although we did not see any black rhinos on this hike, we did come across quite a lot of rhino dung and other animal dung. I was a bit taken aback when David's wife and daughter collected the heaping rhino dung and different animals' dung with their bare hands for show and tell in school! They told me not to worry because these animals mostly all ate plants, but for some reason, I did not find that comforting.

Our guide was quite knowledgeable about the terrain and the animals. When we came across hyena dung, he warned us not to touch any of the plants near the dung because hyenas mark their territory after excretion. If we touched any of the plants around there, our hands would smell horrendously for days on end! Avoiding any vegetation near there, we continued on, listening to stories about the people who inhabited these mountains many years ago. Our guide showed us the specific trees which were planted for performing sacrifices and the trees that were used to help young girls' breasts grow larger (not a pleasant procedure!).

At the end of the hike, we all climbed into the back of the guide's backie (pick up truck) for a true South African ride back to our cars. We drove through La Palala reserve and watched as giraffes, rhinos, and zebras grazed the fields. All in all, my first game reserve experience was rugged and beautifully natural.

Lessons in Zulu

Today was my final day with the loveTrain in Piet Retief. The day began once again with the rumble of the generator at 6 am and work began to get ready for our event for the kids from the surrounding farm schools to introduce them to loveLife. Five minutes before the buses of kids arrived, I was told that I was to be the MC for the event. It was my job to get the kids excited and involved in the program. Panic set in as I thought about my difficulties with communication thus far.

Sure enough, the 70 plus kids arrived and I hopped on stage to welcome them. As I stood on stage, mic in hand, I was met with only confused looks. I don't know what the coordinators were thinking by putting me on stage because the kids couldn't understand a word I was saying! Luckily the local groundBREAKER joined me on stage and translated what I had said, at which point the kids roared and cheered.

Remembering what I had learned yesterday, I decided it was much wiser to keep to the entertainment side of the event, and started the kids dancing and interacting. Needless to say, it was quite an experience!

After the welcome entertainment, the kids were broken into groups and attended sessions that included motivation, speak-outs, and take action, which teaches the kids how to make positive changes in their lives by first identifying what needs to be changed. One boy stood up and thanked loveLife for giving him the opportunity to learn how to stay HIV negative and provide him the chance to partake in the program.

After the sessions, we started a large game of ultimate frisbee with the kids. Once again I found that music and sports are the universal language.

Exhausted but also exhilerated by the kids enthusiasm for loveLife, I headed back to Joburg with a few other loveLife members. The drive took us 6 hours as we got stuck in an incredibly strong wind storm which picked up the dirt from the fields and painted the sky a pale brown.

Finally arriving back in Joburg, I joined David Harrison and his family again for dinner. Bright and early tomorrow morning we are all heading to La Palala in the Limpopo province for some game viewing and sleeping under the stars!

R Kelly and Frisbee- the universal language

The much anticipated cold front arrived this morning as we welcomed a group of young adults on to the train for Cyber Ys training. Most of these adults had already finished matric (matriculation of high school) but were not working. The Cyber Ys training is intended to teach these adults how to use a computer in order to facilitate employment.

This afternoon we traveled to Derby which is an extremely rural farm village. Our trip took us off the main roads and onto deep red, earthy paths. We dodged goats and chickens in the road before we arrived at the school where we were to speak to the 9th grade about loveLife. We lead a motivational speak-out in which each loveLife member addressed the kids openly about decisions, change, sex, drugs, and HIV. Drawing on personal experiences and anecdotal stories, the loveLife team captured the kids' attention and was able to get the kids to speak out on these issues as well. Because my Zulu is what you might call a bit rusty at best, I was not able to give a full motivational talk. However, I was able to talk to the kids about the meaning of change, what it takes to get control of your life, and the necessary personal desire for change in order to give yourself the life you deserve.

It was inspiring to listen to the other loveLife members talk and motivate the youth (although I didnt follow everything that was said in Zulu!). When we left the school, kids were excited about loveLife and its mission.

Returning to the train, we had a new group of young adults for Cyber Y's training. Not being able to verbally communicate with the others, I sat down at the DJ booth and picked out some songs for us to listen. I quickly learned that R. Kelly is VERY popular here and just the fact that I knew who he was, let alone knew some of the lyrics, earned me major points with the other loveLife workers and the local kids. I was finally starting to break through with the others!

The weather warmed up and a few of us went outside to toss the frisbee. Although my skills are not refined, I was able to learn tips from the kids, eventhough we didn't speak the same language.

Tonight is the big soccer match- Pirates vs Kaizer Chiefs- and the country is divided. I went to dinner with some of the loveLife crew and the bar would not let us watch the game because we were Chiefs fans! Imagine the Arsenal and Manchester United rivalry in England and you will understand what is going on here in SA right now.

Well I better sign off before the other fans throw my blackberry out the window. But remember, should you find yourself in a situation in which you do not speak the local language, put on some R. Kelly and pull out a frisbee and you are ready to go!

Piet Retief, Small Town South Africa

(some of the local groundBREAKERs in front of the van and the train)

The morning began bright and early as the generator kicked on at 6 am. Eager for some food, we all piled into the van and headed out to find a grocery store and restrooms seeing as the bathrooms are not usable when in a station.

On the way back from the stores, we stopped at an HIV and TB clinic where we met some local groundBREAKERS who were to help us gather local kids to come to the loveTrain. The groundBREAKERS lead us around to the rural farm schools, that in order to reach, we took dirt road to dirt road, followed mining trucks, and then another dirt road.

(The kids of the primary farm school in Piet Retief)

At the different schools, we met with the principal to discuss dismissing groups of teens to come to the loveTrain at different times over the next few days for our Cyber Y's program which aims to educate the local teens on using computers and the internet. The first school we stopped at, the kids were enchanting. I made the mistake of taking out my camera to capture their happy, smiling faces and soon found that children in South Africa LOVE having their picture taken and will pose for you for however long you would like. Swarmed by almost the entire school, I, with the help of my fellow loveLife workers, were able to get the kids into some kind of order for a picture. The kids' sheer joy of having their picture taken was incredible and it was difficult to drive away. However, we had many more schools and clinics to visit before the day was over.

(Piet Retief township)

Moving on to our next site visit, we met with the groundBREAKER who teaches the Life Orientation classes at the local schools and negotiated us coming into her classroom tomorrow to introduce the kids to the loveTrain.



This afternoon, about 10 teenagers from one of the farm high schools arrived at the loveTrain and began their first introduction to Cyber Y's and computers. People having heard the loveTrain was in Piet Retief and had heard about the Cyber Y's training, also arrived at the train to find out more information and if they could bring their children by the next afternoon. The people of Piet Retief are excited by the train's presence and eager to learn how to use a computer.

(Cyber Y's training on the train and the radio broadcast center)

Growing up in America, I remember learning how to use a computer in 4th grade, if not earlier. Technology has always been at our finger tips and it is easy to forget that we are lucky to have the access to technology that we have and that not everyone has these opportunities.

Hakuna Matata

(The low veld and scattered townships)

I have learned many things on my adventure thus far but perhaps the most prevalent lesson is to go with the flow. Nothing in South Africa seems to happen on time or as planned. However, I am convinced this is why South Africans are seemingly so happy. They live a life based on the famous saying from The Lion King, "hakuna matata" (no worries).

I arrived in Joburg yesterday afternoon with no place to stay. Ever the philanthropist and caring soul, David Harrison, the CEO of loveLife, offered for me to stay with him and his family for the evening. Little did I know that this would entail discussions of Harry Potter, homework, and naming the little girls' guinea pigs' babies. It was a wonderful reprieve to be in a home and around a family for the night.

The next morning, the loveTrain was scheduled to leave Joburg around 10 am. However, to my surprise, the train left early and was already in Piet Retief. Remembering hakuna matata, I relaxed and went with the flow. I ended up joining two outreach coordinators and the three of us drove to Piet Retief that afternoon.

Our drive began through the heart of Joburg (the loveLife office is in Sandton which is an extremely wealthy suburb of Joburg and it is where all the financial companies are moving to). The center of Joburg was what I had pictured most African cities to look like - dilapidated high rises, people wandering in the streets, and closed store fronts. Bus loads of Zimbabweans were unloading to purchase everyday essentials their country will not provide.

Leaving the city, we drove through the Mpumalanga province which is considered the low veld. The land seemed barren with the exception of a few smatterings of trees here and there. Every few kilometers, a township would appear and the bright blues, greens, and purples of the huts offered a break from the golds, oranges, and browns of the veld.

As we drove further away from Joburg and closer to Piet Retief, we entered the coal mining towns. It was around 4:30 pm and the sun was setting over the mountains. Buses jammed with men in blue jumpsuits were piling out of the trucks, exhausted and covered in dirt and coal from the mines. It reminded me of scenes in the movies but then I realized this was real life - their real lives. Women walked along the roadside carrying bags of groceries and tubs of water. Some women were even carrying babies tied to their backs as they lugged home food for supper.

We arrived at the loveTrain a few minutes before 7 pm only to find the entire town of Piet Retief closed. Although hungry, we realized we were going to have to wait until the morning to get food. Instead, we huddled around the little tv in the kitchen trying to make out the faces of characters in the static.

(The loveTrain crew huddled around our tv in the kitchen)

There are five people on the loveTrain, including me. Unfortunately, I am the only one who speaks English, the other four speaking Zulu and Xhosa. Although difficult at times, I think the next few days will be good for me to be quiet for a change!

I must sign off now as our generator is about out for the night!

(Goodnight from Piet Retief! This is essentially my entire bunk quarters)