OPERATION HOPE TRAINING

After my weekend in Polokwane, Tshidi, my colleague at Operation HOPE, picked me up for a training at an NGO outside of Tzaneen, a most beautiful mountainous area.  We stayed at a lodge which had many, many rooms and only a few people staying there.  Lots of lodges, I think likely overbuilt for that area since there isn't much game to be viewed. The training was fun and I did one of the modules on entrepreneurship and covered SWOT analysis, among other things.  They were eager to learn and appreciated the increased awareness and knowledge they got from the session.  After the group photo, one young woman wanted her picture taken with me, which started the "me, too" barrage of photos which made me feel like a bit of a celebrity!

Students who had previously taken a "Fit for Life" course at a rural NGO

POLOKWANE GAME RESERVE AND ROTARIAN DINNER

Lynda (in green T) lives in a rondoval at the game reserve and teaches in town.  These are all PCVs that live in the area and most will soon be finishing their service in South Africa, which is too bad for me.  Good, fine folk




PCV Susan in front, Gilbert on left, Lynda in back.  All wonderful new friends.

Rotarian dinner in a lapa.  Susan belongs to the local Rotary Club, and they honor international volunteers with a game drive and fine dinner in this shelter. Besides us 8  P. C. volunteers, there were four U. N. volunteer doctors; two from Russia and two from India who work at the local hospital.  A very generous and gracious event enjoyed by all.

Ostriches

A journey of giraffes

Nyala, a type of antelope

CONCLUDING VILLAGE RESEARCH

Supermarket

The NGO I worked with in the village is called Fanang Dialta, and helped arrange visits with a variety of people, entities, and businesses, including this little store that had a restaurant and bar attached.  The young women is the newly hired administrative assistant who is a fairly good English speaker but had no computer skills, but learned the keyboard very quickly.  The man who manages this store told me that his two primary challenges were theft (break-ins after hours) and competition.  Many of the men who have jobs work at the nearby platinum mine.

Social workers

These two women were in an office very near my lodging quarters and we had an extremely interesting conversation about lifestyles/situations/grants etc.  At one point I had to laugh, and told them that the conversation could easily have been in the U. S., which surprised them.  We were discussing high school students, and no matter how poor they were, they had to wear certain types of shoes, or pay money they didn't have for getting their hair done in dreads.  The interview gave me good material for my manual on financial choices and trade-offs.

Bakery workers  on morning shift (6-1) making the buns

Part of the NGO's operation is this bakery near the office.  They make white bread, brown bread, (both unsliced as the slicer doesn't have the right size of plug-in) and buns, and have one delivery van that takes to nearby villages.  The woman on the right is 28 and the others are in their 50's and 60's and glad to have a job and enjoy baking.  The also make scone on special order, usually for funerals, which are a big event, days long.  Most of the people in this community belong to the ZCC church which requires women to cover their hair and abide by other rules; it is a very conservative, patriarchal church.

Connie and Knowledge in front of office

This is the man with whom I worked who runs Fanang Dialta self-help project.  Its mission is to empower local communities to meet moral, social, and economic needs of children in a sustainable manner.  They get quite a bit of funding from the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund as they have a day-care operation and after-school care as well as home-based care.  A lot going on, so the bakery operation has been neglected and it's record keeping very bad, so part of my focus was on learning about their operation and offering suggestions on improvements. They want the bakery operation to become profitable to help support their social programs. 

MY ROOM AND ROOMMATES

My spacious room.  When I arrived there was the cot and desk; they brought in the wardrobe and fridge.  The buckets are PCV Gilbert's water filtering system he let me keep here; you simply pour water in the top (from the taps here...when there is water...) and there is a purifying filter it goes through to the bottom bucket.  City water, such as in Joburg and the other larger places, is safe to drink, and some PCVs drink village water without consequences, such as I did in Morocco, I imagine.  Below are a few of the variety of things found in my room from day to day.  The big bug I saw only once, and was large, but not as big as it seems in the zoomed photo.

The ants come marching two by two...

A pretty large moth

What is it?  Beats me!

Wish this little guy would have stayed in my room!

Speaking of creatures, I have seen very few stray dogs.  In my upscale neighborhood where I live, people walk their dogs but I don't see many others, and have only seen a couple of cats in the city...none here in the village.  My friend Jonelle who lives in KwaZuluNatal province tells me she sees giraffes and zebras as she goes around to the various high schools she works with...Here I see goats, chickens, and donkeys on the way to my workplace.  :)

NIGHTTIME AND CARDS

Sign at the entrance to my compound

Walking alone (not necessarily being lonely :) at night is not only strongly discouraged in Johannesburg, but everywhere in South Africa, even out here in the boonies.  When the sun sets and it starts to get dark everything shuts down, except the bars, where of course only men will go, sometimes just to watch TV as well as drinking.  Alcoholism is alive and well, unfortunately, in South Africa, although I haven't seen signs of it.





"Lance" doing his wash

The only teacher who was here last weekend was doing laundry so I captured his picture, and later talked him into a game of Phase 10.  He enjoyed it, especially since he beat me!

MORNING VIEWS

Nice pastoral setting of cattle along the road.  Hoped that none of them decided they didn't like the old woman walker, as their horns could do some serious damage!

I go through this area to get to my quarters.  The module units are a day care center,  social development office, a library (a 7-year old Time magazine, anyone?  But!  I did find a Sidney Sheldon book to read in the evenings here...) a kitchen of sorts, bathrooms of sorts.

Some of the early birds at day care...there about 3 times this many by 9:00 a.m. The woman on the left speaks good English, as do several of the adults and most high schoolers.  They are friendly, but unlike Morocco, no one has asked me to their home for a meal or tea, which has been a bit disappointing.

Just some pretty wildflowers of which there are many like this along the roadside this summer.

Am going to post this while the posting is good; that is, while I have some  internet!

LEGKWARENG, GA-MATHABATHA, LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA

Town sign...Name means "rocky place".  It is...very!  This is one of nine villages that comprise the larger village of Mathabatha, which is the name of the tribe (and family) which has authority over land use.

Morning walk.  Notice smoke on left; rubbish is burned here.

I have been here now a bit over a month, and have seen so many new sights and sounds from a city of over 8 million people to a village of 800.  My recent experience is Morocco has certainly been beneficial in quickly acclimating to life in villages. The main thing is to be cautious about having expectations.  For instance, don't expect water to come out of the faucet every time, don't expect people to be on time, etc.

The first week here in Limpopo was productive; had several wonderful interviews with women in the village regarding their lifestyle and how they handle money.  Much more yet to be learned, but I'm building rapport which is critical.  We go to meet with the tribal council on Tuesday and that will also give me more credibility.



Pay point market

The pay point is a building in the village where people go to pick up their social grants, which occurs, I think, in the middle of the month, but not sure if I understand that correctly.  There is a long queue not visible here, but there are numerous vendors set up that sell a few products; primarily cabbage, bananas, ahrcha (a very oily mango/onion/garlic/green pepper mixture), tomatoes, live chickens (which cost about $5) shoes, other clothing.  Since there are only little convenience stores near, this is a way people can buy household things needed.  I did buy some ahrcha(that is the way it's pronounced but not sure how spelled) and mixed it with scrambled eggs which was pretty good.  It has the mango pit in it, all chopped up which makes for interesting eating.  Notice the red dirt and rocky path.



The building on the left is the Burial Society, which is like funeral insurance   A group of people pay a set amount to join (maybe 100R), then pay every month, perhaps 400R.  Then when someone in your immediate family dies, you are given the money needed for the burial...the casket, food , etc.  The bakery on the right side of the photo is a part of the NGO that I am working with, and the goal is to make it not only sustainable, but an income-generating activity that will help support their social benefit programs.   There is a platinum mine nearby (remember that Stillwater Mine near Billings has South African connections) and they hope to secure contract with them once again to help support their customer base.  The management of the bakery is very lax so not sure how much I can do in this short of time.

Community surveys were done before I came, so spent part of my Saturday inputting data into a spreadsheet.  It appears that a survey is as good as the survey-taker, which appears to be questionable in some cases.  A young girl who will be working in this office soon also came in and I worked with her two hours today (and two hours yesterday) teaching her Word skills.

MOUNTAINS, INSECTS, GOATS AND TRASH

I arrived safe and sound to Polokwane on a great Greyhound bus that even served coffee/tea and cookie!  One stop on the six hour trip where it cost 2R to enter a very clean toilet and 5R for a nice little soft serve ice cream cone!  The rand is usually about .$10, give or take, and now is worth about $.11.  Gilbert, the PCV who I'll be working with, was waiting for me, and we went immediately to the store to stock up on groceries for me for two weeks.  I thought that someone would be cooking meals for me, but that expectation was false, and I will be preparing my own meals, which is ok.  After groceries, we took the taxi van to the main taxi area, then waited there in one for nearly an hour for it to fill so we could come to Legkwareng, the village within Ga-Mathabatha where I'll be staying.

 I'm sharing this compound with three teachers who are instructing at the new "college" here, which is like a Vo-tech.  They eat pap every night for supper, which is made from white corn, and similar I guess to grits, etc.  Haven't tried it yet.  High carbs and high calories.  The kitchen available to us is very basic, (no forks and only a few spoons and one serrated knife) as are the groceries I purchased, so my diet will be very simplistic.

The area is quite beautiful...mountainous, and very rocky, so hiking in the will not happen.  I wanted to go for a walk down a road that leads to a non-working mine, but was told I cannot due to wild animals.  So, like Morocco, back to the highway early in the morning, which is still nice as there are mainly just a few public taxi (vans) and lots of kids walking to school.

There are more insects in my room that I had in Morocco...Odd looking little ants were all over the place this morning but none present this noon.  Some over-sized box-elder bug looking things that appear once in awhile.  I had a little lizard in here yesterday and have learned from Hawaii to welcome their presence, as they keep the insect population down.  I need to close my windows at dusk so mosquitoes don't come in, so my room is quite hot and stuffy since there is no fan.

Lots of goats roaming around unattended.  When I asked how anyone knew who the owner was, I was advised they are "marked", I think on the ear.  Goats are used for meat and milk.

Goats, wash on the line, speed bumps in the highway, rocky mountain

Lastly, trash.  The aluminum cans and plastic bottle litter is unbelievable!  I tried to find info on a recycler in Polokwane, but haven't found one yet but I'm going to continue to pursue it.

Gilbert is an amazing volunteer and I'm lucky to have him to work with here.  He is a tall black young man, born and raised in Ghana and New Jersey.  He is a Health volunteer, and although that sector's main purpose is HIV/Aids education, he is also very involved with an NGO that provides social services as well as has a bakery that they need/want to be an income-generating social enterprise to help support other activities, and I'm here to help with that, as well as the research on financial education.  Here he is at one of the nearby high schools, having the learners do a pre-test on HIV awareness prior to a soccer game activity that weaves in the information they need to know, then a post-test is done to see if they've learned.  The woman in the jean skirt (Lucia) works for a local clinic and I'll be interviewing her next to learn of her household income and expenses.

Gilbert, tall guy in black on the right, explaining the survey to 10th graders

Gilbert will be going to Pretoria for PC work Fri-Mon so I'll be going it alone, but it will be fine. Internet here is very sketchy but I discovered better reception at the office so am able to post some photos .

HEADED FOR THE BUSH

Ga-Mathabatha Area

I'm leaving for two weeks on Tuesday morning via Greyhound bus from Joburg to Polokwane, (6 hour bus ride) where I'll be picked up by Knowledge, who works for the NGO that will be hosting me (another 2 hour trip, most likely).  A PCV is located in the village and has been very good about answering lots of questions about my trip and will be providing me with his bucket system for purifying the water. (He also said he'll play some cards with me in our free time, yay!)   I'll be staying in a lodge which has electricity but not sure about other conveniences, except I'm told I should be able to get on the internet.

 I'll be helping learn/teach the NGO about operations.  It's a ZCC community (Zion Christian Church) which is very conservative so I will be taking skirts/dresses but plan to also take tennies and pants to do some hiking/walking in these gorgeous mountains!  Am excited!

CHURCH AND ZOO LAKE

I am finding the nearby Methodist church to be a good fit for the most part.  It's just a 20 minute walk so that in itself is a big plus.  Went to a workshop yesterday led by a man from the training center at the University of Pretoria about "Healing the City" .  About 30 people attended, half white and half black.  Great, thought-provoking discussions.

Church breakfast with minister on the right at table in foreground

Today was a breakfast and an opportunity to learn more about the various activities the church is involved in...and because of a comment yesterday about "We feed the poor soup, but would be welcome them to worship?:...there were two homeless people at the breakfast; one at our table who ate like it was his first meal in days.

Afterwards Vicky and I went to Zoo Lake that is nearby, walked around and looked at the wonderful restaurant there, with plans to return another time for breakfast.

Zoo Lake with a bird island

Lake fountain

Wedding photos

Fountain at restaurant

UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE

I am finally getting accustomed to walking on the "wrong" side of the road to walk facing the traffic, as well as going up/down escalators on the correct side.  And, I finally decided to put my confusion and fear behind me, and google-map the route to the Rosebank Mall that I frequent for groceries and other needs.  I discovered it is only a 30-35 minute walk one way (it is uphill going there from my cottage which makes it nice since I have the weight of my purchases coming back downhill) and I feel safe on the route.  Kai and I walked to the main area of Parkhurst yesterday afternoon and found a yoga/massage place as well as a Kung-Fu/Tai Chi studio that also has "exercise" class on Weds. and Sa.t mornings so I will try the Sat. morn class when I return from my trip to the country.

Kai, my landlady.  She wears both Western clothing and native

Today Kai had a pool party for her Camp kids and here is a photo of them listening as she acknowledges their accomplishments.  They had a great, noisy time for all afternoon and evening.  She is a happy, good person, and I'm lucky to have her for a landlady.

Kai talking to the kids before their lunch at the pool party.  This is right in front of my cottage.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Yesterday we went to three schools in Soweto to deliver certificates to students who had completed the BOOF (Banking on our Future) financial education program.  Soweto is a very large township next to Joburg, and has various areas within Soweto.  We did see some shack areas, but also middle class areas, such as where Mandela grew up in.

This is the soccer stadium across from the school that hosted the World Cup in 2008, I think it was.  Linda and I went past here during our tour three years ago. Who would have thought at that time I'd be visiting the school as part of my work?!

One of the groups of 12th graders who took the class and received certificates

One of the students receiving his cert. Science class info on blackboard.

A beautiful high school teacher in another school

Yet another school.area of Soweto.  Note the vision/mission, the barred door to admin (bars on all doors/windows everywhere, as is crime) the national flags, and the poster (ZERO HIV) on the right.  HIV is prevalent but not openly discussed or dealt with.  Some provincial cultures, particularly in the KwaZuluNatal province, believe that the sperm is not to be impeded, so condoms are not used and so there not only are too many children, but the highest HIV rates in the world.  Most of the PCVs here work with HIV related projects in some way, except for a few of the education volunteers.

Another note about academic achievement.  Usually the "pass" rate is 50%, but in some provinces, it is 40% for home language and English and 30% for all other subjects.  So much work to be done in this country...

WEATHER

It's summer here; seasons are the opposite of U. S., and with it comes unpredictable rain...sometimes a light shower, other times (like on Monday) a downpour for an entire day, creating flooding problems in some areas.  It's in the mid-high 70's this week but was recently high 80's.  Doesn't often get in the 100's, or for very long if it does.  So, the weather overall is pretty moderate.  I hear from a lot of people about how cold it is in winter.  It's really not all that cold (avg. high in 60's and low's avg. 40's) but there is no central heating and electricity is fairly expensive so I'll make use of the long johns I brought, and will need to find some really warm slippers as the main floor is tiled.

LONG DAY

I finally had quite a productive day on the job.  Left the house about 7 a.m. by taxi to the train station, took the train to Hatfield and then walked to the "Backpackers" place where I initially stayed and where there always seems to be PCVS coming or going.  I  met with Josh, a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) there for several hours who is an econ teacher in the Northern Cape and is in his third year here (numerous volunteers extend for a year). 

Also chatted with another PCV who was studying for her foreign service exam and lives in KwaZuluNatal and got her input, then yet another who lives in that same area but doing different work.  Then Josh took me me to met some people he recently encountered who are staying near the Backpackers; a group from Fordham University in NY who are doing a six-month exchange and learning/teaching.  We met with the program director who is very willing to take me out to a couple of nearby villages from Pretoria and visit with the community there.

Went back to the train station, got to Joburg, taxi'd back and arrived home about 6 p.m. A good information-gathering day from a variety of sources that I'll mull over and get it sorted (love that term!) to decide what/where I need to go which likely is not quite what was set out for me initially.

Progress!

"FUNNY" STORY

Vicky recently told me my blog was boring and that I didn't include enough emotion, and didn't sound like me relating experiences as I do live.  I told her it was not to entertain the readers, but to be a journal of my experiences for me to read when I get old.  (Ha!) But, I will humor her and relate "page two" of the bus-riding to work story.

Since I was walking in the mornings, it seemed like a plan to try to take the 8:30 bus, and the schedule indicated there were two that came by about that time.The first day I tried to catch a bus the first one that came by (at 8:25) said it wasn't my bus, which was yet to come.  The #1 bus I wanted didn't appear, but soon #79 did, and he slowed and I got on but he wouldn't take my bus pass.  We engaged in a little conversation and I told him where I wanted to get off, which is a major intersection about a 10 minute walk from the office, but not a regular bus stop.  No other people were waiting along the way or stops made.  We chatted a bit about why I was here.  I had the notion he really wasn't fully understanding me, and I sure had a hard time understanding him, although his English was not bad.

He came by the next day about 8:45 again, and asked my about my family etc and what my husband thought about me being gone so long.  Yes, you guessed it.  Mistake here.  I told him I didn't have a husband.  He still wouldn't let me scan my pass.

The next day I finally noticed the sign in front of the bus said "Out of Service" and he told me he had "knocked off" and was just headed to the depot.  Can't figure out why he wouldn't pickup/drop people on the way, but that is the way of it.  He said he could take a different route and get me closer to the office, which he did.  Also suggested I stay in S. A. and not go back, to which I of course replied that I needed to go back to be with my children and grandchildren.

Next day he says he'll get a visa and come and visit me and takes me to the gate of the office building.  He seemed like a nice guy but it became obvious that to him I was the rich American woman and a potential ticket to a better life.

I'm no longer at the bus stand at 8:30ish.  I take the earlier bus and come home earlier.  Well, still working on getting the bus home part.  Not quite satisfactory on that yet.  But!  Lesson learned.

So, it was confusing and bewildering for a few days as I was sure there was a disconnect in communication.  This is a VERY indirect communications society, and add a lack of total understanding of English to compound the frustration.  I certainly did not feel threatened or in danger.  Now it is something to laugh about...

WALKING IN THE "HOOD"

Fun tree trunk covering in fun of specialty store

I am trying to walk about an hour every day, and live near a lively restaurant and shopping area about 6 blocks long.  Great little bistros and coffee shops...



Along with this cute little shop with the knitted trunk covers.  The thing that bothers me, though, is that the customers are all white and wait staff is all black.  But then, in an upper-middle class neighborhood, that's who's going to be living there.  I stopped by the local hardware store this morning to see if they had a piece of lumber I could use for a little make-do countertop, and he gave me his tape measure to go home and check size.  It reminded me a bit of Billings Hardware, where they had a bit of everything and big on customer service.

Oh, and horror or horrors, after buying all my appliances and many other things at "Game", when looking at a flyer yesterday, I saw the Walmart logo.  Sigh.

Menu inside a bistro on 4th Avenue

Vicky came today and we went to the Apartheid Museum, even though her GPS wasn't working and we had no printer to print a map.  We wrote out directions and didn't get too lost coming or going.  I was there three years ago, and after a couple of hours plus this time around, I was still about an hour short of seeing all I wanted to see.  So much information, but as other guests may come to visit, we'll likely want to go there and I can catch the rest.  If you'd like to see images of it, they are in my post of 4/9/11 from my previous trip here.

We had a great meal on 4th Avenue when we got back.