My life is an adventure... even on the weekends

On Saturday morning disaster struck, and it gave me such a shock that I fled to Durban for the weekend. But this was no normal weekend, it included being tricked into entering a strip club, doing a Chinese Fire Drill-type thing in the middle of highway traffic and driving down a South African highway [terrifying], sitting in the American consular's office for 2 hours, and eating dinner and breakfast with KZN elite and Reverend Jesse Jackson. 

Yep, that pretty much sums up the weekend.

Regarding packages and letters

Just FYI: No need to send any packages and letters beyond this point. I will most likely receive the letters if you send them soon, but I wouldn't attempt packages. Juuuust in case you were thinking of sending me something, send it to my home address in California from now on. :)

Thanks!

Adventures Ahead

I have some traveling adventures ahead... and if everything gets ironed out and works at well, I will definitely be updating you. Also interesting opportunities. Stay tuned!

But if you must keep yourself occupied, look at this video again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP36i5L-SYw and then sit in awe as I do every day that an office of [currently] 19 people substantially impact the lives of 3,000+ children.
I am so blessed to here.

:::sigh:::

I am kind of sad.
I wanted to go Mozambique to help out with the community project there, but I was realizing that getting to Mozambique was both very difficult and very expensive. And I thought if it was going to be so expensive and time-consuming anyway, I might as well make stops along the way and see the bits and pieces of Swaziland and Mozambique I would be traveling through on my way. And if it didn't work altogether, just take one of those cheap tourist buses that goes around the area and see parts of the country anyway-- that way I wouldn't have to travel by myself. I spent all morning planning my African adventure.

But when I got back from my lunch break the Thandanani director called me into his office. He is leaving on an overseas trip on Monday until May 10th, and the office had to make budget cuts [aka laying people off] so many shifts are going to be made while he is gone. Meanwhile, someone is going to have to take over certain duties, such as handling all the cash that goes in and out [which is actually a lot of responsibility] and taking minutes at all the meetings. These are now my new duties to help out in the transition, along with filing, doing anything the finance chair needs, and random receptionist duties.
I am glad that I am able to help, but I was really looking forward to my trip. :(
But I should be more excited about being able to help out with an evolving organization that does great things for all these communities. I am being selfish! So this little rant is the end and from now on I will make new plans. Woo.

Busisiwe

A baby's cry echoed down the halls and into my office today. Busisiwe, round and 8 months old, was abandoned by her mother and her father said he has no way to take care of her... so he brought her to Thandanani.
I served as a carseat to Busisiwe, her name meaning "Blessed" in Zulu. We brought her to the house of the Prince family, a local family that takes in these kids for a few months while permanent places are found for them at orphanages and children's homes. They currently have 6 boys and 6 girls, all HIV positive.  Busisiwe held on to my shirt and screamed bloody murder as the family took her in to check her over, only to notice the bandage on her arm. "What's this?" Apparently her mother had fallen why carrying the baby and had hurt [possibly broken] Busisiwe's arm. Tomorrow they are taking her to the hospital to check if she is HIV positive.
As soon as my hands were freed from the baby, they were instantly occupied by the hands of little girls who wanted to hold my hand. I also had little boys who were too macho to hold my hand, but holding on to my leg wasn't above them. I love that feeling. Maybe it is because I don't get the hugs and the hand-holding like I did in the States, but the feeling of a child just slipping their hand into yours without any hesitation is almost magical. It is great to know that the first impression that I give off to a child is that of comfort and friendship-- and as I child, it is natural for them to return the feeling. It is simple and natural love.
While I was there, I saw Musa! He looked so much healthier and was walking around with a smile on his face. This family does good work! The mom was also holding a toddler who they received this morning. When you lift up her shirt all you see is her skin stretched over her back bones. HIV positive and extremely malnourished, this little girl will need a lot of TLC but I know she can make it through. The mom to this girl actually came to Thandanani a few weeks ago with the baby, saying she wanted to go back to school... we never heard from her again and were happy to see her child in the arms of this family because a child in that family had already passed away due to malnutrition. I have seen them take an incredibly starved child and turn him into a happy and plump little boy... I am incredibly grateful for the work they do. I wish there were more people like them out there.

Article in the Natal Witness

When you pick up the Natal Witness you see this heading on the front page: 

"IT'S MY WORLD. ART: PAGE 14" 

Next to it is a picture of this female I later realized was me [I forgot I had straight hair that week].

If you are interested in reading the article, please click here.

My kids are famous! :)

The Drakensberg

Last weekend was great. After two nonstop weeks of stress trying to get things done, I was fortunate to go to the Drakensberg and relax with nature and friends. The thought of going to the 'berg was first conjured up when Bongani was sleeping on my floor that infamous weekend in Bloemfontein. So we kept to our promise of going camping in the Drakensberg and Gugu [Bongani's girlfriend] and Morgan also came to make it a fun camping adventure. It was Morgan and Gugu's first time camping, and they weren't too scared off by it in the end! Which was great.

We went hiking on Saturday through a bit of the Underberg area, and I was on a search for the cave paintings of the San Bushmen-- the first known living humans on earth. They were there somewhere, but after miles of hiking and many hours spent on foot [and even some spontaneous river-crossing], I never found those paintings. :::sigh::: I was hiking through a World Heritage site and never found the paintings! Tragic.

In the middle of our hike there was a scene. Yes, a scene was made. Bongani was leading the way down a narrow path, then it was me following, Gugu and Morgan. Suddenly Bongani turns around in shear fright and sprints the other direction. Morgan freaks out and starts running, followed by Gugu also running after Bongani. Meanwhile, I am just standing there, realizing it was a snake he was running from and it already moved. By the time I turn back around to see how far they had run, I witness Morgan falling down to the ground screaming, "Help me! Help me!" flailing her legs in the air, Gugu then trips over Morgans backpack and lands on top of her. Now they are both flailing on the ground and Bongani has managed to sprint a good 50-60 meters away. I am still standing there, trying to tell them to calm down the snake went the other way. Morgan thought she was going to be eaten by a baboon [there were signs warning about the dangerous baboon], which is why she was screaming "Help me! Help me!" when she fell to the ground and imagined a savage monkey gnawing on her leg. Eventually we all reconvened and continued along our path. Bongani said he now knows that in the face of danger when you have the instinct of fight or flight... he's flight. "Brittan, you definitely must be fight. You just stood there, ready to fight.You are the bravest one!" Or maybe I am just the stupidest one, because I wasn't ready to run without knowing what I was running from.

I have to admit, I sat here laughing the entire time I typed out that experience. People in the internet cafe must think that I am out of my mind, laughing at a computer screen. But really, try to imagine that scene from my perspective. You will see why it is funny. Especially the girls flailing on the ground.

The mountains were beautiful to say the least. Truly one of those experiences where you wonder how someone could deny the existence of God when you are surrounding by such great and amazing beauty. Morgan briefly brought this up while we were hiking and I could not agree more. The wonders of nature are truly much bigger than what the human can fathom. I loved it.

And best of all-- we got to share the classic American s'more with Bongani and Gugu on Saturday night [and Sunday morning breakfast]. Mmm best camping food ever.

Umhlaba Wami Gallery Exhibit

Friday was the big bang, the grand ending to the Umhlaba Wami project I started a few months ago... And it was great! You can see some of their work in the slideshow below:

I hired a taxi bus and we went to Ingqwangele High School to pick up the 10 students who had been participating in my twice-a-week workshops for the last two months. It was so cute to see them standing there-- they had all "dressed up" as much as you can when you wear a school uniform. The girls had their nice earrings in and their hair freshly braided, the boys followed with fresh haircuts.You could tell they wore their best uniform. Nomcebo even decided to wear glasses because she thought it would look cute in pictures.... she doesn't wear glasses. And she couldn't even see out of them!

We hopped in the taxi, the kids sang the whole way and cheered once they left the dirt roads of their community to the paved city streets. We arrived at the Natal Museum, one of 7 national museums in South Africa. We followed the arrows on the floor from the door around the giant elephants and the fish tank into a room where the kids just started jumping up and down, screaming... for about five minutes. "Bhuka, bhuka! [Look, look!]" they shouted as they pointed to the photographer profiles on the wall, "Mina!!! [Me!!!]." What they had just walked into was a gallery of their photos, put up for public display. They ran their hands from one wall to another, touching nearly every photo and reading everything that was up there. They saw their "artist statements," their photography enlarged and strung along the wall [clothesline-style... I was trying to bring a bit of the community into the museum], and their quotes and poems on the things we had discussed [life-goals, AIDS, community, culture, personal stories, etc.].

I truly felt selfish. This day was for them-- I spent all week running back and forth to the museum, setting up this exhibit and preparing for their day. I wanted them to enjoy it, to feel special, to know that they were important. But in the end, I fear I had more fun than they did. When they walked into that room and their jaws dropped in shock, the ends of their lips curling up in giant grins, I was the happiest person alive. To see the joy that brought them-- that was the best feeling ever. I was so, so happy... I cannot even describe the depth of that feeling.

Stephen Coan, a senior writer for the Natal Witness [most famous newspaper in the province], came with his photographer to do a write-up on the event and interview some of the kids. [There was actually a press release in two newspapers the day before the market the event.] After the kids had some time to see the exhibit on their own, others started coming in to admire their work. There was a blackboard wall where people could chalk in their comments and accolades. After I took the kids back to Thandanani for a pizza party and when I asked each one what they thought I got answers such as "I'm impressed with our work. With what we did." and "I'm proud of myself." and "The newspaper came-- I am going to be famous!" I am so, so so proud of these kids.

When writing their "artist statement," they had to mention what they had learned in the workshops. I was happy to see that all aspects of what I was trying to teach were represented; of course most of them talked about photography, but there were also answers such as "I learned how to set goals for my life," "I know my role in my community now," "I have learned about other cultures," and "My English has improved." Most importantly, with the large majority of these students being orphans it was gratifying to hear many of them speak of being able to better cope with their past through being able to tell their stories and express themselves through photography. These kids have progressed so much in just two short months and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to make personal connections with each and every one of them.

I just came back from Snathing where I met up with the kids to give them books with their photos-- each child had his or her own book which captured the story they told through the photos and something they could also use as a starter portfolio if they ever see photography as a career. They were overjoyed with these professional-looking gifts, compliments of RapidStudio in Johannesburg! I took pictures of them oohing and ahhing and the books, but unfortunately they are not uploaded yet. Keep checking my picasa album as I am sure it will appear in there sometime soon!
The newspaper article is due for the front page in the Arts section tomorrow.

Post-Africa

Today I am mailing back to the States in a signed job offer letter. 

My post-South Africa life is coming together, which is exciting. I am glad that I will be employed. :)

And updates on my current life in South Africa will come soon. I promise. And it will be good!

Saturday Transformation

Saturday was a fun day. First, I went to Durban to compete in the South African Track and Field Championships on the KwaZulu Natal team. It was really official, with the motorcycle camera man on the track and all that jazz. I happened to be competing for the province that is a bit "ghetto" in that their uniform was simply black spandex shorts and a black crop-top... but I felt really official and professional getting to compete in one of those crop tops like they do on TV! I did horribly in long jump, though. We don't need to talk about that. It was just cool to be in a national competition and being able to add yet another track uniform to my collection! It was another nationally televised meet and once again I missed it on TV... womp womp.

After the meet I went back with Morgan, another Harvard '09er who is here on a Fulbright. Then we decided to play with Brittan's hair. Always an interesting experience, to say the least. Here are some before [attack of the hairdryer] and after shots:

[C'mon, I must get major props here for having the guts to show that to the world!]

We decided my new 'do shouldn't go to waste and we wanted to go dancing. We failed. People here are obsessed with house/techno music. We both wanted something we knew how to dance to, namely hip hop. After multiple tries, we ended up at a place called "Dance Cafe," which was a bunch of old people dancing to a bunch of bad old music. There was even a strange old man that loved dancing with us. He sweated on me. It was nasty. So we failed in that regard, but it was still a fun night!

Through My Lens

Here are some recent photos. I don't have time at the moment to write out what I have been doing, but I can at least show you in small detailed bits. :)

Through My Lens

Here are some recent photos. I don't have time at the moment to write out what I have been doing, but I can at least show you in small detailed bits. :)

Media Manager

What an incredibly busy week. I spent most every day this week in the office into the night, trying to figure out how to get media ready for the Thandanani director's overseas trip coming in April. My job was to rewrite the evalution from last December in a donor-friendly format and make a video that would tell the Thandanani story. I had a little over a week to finish the project, and after hours of trying to learn the Vegas Pro software, multiple trips into townships for beneficiary interviews, many attempts at voice-over recording sessions, and much time sorting all the photographs I have taken since being here-- voila! We have a video! :)

This video is a short, 3-minute version of the 20+ minute one that is going overseas for presentations. This is just a short to kindly solicit donations and bring attention to the world of the work and the need here. The longer video includes many more pictures, the stories of 2 children, 3 interviews of children and a caregiver [with a voiceover done by me-- how horrifying], and the Thandanani director telling the story of the organization. I definitely will not bore you with that one, but hopefully you like the 3-minute one and it touches your heart just a little. :)

I will admit, as much stress as this caused me over the week, I really enjoy this type of work. It is nice to be able to think creatively and be a part of a process form start to finish [field work to the desk], and to create a product that can develop positive change. Maybe I can figure out how to sharpen my amateur photography and video-editing skills to make more... some day.

Proud of my kids!

I have done a bad job updating everyone on the progress of my Umhlaba Wami Photography Workshops. Things have just been way too busy here. The workshops are going well, and today will be the last lesson. I just wanted to share with you some of their recent photos!

They have really grown in their ability to recognize patterns and angles [the photography stuff], in their understanding of community and cultural issues [life stuff] and their English [language stuff]. I am so proud. I smile and get giddy when I see a good picture! I make sure to take time to speak to each student individually [mentor aspect of the program] and my favorite part is getting to connect with them... but also being able to tell them that they are improving and seeing the shy grins on their faces. I really love these kids.

I hope by showing you these photos you are able to get a peek into their everyday lives. This is where the cultural understanding comes in! But I also hope you enjoy looking at them and experiencing also just a little part of my experience here in South Africa. 

Although this is the last time I will be taking that cramped taxi to Snathing, this is not the last time I will see these kids. I have a surprise in store for both you and the kids next week! Until then, I am going to remain quiet. :)

[sorry again about the formatting... when I make it to an internet cafe I will make it more viewer-friendly... and I know I just uploaded a bajillion photos, but I just couldn't narrow it down.]

Tapped Out

I woke up this morning and got ready for a much-needed shower. In nothing but a towel, I walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower and not even a single drip of water emerged. I kept trying, but I got nothing but the faint gurgle of bubbles from the bottom of the pipe. I went to the sink and washed my face with some drips of water. Oh great, I thought, I broke the house again.

When I went to the office, I noticed there was no water there either. So it wasn't me, Thandanani's property has no water. Okay.

But then I talked to Ma Zandi. She lives about 30 minutes from here in the iMbali township, and as she was sweeping the floor she told me that to cook dinner last night she put a bucket out to collect rain water. The water pumps in her township also have no water. Then Agnes came by my office and said, "How are we supposed to survive with no water? Where is South Africa's water?" Apparently Agnes' township, which is farther out than Ma Zandi's, also has no water. "I have a caregivers meeting today," she continued, "but I don't think more than two will come because they will be trying to find water for their families."

This means that there is at least a 30-minute radius around Pietermaritzburg without water. It is annoying for me, but I can manage without flushing toilets for the day. What worries me is the massive population of people in the surrounding townships that have no water. In already impoverished conditions, they now have no clean water. Their water pumps are dried out. This is dangerous. Water is life!

It makes me wonder if this has something to do with the municipality bankruptcy, or the strike of the municipal workers... but I would like to think that if people were to turn off the water for thousands of people to make a point in a strike, they would have the decency to warn them. I have a feeling a large pipe broke somewhere and it cut off the water for this area.

*the picture above was taken by one of my workshop students; it is a community waterpump.