day #15

grahamstown has been quite a busy and eye-opening leg of our adventure. each day we've had at least two meetings with local ngos, lectures at the acclaimed rhodes university, or other cultural engagements. we played the tourist at addo elephant national park, where we saw buffalo, warthogs, kudu, springboks, herons, zebras, several herds of elephants at the watering hole, and many aggressive and snap-happy tourists. on the drive back we saw monkeys on the side of the road and giraffes in a neighboring reserve. we've spent some time in the township lovingly referred to as "grahamstown east," which houses a growing and historically black population. we've been brought there by various educators, social workers and ngo employees all with great intentions. however, 15 white tourists hopping off a bus and into a tin shack to ask sensitive health questions of a single 14-year-old girl just doesn't seem fair. we have had to learn the hard way that the data we rely on regarding hiv/aids (and nearly everything else) comes from face-to-face research that sometimes seems injust. the disparity of white (and/or american) privilege has never been clearer.

one notable day came from visiting the keiskamma trust, located in a house in a rural community on the eastern cape called hamburg. a middle-aged white artist and doctor decided to open a multi-layered clinic a few years ago. she spoke to us about her vision of just connecting people from around the world. her ngo provides health care for those in the area, including life-saving antiretroviral treatment for hiv-positive individuals with cd4 counts below 200, as well as community-building and income-generating skills training such as embroidery, beadwork, capoeira, and painting. the art group created an altarpiece currently on display in the u.s.- i think it is in d.c. right now if you get the chance to check it out- and has a variety of other impressive projects in the work. we presented about half of goucher's peace tiles to this ngo with hopes that they will create peace tiles of their own at some point.

another high point was visiting the international library of african music at rhodes. the curator is a third-generation ethnomusicologist and musician who gave us an interactive demonstration with his antique collection. we had a little marimba lesson and got to play kudu horns, pan pipe-type whistles, and drums.

we've also interacted with quite a few schools while in the eastern cape. we listened to the absolutely lovely primary school choir at samuel ntsiko school (founded in 1855...30 years before goucher!) in the township. we then had a ridiculously warm welcome at a combined school in kenton-on-sea. the principal and councilor spoke, a group of "mamas" (mostly grandmothers) did traditional dance and song for us, and again the school choir sang. it was such an honor. we were then sent in groups of two to different classrooms and left there for a half-hour. i'm not sure what we were supposed to do, but my good friend laura & i introduced ourselves to the 11th-graders, asked them a few questions, and then spoke informally in small groups and played around with our digital cameras. i hope to host a calculator drive for that school next semester. this morning we went to a school for street children, many of whom have psychosocial problems as a result of extreme poverty and neglect. we had a great time listening to them sing, play marimbas and chat. apparently there was a minor stabbing while we were there (we did cause a major disruption of routine), but other than that all went well.

i have been staying with two classmates of mine in a middle-class home just across from the sprawling township. our host mother wendy is absurdly friendly and jovial. she works as a high school principal some 55 km away. her three sons drift in and out of the house. we've only had real conversations with her youngest, who is 15 and goes by "scissors." it has been great bonding with my classmates and really getting to know our professors. i must say, this trip would be completely different if we didn't get along so well. i can't believe that in a week's time we will arrive in snowy, frozen baltimore and resume classes! it is about 25 degrees celsius here right now and i am roasting... the only remnants of summer when we return will be our atrocious sunburns and fading tans.

this afternoon i have a one-on-one meeting with a journalism professor at rhodes university, to discuss the impact of print media in the struggle against hiv/aids (my topic of research here). we also have a group lecture from a language professor who is rumored to be hilarious. tomorrow we fly from port elizabeth to durban and then head directly to our rural homestays in kwazulu natal. that should be quite the experience as i am not sure we have electricity or running water. after that we spend two days in durban, meet with another ngo, and then have a looooong journey back to baltimore (via dakar). wish me luck getting re-adjusted to school!