Mothers and Shacks in South Africa

So one of our projects here in Diepsloot is to meet with different families and for the mentees AKA ambassadors to assess what they really needed us to buy. It was a great opportunity for the ambassadors to learn some budget skills, even though they were severely helped by the mentors and only had to work with three different items to budget for instead of say 20.

I was really impressed by the lack of greed of the people. Most mothers simply asked for things for their children, even when we asked them directly what they would like. It reminded me much of my mother! Maybe it is a universal thing :). Even when asking a small girl what she would like she refused to say she needed anything, but after some effort she said that she would like some play clothes. KIDS AT HOME ARE SO SPOILED! Take this to heart! Maybe the kids AND the parents need a week in the slums to realize it.

The mothers/grandmothers and orphan-led household leaders are extremely selfless here, and I find it incredibly inspiring. Some of the households held as many as 11 children, and have all somehow been affected by HIV/AIDS. Keep in mind that these families of 12 people share a one room shack that is the size of a typical American child's bedroom.




Also, they buildings are not very solid structures. The shacks are made of some sort of zinc iron corrugated concoction :P. But seriously, when it rains their floors are soaked and water comes through the roof. We actually walked into a house where the walls had holes in them today.

Americans definitely take too much for granted. Easily accessible water. Shelter. Food.


Happy Bloggly Belated to my mentee Marie! Big 14!

South African Strike!

I think its pretty cool that wherever I travel there seems to be something political going on. JUST MY LUCK!

Turns out this past weekend there were major strikes Johannesburg by teachers and also the people who typically clean up Diepsloot.

We were supposed to go into Diepsloot on Saturday, but we ended up not because of the potentially dangerous conditions. Also, there apparently are many drunken men who play football close to where we were cleaning up, which would have also posed a potentially difficult situation.

Reminds me of the car fires in Berlin, and the summits in Montreal and London! I guess I'm pretty lucky to see some of these things firsthand, but in this case we actually got to experience LESS because of it. boo.

South Africans: Bheki and Edgar

Bheki is one of the volunteers from the Motsoaledi community that we visited on our second day here in South Africa, and pictured here is his son Simphiwe, otherwise known as Edgar. By son, I mean adopted son, but I suppose to the South Africans, it is mostly the same thing.

There is a sense of community that I've never really felt before in any other place that I've traveled to, and it is a beautiful thing.


Bheki told me the story that he was once out in the community at the same time as Edgar's grandmother when Edgar fastly ran to him and clung to his leg. He was only 3 years old!

Today Edgar is 10, and as you can see he is extremely strong and intelligent. Bheki insisted to me that it was fate because they share the same birthday,

Meeting Locals and Sightseeing

Today we visited Constitutional Hill (where Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were imprisoned), the Hector Pieterson Museum, Mandela's House and Motsoaledi, Soweto.

This is Mandela's House!


At Constitutional Hill AKA where the Jail Complex was they had this really neat interactive exhibit of sorts where you could move rocks from place to place and write your own personal message on them. This is me and my somewhat failed attempt with my uniball pen, ahha. FYI Uniball pens are not meant for writing on rocks.





Motsoaledi was our first direct encounter with poverty, and it definitely made an impression on all of us, but especially the mentees.

This was our first sight on the bus:



Here is a picture of us with a few local kids. They were all thoroughly excited to take pictures with us and see them on our digital cameras. I was a little bit uncomfortable when they all asked each of us for money, but realized it was just because of their exposure to tourists, and their high expectations from us. All of our kids don't carry money, and I guess it is good to teach them how to manage their money, or else I'm sure they would all have extra empty pockets right now! The kids asking for money was no different than the kids asking for money from tourists in New York City.



I interacted the most with a local named Bheki (his English name is George). He adopted his son Edgar when Edgar was 3 years old. He was already confirmed HIV positive. Bheki told us the story that Edgar's grandmother and Edgar were walking around in the same area as Bheki when Edgar ran up to Bheki. Bheki said it was absolutely love at first sight, as Edgar just clung onto Bheki. Today, Edgar is 10 years old—strong and healthy.

This is Bhaki and Edgar



Marie and Jasmine both noted how happy people were considering how little they had. The most surprising thing for Marie was the home we visited today of the mother. She had four kids, one bedroom, and a very small common space. During our debriefing, Marie asked if we could help the mother specifically, and Malaak responded that we would be helping many others similar to that family. Similarly, Karen mentioned how we can't necessarily help everyone. It was heartbreaking for a lot of the mentees, and Malaak took it into consideration. Hopefully, for the next Journey for Change. Even the mentors were a bit disappointed.

We ate at Wandies which is apparently a famous restaurant here for local cuisine. It was very delicious! Most notably, however, were the box of condoms we found on the floor. I have seen condoms in public bathrooms in other countries, but still find it extremely notable. The condoms were free, and you could take a pack of 6, or a single one. The only other place in New York that I regularly pass by that is like this is probably NYU's medical center, and oftentimes the RAs of dorms. The girls were a bit embarrassed to know that I was going to include condoms in my blog, but I guess it is one of those things that I personally found interesting, and when I explained it to them they totally understood. (After all, with such a high concentration of HIV/AIDS positive people in one country, it makes sense that they would try to encourage safer sex in any way possible!)

I had some really great talks with my two girls about how I am not their counselor, but rather I am their mentor. I guess a lot of them don't realize how seriously the mentors take it. We are here for them. We are only committed officially for a year—but I know that our bond will last for much longer!

Meeting people with HIV/AIDS and Diepsloot Intro

During our first day in South Africa we were divided into groups for our future service work. I was placed with a fellow mentor, Jaclyn, and we meet with Freddy Sithone and Violet Miyalani.

At first I didn't realize why Violet had such a hard time spelling her name, and was extremely shy, but learned the next day that many people of these areas are illiterate. It was something I completely took for granted. Both are locals of Diepsloot, the community we will be working with.

Diepsloot had a close place to Malaak's heart—a place she calls her second home. The big difference between Diepsloot and other communities that visitor's may encounter is that Diepsloot is not exposed to tourists, and so the general nature of the people are extremely pure. There are various “extensions” that defined within Diepsloot like Extension 1, or the reception area that many people stay for years.

During our orientation we also met a woman named Rosina, also from Diepsloot. It was her absolute first time sharing with a group of people that she was HIV positive. It was BEYOND a blessing for the entire group to have such a special experience. It was beyond special. She attends support group meetings with the Olive Leaf Foundation, and we were told she has never shared so publicly outside of her support group. She spoke with a translator. We felt the emotion and timidness, but also the incredible bravery. Rosina said she felt encouraged and her fears went away after starting her ARV medication. She hasn't missed a dosage since starting her medication.

19 August 2010 - First Day Reflections, JFC

So for all who don't know, I signed on to be a mentor in the Journey for Change program directed by Malaak Compton-Rock, Chris Rock's wife and amazing worker for the global community. Malaak's enlightenment for our trip and this Journey for Change program is 1. travel 2. service 3. advocacy. The program involves 30 kids from HIV/AIDS high-risk areas in Brooklyn, and 15 college mentors from NYC universities like NYU, Pratt, and CCNY. The kids range from 11 to 15 years old.

My two mentees that are specifically assigned to me for a one-year structured mentorship program are Marie (13) and Jasmine (15). Both are terrific and have so much potential for a great journey in South Africa in the coming weeks. Jasmine has two little sisters, one little brother and is in the 10^th grade. Marie has two big brothers, two big sisters, one little sister, and is in 9^th grade. Both mentees have a love for Math, dislike for science, and are from the Bushwick core of the Salvation Army.

This is us leaving Bushwick!

We arrived in Johannesburg to an exhausting day. All 30 kids were pretty tired after a long and noisy flight without sleep. We were welcomed by Salvation Army representatives that are stationed in South Africa, Elizabeth Berry-Gips, the US Ambassador's wife, and Robert Donaldson, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Salvation Army originally from New Zealand, working in South Africa.

It was phenomenal for the kids to see firsthand that the Salvation Army is really a global effort for change. I guess most Americans just see the local faces of volunteers who stand outside ringing bells around Christmas time, but there is so much more. The Salvation Army builds community even here in South Africa. I also didn't realize its religious affiliations with Christianity. I guess I must seem really naïve for not knowing that, but hey—we learn something new everyday. A great quote from the welcome ceremony to sum up the religious sentiment in South Africa: “If you look under a tree there's a church there”.

One of the best things I took away from the day is how fortunate I am to have so much in the USA, when in South Africa there are so many people living with less opportunity. This is obviously going to be a reoccurring theme. A Salvation Army representative said “He wondered, 'If the sky will look the same in America...it did”.

The representatives from the Salvation Army also welcomed us with various dances that I will soon post to my travel youtube channel (yet to be created), so look forward to that! THEY WERE AMAZING and extremely uplifting.

After our welcome we had some serious time learning and re-learning about HIV/AIDS, the different campaigns they are running in different parts of Africa, and the different statistics that really brought everything together. I won't write much about statistics now because there is a lot of other things I'd love to just get out onto my blog. Check out the next posting for information about the actual work we are doing.

'Someone' gets lost/goes missing at Disney

Names have been changed to protect those in the story :-)

Okay so the story goes...

Save went to the bathroom and the rest of us "disappeared". Then he went looking for us. The looking led Save to a string of buses. Behind the tinted glass of the first bus was a family waving at Save...so what does he do? He catches the next bus assuming WE were that family. hahahhahaha.

He goes all the way to the Magic Kingdom (with a huge rush of people on the buses AND there) because he knew thats where my parents wanted to go.

Mind you this is all without a cell phone because Save dropped his phone into the water while getting onto the rapids ride.

FYI If Save was a real person, this is what he would look like before he dropped his phone

....and this is what he would look like after .

So everyone was waiting around in the lobby waiting for Save to get out of the bathroom with no word from him (we thought he was taking a poo). Eventually we get a call from his brother saying that Save left a message on his voicemail saying he would wait for us at Magic Kingdom's front gate. Save had called him from a stranger's phone.

Finally, Save figures out that he should call my parents hotel room to see if they are there, and in fact they were. HAHAHAHA. NOT AT MAGIC KINGDOM.

Moral of the story: The Baptistas won't leave you behind, LOL...and you shouldn't get on random buses even if you think they have gotten onto the one before it.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we were only around the corner from where we were sitting? Also, that Save did not check the hotel room first...nor the other parts of the lobby...hahahahhaha.

My parents ALMOST missed the fireworks that night. :-)...but they didn't and we all went to see the parade.

And then we all got sick on the teacups!

Good times. Good times. I hope I was discreet enough.