Last weekend, I went out with a couple of friends to see the Durban nightlife. We ended making new friends and going to another part of north Durban, umhlanga. we also hit the Fashion TV night club while we were there. What was struck me about the place was that it was like a completely different country in the other side of the city. mainly white people and it just felt like we were somewhere else. South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, ahead of Brazil.

the polarization of the SA society is a major issue that the country faces today. this can be partially attributed to the legacy of apartheid in the country. the elite white vs the common african. whilst a few african have become successful, most still are at the bottom. many factors play into the dual economy. SA is a third world country with first world features. the roadways and the PRIVATE health care system are excellent. however, there still is much work to be done with employment, poverty and (for me) most especially education. the passing/completion rate of the population from elementary school to obtaining a college degree is dismal.

one big issue in the city of Durban is the government spending on locations to make Durban a "world-class" city. this is also affected by the efforts geared towards the 2010 World Cup. the city government has focused on building a new airport, multi-billion dollar stadium, africa's biggest water park which hold one of the top five biggest aquariums in the world, a big casino complex, the development of a new CBD in the more posh area among other things. another one is how the city government wants to tear down a local market and build a new shopping mall *the market pics are on facebook and there is one picture of a wall containing flyers of protests by the traders* many of these "developments" are very controversial with the city locals. one very dubious project is a elephant statue in the middle of the highway worth more than 2 million SA rand. really, elephant statues?

so the feelings of the locals are that, if you can spend so much on these places, what about the people of the city? and all the issues that affect them and how about working toward depolarizing the economy? much work to be done, no doubt. but i think the city's priorities are skewed. if they really want to build a world class city, i believe they have to start at the bottom. not to mention, the crime rate in Durban due to the inequality. the image that the city gov't wants to portray of durban is of a western city. and that is not the real Africa. I am loving examining the real Africa and they are trying to focus on bringing in tourists, which they think will help boost the local economy.

things like this has sparked numerous protests around the countries vs local governments. not to mention the announced 25% increase in electricity bills by April, effectively a 50% increase by 2012. i think the city government are focusing on outsiders seeing durban as a touristy destination. but they really should address the needs of the people. also, building all these new "attractions" and the growth of the city will affect the people currently living in areas and displace them. even some tours of Durban only bring tourists to one gift market because they say the other markets are too dangerous. while the group of 15 american students walked around all the markets. its an interesting topic and something we have been looking the past two weeks. we also had a glimpse on the education issue this past week.

apologies if this was so haphazardly put together, my internet time is limited and just had to type this out. this next week we are heading to the rural areas where we will be spending a few days with a rural african family. the language barrier will also be a challenge. I am planning to blog about durban food soon and towards the end of the next week we will be heading to a game reserve and see animals! i will be out of touch for about 10 days hope everyone is doing well!!

p.s. its been a month here!

week 3 recap

a week's recap.

Last wednesday the 17th, we went to Umhlanga and visited a very remarkable ngo that does work all over Africa. They are the African Center for Conflict Resolution and Development (ACCORD). They do work in many countries in Africa and are recognized for their great work around the continent. one of their ongoing projects are reintegrating refugees from Burundi into their homelands, which they were driven out of in two waves, in 1972 and in 1993. the history of Burundi is strikingly similar to that of Rwanda, in which ethnic wars between the Hutu's and Tutsi's have driven out thousands of people. the ACCORD visit was very impressive and the work they do is very impressive. talk about making a real difference in people's lives.

we went to the University of kwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) for a night of jazz. there is a jazz club within UKZN and there are performances once or twice a week. it was a pretty packed place for a weeknight. it was very nice to know that the campus supported such a club.

on thursday we walked around Warwick junction in Durban. Warwick houses a major part of the informal economy of Durban, namely the street traders and vendors. the informal economy plays a big role in the polarization of the dual economy and for the livelihood of the people. we toured several market which include a fruit and vegetable market, gift market, commodities… but the most interesting ones were the head cookers and the herb/traditional healers market. vendors at the head cookers' skin whole heads of cows and boil them while adding a little bit of salt. of course I had to try this delicacy and it was very tasty! very delicious beef and very tender. I will definitely go back to have some more bovine head. the traditional healers market had all sorts of weird stuff from dried birds, monkeys, snakes, all sorts of dried animals and tree barks and other plants. very cool and exotic. one interesting thing is that it still exists, even if there aren't many people that purchase traditional medicine.

early friday morning we went to a local public school to feed orphans with the kwaZulu-Natal (KZN is the province where Durban is located) youth empowerment project. they feed the orphans everyday and have different program that cater from pre-schoolers to prisoners. they focus on heath and well-being. their projects aim to get kids of street and to educate them in different social issues while providing an outlet such as sport. its funny, I read a flyer for their football tourney in a couple months' time and the prizes are 3rd = 15 chickens, 2nd = a sheep and 1st = a cow.


later that night we went to see a rugby game, the Durban sharks vs the Free state Cheetahs. its was a fun experience and we all had a good time despite the sharks losing. I have anew rugby team to support. definitely coming back to see another one.

i'll try to keep this short-- saturday we did a walk through durban. we visited the grey street mosque, the biggest in the southern hemisphere, and listened to the main man behind the organization try to brainwash us that Jesus and Moses were both muslim. funny, right. we had lunch at little gujerat (which reminds me, I should make a separate post on food in Durban) which was very delicious. that geared us up for the walk to the Durban art gallery in the city hall and lastly the BAT centre by the harbor. the art gallery had art works of all kinds and the BAT centre was a nice place where we were all treated to a cold beer after a long walk. the BAT centre had a good amount of people for mid-afternoon. its a nice bar/restaurant by the harbor which has a gift shop, gallery and performances during the week.

this is very long, that's it for now.

email to a friend

below is an email I sent a friend in Gburg earlier this week. obviously edited a little bit, it contains some feeling and reflection on the whole experience thus far.

yoooo remember that email that we talked about last week? well this is it. haha i apologize if there is just way too many mediums of communication going on between us right now. haha

the entire time here has just been overwhelming. to start, the plus the 'skin' movie really gave us a surreal intro into the whole apartheid theme. and since then everyone that has come in to talk about issues such as AIDS, gender equality, housing, teenage fatherhood they're all experts and work with orgs that deal specifically with those issues. and of course our own AD who is just awesome and has lectured us on the history, apartheid and another one on staff talked about economic issues. and we don't just learn it in the classroom but we go out and actually see the reality behind it.

I mean every country has their own issues but the way we are learning about them is just incredible. I haven't even looked at the Philippines in this way although I know a lot about the issues that are going on, etc. what I like about this program is that we are supposed to process these experiences. its just so surreal and I like it. looking at another third world country esp in Africa. I really like it. our experiences outside of the lecture room also have been a great learning experience. everyone experiences different adjustments and maybe difficulties in understanding why african families practice certain things but it has overwhelmingly been a positive response by everyone.

I enjoy dealing with our homestay families, neighbors and the other locals. the neighbors are great too. the staff described this place to us as not the safest at night but everyone's friendliness makes us all feel very safe. and for most of the group here, are very surprised at how tight-knit the community is as compared to the individualism in the US. communities are dying in the US and most real communities exist in the third world.

everything combined has just been a lot to take in so soon. we are encouraged to keep a daily reflective blog on whatever we learned or experienced and will be given a grade on it. needless to say i have not been keeping up. haha everyone here keeps a personal journal and is lagging with the reflective blog. I am just not a very reflective person and live in the 'now' so much that its hard to keep any sort of journal so I don't have a personal journal. I'd rather talk about these things with someone else.

also I'm very happy with the group of people and staff. Our AD is just incredible, funny in an old man way and is fun when we're out of the classroom. being with college kids definitely makes him feel younger. we also have a "mom" on staff and a logistics coordinator who are great as well. everyone in the group is also nice and everyone gets along well. I think that these first weeks would suck if everyone felt overwhelmed and no one got along. group cohesion just creates good dialogue between all of us to share thoughts, etc. I believe that the group consensus is that we are all very happy with the program staff and the people in the program!

haha alright this is a long-ass email already. haha take your time reading it :p just a lot of thoughts and feelings haha tell you more about the weekend some other time!

end of last week/south coast weekend

last thursday we visited a creche, or day care center, in town that is run by the Union of Refugee women. these women who run the place are all refugees from Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, etc and have all fled their home countries because of war. their building really was the sketchiest of places and it was nice to see such a haven of happiness within the ghetto setting. they are looking for a new place to stay since they can't afford that much rent. the women that run the place started out as car guards and as there has been a need for their kids to stay during the day while they work including other people's children too they set up a day care center. they focus on preparing the children for school and is assisted by a white woman who has a teaching background.

the center relies heavily on volunteers and they currently have two from germany and canada. since the inception of the refugee union the women have progressed into nursing school and in obtaining education for better employment. being their just gives one a great sense of joy and admiration for what the women are doing. and as we left, you can tell that we all wanted to volunteer and assist them. after the creche we visited the kwaMuhle museum that had an exhibit on the racial segregation in the US as well as apartheid in SA.

friday morning we left at 6:30am to visit the early morning bead market where tons of women from the rural areas sit and sell their products the entire day. these women are marginalized and make a few hundred per day. this only occurs on a friday. that same afternoon we left for the South Coast which is two hours south of Durban. We stayed at a quaint backpackers on top of a hill with a great view of the hills and the ocean. It was nice to get out of the city for a bit especially when so much has occurred in Durban in terms of the program for the past couple of weeks.

we took a several mile hike along the beach and then into the hills and passed by the area where several of the rural scenes in the movie Blood Diamond was shot. we also were able to see the hill that Leo DiCaprio died in the movie. it was a long grueling walk that ended with the group having lunch in a round shelter, typical of the SA countryside. and lunch was great. we demolished the food. I took lots of pictures however it was a pretty cloudy day and rained for a bit. before heading back on sunday we hit the beach and I spent 98% of my time playing football with local kids. it was a really good time.

this week we are looking into the Truth and Reconciliation Act, refugee and SA migrants and conflict resolution in SA and Africa. Should be interesting. *pictures on facebook should be up by the end of the week

I meant to say 15-25 years old in the video!

Like I also said in the video, I am LOOKING FORWARD to the showers. There are no showers in the homestay because this is their way of saving water. They are very conscious about their water and electricity here. so bathing is not the most refreshing or quickest way of cleansing oneself but its ok. its part of the experience.

Another interesting thing about SA is that their Bill of Rights provides a Right to Housing to all South Africans. SA is one of two, if I am not mistaken, countries that provides this right to its people. so it is another big issue here in the country. Yesterday we drove around and visited a couple of places to see different types of housing. There are shacks-style house that really are just slums, there are tin-town where people live in "tin cans" (pics up on facebook soon), there are Reconstruction and Development Program houses by the government, flats leased by the government and privately owned houses. being the most unequal nation in the world, crossing the road from government provided housing brings you to a nice privately-owned community.

majority of people that live in shacks or tin-towns are those waiting for their own homes. they get a document from the government saying that they have the house and wait for the house to be built. there are many corruption issues that surrounds the system because people with connections/who bribe the authorities are made beneficiaries sooner, taking the place of those that were promised. the gov't places people in the slums and tin-towns, supposedly for 6 months, while the gov't builds the houses. however, there are many people that stay in the same shacks and tin-towns for 2,6, 10 and even 20 years. we also met with a shack dwellers movement that aims to protect and uphold the rights and seek justice for those unfairly treated.

the provision of housing creates an interesting dynamic to the city of Durban. the city center is surrounded by hills and all around the city all over the hills are homes and developments. the city isn't really populated past working hours. the apartheid regime also had a part to play in this because they forced non-whites to resettle away from the whites, driving them out of the city. and so the city center is just surrounded by houses. this then poses a transportation issue, employment-outside the city, and the proximity of lower class housing to developed areas creates more crime. no wonder some houses here look like prison with fences and barbed wire surrounding their property. many houses also have armed response security in case the house is broken into or something to that effect.

I found this interesting.

we were given a free weekend in order to spend time with our host families and get to know them. we started it off well on friday as we went to the beach, which is about 20 minutes away right after school. it was a very hot weekend and a great time for the beach. we stayed a while and I spoke with a man that runs a surf club. I will definitely be seeing him many times before I leave this country.

I took my family out to lunch on saturday to warm things up. I also wanted to take them out to learn the local transportation system. they use mini-buses here, which are vans that they fill to absolute capacity and have certain drop-off points. it is a lot cheaper than taking a cab, reason why I am eager to learn. once we got back from lunch, we anticipated the Kaiser Chiefs game on tav since it is the club my family supports.

on sunday I took my brother, Zulu (just like the language), out to a see the soccer club from Durban in a premier league match held in the Moses Mabhida stadium, which was built for the World Cup. I have found a new club, amaZulu. once again we took the mini-buses. Zulu and I had planned to go early to make sure we got tickets and just met with the rest of the students for the game. It was quite a fun experience (pictures are on facebook) and I can only imagine how crazy it will get for the world cup. after the match we walked for about half an hour to 40 ins searching for florida road, which is sort of the "hip" spot here in durban. we had a nice dinner at tacozulu and then headed home. It felt good to get out for the weekend and get some sun while exploring the city.

we have started with the academic activities and have been having lectures on our focus, Social and Political Transformation while also taking Zulu classes. We are in the SIT office from about 7:30-4:30 everyday. The routine here is go to bed around 9pm and get up at about 5 or 6am. yesterday, I was able to play soccer with our kiddie neighbors. these kids are great and they're pretty funny. they get so animated when they play. it was quite fun experiencing how stars are born in the streets. I still have not lost hope…

sing and dance

Africans love to sing and dance and it is quite pleasant when they all somehow harmonize so well together. the curators in one of the museums we visited explained that anyone can come up with a song, make their own lyrics and its becomes "their" song that is sung whenever they meet again.

this video that I took during mass is just proof how much singing and dancing is a part of African culture. the audio does not reflect how enjoyable it was to hear everyone singing because it was taken with my point and shoot. some songs had actions and it was quite the experience, unlike any other mass I have attended. just an example of how rhythm and music are so embedded into African culture.

'SKIN'

we watched the movie 'Skin' last Wednesday and like I may have said on the first video blog, it was a movie that deeply moved me, an extraordinary story that has made me even more interested in this country and its people. The whole experience that she went through and the way she was treated was appalling to say the least. it explicitly showed the power of racism. I am sure the acts committed in the movie did not fall short of embarrassing the white minority in the country. not that they are all at fault but there were white south africans who sat at the back row and cried during the movie.

interestingly enough, another SIT staff member who also helps us with the academic side held a small debrief after the movie. he watched Invictus 3 times in the cinemas and told us that every single time, white South Africans sit in the back row and many of them cried during the movie, despite Invictus being such a "triumphant" movie. I really recommend seeing 'Skin'. I probably won't show in the Philippines but it might have shown/be showing in the States. another interesting note is seeing how south africans (all races) react to certain scenes in Skin, which definitely won't be the same as seeing it in American cinemas.

hey everyone,

I am hoping to keep up this blog throughout my stay, perhaps updating it every week/every other week. just my initiative to keep people updated instead of writing on everyone's wall.

so its been almost a week and its has been unreal. SA is just a very interesting place. so far we have seen some of the city, Durban, and got to know how transportation works and some cool places. We have visited a few museums and have had a few lectures on very basic things such as the history of SA, the history of the place we are staying, and some orientationesque aspects of the whole program. We are still in the orientation phase and have started on a couple of serious academic lectures. We will be moving into our home stays tomorrow where we will be living with a zulu family for most of our stay here in SA.

for those of you who aren't familiar with SIT, we won't be studying in a college or university. SIT is very hands on and deals a lot with experiential education. We have a lecture room here in the SIT office which we have been using as a semi-classroom. a lot of our learning will come from seeing, hearing, writing about things and interacting with people. This is why I chose SIT because I thought I could use a break from the more formal classroom.

it hasn't been a week yet but already this experience is hitting me hard. I knew very little about apartheid before even being accepted into this program. but gauging from the first week or so, this whole semester will be something else. the program is about social and political transformation. after the transition from apartheid, there is a time for transformation. fifteen years on, there is still much work to do.

that is it for now, I will update further as more action comes along. Hope everyone is doing well!!