Friday, Aug. 7, 2009

“Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart. It’s all a person has.” - Hubert H. Humphrey

Sunny, breezy, our final day filled with mixed feelings. We are ready to leave but also realize that it is unlikely we will ever see any of our new friends again or even know how things are going for them. They have given us many memories to take home.

The short school day was pretty much as usual, although saying goodbye was underneath it all. At 10 a.m., classes ceased and chairs were arranged outside. The principal, a 9^th-grader and Barb all spoke. Songs by the students and teachers, followed by one from the GVers. Goodbye cards made by the students were presented to each of us. Global Volunteers then had cookies (biscuits) and suckers for all the students. And so ended our teaching experience in Malungeni.

A highlight of our whole trip was a visit to two more homes. The first home was that of Rev. Spiwo’s mother, an alert 87-year-old. Her granddaughter, one of our students, stays with her. The next visit was to the home and surrounding buildings of an elderly couple. They sent some eggs home with us in appreciation of our visit. We felt these visits to be a brief look at the life of some of the people of Malungeni. An interesting tidbit we learned was that the men and unmarried women sit in chairs; the married women sit on mats on the floor.

A small farewell party was planned for 3 p.m. But due to an intentional grass fire getting out of control and perhaps the chief deciding not to come, the festivity began at 4:30 p.m. Rev. Spiwo, Olga, Barb and Bonke briefly spoke and expressed for all the appreciation we have for learning of other cultures. Some food and drink was supplied.

Later we saw the huge spread of the grassfire on the hills. A charcoal-broiled steak dinner was planned but not started til late. Then a wonderful dinner with Olga, Koena, and Bonke eating with us and talking about how much these three weeks have meant to us. We are so lucky to have had this experience.

Bon voyage to all,

Mona

Addendum by Barb (shared at our last meal together): Never ever doubt what a wonderful gift you have given to the people of Malungeni. Thank you for your good humor, patience, compassion and dedication on this the sixth Global Volunteers team. You have been a terrific team and I’m so honored to have served with you.

Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009

“It’s the sides of the mountain that support life, not the top.”

Breakfast- served at 7 am on the dot. Excellent as usual. Off to school at 7:45 a.m. Beautiful day, warm and sunny. Learners (students) at school are getting very comfortable with the team. They are respectful but are beginning to act like kids everywhere.

The teachers are friendly – and seem more than willing to share teaching responsibilities with us. Fifth- and sixth-graders are still doing fractions in math – wide variation in student success – but they all seem eager.

Mona joined us for English and we divided into three reading groups. Michael Jackson was mentioned in their reading book and the kids were very interested in reading about him in our copy of People magazine.

The kindergarten sang and danced and had great fun. They are learning lots of new songs.

The tile and tree projects are both nearing completion. Job well done… Kudos to those involved.

At 1 p.m. – we all went to Mthatha to tie up loose ends, i.e., shopping – soccer jersey, music, fabric, ice cream, pictures, computer repair, museum, internet café, etc.

We also bought lots of groceries. Mthatha has been teeming with people on every visit. Streets, mall and especially the grocery store were packed with people.

While waiting for our pickup (transportation), we conversed with 3 nice young men who were eager to practice their English and to quiz Deborah about America.

The most amazing thing about them was that none of them knew Bonke!

Late supper, reading and cribbage and off to bed! Another full, fun, tiring day!

-Submitted by Don

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Version I: “Gentleness and a sense of humor will help you overcome many things.”

Version II: “Gentleness and a sense of humor – and a crowbar – will help you overcome many things!”

This morning, breakfast included freshly baked bread and many of us ate nothing else but the bread – bread and butter, bread and jam, bread and peanut butter – bread and more bread.

Five of us headed to school where it appeared that all of the teachers also appeared. Margaret and Deborah taught Grade R children how to play marbles. Mona was politely informed by the teacher of grades 1 to 3 that her services were no longer needed. Mona joined Grade R and assisted Deborah and Margaret with entertaining the little ones.

Don and Sara struggled along with their students to master South African math. They were impressed with a story the children read which honestly addressed the issues of AIDS, death, abandonment, loving rescue and giving back – very different from our Dick and Jane stories in America.

Meanwhile back at the guesthouse, Barbara, Rachel and Teresa completed the puzzle – much to Margaret’s disappointment. Rachel, feeling under the weather, remained at the guesthouse most of the day, venturing out later when the children arrived for tutoring.

Barbara spent another day in the car, getting cement for the tile men and also assisted with the post-hole project.

Teresa spent the morning with members of the bakery cooperative as they completed the paperwork to apply for certification. Mr. Spiwe from SEDA (Small Enterprise Development Agency) walked them through the key principles of a cooperative and copied templates for a business plan and financial statements to Olga’s computer.

After our routine water brigade of refilling the indoor water barrels, children of all ages showed up for tutoring and play, keeping us all busy until dinnertime. We enjoyed another meal of our favorite mincemeat meatloaf; then the lights went out! We laughed over candlelight and the lights came back on within the half hour. With the puzzle completed, we entertained ourselves with other activities – cribbage, solitaire, knitting, journal reading – life is tough in Malungeni. We are settling in to our routines and it will not be easy to leave or say goodbye.

Respectfully submitted -- Teresa

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

"Shake things up!" Spar Superstore receipt

We seem to be 'clicking as a team. We are greeted by a sunny, bright morning full of promise! A hearty breakfast and then it's off to school. Tailing the other volunteers, Rachel and I head to school a bit late and spend an hour distracting the children. We catch the older ones outside their classroom and have fun taking photos of their beautiful faces.

Hilda the cleaning lady also strikes a pose! Then it's back to the guesthouse to join "Seeko" and the labor crew on the fencing project. Our tiling expert arrives and provides an estimate for the finishing the stage of the ommunity center. He's availible this week -- so we all may be spending Friday afternoon tiling!

Barb and Bonke head to town for cement and food! Oh, the miles we log! It’s always an obstacle course on East Cape highways – if it’s not a stray lamb, it’s a loose steer, broken-down bus or clutches of schoolkids! All this drama contrasts with the lovely, spacious hills and valleys that seem to stretch endlessly under the South African sky.

School highlights – Teresa was impressed when the little girls in Grade R (K) role-played as “mamas,” wrapping their dolls around their backs and carrying them that way all day! She also had fun teaching grades 7-9 how to interview for jobs. Mona tackled the challenging subject of race relations in America as her assignment today! Wow! Her own family is a mini-lesson in diversity that continues to impress the children.

Other highlights – Margaret finished a terrific Stephanie Meyer book so that Deborah can delve into it. Don says he put “29 crucial pieces” in the puzzle but don’t believe it!

Rachel enjoyed talking to one of the laborers – Kaya – and learning about family relations and ages in South Africa – i.e., how a little brother can be a big brother and how one’s family stretches infinitely or whatever….

Don also was impressed that there is a “middle class” in Malungeni, as witnessed in a home visit that he, Sara, Rachel and Teresa made today. Sara noted how the kitchen in many households is located in a separate building.

While they were visiting with Bonke the abovementioned home, Mona, Margaret and Barb tutored and entertained and played with at least 30 rambunctious children at the guesthouse. What a delight!

A highlight of the evening was enjoying a special dinner with the Ngqeleni Police Chief Donnie Kettledas, his wife Sharon, daughter Jennie Lee and grandson Tristan. They shared lots of info about the East Cape region. They were our special quests. Very pleasant and enjoyable. Koena and Olga outdid themselves with a speical special meal of spinach, beans, beef, potatoes, carrots and other delights. We talked and laughed and got silly with photos. A good finish to a good day!

-Submitted by Barb

Monday, July 27, 2009

“Life is great. Enjoy every moment.” – Wimpy’s receipt

A nutritious breakfast (eggs, toast, cereal, yogurt, oatmeal and juice) got the day off to a good start. This was the first day without Dan and Bob – they left yesterday – the team misses them as they both added a lot.

We discussed the great weekend and then left for school. Nice long walk to school today – the weather is warmer and no wind, so walking was pleasurable.

It was a good day at school. Everyone is getting more used to the routine. Sara and Don observed Xhosa lesson and then assisted with math. The kids are well mannered and attentive. During morning break, volunteers got to play a local kids’ game – Love My Teddy Bear. Everyone gets in a circle, one is selected to dance and clap in the center – great fun!

After school, we relaxed and at 3 p.m. we accepted the Rev. Bashe’s invitation to visit an orphanage in Ngqeleni. Transportation consisted of riding in the back of a small truck with a topper on it (great for team bonding), i.e., we all felt like illegal immigrants being smuggled someplace! After a short bumpy ride, we arrived at the orphanage. The grounds were attractive and the children seemed happy. We got to meet some of the 60 children living there and a staff member gave us a comprehensive tour.

After the orphanage, we toured the police station at the invitation of Police Chief Donnie Kettledas. Interesting tour! We got to see the whole station, including the cells of the prisoners. After the tour, we piled back in the truck for a short ride home.

Excellent dinner —the cooks are really fantastic – and after some good conversation, we adjourned to the guesthouse “game room.” The puzzle brigade went right to work —good progress on puzzle.

Deborah took Don’s measure in cribbage, winning two out of three – to everyone’s (except Don’s) delight! Early bedtime for everyone.

Submitted by Don

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” – Ernest Hemingway

Our sumptuous breakfast included some delicious muffins. Then off to school. Don and I had a teacher in our classroom for about ½ hour – finishing up English and teaching addition and subtraction of fractions. We took over from there, finishing math, reviewing the continents, the oceans, the countries of South Africa and North America. Mona joined us after break and we broke into three groups for conversation groups. So essentially we were substitute teachers.

Rachel both helped dig postholes and took items to the preschool where she’ll help tomorrow. Mona talked her older students into being microbiologists. The youngest kids mixed paint and colors. The highlight of the break was the kite Teresa brought.

The posthole project replaced the tile project since the proper flooring material wasn’t available. They’re digging postholes to fence off areas to protect trees they plan to plant along the road.

The afternoon was spent sleeping, reading and working puzzles and the evening playing Uno or heading off to bed.

PS. Bonke shared his life story with us at dinner. After being hit on the head with an ax and spending months in the hospital, the doctor told him he shouldn’t go to school anymore because of his brain injury. Despite that, he trained and worked as a peer tutor and finally returned to high school and passed his exams. He plans to start nurses training at the University in Mthatha or Capetown next year.
– Submitted by Sara

Sunday, July 19, 2009

“No gift given in love and accepted in gratitude is small” - Anonymous

After a full night’s sleep (the first for many on the team) and an all-American (or is it South African) breakfast, we commenced our orientation. Despite much talking and getting off track, we managed to set our goals for this service program, which are: to be an ambassador, to meet new people and build friendships, to learn about the culture and environment; to serve the community and to have fun.

This team loves to laugh so we met our final goal immediately, which led us to define our characteristics of an effective team. We adopted Don’s acronym for Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) and outlined the characteristics as:
Gentleness, sense of humor, communication with tact and kindness, trust and honesty, respect, consideration, listening, doing one’s share, responsibility, common courtesy, enthusiasm, flexibility, cooperation, patience, teamwork and lots of smiles.

As topics arose, we volunteered for (or were assigned to) various responsibilities.
Rachel will serve as social director for our free time activities.
Teresa will type up the journal. (Editor note: change to Barb)
Mona will oversee health and safety.
Deborah will plan the 2-week departure celebration.
Dan will plan the 3-week celebration with an assist from Mona.
Don will help Barbara after Bob leaves.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon consisted of policies, code of conduct and a basic language lesson from Bonke. Bonke also provided some insight on cultural issues, making sure that Dan understood he may not kiss another man’s wife and most definitely never hug another man.

We broke again for another American meal – PB&Js – yum! Then off to a truly African experience.

The village elders, children and other members of the Malungeni village welcomed us to their community with song and dance. Children sang happy birthday to Mandela. Women performed traditional dance, and children took turns showing us that the dance skills begin at a very early age.

We were struck by the incredible respect the younger people show for their elders – bringing them food and water – and the sense of community among all ages. Caring for the elderly, waiting their turn to eat, serving others and cleaning up – all participated and seemed to know their place. We all shared a meal of sampa (beans and potatoes) dressed with a delicious sauce of sausage, flour and spices.

Afterwards, Bonke took us on a short tour of a few key places:
A small public store where Dan can buy candy.
a community center where we might conduct a tiling project;
The school grounds
And a few churches.

We returned to the guesthouse where Rachel shared the wonderful teaching supplies she brought. The items never seemed to end as she continued to reach into her duffel bag, pulling a rabbit out of the hat each time. Mona added to the pile with games and books.

We headed off to dinner and word games – which we all passed with a little help from our friends.

Some of the highlights of the day –
Herding sheep with a whistle;
Marking sheep with paint rather than branding;
A village woman’s cell phone ringing in the middle of a traditional African dance;
Member of the youth council (saying) – the young people convinced the elders to allow Global Volunteers;
That we have electricity on demand;
Mahzywi telling us he thought the U.S. included North and South America!
Nkuli’s comment that it took an African to run the United States!
We are in area 1 of Malungeni with a population of about 600.

It was a long, full day with half the team retiring right after dinner and the other half talking long into the night with hopes of solving the economy and the U.S. healthcare system. We’ll see….

As dogs bark in the distance and I survey the galaxy of stars from the perspective of the Southern Hemisphere, I realize it is now time for bed…
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa

March 27, 2009

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” (Nelson Mandela)

Our last day to be with friends we have made in the past two weeks. There were a lot thoughts, ideas, plans, wishes we wanted to express on this day. Our minds racing, our hearts beating faster, and waiting for the tears to come.

We seemed to walk at a slower pace to school this morning. Maybe it was our fear of goodbye. As we arrived at school hugs were shared, thoughts expressed, feeling flowed.

The children wanted one last glimpse of us, to be in a picture, just to hold our hands.

We hoped that we left a special gift in this community from each of us in a special way.

“Hope” – we can only hope we made an impact on their lives. We came with love, friendship, knowledge and peace – and that we have accomplished.

There are too many feelings to express the joy we have received during our farewell. I hate the word farewell. There cannot be a goodbye in this community. The need is great for us here.

This community has given me “hope” that there is peace and love.

Although it is hard to return home there will others to follow in our footsteps. I end our journal with love that is left, peace in my heart and tears in my eyes.

- Jason Mullen

March 26, 2009

“There is only one way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity to man, and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man.” (Alan Paton)

Today Amy and Tiffany continued to work with Cromwell on English and correcting students work. Jason was rounding up globes, maps, etc., anything he could get his hands on to corral the little ones – teaching them geography. Our life skills class went okay – we were hoping to get a bit more out of the students to create an ‘open discussion’ but cultural norms got in the way. If nothing else we opened the door for them to ask us any questions for the last few days we are here. We then left for Mthatha where we had a field trip to the Nelson Mandela Hospital. It was a great experience - it was a very large facility – we stopped by the women’s mental health wards were we greeted by smiling faces – then onto HIV/AIDS clinic. They are in the process of building a larger facility but for now they are in the “trailers”. We spoke with the doctor in charge of the clinic and he was very insightful about HIV/AIDS in South Africa – the meds work – we saw the t-cell numbers. They struggle with disclosure, transportation, side effects and finances. The doctor that took us around was very nice – Dr. Madikizela – who is from Malungeni originally. Tiffany asked if he would be willing to come back to Malungeni with the July team and speak to the students about HIV/AIDS and his success. A good last full day and we look forward to the celebrations tomorrow.

- Amy Keegan

March 24, 2009

"Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Nelson Mandela

We did our little bit of good today and we are hoping to overwhelm Malungeni if not the world. Today was a great day. I think today was a turning point for all of us in this journey. Week one was all about planting seeds and today it was about watching the tree grow, tomorrow will be about see it blossom. This afternoon we met with the women's group again. It was fitting that we were discussing how to give birth to a new Malungeni community in the front lawn of our guest house, sitting in a circle around a tree spud ling that is determined to grow. Sitting there while Amy inspired the women by introducing the barter system to them as a means to grow their veg patch, I thought, these women are just that the growing tree. They needed the tools or the means to grow their business just as this tree needs water and sun to survive. Something so simple and basic has never occurred to them. They seemed to embrace the idea and I believe they were excited to 1. have their land plowed and 2. That they were going to collaborate with someone in the community they previously didn't think would help them. We went to survey the field as well today and plowing began! To me this was victorious. What a great example of community unity and as the local preacher would say "loving thy neighbor". We are excited and hopeful that the women's group now only plants seeds for growing corn, squash, spinach and cabbage on their fields, but will also continue to plant seeds of change throughout Malungeni.

- Tiffany Strietelmeier

March 18, 2009

“It is thy own resolution to succeed that matters the most” (Abraham Lincoln).

Today was our third day of school. We woke to a morning of cool weather around too. We met for breakfast and to say the thought for the day. I chose a quote from an extraordinary woman with instant inspiration, love and dedication – Mother Teresa.

“Keep the joy of loving the poor and share the joy with all you meet. Remember works of love are works of peace”.

As we finished breakfast and started our walk to class we briefly discussed our lesson plans. Amy, Tiffany and Dorota are going to try to tackle their classes in a different fashion today. As for myself I would continue teaching/tutoring the first, second and third grades with Ms. Beauty.

We returned to the guest house to meet Olga. She wanted to show us her great accomplishment of the near finished bakery. The space has much potential and we believe it will be successful when up and running.

We continued on our day cleaning the community center for the upcoming events. As we finished with cleaning I spoke with Rebecca who I believe will be a leader in her community, a role model to others. She plans on continuing her education and to probably become a flight attendant. She has great passion for meeting people and learning.

I ended the day with the sun setting, the cool air to return, and with a heart warming song of ‘Amazing Grace’ sung by am amazing young lady named Peels.

This is when I decided that my gift to the community would be my faith, my love and dedication for the reminder of my stay.

-Jason Mullen

March 15, 2009 - Welcome to Malungeni!

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart". (Nelson Mandela).

Molweni or welcome in xhosa. (Xhosa is pronounced with a tongue click and then kosa). This is the native language of the people of Malugeni. Many of whom we met today. We were so pleased to be greeted in the mid afternoon by some of the community members that came to our guest house. We sat in a half circle and were led by Nkulie who translated the event. We were greeted by members of the Dept of Ed, and Social Services, as well as high tribal leaders of the community. All of which expressed thanks for our commitment to the community and hope for continued success with Global Volunteers. They expressed how important working together has been, is and will be great benefit to the community. From their talks, they are just as interested in learning from us and we are from them. As Bonke so eloquently stated earlier in the day, "It is always good to check your angles on all things". What he meant by this was the importance of a different perspective. Yesterday the minister of the town said " knowledge is power" and power is so important for this community to help "fight the enemy which is poverty" , as passionately stated by the leader of the DOE. We were asked to give an introduction and then we sang " You are my sunshine" as best as we could on the fly. The ceremonies ended with traditional dance from the women and kids. Their faces painted and with woven skirts on they danced in step to the drum. With arms stretched out, head tilted back looking up at the sky with so much pride, confidence, joy and strength. They were so open to the world and what awaits them. Full of tireless energy and an abundance of spirit. It was an amazing day for all of us.

- Tiffany Strietelmeier