What are you doing over there?

Beautiful isn't it?

This was taken from a township called Khayelitsha, about 30 mins from Cape Town.I suppose I really should explain what the townships are like. In other countries, like Zambia, they are sometimes called "compounds". They look like areas you see on TV when some B List celebrity shuffles through a community speaking about the Foster Parents Plan. In South Africa, historically they are the areas where either the 'blacks' or the 'coloureds'* were relegated to in the days of Apartheid (the '60's and '70's up until a mere 15 years ago). Khayelitsha is one of the more dangerous places in South Africa. Don't quite get that feeling from the picture though huh?
*(the term “coloured” is not offensive in SA and it refers to either a lighter-skinned black person or a person of other ethnicity such as Malaysian)

A book was recently published (by Penguin) called Khayelitsha - told by a white man who either lived there or spent a lot of time there. It would definitely be an interesting read for anyone wanting to know a real experience.

This is a good time to checkout my other blog at www.grassrootsoccer.org (see link in top right hand side of this page. I’ve just put in an entry with some good pictures and a pretty thorough explanation of what’s going on at this site.

Basically (as that blog says), things started off slow here with work. I did as much as I could, tried to think of jobs that would take us further, but with a lack of infrastructure, I kept hitting walls.

Saved
Thankfully though, and somewhat miraculously, Dr. Paul Roux found me and asked if I would be interested in working with him at the paediatric ward of the Groote Schuur public hospital in the city. Well, he ‘found me’ in his own house – I am staying with him and his family.

But the amazing thing is I was not meant to be living here in the first place. A series of fortunate events brought me here through other connections. It all worked out very well! I hadn’t even met him in my first weeks of staying here; he was away at a conference. On his first night back we spoke about our backgrounds and within minutes it was established that I would be perfect to help out at the hospital with a few projects.

My other job
Basically I go in with him a few days a week and work with either Ludwig – a German med student in his residency who is doing a retrospective study on HIV and tuberculosis or Kate, a former Math Professor at UCT who retired early to dedicate her life to public health. She runs a beadwork project called BeadsPositive which provides about 150 HIV+ mothers, who otherwise have no source of income, a chance to make enough to feed their children and pay for their medication.

Paul (Dr. Roux) is the co-founder of an amazing non-profit called KidzPositive which provides care for HIV Positive children and their families. He is also the co-founder of PATA – Paediatric AIDS Treatment for Africa – which brings together top researchers, physicians, counselors, nurses and pharmacists into a critical network.

Journalist extraordinaire
I have been invited to PATA's annual conference in Swaziland at the end of November, not only to observe, but to actually take part! I will summarize the proceedings of each day into a newspaper format to be given to participants the following morning (I can see a few late nights ahead…). Grassroot Soccer had already been asked to speak and we planned to send Tumie (our local co-coordinator from Port Elizabeth). Now that I am also going, Tumie and I may work together for a more interactive presentation!

I still am heavily involved with GRS Cape Town (which is why you must read my other blog…!). Hopefully this gives you a better idea of how my life changes every day and why I can never seem to easily sum it up!

World Cup Champions: Amabokoboko!

St Denis, France was the site of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Finals this year but you would never know it wasn't Cape Town! Cars were tearing around the city with flags (and passengers!) hanging out the windows, blaring horns every moment between shifting gears.

It was another big moment for South African sport however nothing will ever top their crowning achievement in rugby - winning the World Cup in 1995 after recently being invited back into world competition upon ending years of Apartheid. That year South Africa hosted the World Cup, Nelson Mandela, newly freed, was in the crowd, and the Boks beat the always powerful All Blacks in the final minutes of the match. It was a momentous occasion for the "new South Africa".

It also fanned the fire of a bizarre debate. Since the walls of Apartheid came down in the beginning of the '90's, many parts of "old South Africa" were done away with: the portraits of apartheid-era leaders in the halls of Parliament were taken down, the African national anthem, "Nkosi Sikeleli' Afrika" ("God Save Africa"), was conjoined to the old national anthem "Die Stem" ("The Call") and all the other sports teams changed their Springbok mascot. However, as SA was going to be hosting the World Cup, they claimed they had already ordered so much paraphernalia emblazoned with boks for the games, they requested they be allowed to keep the name for the tournament. Of course when they won, they were ever more reluctant to part with the name when the crowd for weeks afterward would cheer "Amabokoboko!" (our boks) through the streets. But truly, the rugby players felt they had united a nation... anyway, how could a deer-like creature ever instill feelings of hatred?


It split the National Sports Council along racial lines. One group failed to see how it could be offensive and the other remembers that white politicians once said "no black would ever be a Springbok". Some even remember the doors of their houses being kicked in by infantrymen who had a springbok on their badges. Obviously something they'd rather forget.

Some saw keeping it as a conciliatory gesture to Afrikaners, a small token they could keep since the amount of Afrikaans spoken on television has been cut sharply and Afrikaans schools are under pressure to include more black students and instruction in English.

It's all a very similar argument to that of the American First Nation people and the Atlanta Braves. I guess it just comes down to how seriously you link sport and the symbols representing it. If you really wanted to properly illustrate rugby, something should be chosen that portrays the broken bones, blood and concussions rather than the grace of a gazelle bounding across the open plain.

Cold Canadian in Africa

It is spring and it is 8 degrees and windy in South Africa.

When I told people in the townships I was from Canada, they always replied: "Oooooo! So COLD there!" to which I replied "Not always, in fact, the weather is usually about the same temperature as it is here now". This nearly always yielded a response of astonishment of such utter disbelief I can only compare it to the scene in Borat when the American man in driving Borat says that women have the right to say no to sex and Borat says "WHHAAAAATT?!?!"

Suffice it to say, people think Canada is always cold.

Anywho, the low temp is not taking away from my enjoyment of this experience. Here are some random pictures and for some more substantial info on my job, please see my posting at www.grassrootsoccer.org

RANDOM PICTURES!!!

the countdown is on....

a mere 996 days till World Cup kickoff in South Africa.

Well that was the day I arrived so more like only 975 now!

These giant Dooms-Day-esque countdown devices can be seen at all airports in South Africa. I believe them to be slightly altered 1976 Microsoft throw-backs generously donated by the Gates Foundation.




Me with Ryan's little boy, Jamie, first thing in the morning, hanging out in the Janks' home.








This is ithe Seapoint/Clifton area of Cape Town where I go running.







Note: the wind is not blowing here. It is just usually so windy that the trees have given up all hope and simply grown sideways.

This is Siya (center), a head trainer in Port Elizabeth, facilitating an information session with our Trainers in Training

Here, our new Trainers are learning "Find the Ball." A Key Message of this game is that you cannot tell who has HIV/AIDS by a person's appearance, just as in the game you cannot tell by looking who has the ball.

Siya with the new trainers on the field outside the school in the township of Zwide (pronounced 'Zwee-day') our primary site.

Trainers playing "HIVAttacks!" where we explain how the immune works, how HIV compromises it and what role ARVs (anti-retroviral drugs) play in suppressing the virus.

2 Trainers: Mesta and 'Afro' (our poet) whom I wrote about in the 'Graduation' post

ark