Hello Cape Town, Goodbye CGE

Week 16

Dan and Emma

Our week in Cape Town has been filled with activities, so much so that we barely have time to think about how our time together is drawing to an end. The schedule has included trips to sites like Robben Island, where prisoners such as Jacob Zuma, Walter Sisulu, and Nelson Mandela were held during the apartheid regime, as well as visits with speakers such as Rev. Xola Skosana at the Way of Life Church, ANC freedom fighter and activist Tim Jenkin, and Pastor Alan Storey at the Central Methodist Mission. However, one day that really stood out to us and brought together many of the themes that our group has been exploring since Johannesburg, was Tuesday, which included the “slave route tour” and the visit to the Slave Lodge and the District 6 Museum.

At the Slave Lodge Museum of slavery, our guide and heritage activist Lucy helped us to explore how Cape Town engages with its history. The lodge itself was built in 1679 as a holding space for slaves that were being shipped from locations such as Madagascar and India. In Lucy’s opinion, the history of slavery in Cape Town has not been dealt with appropriately. For example, the spot where slaves used to be auctioned is marked by a faded plaque that is barely noticeable, and the upper floor of the museum inexplicably filled with cutlery and china, pretty antiques that have nothing to do with the slavery narrative. Meanwhile, Afrikaner monuments dot the city as large solid men striking victorious poses. This is what people see as they walk through the streets. Interestingly, in Windhoek, we noticed a similar tension. German and Afrikaner monuments are spread throughout the city, and even the street names retain their German titles. Slowly, the government is making changes, but then, there is a balance that must be struck: Is it more important to improve conditions in hospitals or to build a multi-million dollar museum to commemorate the apartheid era? Looking further back, during our time in Johannesburg, we experienced the contrast between Freedom Park and the Voortrekker Monument. These costly and competing memorials are another example of the issue of reconciling history. As students we are not sure we can provide answers as to the best way to remember the complex histories of countries like South Africa and Namibia, but this does not mean that the task is impossible. The District Six museum stands as an example of how community members can use their history to empower themselves in the present.

District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867, and although it was originally a mixed community of freed slaves, immigrants, and tradesmen, by the beginning of the twentieth century the process of forced removal had begun. In 1982, 60, 000 people were forced to move to desolate areas called the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were razed by bulldozers. Although the real-estate is desirable, the group “Hands off District 6” managed to put enough pressure on the government and contractors so that the land would remain barren. Today, the message has changed to that of “Hands On District 6.” Former community members have been leading the successful charge to have housing rebuilt for former residents if they so choose to come back.

The District Six Museum was established in December of 1994 with the intention of shedding light on the traumatic forced removals. Yet, in many ways, the museum functions as much as a memorial as an informational center. The space, once a church, prominently features testimonials of residents as well as a portion of a giant cloth on which thousands of memories are scrawled. When one walks in the door a large pole with street signs fixated to it is the first thing in sight, forcing visitors to understand the fact that these places, which once existed, no longer do. Activists like Lucy would probably like to see other aspects of South African history reclaimed in a similar way, in a way that gives strength to people who were once oppressed. Reconciliation is a process that is far from complete, but if government and community members can work to remember history in such a productive way, an important step will be made. Of course, this idea is not only applicable in the Southern African context, and while we students are sad to be ending this experience, we are also looking forward to applying our experiences to improve our respective homes.

Week 15

Week 15

Jodie and Laura

Last week marked our last week in Windhoek. We were able to celebrate and reflect on what we have learned and the different experience we have had during the presentation of our integrative projects. Our integrative projects were twenty-minute presentations given by us students in both individuals and groups and presented in a creative format of our choosing. We decided to write a little bit about what each of us did so that you can get an idea as to what some of the projects were.

Laura: My creative project was an audiocast that discussed white privilege. White privilege can be interpreted in a number of ways. But here is my understanding of it: Life is like a big bookshelf. The rights and civil liberties of my white forefathers have given me the ability to reach the top shelf. Sometimes its still a reach but I have a step stool that often times I don’t realize I’m standing on. While certain objects on that top shelf are still difficult for me to grasp, I am in the position to grab them if I have the skill to do so. That is white privilege.

I worked with Faye Terry and Leah Greenberg. While we trued to interview a number of Namibians who we believed would give us diverse perspectives, I feel we brought some preconceived notions into our interviews. We assumed that the Namibians we spoke with had heard of white privilege and had at least witnessed it in their own lives. While some did, others did not. We did discover, however, that those we interviewed saw privilege in areas we had never really thought about before. One example of this is tribal based privilege. This meaning privilege given to those of one tribe and denied to another.

I suppose at the end of the day we learned this: privilege of some sort or another exists around the world. It is only once we acknowledge our own privileges that we are truly able to confront justices in this world.

Jodie: I decided to work alone for my creative project, and after much consideration as what to do I decided that I wanted to do a series of progressive monologues showing my change in outlook on certain things. I started with a one entitled, “My Racism” which was a story from when I was in High School and I had some very racist thoughts. I then did a monologue that looked at my view on development and how what I used to think is beginning to change, especially since being here as shown me what my so called aide is really doing. The final monologue was about my view on Christianity. I have never really questioned my beliefs until this trip. Writing my monologues was very hard because I had to try and put words to my emotions of what I had learned over the semester.

Overall the feeling that I had was that I didn’t know where my place was, but I knew that I had one. I also knew that I had grown and changed in many ways. The thing that I value most from my integrative project is that it gave me a look into what has been going on in my head and heart. I was able to vocalize my changing and growth, which really helped me. I had not realized everything that I had learned this past semester until I started this project and I am grateful for it!

Both of us can’t believe how fast the semester went by and everything that we did this semester. It will be a part of our hearts and minds for years to come.

Wake Up and Wrap Up

Stephanie and Mia

Week 14

We have finally reached week 14 out of just a 16-week program, and it feels strange to be here. We spent this week wrapping up each of our classes with nothing but our integrative projects left before we venture to Cape Town. Cleaning schedules for check-out are beginning to be posted and we have even started to think about the strange concepts of doing laundry and packing all of our things. The weirdest part about this week is that even though we are wrapping up, the program doesn’t feel over: and that’s because it really isn’t.

Wrap-up week was more eye-opening than I think many of us expected it to be. It really reiterated the importance of taking back all that we have learned to the states. The lessons we learned throughout our time here are not all specific to Namibia, but have opened our eyes to concepts that we should keep with us and apply back in the States and Guatemala.

One of the extremely interesting activities we participated in during the course of the week was the presentation of our poster projects in development class. The idea of the project was to take two seemingly different social issues and research and present how the two issues impact and affect each other. For example, two people in our groups chose HIV/AIDS and education and presented a poster on their finding of how HIV/AIDS impacts the education system and children going to school, alongside how going to school and getting an education impacts HIV/AIDS. We found, through the projects that the impact on one to the other is huge. Education policies on HIV/AIDS are moving forward, and becoming better. What really surprised us was how children having HIV/AIDS effects their education. The projects showed that children who are infected have a difficult time in the classroom because the teachers have a difficult time getting past the infection. They become hyper-paranoid about becoming infected and as a result become anxious, and go to less class. The cycle continues and the education of the children suffers as a result. In the end, education and HIV/AIDS are inexplicably linked, and in a way that betters the situation. We wonder what can break the cycle, if they both affect each other in negative ways. Do we move forward by “solving” HIV/AIDS or “solving” problems in education? Where do we begin? And where does the cycle end? . It is difficult to look at the issue from a foreign perspective because we don’t know what our role should be. It is hard to think about doing nothing but at the same time we have to wonder if it is our place to step in, and furthermore if there is anything that we could do that would make a positive aspect. All in all, the poster presentations were very informative and interesting in a way that we didn’t expect, and they made us think analytically about the effects that social issues have on Namibia, Southern Africa, and the world. Everyone chose really interesting topics and the group ended up getting so into the presentations that we used up all of our class time on this activity alone.

Completing the poster presentations allowed us to broaden our mind to how various topics, from global warming to gender to Pentecostalism and more, impact each other in more ways than one may realize. Many of the topics we discussed with each other allowed us to view a topic we had already known something about with the added chance of hearing about them through a new lens. It brought together many subjects and showed the interesting chains of how various social issues feed off of one another, or impact each other in a variety of additional ways.

We have learned so much through the course of the semester that even though wrap up week should be exciting, it’s a bit sad. This trip has broadened our minds in ways that none of us even expected, and has left us with a thirst for more. We have learned about so many issues facing Namibian society today, and now we have been shown how they all fit together. Our knowledge has circled back so that everything makes sense, and yet at the same time most of us are more confused than ever. We will continue to wonder what the long-term effects of colonization are and how to move forward. We continue to question what it means to want to help develop southern Africa and still not step past cultural boundaries. We continue to question what race and racism means in a place like Namibia, and even back home. But, fortunately, we have learned that being confused is okay; and that reaching this point simply means that we have successfully fought through the barriers of false assumptions and superficial understanding and opened up doors and our minds to more learning in the future. I think it’s fair to say that we will all be sure to take this newfound knowledge back to the States and continue to expand on it in the future.