Still Striking....

Well, I’m in to week 3 now and the strike is still going on….I haven’t been out to the townships since my second day! Although sitting in an office all day isn’t exactly what I was expecting to do and I’d much rather be out with the kiddos, the past 2 weeks have been really great to get to know the staff and carve out my niche in the Amy Biehl Foundation. I was just thinking today about all the different job roles that I have and how excited I am about every single one of them:

1. 1. Marketer—I work directly with the marketing and PR coordinator (Ilchen) to make sure that all our materials are similar and we get the word out about news and events with ABF
2. 2. Journalist—I end up writing a lot of the articles for the website and reading many press releases. I end up running around the office talking to different people to get ‘the real story.’ (Casey, you would be proud J )
3. 3. Social Media Coordinator—updating, uploading, streamlining our website, facebook, and twitter sites
4. 4. Web Developer—If you’ve been to the ABF website, you’ll notice that it’s a little difficult to navigate. I’ve been put in charge of redesigning the website to make it more user-friendly. If you have any suggestions, send them my way!
5. 5. Workshop Facilitator—this one just came to me today. The Kendalls (an amazing American couple that I travelled over here with) gave a staff development workshop a week and a half ago and I was put in charge of follow up. Apparently I am now leading the workshop THIS THURSDAY. Sooo…I’ll be working on this pretty much all day and night until then ha!

Those are just a few of my roles to give you an idea of what I’m actually doing during ‘these striking days.’ A typical day is filled with me running around trying to balance one or two or even 3 of these things at once. If I didn’t make lists, I’m sure I would forget 80% of the stuff I have to do! I have a lot of freedom in my job to make changes where I see fit and develop and expand certain programs which is awesome. I’ve only been here 3 weeks now and I’ve already gained so much experience and I’m surprised at how much of my college training is coming directly in to play so quickly (thanks for that education, dad J ). I really am excited about all of the things this semester will bring and how much I will learn just by working full time in a non-profit organization!

But, I must leave to now…I should probably start working on this workshop which takes place in 2 days…I’ll update again soon about the rest of my happenings here in Cape Town. They include incredible burgers and ice cream on the beach with some great new friends I’ve made…oh Cape Town, you’ve been so good to me J

The Amy Biehl Story

August 25---a day that will be remembered for many people both in South Africa and America. 17 years ago something happened that changed the life of at least 7 people, but lead to 1000s of lives changed because of an incredible story of forgiveness. Let me tell you the story of how the Amy Biehl Foundation came to be…

Amy Biehl, an idealistic Stanford graduate student, and an anti-apartheid activist, was just days from returning home to the United States. She was completing a 10-month exchange program at the University of Western Cape Community Law Center as part of the Fulbright program. She passionately opposed the Apartheid government, and devoted much of her efforts during her stay to the upcoming South African election, the nation's first all-race election scheduled in April of 1994. She truly believed that Africa was "the continent of the future" and was committed to voter registration programs for blacks and women to ensure the end of apartheid power.

Amy Biehl was driving 3 blacks colleagues to their home in the Gugulethu Township in Cape Town, when a group of youths representing the Pan Africanist Congress militant group began to attack their vehicle. The mob of youths, fresh from a raucous political meeting, began pelting the vehicle with stones, forcing it to stop. Radical chants of "one settler, one bullet!", rang out as they surrounded the vehicle, forcing Amy out on to the street where they continued to attack. She was then driven to the nearest police station, where she later died. Amy Biehl was just 26 years old.

The irony of the tragedy is that Amy was killed by the very people she was trying to help. During the attack, her black friends continuously pleaded that she was a "comrade", a friend of South Africa. It was to no avail. Four men were eventually arrested and charged with the murder, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Shortly thereafter, however, the new African National Congress (ANC) government formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a court-like body, responsible for reviewing requests for amnesty to those guilty of committing politically motivated crimes. The convicted murderers in the Amy Biehl case applied for amnesty, testifying that at the time of the murder "We were in very high spirits, and the White people were oppressive; we had no mercy on the White people. A White person was a White person to our eyes." They each further testified; "What I believed is if you kill a white person, it is how we are going to get the land returned from the white people".

Determined to honour Amy's belief in the truth and reconciliation process, and her love for South Africa, Amy's parents Linda and Peter Biehl, chose to attend and participate in the hearings, supporting the request for amnesty. In 1998, four years after the demise of the apartheid era, the four convicted murderers were pardoned, and released from prison. The Biehls ultimately supported the verdict, shaking the hands of the convicted murderers upon their release. Peter Biehl stated in conclusion to the hearings:

"The most important vehicle of reconciliation is open and honest dialogue...we are here to reconcile a human life which was taken without an opportunity for dialogue. When we are finished with this process we must move forward with linked arms".

The Biehls have since created the Amy Biehl foundation which is where I work now. The foundation's mission statement is "to weave a barrier against violence" and "to prevent youth violence through a holistic approach to community development in socio-economically disadvantaged communities in and around Cape Town and I get to be a part of this story!!!

Yesterday marked the 17^th anniversary of her death and the entire office went to a memorial service and dedication of a new monument (see link to news story below). What is amazing through all of this is that 2 of the 4 convicted murderers actually work for the organization now. Easy and Ntobeko are incredible men who’s lives have been changed by an incredible act of forgiveness—they have been given new life and a chance to have a family and freedom. Everyday when I go to work, I get a giant hug from Easy and a wonderful welcome from Ntobeko. Their desks are just opposite mine…I walk by them, I interact, I laugh, I throw paper airplanes at the very people who were the villains 17 years ago. Who do you need to forgive today? Who do you need to show grace and love to? I can’t even begin to imagine what Peter and Linda Biehl have gone through to be where they are today; but because of their actions, 1000s of childrens lives have been changed.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Memorial-to-Amy-Biehl-unveiled-20100825

Reflective Road Runs

This week has been quite hectic in the office as the teacher’s strike is STILL on this week. Usually, most of the staff is out visiting the different schools and sites in the afternoons so it’s been very crowded and loud as we try to figure out our next steps. We can’t go into the townships and run our programs, even though they are after school programs, because we are seen as a threat to educating the kids and thus it is unsafe. The strike carried over into public servants as well so the public hospitals and clinics have a very limited staff. In other places in the country, the military has been called in to keep the peace as the demonstrations are getting stronger and more heated. As usual though, Cape Town is very tame compared to the rest of the nation so no worries for us!

Because of the strikes, I’ve been in the office all day from 9-5.30….in front of a computer screen….and I think my brain is fried. Yesterday I was about to go crazy so I rushed home from work to go on a run around the common area in front of my house. I just needed to clear my head and get some exercise so I suited up and off I went. Now, I try to run as often as I can, but it certainly has been at least a month since my last run and this one was beyond comparison to any other run I’ve ever had. The entire time I was running around the commons, I had a perfect view of the sun setting behind Table Mountain. How absolutely incredible it was! I’ve posted a picture below so that you can see the majesty of the view, but as you know, the picture doesn’t even come close to the crisp winter air and the evening light of the whole event. The sun had already set by the time I ran home for my camera, but just do me a favor and imagine streams of yellow and orange light streaming up from behind the mountain. I don’t think I will ever get tired of this mountain. Every hour, every minute, the light casts different shadows forming a new look to the Table itself. If this is what I have to look at while I run every day, I think I could run for hours! (Ask me again in 2 months to see if its true, ha!) All in all, it was a successful run and I was able to clear my head and use muscles other than my eyeballs for a change J

The End of Week One

I can't believe I've already finished my first week of work! So many emotions filled my week as I try to figure out my place at this organization. Not only am I trying to adjust to working full time with an added hour of transport every day, but the majority of the 20 person staff speak Xhosa (one of the 11 national languages of South Africa) during regular conversation. This makes my ability to engage in conversation a bit more difficult than usual so it will take longer to actually find my place. I guess this means I will just have to continue to learn Xhosa! If anyone has any resources for learning Xhosa that they currently aren't using, feel free to send them my way :)

By the end of the week, I felt relatively settled into my new desk and early next week I will have a proper meeting with the managing director and intern coordinator to actually determine the specifics of my job description.

As far as adjusting to life here---well, let's just say it's been pretty wonderful. Yesterday I hopped on a mini bus taxi to town and went shopping in Green Market Square where I whipped out my bartering skills to get some great prices. I hailed a cab to go around the side of the mountain and was able to give him directions--I have no idea how I remembered!

On Friday night, we had some house guests from Malaysia, Italy, Germany, Russia, Holland, and France who were passing through and it was so great to sit and get to know people from all over the world. There's so much to learn from other people! So, you guys at home who don't have a lot going on...go out and meet someone new. Maybe they won't be from a different country, but everyone has a story---learn it!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from my adventures so far. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Some kiddos I befriended at one of the primary schools in the township of Nyanga

Dinner with Ahmed Kathrada (on trial with Nelson Mandela--statue to left), Judy Kendall, and Linda Biehl.

My arrival in Cape Town with Larry Kendall!

Teacher Strike

Wouldn't you know...half way through my first week of work, the teachers of all types of schools nationwide (!) have decided to strike. There's always some sort of excitement and commotion in Cape Town, but apparently this is a pretty big deal.

What this means for the Foundation is that they cannot run their after school programs because there is no school to begin with! It is unclear how long the strike will last so we will just have to see if we can get our programs up and running even without classes being in session. Probably a good thing we didn't go out today though--Cape Town winter has finally shown his face. It was a dark and cold and rainy day here so the townships would have been pretty nasty in the weather.

I was able to spend the whole day in the office helping out where necessary. Today, that meant updating the website! Now, if you know me well, you know that I have never done anything like this before so I spent the majority of the day simply figuring out how to use the editing program. I've learned so much already and I haven't even been working here a week yet! I actually really enjoyed entering in the news and updating the programs page. There is a LOT of work to be done, but I'm pretty sure I can get a handle on this quite quickly.

Also, before I forget---I was able to rejoin the Navigators for their weekly Tuesday meetings and what a welcome I received! It's crazy to think that I already have such a strong community in a world so far away from my own. What a blessing it has been to reconnect and revisit with such wonderful people :) I'm really looking forward to getting to know them more and making new memories in such a beautiful place.

First Day on the Job

What a day! I survived my first day of work in the ‘real world’ and couldn’t be more excited and exhausted all at the same time. The day started early as it takes me about an hour to commute with the public transportation schedules. I arrived at the office 10 minutes early and began meeting many people, most of who’s names I can’t pronounce, but I’ll get it with time. As the morning progressed, I began to get a feel for what they want me to do in the office---everything. I think I had about 5 different job titles ranging from social media coordinator to training follow-up liaison to implementing a quality control assessment on the programs. Crazy! I’m excited about every one of them so it will be interesting to see which one(s) I actually end up carrying out.

We then took a tour of some of the sustainable garden programs at various schools in the townships. It was so incredible to actually be back in the townships again and seeing how people live, smelling the local smilies (whole sheep heads on a grill), and listening to the bustling noises of a life so different from my own. It’s just like I remember, but the stark reality that this is life for over 1.2 million people in Cape Town never gets old. It never becomes “okay.” But this is why I came—to work here, to rebuild here, and to love those around me. All these thoughts were racing through my head as we drove from site to site….as I was off in thought, we received a phone call….

The teacher for the computer programme was out sick for the day and they were going to cancel the class---that is, unless I wanted to step in and teach it. Now, I wasn’t supposed to start my class until next week and although I’ve thought a bit about my class, I had nothing prepared even for that first day. Being flexible is an invaluable skill anywhere in life, but especially in the every-changing non-profit world. So I agreed! If kids needed to be taught, then I’d somehow fumble my way through a 2 hour (yikes!) class about computers.

Secretly nervous beyond belief I stepped foot into my class of grade 7 kids. Not all of them spoke good English so there was much commotion as kids tried to help one another understand what I was saying. The Foundation brings 9 lap tops into the schools every day so in my class of 17, they had to learn to share. I took a deep breath, pushed all my nervousness to the back of my mind and began to learn the kids names—we spent a good deal of time here because the majority of them had names such as Nxongible and Ntbekine and they loved to laugh at my pronunciations.

Thankfully, another teacher in the school had some worksheets from her gardening class so I was able to borrow those and have the kids work on their typing skills. None of them knew the home keys and they were amazed to see how fast I could type. I told them that if they used the home keys and practiced hard, they would be able to do the same thing. So, we played typing games using these worksheets for about an hour and a half before it was time to go.

I headed home after the class, but first had to stop by my old house and say hello to 2 very important people from my previous program. What a great reunion that was! It’s so wonderful to already have a community half way around the world who are just as excited as I am that I’m back. So great!!

I guess you could say day one was a success. I’m really excited to see where this job takes me and what even tomorrow has in store for me!

What in the World Am I Doing Here?

For those of you who don't know, this is my 3rd time in South Africa and I'm more than excited to be here. Last time, my mission was a service-learning study abroad exchange from my university in the States. Through that experience, I fell in love with the city of Cape Town, the beautiful landscapes, and the diverse communities which make up this nation. It made such an impact on me that I knew from the minute I left this country, that I wanted to come back after graduation...and now I'm here :)

I'll be working for the Amy Biehl Foundation which is a non-profit here in town that 'reaches out to thousands of children in the Townships through After School programs. The aim is not just to keep the children off the streets and away from all the negative influences (drugs, crime, violence, etc) but they are especially focused on giving them that extra necessary education in crucial areas such a HIV/AIDS prevention, reading, computers, greening and the environment, music, arts, sports and more.'

My specific roles will be working in the office during the mornings doing marketing, PR, and fundraising things for the Foundation and teaching a group of primary school kids a computer programme in the afternoons. I haven't officially started yet (that will be Monday morning) so this is all subject to change, but for now, this is what I've been told my jobs will be! I'll keep you posted on what actually happens after I start this week---all for now! Hope all my American friends are enjoying the heat, it's in the 60s here :)

I've Arrived!

Well folks, it looks like I finally made it back to Cape Town...and I haven't stopped smiling since the minute I first caught a glimpse of the city from the airplane! 6 of the staff including Linda Biehl herself and the Nygaards came to cheer and clap as we came through the security gate--what a welcome!!! Hugs, kisses, and shouts of joy were uttered from a group of people I had known about 5 seconds welcomed me into this beautiful country. I can't even begin to describe the joy and the excitement I have felt since being back. It's like a long lost friend that you come across and memories of all kinds, good and bad, flood back into your mind---and you just have to smile :)

This time my mission is a bit different from before (I'll go into that in a later post), but I am more than excited to see what the next 4 months brings for me. I've barely been here 24 hours and already I've figured out the 5 different keys to my house, bought a cell phone, went to the grocery, surprised an old friend at work, and had dinner with a man who was a part of the Riviona 7 and on trial with Nelson Mandela!!! (Ahmed Kathrada) And to top it all off, my room here at the Nygaards has a gorgeous view of Table Mountain---this morning I layed in bed for half an hour simply staring at its beauty!

Speaking of bed, I should probably head that way....tomorrow I get to go to the Amy Biehl Spirit Award Ceremony and have a laundry list of things to do. Stay tuned for an explanation of what I'm doing here this time and how life in South Africa is for the 3rd time :)