UW in South Africa — the opening days — Part One… August 31, 2017 to September 3, 2017

Molweni!

This is the first trip I’ve taken where my life is so intense that I cannot find time to do the usual daily report. And now I barely know how to begin.

The days have been not just intense, but very very long. Haven’t yet had a night with a minute more than six hours sleep.

If any of you are not aware… I’m co-leading a study-abroad program for University of Washington students to Cape Town. The program we created is called “South Africa in Transition: Examining Community Development and Education as Transformation.” I’m wearing the community development hat and my colleague, Chris (who lived in South Africa a few years ago as a Fulbright Scholar – and who has written an interesting book entitled “Whiteness is the New South Africa”) is wearing the education hat. We selected 13 students from across the university (including BA/MA/EdD – and representing all three of UW’s campuses. Students are from many different academic disciplines: education, community planning, sustainable urban development, finance, mathematics, social work, global studies, psychology, nonprofit studies, and more). Most of the undergrads have never traveled overseas before; one was born in Nigeria, but has lived in the US for most of her life; one traveled to Cape Town with her dad about 5 years ago; some have never been out of Washington State.

Students traveled independently, although they wound up in small clusters. Some transferred through London, some through Dubai, some through Ethiopia, two through Paris – and I came via Frankfurt from SFO. For many it was the first time they saw a tv on a plane and certainly none had ever been on a flight as long as the ones you have to take to get to South Africa. So even the journey was a huge experience. Like theirs, my journey was long – left around 7 pm and arrived (local time) at 11 am two days later… This is my third trip to South Africa, and last year’s trip (for those who followed it then) was a prep trip to determine if it made sense to bring students here for the kind of experiences that Chris and I envisioned – working in a township at separate NGOs and one school, and understanding how NGOs work, what their challenges are, where they are headed, etc. etc. — and mostly to meet people, to see what this country is all about.

I’d note that this is an extremely interesting moment to be in South Africa in that their struggles are beginning to look a lot like our own struggles in the US and perhaps we can learn from them. Everyone seems up on what is happening in the US politically and they feel it is shameful. People say things like “We used to look to America….” Or “The US sounds like South Africa – corrupt and requiring big changes…” or “America seems so racist….” And on and on.

OK… so after settling in to the little three bedroom/three bath house that Chris and I are sharing — -and getting students situated in the hostel a few blocks away… we took a short walk with those students who had already arrived to help familiarize them with the neighborhood (downtown CBD)… walked through the downtown park and through the Eastern Foods Market. Then as we headed up the 4 or 5 blocks to our place with the intention of heading to dinner… we literally ran into two women we had met in Seattle a few months ago. They had given a talk at UW about the library they designed in the township of Khayelitsha – and we asked if they would do a similar talk for our students while we are here. They agreed and that talk is scheduled for the end of next week. Anyway, they were part of series of speakers on affordable housing in Cape Town that night at an architectural gallery down the block… so we decided we should stay and attend the session. Sort of interesting… and in any case, despite the fact that we were sleep deprived we hung in. Then walked to Marco’s – a restaurant in the BoKaap neighborhood (where we are staying) that specializes in African food.  While it gets tourists, it also gets locals – and at about 9 pm they have good bands and the place starts jumping… (I’ve been there before – including on my first trip here about 14 years ago.) We needed to connect with them to make a reservation to take all the students there for a group dinner the following night… once everyone was in town. Seemed to be efficient to just eat there while we were making the reservations. Had a great meal and the band that night was exceptionally good. Marco is the first black restauranteur in Cape Town.

The following morning (as students were getting settled and also visiting museums), Chris and I went to Philippi – the township that the project sites are located in – to meet face-to-face with the NGOs and the school principal. Since last summer, all of the planning has been done via Skype (when it worked and the folks in the townships had enough electricity and internet and Wi-Fi) or email (when the folks in the townships had enough Wi-Fi) or phone or “WhatsApp” – a very popular program here because it does not use up any minutes on your cell plan… So it was great to see each of them and to better understand their operations by seeing them “in the flesh.” We visited three of the five sites… more about each in a subsequent note.. But in case you are interested they are:

• Sinethemba High School
• CHESVI – Philippi
• Nal’bali
• SAEP (South Africa Environment and Education Project)
• Amandla Development

We then dashed back to gather the students and head over to Marcos… where the students had a great time — good and different foods for most of them, good music… and they took the challenge and danced on stage. They also volunteered to play instruments with the band… so it was a good start.

The next day we took the whole group to Franschhoek – a town settled in the 17^th century by 176 French Huguenot with many of them having gotten land from the Dutch government in a valley called Olifantshoek (“Elephants’ corner”), named that way because elephants crossed into the valley. The name was changed to Franschhoek (meaning “French Corner” in Dutch). Today Franschhoek is a sweet wine growing town – perhaps like Yountville (for those in the Bay Area)… But we did not take the students there for that reason… We went there because – in my mind – the current state of post-apartheid is super apparent right here in this wealthy, tiny town of 15,000 with Blacks being only 5% of the population – but nonetheless with a full blown township where all the blacks live — that is walking distance to the restaurant and wine store strewn streets of the town. I felt this was an important first stop – because when in Cape Town, once doesn’t really see the townships until they drive about 20 minutes. Naturally, the townships are huge once you do that drive.. with hundreds of thousands of Blacks in each of the townships, living in shacks made of corrugated metal or cardboard or scrap wood – lacking insulation, without electricity (except for jerry-rigged cables connecting illegally to the sparse power lines), and without toilets. Also seemed like an easier entry point than getting to Philippi the following day without any sense of what they would see.

The drive to Franschhoek was beautiful with vineyards lining the roadside. We drove through Stellenbosch – home to Cape Town’s equivalent of Stanford.. and we stopped en route at Solms Delta – a unique winery that has made arrangements for the workers to own 45% of the business, including the brand and the land. The winery was founded by a South African who returned about a decade after the start of democracy… They host an interesting museum that documents the land and its artifacts and the total experience of the history of the site and its people — including those who worked that land for generations – a sort of social history museum – beautifully curated and established. There is also a Music History museum that includes instruments made by the workers.

We were then met by a faculty member from the University of the Western Cape who brought all of us to a session to meet a collaborative of youth leaders ad NGOs operating in Franschhoek. Students seemed to  enjoy the totality of the day… as we chatted on the van on our way back to Cape Town. That night we had dinner with the three graduate students in the cohort – at a simple Greek restaurant in the Seapoint neighborhood.

In the midst of all of this, we dealt with a DACA student in the program who left after just two days – for fear of not being allowed back into the country due to the impending Trump decision … in spite of having gotten the official papers to be able to leave and re-enter the US (prior to her departure to South Africa). This issue occupied Chris and me for about two solid days with days going into night and the wee hours (4:00 am) as the student struggled with her limited options, and as we also dealt with the University’s emails and efforts to encourage her departure. Anyway, a little more on that tomorrow.

I promise to be better in doing these daily reports – once I’m caught up.

All my best –

Fern