day #4

i am back at the cheap internet cafe in johannesburg, where my dear friend who got her baggage stolen is shopping for all that she lost. we have two hours to kill before we have a grand traditional meal at an all-you-can-eat meat buffet.

yesterday was moving as well as a little troubling. we visited the topsy foundation, an ngo in the rural province of mpumalanga. as we drove out of jo'burg we saw quite a few "informal settlements"- chaotic clusters of corrugated tin shanty houses linked together by potholed dirt roads. we had a meeting with some of topsy's key players, who were informative and very hospitable. their work is noble- providing medical treatment to the impoverished areas around them, where hiv prevalence can reach up to 33%. we then took a tour of the facilities, which was a little jarring. a group of fifteen extremely naive american students trooping around a tiny aids clinic must have been obnoxious. our tour guide led us into nearly all of the rooms, including a few patients' appointments. we found ourselves staring into the eyes of silent, contemplative, and obviously ill patients as they waited for care. after the tour and a brief but cheery visit with the "bead ladies" and "sewing ladies" who comprise the life skills section of topsy, we headed into our huge van and drove around some of the communities topsy serves. i don't think i've ever witnessed (or perhaps, been so immersed in) that level of poverty. none of the homes had running water or electricity, let alone any sort of permanent walls. as we drove slowly around the patchy dirt trails connecting the colorful but volatile shacks, nearly everyone we passed stared inquisitively at our vehicle. we looked pretty ridiculous, so i can see why. once we started waving and smiling, we instantly received warm but slightly cautious waves in response. the children of the community were particularly delighted to wave, although they often sheepishly retreated to their mothers or little dogs as we passed. our tour guide ushered us into the home of a granny who has watched her two young grandchildren since their mother died of aids. we took up the entire low-ceilinged, dark, cold metal room. as we boarded the bus again, we heard a group of a dozen or so women singing a resonant sotho song.

the second community we visited was slightly more developed than the first- it had a few stores and more gathering places, but no less poverty. we arrived at a topsy-supported creche (daycare) without a clear idea of what we were to see. inside the two tiny rooms sat almost fifty small children- one room contained about 25 wide-eyed toddlers, all sitting steadfastly still, while the other housed the same amount of preschool-aged children singing charmingly out of tune. i have no idea how they were so well-behaved, besides the fact that there was no room to move around. my classmate maia was clever enough to bring stickers, and we began to pass them to the children with permission from the teacher. witnessing the kids' eyes light up as we handed them dinosaurs or as they slapped little princess stickers on their foreheads was probably the most adorable thing i've ever seen. i didn't feel guilty intruding on the creche, unlike the granny in the first community, because these children seemed genuinely excited to have visitors. as we left most of them let out endearing, high-pitched shouts of "bye" and waved with two hands. that was the highlight of the day.

today we heard three lectures from academics at various south african institutions. besides the fact that we left at 7:45, endured our third straight day of rain (it's supposed to be summer here!), skipped lunch, and listened to literally hours of critiques of south african aids policies, i really enjoyed the day. i suppose that is the difference between studying abroad and simply traveling for fun. the subject matter is engaging enough that i didn't mind a bit.

we leave for cape town at 6:45 tomorrow morning. i've heard nothing but great things about it, so it should be fun!

oh and a final note: the film "yesterday" really captures the experience of what we have seen- how rural communities cope with hiv/aids. i'd recommend it.