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!