There is always hope

Hi again!  We've moved on from Soweto and after a loooong drive through the desert we've arrived at the coast.  Cape Town and surrounding area is just gorgeous and there's nothing quite like falling asleep to the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore.

It's been a fairly relaxing week - I opted out of the adventure activities in favour of spending the days by the water reading and swimming and trying to get pictures of the local penguins!  Can you believe it?!  Penguins in Africa.  So.  Cool.

Now, I would say that I am incredibly blessed to be working for Outtatown in the first place - I'm in Africa experiencing life in huge and intense ways.  My world view is being challenged and expanded on a daily basis.  But this past week held an event that went above and beyond some of the exciting things we get to do here.  Our group was given the amazing honour of meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Wow.

For those of you who may not know, he has been, and still is, very involved in bringing about peace and reconciliation in and around the world.  He was the head of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission in South Africa (a commission that was employed to bring some measure of healing and unity to a country that had been so wounded and divided for so long) and has also received a Nobel Peace Prize.  To be given the opportunity to meet someone who has been at the forefront of such positive change in our world...

Again, wow.

It was a lovely morning.  The Archbishop is so very friendly, personable and down-to-earth, not to mention he has a delightful sense of humour.  We were able to hear some of his thoughts on where South Africa was and where it has moved today.  I asked him the question, "Are you happy with where South Africa is today?"  And while I think most people, including the Archbishop, would say there is still such a long way to go, his response nearly brought me to tears.

"The greatest thing is we are free."


Wow.

The rest of the week, while super fun and lighthearted, doesn't hold a candle to that meeting.  But, just because I know you're all fabulously interested in my life I'll give you the run down.  We went to Cape Point the other morning, a place that definitely makes it on my "Top 5 Most Beautiful Places We Visit" list.  (A couple others being: the night under the stars in the Karoo, Chapman's Peak, the beach at Mdumbi and a vineyard in Stellenbosch).  The only problem is that we've been subject to gale force winds all week.  The wind has been so strong I haven't been able to walk straight!

Cheers,
Sandy

meeting Desmond Tutu

A Return to the Land across the Ocean

I think I should start this post off with an apology - I didn't blog much last semester... oops, sorry!  Let's see if I do any better this time around.

We've been in South Africa for just over 2 weeks now, and just like usual I feel like I've been here waaaay longer if I think about everything that we've done in that time span.  It was a pretty smooth journey from Winnipeg to Johannesburg, although I was absolutely pooched by the time I got there.  20+ hours of flying, a 10 hour layover in Frankfurt, terrible airplane food and a bit of trouble getting our rental car.  But since this meant that I got to stand in hot and sunny South Africa for a few extra moments upon arrival, I wasn't too upset.

We spent the first few days at a retreat centre outside of Jo-burg relaxing, catching up on sleep and enjoying the hot days, punctuated with late afternoon thunderstorms.  And let me tell you, the thunderstorms in South Africa kick North American thunderstorms in the butt.  So fantastic.


I don't even really know where to begin telling you about the first couple weeks.  We were in Pretoria for a little while, gong show might be the most appropriate word to describe the week.  The schedule fell apart a few times, we couldn't find the centre we were supposed to be staying at (ended up getting escorted there by the police) and instead of digging into Afrikaner culture we went to a water park (SO fun!)


Soweto was just as crazy - a real introduction to what apartheid created in South Africa and how the country is still suffering its repercussions.  Apartheid museum, Hector Pieterson museum, township tours... it was a lot to take in.

Probably the most impactful moments I've had so far are what I want to tell you the most about.  We weren't staying in the greatest of locations in Pretoria.  Actually, we were just outside the city in a poor section of town and the students weren't allowed outside the compound after we came back for dinner.  Needless to say, there was a little bit of cabin fever going on.  But after there were a few scary moments of people getting attacked outside the walls of the compound (both times the security at our centre were able to intervene) we started to think less about the loss of freedom and more about the blessing of safety.

The second instance has to to with the same themes.  We were volunteering for the week in the township outside of Soweto - a place that really hasn't changed since apartheid ended.  I hopped in with 4 of my students and the local guys they were heading into town with to grab a newspaper.  It definitely wasn't a place to be walking alone, or without locals.  Normally I would feel safe enough - very aware of my surroundings and cautious of what was going on, but safe enough.  That particular day shook that belief up.  As we crossed the bridge into town we saw someone get mugged at knife point.  It was terrifying.  Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, nothing has ever begun to prepare me for the reality that things like this actually happen in the world.  I know theoretically that stuff like this happens, but to see it with your own two eyes is something different altogether.  People in the community began to intervene, and again, no one got hurt (thank goodness), but it made me think about the reality that some people live in.  It was hard to see, and scared me, but at the end of the day I'm almost glad to have see that.  Not that someone nearly got hurt and/or killed, but that I am aware of it.  Just because I don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.  The question now is, how do I help end this?

South Africa continues to amaze me every day.  It inspires me, breaks my heart and leaves me with the overwhelming sense that there is hope in the world, even in the darkest places you see.

Cheers,
Sandy

haning out with the kiddies at church in Soweto

me and Brenda in Soweto!

Free Weekend

I thought about writing something for this, but one of my students wrote this fabulous poem about the weekend, so I thought I'd share it instead!

A Visit to Purple City!

Friday, September thirtieth and we were all at the camp

Sitting in class, we were learning like champs.

You could feel it in the air, one thought was the trend,

Why, it was all of the excitement for the Winnipeg Free Weekend!

We packed up our stuff while the boys yelled, “Van Crew!”

Then got in the vans and the time, it just flew!

Booth College was our home for those few short nights,

And we learned the members of our small groups without the use of sight!

We clucked and barked, mooed and giraffe-ed...

And by the end, all we could do was laugh-ed.

Then off on our own, we hit up the town

Visiting Purple City, and acting like clowns.

Welcome October, Saturday the first,

It was a day of celebration, the day of Coral’s birth!

The girls went shopping while the boys did their laundry,

I’m sure their mothers will be proud...something that rhymes with laundry.

The events of that night caused people to plan,

A trip to Value Village had some laughing in the van.

Now Value Village always has treasures to be bought,

And those gems that we found we thought, “How can we not?”

Decked out in stripes, glitter and colours so bright,

We all went Roller Skating—I mean, what else do you do on a Saturday night?

Oh the fun we did have! The laughter and glee,

Some were quite natural, but others had a hurt knee.

We skated and danced until our feet we so sore,

But let me tell you, that the night was not a bore.

On Sunday we went back to the place it all began,

CMU, where some of us could make a future educational plan.

It was the campus visit day and all the sites were in the land

And when we sat down to pray for supper, we were the only site holding hands!

That evening we all gathered as one collection,

For a night of worship and listening to a personal reflection.

The event was called the MUD cafe;

Mission Under Discussion, as they would say.

And that’s the tale of our eventful weekend of fun.

Just ask any Outtatowner, they will be sad that it’s done!

Written by: Megan

hanging out at the Ellice Café 

planking!

purple fun

roller skating madness

just awesome.

aren't we classy?

disco fits... right?

more fabulous costumes

again... just awesome

Basically, it was super wicked awesome fun.

Cheers,
Sandy

Chillin' at Camp

After our Urban Plunge, we headed back to camp for some much needed relaxation and learning.  If there's one thing that I've learned on Outtatown, it's how important rest is.  Your body is capable of so much more that you think it is, but without rest... Bad news!

So we went rock climbing.  That's restful right?

showing off our mad Spidey-skills

story time with Tara

Now, Tara has this incredible game that is designed to allow students to experience what it's like to be an immigrant in a foreign country.  It's a complicated game and at the beginning you only know 5 English phrases: "My name is...", "Where is the bathroom?", "Where is the government official?", "I have 2 children", "Where is the English teacher?".  The chaos and frustration is a pretty accurate experience for the most part, but it sure is hilarious as a bystander to watch students running around yelling "Where is the bathroom?!" at the top of their lungs.

The game quickly disintegrates into pure anarchy and you see corruption everywhere.

corruption in the government! 

the pass-off

hey! where's my portion?!

I rest my case.

Later on in the week we did a little bit of service at our camp - it's always nice to be able to give back to a place that houses and feeds us.

cleaning the van

With so many people we quickly moved through the tasks we were given and had a free afternoon to find an adventure.  We took off for the Pinawa Dam and figured, best case scenario, we get to swim in the rapids.  At the very least, we could wander around a super beautiful location.

Pinawa Dam

Lucky for us, the water wasn't outrageous and we were able to spend a few hours playing in the rapids.  I was a little nervous, just because as smooth as the water looks running over the rocks, my experience is that the rocks still jump out and bruise your rear.  But, contrary to my expectations, there was so much seaweed/algae that it was a lovely soft, smooth ride!

waterslide

My only complaint was the snakes!  AAAHHHHHH!  I hate snakes.  HATE.

And this is what was awaiting us...

Goerz, the snake guru

I spent the first 10 minutes standing on a rock, twitching and trying to hold in my screams...  But when challenged to hold a teensy, tiny, itty, bitty snake, I thought it might possibly be time to step up again and try to hold a snake for the first time in my life.  Now, you may or may not know what happened the last time I held a snake... Long story short, it bit me.  Ick.  But this guy was so little I thought it was worth a try.

I did it.  But I think my face accurately tells you what I was thinking.

freaking out.  no big deal.

Snakes.  Still not my favourite.

Cheers,
Sandy

Taking the Plunge

Outtatown is such a crazy program because there's so much that we do in a year - not only do we get to travel, go on crazy adventures and go to class, but we do a whole lot of experiential learning.  One of the neatest experiences of first semester is our Urban Plunges.  Basically what happens is we take our students to a church located in the North End of Winnipeg for a few days and allow them to learn about what goes on in the downtown core.  They interact with the people on the streets, the ministries working there and learn about the problems that exist in the world of poverty and homelessness.

The Vineyard is a really beautiful church, and I'm not just talking about the building (which, incidentally enough is lovely - it's a renovated warehouse smack-dab in the middle of the downtown).  It's really incredible seeing a church that is so focused on living in community with any person who chooses to come to church.  It's a place where the down-and-out feel comfortable going; it's not uncommon to have drunken homeless sitting in the back of church on any given Sunday.  And the great part is, there's always someone willing to talk with them.

Our Urban Plunge was a really positive experience this year - definitely not as heartbreaking as last year - but one in which our students had their eyes opened to what exists in a city many of them live in.  The first day they go on a 'Learning Tour' which is set up like the Amazing Race - they have clues to follow that lead them around the city and bring them to different ministries where they learn about issues like prostitution, gangs and community living.  One of the coolest things I think they're asked to do is literally donate the shirt off their back to a shelter in town.  As they're being shown through the clothing room, they're asked to exchange something they're wearing, and boy oh boy did we have some ugly sweaters show up at the end of the day.  And 2 pairs of pleather pants... go figure.

In addition they're challenged to take someone out for coffee (they're given $12 dollars to do that and find dinner for the 3 people in their group; a real chance to experience what it's like to struggle to eat) and the stories that they come back with at the end of the day are incredible.  It's really neat watching their definition of poverty change over the course of our Urban Plunge.  You stop seeing poverty as a lack of basic needs (like money, food, clothes and a place to sleep) and learn that it's about powerlessness, hopelessness, dependance and social isolation.  My favourite quote from the week was when one of the speakers said, "The way we think about poverty determines how we react to poverty". How very true.  In two years of Outtatown my stereotypes have been really challenged and I hope that I am a better person for it.

Harvey teaching about poverty at the Vineyard

The next 2 days were spent working with various ministries in the city.  A big theme we ran across was the idea of community living.  Which is space in which the people living together are inter-dependant and share a lot.  It's been challenging to many of us to re-define what it means to live well and think about what we could/should do with our possessions.  I don't know... I just love watching people break out of the mould of what the world tells us is important and find our own values.  

the view from the top floor of the Vineyard

Part of living in the downtown of any large city is exposure to ethnicity.  For one of our dinners we took the students out for food that was, in some cases, way out of their comfort zone.  But I'll say one thing about these guys for sure - they're willing to jump in!  We went for Shwarma (Lebanese), Korean, Mexican and Indian, and everyone came back full and with a smile on their face.  I have never eaten so much garlic at one time in my life, but the Shwarma was delicious!

At the end of our 3 days, we left the Vineyard and went back to our camp outside the city with our horizons broadened and better sense of what it meant to be a part of the world.  Awesome.

sunset at the Vineyard

plunged out and ready to go home

Cheers,

Sandy

ps. you should check out our site blog as well: www.site2southafrica.blogspot.com (or go through the Outtatown website: www.outtatown.ca).  One of my students put together a really fantastic video from the plunge.

Back for another year of fun

It's been a while, I know.

But, after a summer of reading, relaxing and hanging out with family and friends I'm back on Outtatown ready for another year of crazy adventures.

It’s been a normal beginning to the Outtatown year, that is to say intense, overwhelming, crazy, awesome, hardcore and fun!  A real gong show, if you like.   Oh how I love my job.

Site 2: South Africa

Registration day went smoothly as Steve, Stefan, Lisa and I met, and tried desperately to remember the names of, our 31 students.   We weren’t at CMU for very long before heading out in the vans for Manitoba Pioneer Camp and our ‘start the year with a bang’ canoe trip.   The trip to MPC involves a boat trip on the good ole PIII, a fun event that puts us in the snazziest lifejackets I’ve ever seen; very aptly described as one-size-fits-none.  We boat-pooled our way over with the French Africa site, and I have never seen so much luggage in one place before in my life.  The boat moved waaaay slower than normal.

now picture her at least a foot lower in the water

Now, you may be thinking to yourself: ‘What a lovely, warm, sunny fall we’ve been having, it’d been wonderful going on a canoe trip right now’.  Wrong.  The weather decided to wage war against us and it turned overcast, windy and cold the very first night we got there.

already you can see what type of day we had...

Things hadn’t improved by morning and so it was that we left MPC with a very strong wind at our backs.  The key word being ‘backs’.  In fact, we were having trouble moving as a group, so we rafted up and sailed for 3km.  Absolutely the most successful canoe-sail I’ve ever been a part of, although going straight was somewhat difficult to achieve.

watching the storm roll in

The weather didn’t improve as the trip went on – we proceeded to paddle both with gale force winds, riding the huge rolling waves and against gale force winds, watching the huge rolling waves crash into our boats.  Don’t worry, no one tipped.  But we did need to do a bit of a rescue; one of our bowmen was so light the bow of the canoe wasn’t even in the water as they tried to move forward into the headwind.  We paddled in hail, rain, sleet, SNOW (ok, so there were like, 6 snowflakes, but STILL!  It’s a canoe trip!) and one morning we woke up and there was frost on the ground.  It was epic and I loved it.  Being out in the woods makes me feel alive.

alive!

We had some other adventures along the way – rainbows, exploring abandoned mines, cliff jumping, hanging around campfires, seeing the northern lights, getting to know everyone, running out of toilet paper halfway through the trip… In all it was a blast!

checking out the mine

it's almost like a giant hamster wheel!

more creepy abandoned mine

We’re living at a camp a few hours outside of Winnipeg at the moment, continuing to make friends and figure out what it means to be a part of Outtatown.  Our students are just fabulous – they love hanging out, playing games, singing (we have a guy who plays the mandolin with us this year!) and laughing.  It’s shaping up to be a great year.

what better way to get to know one another that a human log pile?

or a rousing game of human jenga?

It’s been challenging at times transitioning back into Outtatown – I have to work much harder to find reading time for one thing!  But I love living in a community of people and I love laughing with friends, so I’m not too worried.

We’re off to our Winnipeg Urban Plunge in a few days, so I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Sandy

Swaziland - a whole new world

The semester is quickly coming to an end; we fly home in less than 2 weeks! But the fact that we don’t have much time left doesn’t mean that we aren’t busy. We’ve spent the week in Swaziland (that’s country number 3 this semester) and it’s been jam-packed with adventures.
Crossing the border was no big deal – definitely nothing like trying to get into the States! – 2 stamps in our passports and we were ready to go. We’re staying in the capital, Manzini, and working with the people nearby. Swaziland is the last absolute monarchy that exists in the world, and you see pictures of the king everywhere.

Our first afternoon we went to a Swazi cultural village to learn about how life used to function in the ‘good ole days’ and actually still functions in some of the rural areas. We learned all sorts of interesting (and very very different from North America) facts: Polygamy is still legal here in Swazi (the grandfather of one of our speakers had 40 wives!!!), a virgin cost 17 cows, Grandma got the biggest hut in the family, they worshipped the ancestors and the beer brewing hut was treated as an open bar by visitors. At the end of our tour we were treated to a song and dance performance. I don’t understand it – the people of Africa seem to be born able to play the drums, dance and sing in 12-part harmony. It was awesome to watch though – especially when this little, wizened old man came out and danced. I have never seen someone that old move with that amount of energy and agility!

chillin' by a Swazi hut

The next day we volunteered at the Shamma Orphanage. Mama Salacia came out of retirement, liquidated everything she owned to start this orphanage/HIV clinic. We were able to come in and paint a couple houses, fortify a retaining wall and do a little bit of gardening for this incredible grandmother who was one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. She was all smiles and just so full of love – boy will she bless the children that come to her!

Ben, Pete, Mama S, Blayne, Dan & Aly by the wall they built

The rest of the week we spent volunteering at some Swazi NCPs (Neighbourhood Care Points). It was a new challenge for all of us, to play with children who didn’t speak any English. Zero. Nada. But that didn’t stand in the way of our having fun together – I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of laughing at how kids can be entertained by the simplest games. My students in Germany just LOVED playing Go Fish, and the kiddies here were enthralled with Duck, Duck, Goose (which we turned into Lion, Lion, Zebra). It was hilarious watching some of them – it’s hard to convey the rules when you don’t know any of the local language. We had kids go around the entire circle saying ‘Lion’ before sitting down in their spot having tagged no one, we had a few kids run around both circles when we played in 2 smaller groups, and we also had a few kids burst into tears when they didn’t get back first. It was chaos. I loved it.

The smiles and the laughter were the highlight of my week.

It was also a good reminder of the fact that a huge part of this semester is not about me – we had to drive about an hour to get to our first NCP and by the time we got there we only had about 30 minutes to play. Then we drove another hour to get to the second NCP where we had about 20 minutes with the kids. But instead of thinking about how much time I spent sitting on the bus, I was challenged to remember how much those 30 minutes meant to the children we were able to love. South Africa has taught me nothing if not how little it takes to bring joy to someone. Myself included.


All my love,

Sandy

ps. things are starting to wrap up; we've started our debrief process and are in the midst of hearing each student share their story.  It's incredible to hear how everyone has learned, been challenged, seen God and experience adventure over the past 8 months.  It's hard to believe that we'll be back in Canada in just over 10 days!!