Greetings on Monday night (10:00 pm) from Capetown – My last day in Capetown and South Africa (until next summer)…

First some clarification, since some of you have asked about the “players.” I’m here with Chris Knaus who is a colleague (professor of education at UWT and author of a recently published book called “Whiteness is the New South Africa”; Chris is a critical race scholar who spent a year in South Africa – Cape Town – on a Fulbright in 2012–13); hence his knowledge of Cape Town and his many connections. He’s a good friend and we both lectured at the University of Coventry a year or so ago. The third person is Alexis Wheeler who is a coordinator in UWT’s Global Honors Program.

Today, bright and early Chris and I left for Franschhoek – a small town (population about 15,000) located about an hour north of Cape Town. According to our host, the area was settled in the 1600s by French Huguenot refugees… many of whom got land from the Dutch… They named it Olifantshoek (Elephants’ Corner) because elephants crossed the area… Then the name was changed to “The French Corner” and later to Franschhoek (Dutch for “French Quarter”). There’s evidence of the French influence in the names of many of the vineyards. Initially this was a big farming area and now the farms have been transformed into vineyards.

The drive from Cape Town to the area is pleasant and lush with vegetation and vineyards. The town is reminiscent of St. Helena in Napa or maybe one of the wine towns in Sonoma… lots of little stores with expensive items, many wine stores, restaurants galore (including some of South Africa’s best). We were in the town to visit a faculty member at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) who does a lot of work in HIV education, especially in the townships. We wanted to meet to talk about what we might be planning for the program.

We met at his house which is a wonderful large, rambling place… then because he had a meeting mid-day, Chris and I drove up to a great lookout to see the whole valley and then strolled the town for a bit before settling on a place for lunch – Wonderful grilled calamari with tomatoes and garlic and fresh herbs… and a vegetable flatbread, topped off by dessert – some kind of brandied bread pudding with ginger ice cream… and of course the wonderful wines of South Africa. We then went back to the house for lots of conversation about state of health education in South Africa, politics (the recent elections in South Africa and upcoming American fiasco elections), sports and education as tools for peace (his wife’s project). Both are transplants: he is American from New England, but had lived several years in India before coming to Cape Town and she is German, but has lived in South Africa for about 25 years. Two children; one adopted African child.

We talked a bit about the lack of a real philanthropic sector here in ZA – notably in this rather wealthy wine town that has so many successful vineyards (staffed by Blacks living in typical township conditions at the edge of the town). Seems like it would be simple to at least fund a real infrastructure in this one and only township.

We stayed for dinner… Jim made amazing homemade cannelloni… and then we left in an effort to drive back before it was really dark on the windy roads of the countryside (not so successful since we all were talking so much). Made it back to town and now I’m just finishing my packing – a real task… and always dreaded.

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings each day.

See you stateside.

Fern

P.S. Really dreading coming back and facing the work that I didn’t finish while I was here and which I swore I would get done. Oh well.. I do have 35 hours of travel tomorrow.

Hi All –

While the trip is coming to an end (I leave Tuesday, so tomorrow is my last day)… there’s still a lot going on.

Sundays are pretty quiet — stores all closed, traffic minimal, town totally quiet, especially in the morning. I decided it was a good time to see the Holocaust Museum. Walked the mile plus to the museum, which is attached to the Jewish Museum (which I didn’t go into). The Holocaust Museum is small but interesting. It begins with a definition of “holocaust” versus “oppression” and while portraying an interesting look at both the Jewish Holocaust and other genocides over history. It includes information on the pseudo-science of ‘race’; the history and roots of antisemitism, and also the institutionalized racism of the Apartheid period. They make a strong effort to include information about South Africa’s role during the 1930s and 1940s. I didn’t have much time to view the exhibit in any depth, but would say that it’s worth a visit.

While in the museum I got a text from Chris that he was meeting up with Jennifer (the African American singer from Oakland who is here on a residency program) to go to some brunch place in the Seapoint neighborhood (on the water). Seapoint is one of Capetown’s more affluent areas and is situated fairly close to the Central Business District. The neighborhood has a significant number of high-rises and appears to be divers (Whites and “Colored” and also a lot of foreigners… I decided to join them at the brunch which was at Harvey’s at Winchester Mansion. Turned out to be quite a feast, a buffet that can match the best ones all over the world. We truly stuffed ourselves – champagne, sushi, muscles, smoked trout, salads galore, omelets, etc. as well as incredible roast beef and roast pork… and of course amazing desserts. But then we remembered that we had plans to go to the home of one of Chris’ friends (an immigrant from the Congo who recently had a baby) for a home cooked Congolese meal!

We contacted Marcel – to say that we were running late… but the message in South Africa is “We are coming just now..” which means we are “in motion”… and it’s just not a clear statement of time.. So it can mean we will be there in 10 minutes or maybe 10 hours!  And to get more specific… if you say I’m coming “now, now” it can mean the future- and it can also mean the immediate past-tense…. It can also mean sometime soon, and it is sort of interchangeable with ‘tomorrow or perhaps ‘never’… Anyway, everyone seems to know what it means… and they also have strange definitions for “soon”…. In any case, we picked up dessert to bring and Chris also got baby gifts… and eventually we were off …. Getting there “now”…

Marcel emigrated to Capetown about 6 years ago. He had studied literature in the Congo, but got a job as a waiter in an African restaurant when he got to Capetown. A few years later he got a job as an interpreter because he speaks French. He, his wife, and new baby (Marcella – 6 months old) live in a tiny house.. maybe 600 sq. ft. total, in a somewhat industrial area of Capetown. It’s a back house to a larger house. They moved there recently because their car had been stolen from in front of their previous house and they believed the area was dangerous. We arrived and there were about 8 people at the house – all wanting to meet us (friends of Marcel and his wife). Marcel is also a pastor in his spare time. Had a Congolese church, but now is looking for another church. Anyway, when we arrived in this tiny space, a table was set up with about 14 different dishes… and within this 400 square foot living/dining/kitchen area (the other 200 sq. ft. was the bedroom), was a big couch, two chairs, the table and then a few folding chairs… On the wall was a flat screen tv that was “on” the entire time we were all there conversing. Initially the program was a religious one, with a minister leading a congregation; that was followed by a South African version of “Candid Camera” which was followed by a sort of sit com from the 1980s (I’d guess), produced in South Africa…

Marcel was delightful – sweet and caring. Many of the friends did not speak much English, but we were all cordial and it was a very warm experience. Eating with the “pap” was a bit complicated.. a little like eating with Ethiopian injera, but more difficult because the consistency of the pap makes it more difficult to grab food… The dishes included some kind of fried and dried out fish, a green vegetable that was very cooked and mixed with milk or some kind of dairy, chicken parts, beef skewers, cole slaw, rice, beans, mushroom paste, casaba, and a few others… They do not drink, so we had orange juice.

Of course the baby was the highlight.. a very cute and alert baby who we all focused on. We talked a little politics. Given their political situation, they are hoping for a Clinton victory… We left about three hours after we arrived; headed home and a few hours later went to a Greek restaurant for a big salad.. We longed for fresh crisp greens… It was a good decision.

I think that’s it for today.. So much more to describe and tell.. but I’ll do that when I see you.

All the best — Fern

Greetings from Capetown – Whew… where to start?

Today was a bit more relaxed than previous days, but no less interesting and no less intense.

Started out pretty early – walking around the neighborhood and on Long Street to seek out some good African music to bring back to California. Then met up with Chris and we took off for the Biscuit Mill Saturday Market, in the Woodstock neighborhood of Capetown. This is clearly a gentrifying area and the market reflects that – but, dozens of amazing stalls selling all kinds of foods and delicacies from around the world… and accented by crafts stalls and a few interesting shops. South Africa has become very conscious of the local craft and locavore food movements – so everything is homemade and made with local ingredients. The place was buzzing with music and locals and tourists. But it was a mostly white crowd and predominantly young. On line at the ATM machine, met the young guy standing in front of us – a student at UW (Bothel Campus)!! Always a small world.

From there we headed north to Contantia Glen Winery – where two friends and the mother of one of the friends were waiting. We had a fantastic view of the vineyards and managed to down five bottles of wine + some bubblies, along with three platters of beautiful cheeses and charcuterie… and a platter of smoked trout. We ended with teas and coffees… Total bill was about $120! And the wine was fantastic… We drank and ate and talked politics for about five hours, before driving back to town. The area near the winery is stunning and contains many very large private homes. Clearly the elite live in this area.

So, now the elections, since many of you sent emails asking about the status:

• While the ANC won nationally with about 54%of the total vote ( a huge defeat, showing their vulnerability), this was a series of provincial elections and the ANC lost and or has been in heated contention with the DA, including having the DA defeat the ANC in many municipalities
• The DA won the province that Pretoria is in; they won the Western Cape (Capetown) by sizable amount
• The ANC will need to perform much better to win in the Fall
• This is a huge defeat overall for the ANC
• Everyone points to corruption as the reason for the rise of DA and the downfall of Capetown
• In many ways, this election could be a precursor to the national election that will take place in 2019 – given the obvious opposition to ANC candidates.

The people we were with seemed very disgruntled with the ANC leadership, qhich will be tested again,

Being here has pointed out so many discrepancies within this country and the realities they face each day.

I’m headed to lunch/dinner tomorrow at a Congolese friend’s house.

Ciao –

Fern

Greetings on August 5 –Another busy day….. Started very early to get to a primary school located in the Philippi area. It goes from Kindergarten through 7^th grade. The school we visited was only about two years old and was pretty sprawling, but construction was poor and the roof was already leaking and paint in other areas was chipped. But it is new, and big, and covers a large area. Turns out that most new schools are the result of decisions by the ANC and if the principal is well connected they can probably get a new school. This K-7 school has 1,650 students. The teacher to student ratio in classrooms is 1 to 52. (!)

Noticed several things that I hadn’t realized yesterday, and or particulars about this school:

• A lot of classes are “teacher-less”:  One teacher was showing us around the school for about two hours. He left his class totally unattended (7^th grade math); we said several times that we could either come back or stroll around the school unattended; they wouldn’t hear about that. … When I asked about the students being left alone, he said “they’re fine; they have assignments to do in their workbooks!”

• When any visitor comes into a classroom, all students stand up immediately (without any prompt) and say in total harmony “Good afternoon teachers” (assuming all visitors are teachers, I guess); then after you say “good morning” the students again in harmony say “how are you, we are fine; how are you”… We say “We are fine” and then they often repeat this all over again, until someone suggests they sit down.
• The school has started a small garden where unemployed mothers work in the garden; they then sell the produce to a restaurant and get to keep the money
• There is a great emphasis on discipline and meeting test standards; very little creativity in teaching
• Classrooms are pretty barren
• There are no substitute teachers; on any given day there might be 10% absenteeism on the part of teachers – either leaving classes unattended or else teachers have to monitor their own class and a second class
• Variation in principals (level of training, understanding of policy, knowledge of student issues, etc.) is vast
• No landscaping, shade, or open space in any of the schools, even new ones
• Very little decoration in classrooms
• Once again, library without books (or pitifully low number) and computers (about 20 for 1,650 students) are not used because software licenses have expired and teachers don’t have technical or technological skills.
• All students get one full meal (lunch) and a snack in the morning; meals are prepared by volunteer moms who then get to take home any excess food (as pay)

After spending about 3 hours at the school, including meetings with some teachers, the principal, and the vice principal/math teacher/math chair, we headed to see more of Philippi. I was especially interested in walking down the “commercial” streets. Township commercial streets are chock full of tiny, unstable, “buildings” or “structures” that are about 8’ x 8’ by about 6’ tall. No plumbing, few have electricity (often jerry-rigged by tapping into a light pole), and they all have very handmade graphics telling you what they are selling or what services they offer. Every “shopkeeper” has a folding chair in front of their shop, sitting and waiting for customers. As usual, people were very friendly as I strolled and photographed shop after shop.. Lots of beauty salons, somehow functioning with buckets of water, this tiny space, and jerry-rigged electricity.

The townships have only gotten larger from the time Mike and I were last in South Africa — and no new infrastructure has been added.

The issues of the townships are complicated. Over and above extreme poverty and density issues, there’s about 65% unemployment, and the delivery of services is scarce. The term township refers to the underdeveloped urban areas that for the past 200 years and ending at the end of apartheid, were reserved for non-whites. They are built on “excess” land on the edges of cities. . But it’s more complex than that, and is an evolving situation. People are in very self-help houses that are about 10’x10’ by 7’…. Mostly of corrugated metal (or plywood or random materials that have been scavenged) that has been joined together to form a sort of “box” that has a cut-out hole for a window and a door. One new thing is that there now seems to be a little pre-fab operation going on the street where you can buy the pieces of corrugated metal with the window already punched out, and we even saw what we thought was a structure already for occupancy being brought to a tiny site.

Township living is messy, often dangerous, and distant. It’s dusty (with no paved roads) and lots of dogs roaming around. It’s unclear if the residents “own” their “homes” and if they own the land on which the house is situated. I could go on and on about these marginal communities, but that’s for another time.

I’m rapidly fading – it’s about 1 am, and another busy day awaits me…

So, very quickly :

After the township, we went for a quick lunch and to visit MonkeyBiz, and then headed to Capetown Technical University where Chris was going to give a talk on the silencing of Black children in South Africa and colonization. It was well received… I was supposed to give a talk on Monday, but things got too complicated given the short time of our visit.. and the fact that we have a series of meetings on Monday..  So I’ll just do it when I’m back next July.

Headed to dinner with some faculty – Ethiopian food (quite good) at a funky place called Timbuktu, located in the Obz neighborhood (near the Observatory).

Got back around 11:00 pm to do some work for FTA and respond to emails…

More tomorrow.

Fern

Greetings and Sawubona (Good evening in Zulu) – It’s about midnight here in Cape Town; I’m totally exhausted, but will attempt to tell you a bit about what is going on.. and then head to bed. Some chance that I will only give you a brief summary and then finish tomorrow night –

Began pretty early this morning with a stroll down to Long Street to find a camera store. I didn’t take my large Nikons to South Africa, and decided instead to opt for a small digital camera. But somehow the cord that transfers the images from the camera to the computer or the charger, is totally broken. And it turns out that no camera store has this charger cord. So, I’m relying on the iPhone..  Will be interesting. And I hope that I can get the cord situation fixed since it’s difficult to have just one photo source.

After my stroll I met up with Chris and Alexis and we headed to Philippi for our first meeting of the day with the executive director of the NGO – but first made a quick stop to visit with, and make a purchase from, “the samosa lady” who has a stand  on a little side street near where we are staying. Chris has been buying samosas from her for 6 years… She remembered him immediately. But there wasn’t any parking close by (Chris has been driving since he knows his way around, and remember it is British driving). So Chris double parked (on a somewhat busy street, but many other cars were also double parked) and I said I’d jump into the driver’s seat and drive around a few blocks if anyone forced us to move. Chris “ran” to get the samosas and Alexis and I chatted. Then a loud siren went off, and we realized the police were forcing us to move. I quickly jumped into the driver’s seat, but just as I started to move Chris came running to the car. He had seen the police and decided to run back. That then added about 15 minutes because we kept circling to find parking as we were now determined to get the samosas and bring them to the meeting. We wound up parking about 6 blocks away – and I got to meet the samosa lady… delicious and well worth being 30 minutes late to the meeting! But meetings don’t ever seem to start on time here in Capetown… so no big deal.

Went to Philippi and had a good meeting discussing the program options for next summer; lots of good ideas and possibilities. From there we headed to visit a school in the township – 8^th grade through 12^th grade with about 1,600 students. It’s a free school in the township so it is 100% Black. Despite “democracy” (as everyone refers to the change after the end of apartheid), schools are very very segregated as are neighborhood, most especially the townships with “coloreds” in better townships than Blacks, and Whites not living in townships. The schools are also complicated as there are free public schools, public schools that charge a range of fees, and private schools Obviously the poorest children – predominantly Black – attend the free public schools. Having visited schools in many developing nations, I found this school in quite good shape – brick, two stories, no graffiti, designed around a courtyard (that was concrete – no green at all. But it was structurally sound. Met with the principal who was great – very funny and knowledgeable about the township area. Had a nice attitude about education and schools as safe places for the kids in the area. Also met a sort of lead teacher – really like a vice principal, but I think the school doesn’t have the funds to pay for a vice principal, so she teaches four classes and also has the role of administrator – not an easy job. Kids are all in uniform and very polite and welcoming.

All teachers in the Black schools are black and paid far lower than teachers in the white public schools and vastly less than teachers in the private schools.

The “vice principal” took us around and we visited about four or five classes and then sat in on her English class for about a half hour, before debriefing. The classrooms are pretty depressing… desks and benches in rigid formation, screwed to the floor – 1950s style, blackboard and chalk at the front of the room; no AV, no computers, no books. In the English class they were discussing a “book” but the students only had Xerox copies of parts of the book.. and there were only five copies of the Xerox – to be shared by groups of about six students who huddled together to read the passages. The class was, unfortunately, very uninspiring.

Then we debriefed; administrators and teachers were quite forthcoming about their challenges and also their concerns about national education policy. A little more about the school:

• They have a library that was recently painted, but they have no books for the library
• They have 20 computers for either the teachers or the 1,600 students, but no workable software as all of the software they were given is out of date and cannot be downloaded; also very few teachers know how to use computers and there aren’t any teachers to guide students to use computers
• There is no space for any sports whatsoever (although students go to a soccer field at another school about 15 minutes away)
• It is considered an English speaking school, but most classes are taught in a native language spoken by people in the township; only the English class is taught in English; many of the teachers are not fluent in English.
• They have a science lab (sort of) but no equipment to do science
• About 1 student each year is accepted into the university system and there is no career training in any high schools (all of these courses were eliminated after democracy, in the hopes of leveling the education field and providing academic training for college in all high schools…

As mentioned in a prior note, unemployment overall in the country is about 40%; unemployment in the Black townships is about 65%… and the schools cannot really do much to address this issue.

Tomorrow we head to an elementary school in the same area… More about education tomorrow.

After getting back to BoKaap and doing some work, I headed to “first Thursday” art walk… and to meet some folks for wine… Eventually wound up at Marco’s for dinner – an African -owned restaurant with great food. We were treated royally since Chris seemed to know the whole staff, including Marco himself. Mike and I actually ate here a decade ago, so I was in comfortable surroundings too. We feasted on starters (roasted calamari and stuffed peppers) a platter of crocodile carpaccio, ostrich carpaccio, and springbok carpaccio, followed by main courses including an amazing lamb, a mixed grill, butternut squash, spinach, and pap. Great African band that played nonstop – clearly no union.

It’s really late, so I’ll fill in more tomorrow and have more on the election. Final vote tallies not done yet.. I think it’s all done by hand. I think that there will be coalitions formed including with the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters). There’s some questionable ethics since votes in Johannesburg are not yet counted… ??

Take care…

Fern

Greetings as Wednesday nears to an end … 11:20 pm; finishing second full day on the ground, but it feels like I’ve been here for about 10 days, because each day is totally chock full. I’m starting this note at about 5:30 pm and need to leave for dinner (at a faculty member’s house from the university) in about 30 minutes. I’ll probably finish when we return late tonight (or else in the morning).

I forgot to mention (I think ) in last night’s missive, that the young people here in ZA are referred to as the “born frees” because they were born either in the year of, or subsequent to, the fall of apartheid and the birth of the new nation. There is a lot of concern as to how these “born frees” will actually vote.

I said I’d say something today about what we are hearing about the US elections: here it is.

All of the people we are meeting with regarding our project for next summer are appalled at the notion that Trump has gotten this far and are shocked at even the slightest potential that he could become the next US President. But, that said, the people who run the B&B we are in, taxi drivers, and others I’ve spoken with seem to believe that it is a fait au complet that Trump will win and they seem to think it’s fine. They like him. They say that he must be smart to have gotten this far and made so much money, and that it shows he’s capable of doing anything.

At the moment, I have the local news on the television which is reporting the results of municipal elections. The big issue involves the ANC; nearly everyone we have met with – of every political and racial stripe —  say that the ANC cannot continue on the way they have. Yet, there is a lot of “nostalgia” about the ANC, given that it was Mandela’s party and that it was South Africa’s governing party that has been in power since the transition to democracy in 1994.

Began the day quite early, doing some work related to the office and dealing with some issues at the printer in LA. Then went to a caffe to meet a singer, Jennifer Jones who actually lives and works in Oakland. She’s here in ZA on a somewhat self-imposed sabbatical to get background information for her music. She considers herself an artivist, has  been an artistic spokesperson for awareness and social justice through art. I’ll connect with her again when we are both back in Oakland. Then I strolled the Bo-Kaap, the neighborhood we’re staying in. It has an interesting history, as the place where descendants of slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia, and many African countries, who were imported to by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries lived. As slaves, they were known as “Cape Malays” (which is not really accurate since many of the residents were not of Malaysian descent). The first mosque in Cape Town is also in the neighborhood so we are serenaded regularly by the call to prayer.

Then walked about 4 miles to meet Chris and Scott (the CEO of the NGO in Philippi) for lunch. Weather was good so I walked (in the end a total of 5.5 miles).. and climbed up and down many stairs to change street elevations. Just as I was nearing the restaurant, I got a text that the restaurant was closed (Election Day is a serious holiday here) and that I should head to another restaurant about a mile from there. Turned around and headed that way. Found Chris and Scott sitting at an outside picnic table in front of a restaurant situated on a small square – with beers in hand. But, because of election day, this restaurant was going to do a BBQ… and lots of people at tables also drinking.. and everyone sharing appetizers.. and talking. But, it was clear that the BBQ was far from being ready and by now it was about 2:30: we were starving and also didn’t want to eat too late since we knew we were headed to a dinner at a faculty member’s house and he is known to be a great Indian chef…

So we trekked to another place downtown that was open… Had salad and lots of chatting about politics, education, healthcare, economics, etc… as well as giving lots of advice about fund development, image programs, and messaging to help Scott and his NGO (which is a collaborative, making it more challenging to make communication and messaging work). Also advised about board development and the potential for him to establish an international advisory board (that could help him raise the funds he needs). He’s well-positioned, but not well-known enough and has a complex message to deliver for a small and young organization. We also talked about how to use his Ivy League connections to his advantage and the advantage of his organization. We were met by Scott’s boyfriend who is a stylist, and in so many ways very different from Scott.

Hiked back to the B&B (another mile or so uphill)… did some work, and then we headed to a suburb of Capetown (20 minute drive) where Rajendra lives – and where we would get this home-cooked Indian dinner. Rajendra is a real character – very very smart, witty, totally knowledgeable about a host of issues and topics, and definitely a great cook. Indian, born in South Africa, and lived in Durbin until he came to Cape Town to join the faculty of Cape Peninsula University. He’s a post-colonial scholar and Research Chair in Literacy Development and Poverty. Considers himself a critical educationist, with primary research interest in the marginalization of children in high poverty communities and the connection to race, class, and inequality in schooling. He’s well published, but is the most human guy I’ve met in a long time. Beyond all of this, he’s a long distance runner (lots of marathons) and climbed Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu, and Everest/Annapurna!

Food was fantastic; we downed many bottles of wine, and laughed away the evening. In addition, there was one other guest – Karva (sp?) who recently accepted a position at Rajendra’s university – having come from Namibia where he was the head of community engagement for the university. He established a very intense required internship program with very strong hiring results for graduates, a big deal here since unemployment is at about 35% and young people from the townships are unemployed at a rate of about 95%. He will be the Director of Engagement at Rajendra’s university – Cape Peninsula University. We talked a lot about the work I’ve done to develop appropriate and authentic engagement programs at the university level – the challenges, the purpose… and also talked a lot about the community engagement projects FTA has done in numerous cities and communities. Since I cannot stay any longer than the dates already set for this trip, I said I would consider coming back to brainstorm with them about their current thinking regarding policies and programs across the campus and to meet with the president of the university to boice my position about this issue. Definitely found two new friends that will last for life.

Did I mention that dinner was fantastic? Left Pinelands after lots of hugs… and drove back to BoKaap; it’s about 12:30 am… and I’m signing off.

Fern

PS – Latest results: ANC about 51%; DA about 34%; EFF about 4%… While ANC is leading nationally, DA has picked up many seats; This is a large reduction for ANC from last election. More post-election news tomorrow..