Remembering September

I know that I’ve been writing more about my thoughts, feelings, and observations more than about the things I’ve actually done, so here’s a brief recap of some of the things that have happened in the past month in rough chronological order:

-I ran in the first Color Run on the African continent.

When driving down in Summerstrand one day, I had seen a sign in passing for the Color Run, so I looked it up to find that it was happening in a week’s time (it was on September 1).  I had gotten really excited about the possibility of doing it, but when I went to register online, it had already sold out.  I signed up for their mailing list, hoping that another one would happen some time within the year.  To my delight, I had gotten an e-mail the next day saying at extra spots were added to the current run.  Claire and I, after a little struggle with frozen bank accounts, were able to register, and along with Kelly (one of the previously mentioned American Fulbrighters), and Lebo, a friend and soccer teammate of both Kelly and Claire, we headed to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University campus to run the 5K.

It was a whole bunch of fun, and even though it was incredibly packed, it felt really cool to be part of the first Color Run in Africa.  And now I have a whole bunch of cool photos to show for it.  Of course, Port Elizabeth is the Windy City, so it definitely made for a more interesting run.  I now have the Color Run shirt hung up on my wall, much like I used to have my Holi shirt from the time I illegally did that while on board Semester at Sea.  Good freakin’ times.

-I got to attend two Skillz Street Graduations.

This past quarter, the PE site has been working hard to promote Skillz Street, our all-girls intervention.  We’ve had a lot of interest and large number of participants, and early this month, we had a few Skillz Street graduations.  I really wanted to see these first-hand and experience how our coaches celebrate the completion of the curriculum with their participants.

The graduations were raucous occasions, beginning with a review of material and followed by a very fun set of presentations.  The girls were put into teams for the duration of the program, and those teams are tasked with presenting something to the rest of the participants, whether that be a song, a dance, or a skit.    Girls are also encouraged to recite poems or write their own about the experience of being a girl and the empowerment they have gained through being part of the curriculum.  The graduation shows such a wide range of talent from the girls, and I was inspired and in awe of all of them.

We then presented them with certificates and gifts (in the form of nicer-than-usual snacks) and took a lot of photos.  The girls all seemed so happy, and many of them hugged their coaches (and some of them hugged me, too) and didn’t want them/us to leave.  It was nice to see how well received GRS is by the participants themselves.  They clearly enjoyed having the coaches, learning about life skills, and most importantly, having fun.

-There have been two semi-successful poitjie attempts at the Mandela Bay Mansion.

Our South African friend Kyle suggested one day that we have a poitjie at our house.  Poitjie is Afrikaans for “little pot,” and it’s the counterpart to the traditional braai.  Pronounced “POY-kee,” since the “tj” combination produces a hard-C sound, a poitjie is a stew prepared in a cast-iron pot that is placed on an open fire and allowed to slow cook for hours.  People sit around the fire, drink, and enjoy each other’s company as the poitjie is left to cook.

Our first attempt was a failure as we had no real concept of the amount of time the poitjie takes to cook, and we ended up being hungry, restless, cold, and watching Pretty Little Liars, which has now become a trend at the MBM amongst Claire and the Fulbright girls.  The second time around was more successful in that two poitjies were made (one of lamb, and one that was vegetarian so Claire and I could actually eat it), and we invited over three more American girls, Southerners who are here studying abroad/student teaching at a primary school.  Pretty Little Liars was a common thread amongst all the girls yet again, so that left me alone with Kyle around the fire conversing about politics, homophobia, racism, and how horrible Pretty Little Liars is.  The resulting poitjie was well received, as it took even longer than expected, but it was pretty darn delicious.

-I pet baby lions and cheetahs.

Along with the other Fulbrighter Ashley, Claire and I went to Seaview Animal Park, a short drive away from the city.  It is a small reserve where we were able to get our first look at animals here in Africa, including zebra and giraffe.  However, the main draw to Seaview is the lions and cheetahs.  There are some enclosures with older cats, but in a smaller facility, there are younger lions and cheetahs that visitors are allowed to pet.  Of course, we took the leap and pet some young lions and a cheetah that were only a few weeks old.  No need to delve very deep into the story, but Seaview is definitely more of a touristy, zoo-like establishment, and so it seemed very inauthentic and unwelcoming, but for a first time seeing animals and having the chance to pet a few, it was still pretty great.

-We held a successful Fun Day with San Miguel in Addo.

Our biggest project for the PE office since I’ve been here was planning for a Fun Day in Addo.  If you refer to a previous blog post, GRS PE has partnered with a citrus company called San Miguel to train some of its employees as coaches, deliver interventions to area youth, and to provide this Fun Day, an event at the end of the citrus harvest that is a combination of Grassroot Soccer’s typical HIV Counseling and Testing Tournament and San Miguel’s end of year celebration for their employees.  We hosted a soccer and netball tournament, set up fun games and activities like sack races and water balloon tosses, and provided free HIV counseling and testing.  San Miguel also had a thank you ceremony where they rewarded their best pickers with goodie baskets and even gave bikes to their most exceptional employees.

We have been planning the event for weeks, and even though we had just arrived, Claire and I were put in charge with a lot of the planning and preparation.  Though there were some hiccups leading up to the day and a good amount of frustration, the event was incredibly successful.  We had many of the employees come out to the event and participate in the tournament and other activities.  Our biggest success of the day, though, was the amount of people who tested for HIV.  Leading up to the event, we were expecting only around 50 or so of the adult employees to test because we were told that there was a huge stigma and fear around testing, especially for adults.  However, we far exceeded that expectation and ended up testing around half of the over 300 participants.  That was the day’s biggest win.  The event was also supposed to act as a corporate fundraiser for the Port Elizabeth office, and through our work and the services we provided, we were able to secure almost 13,000 Rand in unrestricted funding from the company, so that’s pretty great, too.  San Miguel highly appreciated our efforts, and I commend the entire PE team for a job well done.

-I witnessed an herd of elephants a few yards away from me.

I had started to research places to visit the second I learned that I was going to be placed in Port Elizabeth, and Addo Elephant Park was always on the top of any list you could find online.  Since Claire and I help run an intervention on Saturdays in Addo, we are always only a few miles away from the park, but we have never actually been able to go.  There have been many plans with our staff that have fallen through multiple times, so we finally decided to go on Heritage Day, a South African public holiday, meaning we had no work.

Ashley joined us again for this animal excursion, but we also took along Casey and Rachel, two of the three American girls who are here student teaching.  After a great brunch at Vovo Telo, still our favorite place to eat in PE, we drive an hour to Addo.  We had no expectations since it’s a huge National Park, and you can’t control when you see any of the reserve’s animals.  Almost immediately, we had spotted some zebra in the distance and a warthog bathing in mud.  However, the true jackpot was seeing a massive herd of elephant around a watering hole.

I would say a good 50 or so elephants, ranging from tiny babies to huge older ones, were congregated around a pool of water, and after bathing, they eventually started to move together in a seemingly well-calculated line.  Watching all of them moving together was incredibly majestic.  We just stared in awe, being so close to these enormous creatures and seeing them interact with each other.  It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

We continued through the park, running into the same group of elephants, and seeing a whole bunch of other animals like kudu and a bunch of birds, crossing them off the list that came with the park map.  It was such a beautiful day, and I’m so glad that we finally had the chance to visit Addo.

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Other than those, getting acquainted with PE has been great.  We’ve gone out to eat a lot, and I’m happy to say that this city has a lot of amazing food.  We’ve also done some other excursions like going to Jeffrey’s Bay, a quaint beach town not too far away to relax on the sand.  Work wise, we’ve gotten to get a lot closer to the coaches, did a whole bunch of arts and crafts throughout the office (including a fantastic family tree) and I was even able to facilitate a coach development session on the risk of tuberculosis amongst those who are HIV-positive.

Soon enough, I’ll be adding even more to this list of fun stuff since Claire and I are heading out this weekend for a little more than a week to go to Cape Town!  We are driving along the Garden Route and stopping along the way to do a whole bunch of different excursions.  And we’re obviously going to reunite with our intern pals, so that’s gonna be AWESOME.  Can’t wait!

What GlobeMed Taught Me

It began in one of the all-girls halls on the fourth floor of Gilbert Hall, arguably the best freshman dorm at the University of Rochester.  It was early enough in the fall to trick yourself into thinking it was still summer, hanging on to the last few days you could wear shorts outside before the harsh Western New York winter crept in.  I had just become friends with a girl named Rohini Bhatia, who I now know as one of the most intelligent, sincere, and thoughtful people I’ve ever been able to call my friend (and an amazing dancer to boot).  In her room one afternoon, she began to tell me about this club she wanted to start on our campus.  It was this new health organization that was growing popularity at colleges throughout the United States.  She was interested in founding a chapter on our campus because it aligned with her interest in health, medicine, and epidemiology, which at this point, I didn’t even quite know what the latter one meant.  In order to start a chapter of the organization at Rochester, she had to apply but was scared of not being chosen.  Being a good friend, I assured her that she was a great candidate to be a chapter founder, but I didn’t think too much of it afterwards.  Besides, I probably had music theory homework and voice lessons for which to prepare since it was back in the day when I thought I was going to major in classical music, before I started hating it.

The organization Rohini was telling me about was GlobeMed.  GlobeMed is a national network of university student chapters, currently at 55 schools around the United States, that partner with grassroots health organizations around the world to work together to bring awareness of global health issues, raise funds, and promote global health equity.  I didn’t quite understand the concept too well, but I thought it was cool because Rohini seemed so jazzed about it.  Still, I had no prospects of joining it but planned on supporting Ro as much as I could.

Fast forward to a little over a year later as a sophomore – the year I had the most emotional and intellectual growth, or in other words, it was kinda crappy.  Rohini successfully became a chapter founder, and along with her hand-selected executive board, she was out to recruit staff members to join GlobeMed.  Once again, being a good friend, I thought to apply so it looked as if there were a lot of people interested in the organization.  I figured I had an interest in world issues because of a growing passion for anthropology, so it wasn’t too out of the blue to apply.  To this day, I don’t exactly know why I was chosen.  I hadn’t really developed an interest or had a background in health, and looking back at it now, that was probably the exact reason why I was picked.  At the time, I honestly thought I had an advantage because I was friends with the entire executive board.  It’s a little funny to think of how I ended up in GlobeMed, but I’m very glad that I did because it may have been one of the most transformative and enlightening decisions I’ve ever made.

Throughout the past few years as a staff member of the Rochester chapter and a brief stint as a communications intern at the National Office in Evanston during the summer of 2012, I have developed intellectually into a very different person than I was when I had that first afternoon chat with Rohini in her dorm room.  What I learned about public health, partnership, and international development because of GlobeMed helped shape the rest of my college experience and my current path.  I’d like to think that GlobeMed led me here to South Africa and my year-long internship with Grassroot Soccer.

Though I haven’t even been here for two months, I already acknowledge that my experience with GlobeMed in college has helped me understand my role here as an intern at the Grassroot Soccer Port Elizabeth office.  I have also realized how much I can use what I’ve learned from GlobeMed moving forward as I find my place within this organization and in the greater movement for global health equity.

Firstly, there are outstanding grassroots organizations everywhere, and they are run by remarkably dedicated role models.  Many people tell me that they are in awe of my work, but I’m truly humbled by the tireless work of the real grassroots health workers like my new colleagues here in Port Elizabeth.  I see much of what I saw in Manuel, GlobeMed at Rochester’s contact at our Peruvian partner Kallpa Iquitos, in Siya, the Programs Coordinator here in Port Elizabeth.  I see the same fire and passion to make a difference because the youth that they both serve are not just any kids.  They are their kids, the kids of their community, and they see themselves in them.  That’s what makes grassroots workers such outstanding role models: they want what’s best for the people with whom they work because they are kin.  This is the driving force behind the efficacy of grassroots movements.  The leaders of these organizations have a vested interest in bettering their communities because they have a personal stake in its success.  They are also visionaries – they fight for change in places where change is a long-lost dream.

A leader is only as strong as his or her supporters, and Grassroot Soccer’s coaches are that support system.  Coaches not only preach the power of soccer to change the lives of young people.  They live it every day.  These are the true inspirations, not myself.  They are the young, humble changemakers who often don’t realize how much they do.  But you see it in the numbers of participants.  You see it in the data collected about how much those participants change attitudes and behaviors by the end of an intervention.  You see it on the smiles on students’ faces when a coach walks into the room with a soccer ball in hand, sincerity in their heart, and the Grassroot Soccer logo emblazoned across their chest.  Every single time a participant changes his or her attitude, every single time one gets tested for HIV is proof that grassroots movements are working.  And that gives me faith.

With my belief that these cultural insiders are the most effective in their mission, I concluded that I know nothing in comparison.  This refers to the basic understanding of culture, language, and sheer experience.  Though I may know nothing in comparison, I still have something to offer.  This is the basis of partnership.  You may know something that I do not, and I may know something that you do not.  So let’s share that knowledge so both of us can learn.  Cross-cultural dialogue is necessary for the success of grassroots organizations.  Drawing from a multitude of backgrounds can unlock the potential of an entire group to think differently and create unique solutions.  The lesson to be learned about partnership is that together, people can create things greater than the sum of their parts.  This gives me confidence in providing what I can bring to the table, however glorious or banal it may be, as it may contribute to the greater good.  In order to work well in this environment, you must be able to admit your weaknesses and have pride in your strengths.  Only then can you work to your fullest potential but also let others shine, too.  Grassroots work is about solidarity, not solitude or selfishness.

Another thing that I learned and want to stress is that I am not doing charity work.  This really comes down to the language people use, even other interns, who say that we are “helping” and “giving up” a year of our lives.  It’s demeaning to these remarkable people who I’ve already lauded profusely because it makes it seem like we’re too good for them.  It’s as if I’m making a huge sacrifice in order to lend my expert knowledge and guidance when in reality, it’s the other way around.  In the end, I know that this organization will change me much more than I can ever change the organization.  I’m not lending as much expertise as it will lend me this upcoming year.  I recognize that this is an unpaid opportunity, but what I’m not getting in money, I’m getting in insight.  I understand that I can’t do unpaid internships forever, but I think I’d rather take the time now to figure things out and learn instead of going into something for the money only to realize that I never got a grip on myself or my purpose until it was too late.  With this charity mindset, it also undermines the sustainability of these projects, as if they are reliant on some kind of “help” in order to function, though I know that these organizations will still be doing magnificent work regardless of my presence.

Most importantly, though, I learned that being inspired by work going on around the world is what will make me work harder to make an impact in my own community.  I see these hardworking individuals completing feats that seem impossible, but they make it all happen.  Back in my own community, I can become the dedicated role model, the cultural insider, and the inspired changemaker who is the catalyst for others to do the same.  That’s what grassroots movements are all about.  But grassroots movements are not centered on isolated local communities anymore.  In the modern world, grassroots movements are about the global solidarity of local communities and the belief that small groups of people from around the globe can learn from each other to make a more just world for everyone in it.

Gone are the days of silence and injustice.  Now is the time for people to make their voices heard, and those voices must be amplified.  That is how I see my role for this year: to hold up the microphone and amplify those voices.  To kick it up a notch.  To turn up the volume.  In the end, it is not my voice that will be heard.  It will be that of the young people of South Africa who want to make a difference.

Sala Kakuhle

Within a few days of arriving a little over a month ago, the office was buzzing with a weird, somberness wafting through the air.  It was the kind of tension you could cut with a butter knife.

“The baby died,” Mandisa says, somewhat apathetically, considering the subject.

Mxolisi, also known as Glad, interestingly enough, is a member of the special Randomized Control Trial, or GOAL Trial, team.  It was Glad’s wife who had given birth to a baby on the past Friday evening, and by the time the weekend was up, the baby had passed away.  I had not been here for even a week, but I was already involved in something as intimate of a matter as the death of a colleague’s child.  I hadn’t even met Glad at this point, but I pitched in 20 Rand to offset any costs that the family incurred just like everyone else in the office.  After the pot was collected, work returned to normal.  Now, a month later, and even a week after the fact, you’d see Glad around the office, working as usual with a big smile on his face, living up to his name.

A two weeks ago, Claire and I inquired about going to Addo on Saturday for the Skillz Core intervention that we do there every weekend.  One of the CPCs Ntombi tells us that we aren’t going, and upon asking why not, we receive a very nonchalant, seemingly perchance explanation, “One of the coaches hung himself.”

This threw me for a loop.  We work alongside a company in Addo, and we trained ten of their employees to be Grassroot Soccer coaches so that they could deliver programs to youth in that community.  One of those ten, apparently due to both relationship and family struggles, decided to take his own life.

Without delving too far into the situation, I’ve had this existential argument looming around my head as death seemed to be brushed off pretty easily in these situations.  This may not actually be true, and the two situations may just be too far removed for me to know the real repercussions of death.  These two incidents may also be outliers, as I know that Ntombi, the same person who brushed off the suicide, is traveling several hours this weekend to attend a ceremony for a mourning relative.  I have yet to grasp how to appropriately discuss death here, and I don’t quite know how people deal with saying goodbye.

On the topic of bidding farewell, two weeks ago, our exceptionally kind and loving Site Coordinator, Pumeza, resigned.  The abrupt departure was shocking, and it really struck a chord with a lot of the staff members who have been touched by Pumeza’s warm heart for the past three years.  Hell, I had only been here for a month and already considered Sisi Pumeza my South African mother. We made a big hoorah out of her leaving, some tears were shed, and we even surprised her with a farewell braai at the intern house on her last day.  It restored some hope in me that goodbyes are not always uneventful and swept under the rug. 

Sorry for the somber post, but it’s something I’ve been meaning to write about for a while.  Very soon, I will be posting an update about a bunch of fun and light-hearted things that have happened like being in the first Color Run on the African continent and petting baby lions!  Get pumped!