An American in Sizanani: Ruth's Travel Blog #3

RUTH, A LONGTIME CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AND FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES, DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM HER USUAL WORK AND SPEND TIME VOLUNTEERING FOR GLOBAL CAMPS AFRICA IN SOUTH AFRICA. FOLLOW ALONG AS SHE SHARES HER EXPERIENCES AND HER PERSPECTIVE AS AN AMERICAN AT SIZANANI.

Day 4 - Visiting the Townships

KB picked me up in Rosebank and took me first to a club in Freedom Park and then to Kliptown. Two vochellis were running a suicide-prevention program. We were not there long, but I watched them role-play following a discussion led by a social worker. Sizanani campers are drawn largely from the groups of kids who attend these clubs (held as well in Alex (Alexandra City), Poortjie and a few other townships); they also come from “homes” (essentially orphanages as I understand it).

We stopped to check on a family that cooks for the club. The wife of his longtime friend Bafana was moving large quantities of delectable -looking homemade chicken into tubs (she offered to make me a plate). A young woman who might have been her daughter was there with her tiny one, such a cutie who was feeding and introducing me to the dog. Children so tiny will often talk to anyone. I was just another human paying attention. Here as everywhere, I am drawn to the little ones.

KB then drove us to Kliptown, where he grew up. Where to begin. The level and extent of the poverty was staggering. A lot of lack—roads and floors lacking cement, absence of electricity, homes without roofs, no places to congregate whether in or outside. Mountains of recycling traded for funds and then for drugs, a dump where people not only scavenged but lived. KB filled me in on facts: what it was like growing up, where people congregated to use or sell, the more prosperous areas populated by coloureds.

By S. Honorine VOA - http://www.voanews.com/content/kliptown-a-beacon-of-hope-in-soweto-township/1545472.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27915556

Twenty-five years ago a then-ANC member (“then” to distinguish from the politicians of today) took a friend and me into Soweto. What has stood out to me most over the years as I think back is the one- or two-room brick houses they were building, with plumbing. Our hosts’ pride was evident, yet the reaction that has reverberated over the years was how small a number they’d built in proportion to the enormity of the need. Perhaps I was struck dumb by the poverty then as well: I can’t recall, as the Soweto memory always begins for me now with the small brick homes. This, for whatever reason, my age or the country’s, perhaps, feels different. It’s 2022 and so many are still doing without. This was just one part of one township in a nation with a 55% poverty rate. And I was staying among well-heeled accommodations and eateries. Stark, painful, overwhelming.

(I said all this to a dear friend who knows DC poverty far more intimately than most with means. I could not relay well what is different. How do you explain the scale here, the basic unfulfilled needs. Of a different kind. I was reminded of the American acupuncturist telling me about poverty in China. I’d thought at first he was simply blind to the need in DC where he lives, but soon I could hear he knew something beyond my ken. This is beyond my ken. It should be beyond everyone’s, a matter of history. Yet here I am, an educated but ignorant traveler in 2022, in search of understanding. Need to search instead for funds.

KB is still a part of the community, talking to people as we walked and then drove. I’m unclear why he and others show us the townships, and I did ask. To learn and then share, with luck help educate and bring resources I must assume, which I hope somehow to do. But it is also his home, his story. I am grateful, and mute.

An American at Sizanani: Ruth's Travel Blog #2

RUTH, A LONGTIME CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AND FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES, DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM HER USUAL WORK AND SPEND TIME VOLUNTEERING FOR GLOBAL CAMPS AFRICA IN SOUTH AFRICA. FOLLOW ALONG AS SHE SHARES HER EXPERIENCES AND HER PERSPECTIVE AS AN AMERICAN AT SIZANANI.

Day 3: The Lay of the Land

I packed up so I could move Airbnb’s and Ubered to the office in Braamfontein, part of the Central Business District of Johannesburg. Still getting the money down, thought at first that the car cost $40 and wondered how I could Uber to and from the office with any regularity. Again the (or this) newcomer’s ignorance of norms/expectations. Greeted at the office by KB, Camp Sizanani’s Camp Director, and his adorable but ailing little boy, brought upstairs by Nkosana (aka Big Fish) and Ntandi, two camp counselors. Then Ditlhare, Sizanani’s Senior Social Worker, showed me around. Reminiscent of Southern Prisoners Defense Committee in earlier years but tinier and less equipped. Shoestring budgets for the poor. As with many experiences here already, familiar and not.

Dilthare is another tremendous staff person. A social worker with 5 students working under her. She spent 3 hours plus with me, explaining Sizanani , the clubs, the work. We started though with a current problem: the inability of children without birth certificates to get vaccinated against COVID-19. These kids are entitled to schooling, they go to school, but they have no papers. Child may be from another country. Parent is expected to go back to that country to get papers on the birth. There are hundreds of children in this predicament. I’m not clear on what else they are missing out on — nearly everything I suspect— but it makes no sense to deny vaccination yet send them to school. Dilthare is on it, asked for lists from the schools of kids in need. Got one list of 84 so far, just a beginning. She is undaunted.

Dilthare hopes I can help here. She goes to Lawyers for Human Rights regularly (they have an office in the same building; perhaps less shoestring but not holding my breath). She gave me a copy of the South African Constitution: I remember learning back in the day about how progressive it is. But how to implement, get access to these “rights”? Haven’t a clue. Going to see what I can find online later today. This has to be resolved. I don’t need to be told that this is one of a thousand obstacles these children faces.

I Ubered back. (Had hoped to go to the Apartheid Museum but it’s closed for COVID.) New “apartment” not quite ready, sat outside at Proud Mary for coffee. Chatted briefly with the (Zimbabwean) barista (even that fancy word seems incongruous here) when a man also coffe-ing outside there struck up a conversation. Then I had to go meet the man with the keys at the Airbnb.

Answered more emails and WhatsApp’s, did some food shopping then tried to work out the money. Think I’ve got it now.

This evening I met up with a new connection, Jackie, and her husband for Jackie’s birthday. Boy did I love meeting them. Jackie is warm and smiling, her husband opened up too. (I believe his name is Lumkile based on a WhatsApp message: my ears have yet to accurately take in names.) They were warm kind and embracing. I know I asked them too many questions. Jackie runs a literacy program for kids (“Literazi” though I couldn’t find it online, another I’m sure in a series of misspellings). It’s new, she’s funding it with small donations (mostly from their savings, it sounds), and appears to be a(n as yet undiscovered) cousin to Sizanani. Again, the need, the small program hundreds of children flock to, the exquisitely created drop in the bucket.

These were wonderful people. Jackie’s husband will be away but I hope to see her again over the weekend before I leave. I learned quite a bit about the country, but mostly delighted in their company.

An American at Sizanani: Ruth's Travel Blog #1

Ruth, a longtime CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AND FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER living in the United States, decided to take a break from her usual work and spend time volunteering for Global Camps Africa in South Africa. Follow along as she shares her experiences and her perspective as an American at Sizanani.

Day 1: The Flight

On the airplane, nearing the end of the flight, the white woman next to me and I began chatting. I don’t remember how we moved from the mundane of airplane inconvenience to — what shall I call it— “inequality in South Africa.” She lamented that the state of affairs was now “reversed,” that Black South Africans controlled everything, there were quotas for education and hiring such that her kids must now look outside the country for jobs. There was no anger in her voice, she was matter-of-factory stating facts. I talked about the US, gave the example of how I was the beneficiary of my father’s enrollment in the GI bill, a program which changed his socio-economic class but was not made available to Black people. My seat mate listened, perhaps asked a question or two, I don’t remember. But there was little engagement. Very “nice” woman, soft-spoken, friendly, accommodating. For her, likely a chat with an interested but ignorant American. For me, the 2022 introduction to the country.

Day 1+: Arrival

With my cart of luggage and I’m certain a weary face, I circled the arrivals room at Johannesburg International Airport figuring I’d be waiting or calling. But there suddenly was Mpumi Maesela, Global Camps Africa’s South African Country Director, saying my name. What a gift. She took me shopping for food, to the Airbnb, then out for coffee. Over the few hours, she moved from welled-up eyes to silliness and laughter, as if we were well known to each other. I told her about the white woman on the plane, didn’t have to finish the story for her to see the whole picture (and then some). We sipped mochas and Mpumi answered my questions. (“How do you know which of your six languages to speak to a stranger?”) I understand the need for an hiatus from grief (she had just lost her father days before our meeting). But this was a gift to me.

Day and Evening 2: Adjusting

If I have to forget a day I suppose it should be this one. Walked around the mall area, got mani/pedi at Sorbet (recommended by both Mpumi and the white seat mate), had coffee and a smoothie at Tasha’s. Back to the Airbnb (wanting to call it “the apartment,” reminiscent of my 4-year-old self in DC, but also because it’s bigger and better organized than my own DC home). Reached out to friends’ friends, answered WhatsApp’s, deleted emails, struggled to stay awake bigtime, spent 2 hours dealing with Verizon and getting nowhere (woke me up though). Then took myself to dinner at the bar part of where Mpumi brought us for coffee.

Lovely glass of wine and salad cheaper than what I’d pay in DC. But I’m in fancy-land here, a less pricey, more mall-y version of life at home. Clientele mixed, all servers are black. Mpumi, then Jackie (and in between a barista himself ) explained that many of those working in Rosebank are Zimbabwean or from other countries. Chatted minimally with the bartenders owing to some difficulty with my understanding them (accent plus mask), their evident busyness, and my initial shyness as a foreigner.

Shoulder exercises to Netflix (“After Life,” it came up and made for easy background chatter). Then downloaded the book Mpumi recommended, a South African life (the fiction v. non-fiction debate) with humor. “These Things Really Do Happen to Me.” The perfect read.

Then had my second night of waking up at 2 then 4, both times raring to go. And with a Melatonin plan for Friday.

Connecting to Make a Difference through Community Partnerships

Global Camps Africa’s impact extends far beyond the eight days of residential camp or even the year-round Youth Clubs.  Sandile, a current Camp Sizanani program participant, experienced the power of that network effect in a transformative way this year.

It all started with a camp counselor (vochelli) named Bokang Mokoena, who served as a Youth Club Team Leader years ago.  Even then, it was clear that Bokang had a passion for connecting with young people...especially those who were struggling to meet their potential.  Recognized for his special skills by a US camp director visiting Camp Sizanani, he was hired as summer camp staff at Frost Valley YMCA in the United States, where he shared his talent and further developed his own tools for working effectively with youth.  He went on to leverage these experiences and founded Phakamani Young Minds Academy, a youth-led community organization in Johannesburg that provides academic assistance, support, and mentorship to learners throughout their schooling careers.  His goal was to help foster the skills and mindset that South Africa needs in its future leaders.

Fast-forward to 2021 and Sandile, who has attended Camp Sizanani and Youth Clubs since 2018.  Global Camps Africa’s team identified her as a young woman with extraordinary gifts, but who was struggling to meet her potential because of some challenges in her home life.  Sandile lives with her father, two sisters, and her sister’s child in a poor township outside Johannesburg and, although she was receiving support from Global Camps Africa, the stress of living in sustained poverty in an unsafe environment was affecting her academic performance.  

The story could have ended there.  But it didn’t, because of the connection between Global Camps Africa and its network of camp counselors.  We reached out to Bokang for help, and he immediately offered Sandile a scholarship to get the extra academic support she needs through his community organization.  Now, Sandile is on track to go to university and change the environment she is living in.  

After participating in the Phakamani Young Minds Academy for the past several months, Sandile says, 

“It has helped a lot.  My schoolwork has improved and I’m expecting great results this term.  Phakamani Young Minds Academy trains us to take ourselves seriously...In the next five years, I hope to go to university!”

Ms. Nontsikelelo Tsatsi: Connecting through School Partnerships

Ms. Tsatsi is the Headmistress, or Principal, at Minerva High School in Alexandra Township. The school accommodates the 10th through 12th grade children from the community, which has a rich anti-aparthaid history and vibrant culture but suffers from endemic poverty, violence, unemployment, and failing infrastructure.  Ms. Tsatsi says, “Our learners face a lot of challenges.  We have students from child-headed households.  The rate of sexual abuse and rape, and the number of girls who become pregnant from those incidents, is increasing.  The impact of all of this is seen in their results.”

When Global Camps Africa connected with Ms. Tsatsi to ask if she would like to have our young women’s empowerment program offered to the students at her school, she was very excited.  “We have limitations,” she said.  “Our staff is only trained to implement the academic curriculum, but our learners have other challenges that we cannot address.”  The partnership was born, and our Sizanani team is leading three-day weekend day camp sessions for 10th grade girls to empower them to fight gender-based violence, teach them about reproductive health and pregnancy prevention, and plan for their healthy, productive futures.  When she introduced the program to the girls in her school, she says, “I could see the excitement of our learners when we told them about the kind of activities they would experience at Camp Sizanani.”

“Looking at the problems that we have here at the school, this program is something that all of my learners should be a part of.  Having 130 students per camp, targeting 10th-grade girls, has helped us.  We can evaluate the progress of those learners as they continue through the institution,” says Ms. Tsatsi.  Understanding the current and emerging needs of the children, and truly connecting with them, are two critical components to the success of our school-based programs.  Ms. Tsatsi shared an example with our team in a recent conversation:  “We have a case of a learner who has been sexually assaulted, and through Sizanani there has been a breakthrough in that case.  The child is now opening up, and the involvement of Camp Sizanani with that family has made things better for that student.  We have made progress in that case as a result of Camp Sizanani.”

In 2021, Global Camps Africa developed thriving partnerships with six schools across five deeply disadvantaged areas of the townships around Johannesburg.  Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 epidemic, our school-based programs reached more than 1,400 young women and girls with life-skills education and empowerment, psychosocial support, and a lasting connection to caring, supportive adults.  After the day camps, the girls are invited to enroll in our follow-on program, Virtual Youth Clubs, where they receive ongoing academic tutoring, health and wellness education, and access to resources that help with food insecurity, healthcare, and other needed social services.  

Ms. Tsatsi’s message to us is clear and direct.  She says,

“I extend a word of appreciation first.  You are doing a good job.  I wish we could have more of these camps.  I wish we could have these services extended to all learners.  The schools you have partnered with are not highly resourced, and they really depend on people like you to make a difference in these children’s lives.  As a school, we are the last hope for these learners and we are here to break the cycle of poverty.  Our learners can be well capacitated and empowered to deal with the challenges they will face out there after grade twelve.”