Texas to ZA

With Mom and Dad in South Africa

2009-03-09T01:59:00.000-07:00

Pics from Safari with Mom and Dad

2009-03-09T01:58:00.000-07:00

Cape Point during Josh's visit from the states.

2008-07-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Finally a picture of Kristin! My full-time partner in academia and my part-time bodyguard

Josh and Victor

Craig

Yes, it's winter here now.

Sharks and Whales

2008-07-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Shark Diving

2008-07-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Bernie and Benji's baby!

2008-06-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

My friends Bernie and Benji just had their first daughter, Omeria. She was apparently very comfortable in Bernie - she was 14 days overdue when they induced labor.

Bernie and her mom at the hospital two days before Omeria was born.

Bernie laughing at 13 days overdue.

Mom, Dad and Grandma with the newest member of the family.

The only daughter of the only daughter of an only daughter. Grandma was so happy it was a girl!

Rotary District Conference

2008-06-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

Rotary District Conference was held in Paarl this year and all of us had a great time. There were almost half a dozen speakers over the weekend whose personal stories or journeys in service were so powerful that many audience members were moved to tears. Although we tried to touch on some of the more serious points of the Ambassadorial Scholarship in our presentation on Sunday, if anyone was crying it was due to Ari, the only male Ambassadorial Scholar in our district, dressed up as a woman for our pageant theme. (See final picture)

Volunteering at Freedom Day Concert

2008-06-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Had the pleasure of volunteering at the Freedom Day Concert with my friends Craig, Hardi and Benji, helping to serve lunch to the military, police and security. The work kept me busy for most of the event, but I was happy to catch the second half of President Mbeki's speech. (see first pic) I found the content of the second picture particularly interesting from a development perspective - the use of the word and concept of 'change'. The final pictures is of my friends Craig and Benji.

Evictions on my block

2008-06-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

All residents (perhaps at least 75% of whom are refugees/asylum seekers from DRC) were evicted from a multi-family dwelling a few doors down from my house. All of the paperwork for the eviction was said to be in order. Unfortunately, residents believed they had an additional two weeks to leave the house when police arrived in the morning and told them they must be out by the end of the day. According to residents, those who were not at home had their belongings moved onto the street by the officials overseeing the eviction. A very emotional and tense situation for all involved. I put residents in touch with an individual from a legal resource center who specializes in evictions, but I don't believe anything could be done to provide the residents with at least a few days to move out and have sufficient time to organize alternative accomodations.

Shakespear in the Park and Outdoor Concert

2008-06-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist; it was even spelled correctly with two L's and two T's!

Pond covered with lillypads - picnic spot in the park just before seeing a play.

Shakespeare in the Park - held at Maynardville Park, which boasts one of only three open-air theatres in the world to offer regular Shakespeare performances.

Senegalese singer Ishmael Lo performing at Kirstenbosch Gardens.

Views from Table Mountain

2008-06-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

Best seat in the house!

Cape Town at night.

Robben Island

2008-06-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

Haley and me near the water on Robben Island.

Mr. Mandela's cell.

One of our tour guides - a former inmate on Robben Island, held for treason (political activism) during apartheid.

Refugee Women's Beading Group Pictures (Set 2)

2008-04-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

After 5 weeks of working with the group to help them solidify the way they want their business to be organized and articulate their hopes for the future, we had a party to celebrate the constitution we made. Anna, the director of the Amazing Beadwork Cooperative, reading the constitution to the group. (Matt and Stephen pictured right)

Stephen helping Naomi sport some new shades.

Part of our group.

Kevin smiling because he just finished chewing on my jewelry.

Refugee Women's Beadwork Group Pictures (Set 1)

2008-04-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Kevin, the Boston Terrier of cute babies, is getting frighteningly good at crawling quickly across tabletops.

Laurence and her daughter Naomi during Amazing Beadwork Cooperative constitution workshop.

Matt, in an attempt to show off the beautiful brown beaded bracelet made for him by Mado, looks as though he is being fiesty with her! (I assure you he was not.)

First review of the Amazing Beadwork Cooperative constitution.

Hobie World Championship, Langebaan

2008-03-24T03:52:00.002-07:00

More pics from Mvula School in Nyanga

2008-03-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

Rustenberg Farm, Stellenbosch

2008-03-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

On Sunday of our Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation weekend, Trevor took all of us to his family farm in Stellenbosch, the South African winelands. Breathtaking! We took walks in the gardens restored to the way they looked a dozen decades ago. A fabulous lunch was served on a table beneath grapevines... the VERY best grapes I've tasted. Wine and cheese are both produced on the farm.

Rotary Orientation Hike

2008-03-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

Our hike up Lion's Head included a stop for drinks in a cave during sunset and a drumming lesson taught by the most extroverted South African I have had the pleasure of meeting. He was hilarious and taught us with the same humor and passion that he must use when he teaches his primary school students. (His 10 year olds probably may have more talent than us though...)

Mvula School

2008-03-21T05:13:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from our trip to Mvula school during the Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation. Mvula has had a partnership with the Rotary Club of Cape Town for 10 years and the school's teachers and administrators are as brilliant as the students there. The choir and dance group honored us with performances and we were able to visit individual classrooms and spend time with the kiddos.

Birthday party for Roxy

2008-02-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Anna, Rodesh and I had a birthday party for Roxy, one of the kids with cerebral palsy that Anna helps care for. Anna is a brilliant woman from England who has lived in Cape Town for a few years teaching bead work to groups of refugee woman as well as caring for a few of the girls we had to her house this afternoon. Rodesh, her boyfriend, is a photographer and architect whom all of the girls we had over are in love with. We pushed the four of them in their wheelchairs from their live-in-home a few blocks away to Anna's home - the girls giggling and squirming with pleasure during the ride. We spent time in the backyard with chickens, inside we listened and danced to music and ate lunch. This was my first experience with kids with cerebral palsy and I became acutely aware of a few things:

The level of output does not indicate the level of input. The group of girls ranged from having around 30 vocabulary words to almost none and were not able to express themselves well verbally. It was so clear, however, that they understood exactly what was going on all the time. They burst into laughter when Anna bumped into a piece of furniture or when one of them had food tumble out of their mouth while we were helping them eat. They have fantastic senses of humor. When asked any question they would provide some sort of response letting us know they understood - a nod of the head, a facial expression, a word or two.
The four of them were as different as any other four people. All of them had vastly different personalities - joyous and hyper, calm and smiling, pleasant but bossy, and quiet and homesick. Additionally, each of them are very differently affected by cerebral palsy.
Stimulation and interaction have a huge impact on them in even small doses. After even a few hours together the birthday girl, who speaks almost exclusively in single words, said a new sentence, "I want more," uttered while I apparently wasn't feeding her samosas fast enough! Another one of the girls called Anna by name for the first time.

I learn so much with each new experience I have here in Cape Town but this was a particularly rich one.

Lions Head Hike

2008-02-17T09:56:00.003-08:00

Woke up at 5:30 this morning to go for my first hike up Lions Head with Trevor Wilkins, fearless leader of Ambassadorial Scholars. I thought perhaps we would do a generic trail up to the top. However, I don't think Trevor does "generic." 20 minutes into the hike we left the path and headed up rocks. I'm happy to report that my kneecaps stayed attached and the views were breathtaking. A bonus of hiking with a bed-and-breakfast owner and professional photographer: breakfast and tea for us packed in his bag and pictures of the hike.

My Host Club

2008-02-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

The Cape Town Rotary Club reminds me so much of my sponsoring club in Austin. The meetings usually have between 40 and 60 members attend. Everyone has a keen sense of humor and have service projects as a huge part of each of their lives. My club works very closely with Mvula School in Nyanga (a township just outside of Cape Town). Mvula, which means "rain" in Xhosa, is an indepenent school that includes an AIDS Education Center, and it's most recent project - a nutrition center that teaches children and community members about nutrition as well as cooking and baking skills. I am so looking forward to visiting the school next week and finding a way to become involved in such a moving project. I've attached a picture of the first Rotary meeting in Cape Town - The picture includes: Trevor Wilkins, the guardian angel to all Ambassadorial Scholars in South Africa; Steven Boers, my host dad, architect and serious cycler; and Haley Fletcher, another Ambassadorial Scholar now studying at Rhodes University a mere 10 hour drive away in South Africa.

South African politician suggests legalization of prostitution during World Cup to reduce rape

2008-02-11T00:58:00.000-08:00

South African parliamentarian George Lekgetho of the ruling ANC party has proposed that South Africa legalises prostitution for the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in order to prevent instances of rape, as well as bring in revenue for the government to help the unemployed.

Advancing a crude rationale based upon supply and demand, Lekgotho told a Parliamentary committee that legalising prostitution would be “one of the things that would make [the World Cup] a success because we hear of many rapes, because people don’t have access to them.” Lekgotho backed up his case on socio-economic grounds saying that “if sex working is legalised people would not do things in the dark. That would bring us tax and would improve the lives of those who are not working,” reports the South African Press Association.

South African newspaper The Times denounced the logic of the Lekgotho’s argument, which appears to endorse the opinion that rape is generally a case of releasing sexual frustration rather an act of violence based upon deeper underlying psychological issues. Furthermore, the fiscal justification for his suggestion was criticised on ethical grounds by opposition MP Sydney Opperman who stated that “You cannot attach a price to the deepest union between a man and a woman and link it to our tax base,” writes the South African Press Association.

Xhosa lessons

2008-01-19T01:20:00.000-08:00

Xhosa lessons could not be going any better. Our instructor Weziwe, or Wezi for short, is giving Haley and me private lessons three hours a day Monday through Friday. Yesterday we were able to read and understand an entire paragraph (slowly). We just completed our first week and have just now learned enough to see how beautiful the tones and melody of the language is. Here is link to a newscast in Xhosa so you can hear the language.

Cape of Good Hope

2008-01-19T01:18:00.000-08:00

The three of us ventured to the Cape of Good Hope on Thursday. First the road full of baboons, which are much smaller and more adorable than I imagined, and then the view. Standing at the bottom of the continent and thinking about the significance this single spot had on the spice trade, colonization, etc. It was overwhelming.

Penguins!

2008-01-19T01:09:00.001-08:00

Haley, Victor and I went to see the famous Penguins at Boulder's Beach - about a 25 minute drive from Cape Town. The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is also called the Jackass Penguin on the informational signs at the beach because of the mating noises the males make to impress the females. They are found in South Africa, Namibia, and surrounding islands.

Arrival and Host Parents

2008-01-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

I arrived safe and sound after 36 hours on planes and in airports. Steven and Denise, my host mom and dad, are angels. I was very ill my first night in Cape Town and they took excellent care of me. They have a flat attached to their gorgeous home that another Ambassadorial Scholar, Haley, and I are renting for a few weeks while I look for a more permanent place. (Their dog Sushi is pictured in the photo with them when we went to the ocean for me to see my first South African sunset.)

Assigned a Host Club

2007-10-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

All Ambassadorial Scholars have a host club and I was so happy to learn the club that has agreed to "adopt" me - The Cape Town Rotary Club. The club was chartered in 1925 and performs a great deal of service work in the field of HIV/AIDS. This includes the MVULA Independant School - AIDS Education Center and AIDS orphans projects. I can't wait to meet the Cape Town Club Rotarians and I look forward to working with them throughout the next year!

MVULA blog

Cape Town Rotary Club website

4 months

2007-08-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Working on getting insurance and visa application completed. Finding a place to live for my last 4 months in Austin as a semi-nomad. NYT today reported a 70,000 carat diamond found in South Africa:

August 29, 2007

World Briefing | Africa

South Africa: Huge Gem Reported Found

An obscure South African mining company claimed to have found a greenish-tinged diamond weighing in at 7,000 carats, more than twice the size of the fabulous Cullinan, the pride of the British crown jewels and for a century the holder of the title world's biggest diamond, but skeptics said the claim remained unproved. The company, which runs an unnamed mine in North West Province, circulated a photograph of the softball-size gem, which its spokesman, Brent Jolly, said was in a Johannesburg bank vault. But the find has not been certified, and naysayers said large diamonds, much less rare green ones, are rarely found in that part of the country. Government and diamond-industry agencies said they were unaware of the discovery.