Thank you, Gracias, Danke...

I want to quickly thank all of the people who have helped me here by donating art supplies, cameras, beading materials, clothing and money. I am so appreciative of the help and am honored that so many people want to help make a difference, even if it's in a small way. Many people have had things sent to me and I'd like to acknowledge them here and they will be acknowledged in my exhibit at the Arts Festival, as well.


A Very Special Thanks To:

The Bead Society of NJ

DHL Shipping

Ms. Everett

The Gsellmeyer Family

Helby Imports/Beadsmith

Miss Horowitz

The Hye Family

Kodak

Mill Lake Elementary School

Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell

Ms. Modell

Monroe Township High School National Arts Honor Society

The Mulvey Famiy

Ms. J. Paulkovich

Ms. P. Paulkovich

Rhodes University - St. Mary's Hall

The Roman Family

Ms. Ruggerio

Ms. Schamberger

Ms. Spang

Ms. Sprague

The Artisan Framer, Jamesburg, NJ

Mr. Torreano

Mr. & Mrs. Ungerlieder

Ms. Van Hise

Washington College Fine Art and Psychology Departments

Thank you again for all of your help. It is not only appreciated by me, but also by those you are helping - the women of the Raphael Centre, the boys of Eluxolweni, the children of Amasango and Nyaluza, as well as the greater Grahamstown community.

[If I have missed anyone, please let me know, as I would like to be sure to acknowledge everyone at the exhibit. Thank you]

Quickie.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Addo Elephant Park where we will spend the night on a game reserve. We're going to be camping and having a real South African braii (BBQ). It should be a lot of fun and we're going to get to see some real game! I'm excited. I'll be sure to post pictures Sunday night.

Also, I start teaching art classes at the Raphael Center on Wednesday. That should be exciting. I'm hoping to start receiving donations of art supplies for the classes that I will teach there and at Amasango. It's really hard to get things going without art supplies, but I have faith that I will receive enough donations to do my classes and then have new supplies to leave them with. At the Raphael Center I'm going to be doing a photo-journal project that will put a face to HIV/AIDS. I want to show the real lives of real people dealing will the virus. For that I would like to provide each person with a disposable camera to take pictures of their homes, their lives and what may be left of their families. This is going to be a costly project, so I'm especially asking for donations for this. I think that it will be well worth it since the head of the Raphael Center, Jabu, has now told me a couple of times that she will be getting me exhibition space at the National Arts Festival in June/July. This will be huge. I can't think of anything more exciting! Grace and I flew here separately from everyone else in order to attend the festival and this is the second biggest arts festival in the world. I couldn't be more pleased.

Things are really moving for me here and so far I've had some really enriching experiences, especially because of Jason. No one else has experienced anything like we have, so far. Grace and I were just saying today how lucky we were that he was asked to give a talk in our WAC class. I would never have gotten to meet these really special kids and I can't wait to be a part of their lives!



[anyone interested in donating art supplies please email me at karenhye@aol.com. thank you]

Nyaluza & Eluxolweni

Today was another amazing day thanks to Jason. Around noon Grace and I took a cab into the township to meet him at the Nathaniel Nyaluza High School. We were escorted to Jason's English classroom by a very nice young man named Kanya. Immediately upon entering the room we were faced with whistling, cat calls and laughter, but Jason quickly put an end to that.

"If Karen and Grace are going to be a problem, than you are going to be the ones that leave, not them," yelled Jason. Grace and I were alarmed, but the kids we quick to go back to work.

Jason was in the middle of en English lesson about there/their/they're, so we got to help these tenth grade students out with that. We both found it really difficult to explain the differences, even though this is something that comes naturally to us. These are Xhosa speakers learning to speak English from people with unusual accents. I think it would be hard for anyone.

In the middle of the practice problems the bell rang for the students to move onto their next class. Jason waited for a minute for the next class to come in before realizing that the whole school was attending a drama production for the last period. Lucky for us we got to sit in. It was really hard for us to understand what was going on because most of the skits were in Xhosa, but their costumes and their enthusiasm were so exciting. Two skits were mimed and they were hilarious. Another longer skit was entirely in Xhosa, so we didn't know what was going on, but the rest of the audience found it really funny. As I sat outside in this courtyard I found myself looking around at the other faces when I realized that we were the only three white people there. I asked Jason and he normally is the only one, so he was grateful for the company.

After school Jason had to meet with some students about a photography project that he is doing with them. He did a similar project at Amasango and it was very successful. He exhibited the photographs here at Rhodes and at home in Buffalo, and he's going to be doing the same with this new group of students. This is sort of like what I will be doing with the AIDS patients. While we waited for the students to come in Jason showed us some of the photos from Amasango where the kids are rougher and tougher. There were pictures of homes, family, the Eluxolweni Shelter and a few of these very young kids doing drugs. Unfortunately this is the reality of their lives. To lighten the mood Jason then showed us a video of the kids from Nyaluza dancing during recess. Jason sets up his laptop so that the kids can make videos of themselves dancing to popular music in front of the camera. It was so funny. These kids were having the greatest time!

Following the meeting Jason got us two body guards (2 older, tough boys) to walk us to Eluxolweni, since the walk isn't very safe, especially for two white girls and a white guy. On the way I got to see some of the township homes. I walked for awhile with two 14 year old girls who live in the township. They told me about their aspirations to become actresses and move to the States. They asked me questions along our walk.

"Do you have houses like that in America," one asked, pointing to a rusted, tin shack. I wasn't sure how to reply. Earlier Jason had made references to "the Projects" in NYC and LA, so I told them about our ghettos instead, not wanting them to realize that I've never seen a home like this.

They talked to me about their love of reading and how they want to come to Rhodes. We talked about animals as we passed a cow, goats and chickens roaming the streets.

"Do you have animals in America," the other girl asked.

"Yes," I replied, realizing that she meant these kinds of animals, "but at home they're on farms, not walking through the streets."

"Do you have donkeys in America," they asked after telling me about the donkeys people have at their homes.

"Yes," I said, "but people don't usually keep them at their house. Do you ride it?"

"No," they laughed.

A ninth grade boy named Sanele also walked with us. He talked to me about America and college. Asking me questions about phone numbers and "what I do for a living." He was very curious, extremely smart and incredibly polite. Just before we left Nyaluza to head to the shelter Jason sat Sanele down in front of his laptop to give the boy a chance to record a news briefing. Jason, having worked in news business, knew exactly what he was doing. He wrote a short script, turned on news music and Sanele did his best to become a news anchor. He told me all about wanting to be a journalist and as we walked down the train tracks toward town, he shared pieces of news about places we passed. He's well on his way.

Eventually we split up with the two girls and Sanele and our guards escorted Grace, Jason and me the rest of the way to Eluxolweni. Having visited here last week Grace and I knew what we were in for - hyper, excited, funny street kids.

As we waited for the gate to be opened boys stood waiting for us to come in. The boys were everywhere grabbing at Jason, asking our names, telling us theirs. We walked around talking to the boys, joking around, having a great time. We talked to a boy named named Bramwell who cracked us up. He told us about wanting to come to America to go to Las Vegas and gamble. Then he showed us the poker chips in his pocket and told us we could get in on a game for 10 rand. The boys vary in age from 7 to 18, so there's a lot of variety in what was around us. There was an eight year old boy in Superman pajama bottoms running around yelling about pignoses. There's another boy who fancies himself an American thug who had me in tears I was laughing so hard. We asked him to rap for us, but he was too shy, so we challenged him to a battle next time we're at Eluxolweni. He then did his best rapper imitation grabbing at his crotch and throwing his arms around talking about his "brothers," and I almost died. It was so funny. It amazes me that these kids who are living under such awful circumstances can still have such high spirits. It's an inspiration.

As we were getting ready to leave a boy who we've met before (I have no idea how to spell his Xhosa name) was talking to me at the door. He grabbed my un-flexed bicep and made it jiggle. With his hand still on my arm he gave me a disgusted look, so I flexed. His face changed. "Woah," he said, followed by something I couldn't understand. I looked up at Jason for a translation, "it means strong, in shape," he answered. I laughed as the boy had me flex my other arm. Now all the boys were interested in our muscles and they grabbed at the three of us as we all flexed. Then the boy that I was with started playing with Grace's watch. He took it off of her wrist and put it on mine. Then he took her hair-tie off of her wrist and put it on mine. He smiled as he gave me my two "gifts."

We walked outside and Jason had gathered a group of four boys to walk with us back into town so that they could help him gather things in order to sleep at the shelter tonight. As we all walked towards the gate Grace and I were bombarded by boys giving us hugs and saying their goodbyes. The seven of us walked into town, down High Street. Roger, the only white boy at Eluxolweni, kept singing an Eminem song that was rather inappropriate for his age. He kept asking Jason to "shake it." Next thing we know Roger starts "shaking it" as we walk down the street. Yet again I am brought to tears by the antics of these boys. They are so funny. Roger was being difficult and hard to control, but he cracked me up. It was hard to not notice the looks of passerbys as this group of four street children and three white Americans rolled down High Street.

We said goodbye to the boys and Jason for now. We'll be going back next week to see them again and I can't wait. I think spending time with these kids today was the highlight of my week. They are so full of energy and excitement despite their unfortunate circumstances. And although many of these boys fall to drugs or violence, they don't seem to let anything get them down.

TIA

The last two days have been pretty eventful and super hot! Yesterday during our WAC course we got a tour of campus by a woman from a museum on campus. She told us a lot about the historical context of Rhodes, which was interesting. The main building on campus (the clock tower) was a military base in the 19th century. We learned that part of campus was a military prison and another building was a military hospital. She also pointed out some buildings in town that are historically significant. That was interesting.

After the tour Grace and had dinner with Jason to talk about volunteering. It was a great dinner. He took us to Gino's, an Italian restaurant in town, and surprisingly a restaurant we haven't been to yet! We all got pizza and talked briefly about volunteering then we just vented about the huge differences between America and South Africa. We all appreciate the culture here, but a lot of things that take place here could NEVER happen in the States, and for good reason. Power cuts, brown water, and poor service would never be tolerated at home and it's hard to put that behind us and deal with the situation here. It's easy to get worked up by everything. Right now my biggest woe is no air conditioning. It is so hot. I don't think I've ever been this hot before indoors. It's inescapable, which is something that doesn't exist at home. You can always find AC. This conversation led to us teaching Jason about our secret phrase, "T.I.A." It's from Blood Diamond. It stands for, "this is Africa," and it's the perfect phrase to mutter when anything goes wrong. Power's out? TIA. It's 91 degrees with no AC? TIA. It's genius.

Jason offered to bring us to Amasango (the street school) to see the school and meet the kids, so we went this morning. The walk is mostly down High Street, but on the other side of the Cathedral things get a little shady. The school is behind a set of railroad tracks and this morning the tracks were sprinkled with people walking from the township to work, or into town. It was really interesting scene, I hope to get a picture next time. We had to be let into a locked gate and immediately we were greeted by the students. Many of the boys were from the shelter that we visited last week. They were all very sweet and introduced themselves to us. Jason took us around to the classrooms and to meet the teachers. The teachers were all very kind and welcoming. The classrooms, on the other hand, were a lot to handle. In one room the chalkboard had a big gash in the middle of it. The board was just missing. Many of the desks are broken and the chairs are uncomfortable and not sturdy. I didn't see textbooks or supplies. Meanwhile, I recall complaining in high school about there not being enough room in the hallway, or not having a copy of The Great Gatsby. Things like this would never be a concern here. For one, Grace and I spent a little time reading with two boys ages 16 and 17 (the age when we're taught The Great Gatsby) who read at a 6th grade level. These two boys were out of a handful of boys in the 6th grade classroom. Jason asked them who wanted to read before Grace and I left and they raised their hands. While the rest of the class sat back fooling around these boys read to us from a book of Nelson Mandela's stories. It was really eye-opening. Jason also took us to the art room, which was surprisingly the nicest classroom of all (something that definitely wouldn't be the case in America). There were ceramic projects everywhere. The school has a kiln and the kids get to work a lot with clay. I was very excited to see this. I'm going to work on painting and drawing with them, so it should be a little bit of a change for them, but hopefully still exciting. We also got to see the kitchen, where breakfast was not being served today because of a lack of food. This made my stomach turn. When we left the kids waved from all of the classrooms that we passed. It was a nice goodbye.

Jason walked us back a few blocks, until we reached a nicer area. As he was turning to leave he ran into one the boys he used to work with, Mango. Mango is a troublesome boy who has been known to be very violent. Grace and I kept walking as Jason talked to Mango. On the way back to campus we stopped for muffins at a bakery and Mango came in behind us. As I paid our 15 rand (approximately $2) bill for our muffins and water I noticed Mango at the other end of the counter begging for yesterday's leftovers. I offered to buy him a fresh roll and he gladly accepted and chose a roll that cost 80 South African cents (or less than 10 American cents). Mango thanked me and left the bakery. He went outside to share the roll with a friend. As we walked away we marveled at the fact that the kids at the school were not served breakfast, meanwhile that roll cost me less that 10 cents. It's a sad concept. There are many street children begging in front of popular spots in town all day, every day. They all ask for money for food or for a drink, but we've all been made well aware that this money goes to drugs. However, unlike in the States where we have this problem, these kids openly accept food. Last night at dinner I didn't eat my pizza crust. When the waiter came to clear my plate Jason had him wrap it. I then gave it to a kid on the way home. I couldn't believe I was giving this poor child the scraps of my food. It felt so degrading, but the two kids I gave them to were so happy to have them.

This evening we were treated to a trip to the bell tower in the St. Michael and St. George Cathedral in the center of town. The husband of the woman from the museum who took us on the tour of campus is the bell ringer so we got to attend a ringing. It was really cool. The view was beautiful. Grace and I may go back on Monday to start taking lessons and in a month we'll be able to ring the bells which would be something pretty exciting to tell. I believe he said that they are the oldest bells in Africa. It looked like fun and it's something to do! I love the cathedral. I think it's so beautiful. Even though I'm not religious I would like to attend church in it just once because it's so big inside and it's difficult to imagine how a service is run.


Tomorrow morning after classes Grace and I are taking a cab to the township high school to see Jason's English class. He teaches there twice a week and he says it's a big contrast from Amasango. The children there aren't violent and are there to learn, he says. That will be exciting. We haven't really seen the township too much.

Amasango & Eluxolweni

Today the WAC kids had our first "core course" of the semester. It was interesting. We were just given a brief overview of South African history since 1994, a talk on "anti-Americanism," something I think we've all encountered in small dosages, and then Jason, a former Rhodes student from Buffalo came to talk to us about the "real" Grahamstown. He talked to us about safety and places to help out around town. He is especially involved with the Amasango School for Street Children, a local school that gives street children the opportunity to learn even if they have abandoned school in the past.

Jason has volunteered at the school and the affiliated shelter off and on for the past two years. Following our lecture he offered to take us up to the shelter to meet the boys before they went to bed. We walked up there and we were introduced to the "dodgy" parts of town, mainly anything past the cathedral. The area was very different from those around campus or on the upper stretch of High Street where the shops and restaurants are. For once since I've been here I felt unsafe, but luckily our guide was knowledgeable about the location. When we arrived at the shelter we were immediately greeted by at least half a dozen smiling faces. The boys, ranging in age from lower elementary to late teens, greeted us each individually. They were interested in shaking our hands, learning our names and asking us how we were. The boys then gave us tours around the home, showing us the bedrooms and the kitchen. My tour guide took me by the hand and showed me his room and his bed and then proceeded to break-dance for me. It was very exciting! All of the boys crowed with the six of us in a small hallway. We all talked and they danced for us, it was a great moment.

Something that really struck me was an older boy wearing a Washington DC sweat shirt. The shirt was worn and in poor shape, but that wasn't what bothered me. It was heartbreaking to know that this boy has never visited Washington DC and that most likely that boy will never get the chance to visit our Capitol. Being privileged enough to be in South Africa in the first place makes it harder to put yourself in their places. As privileged as I am being able to afford to come to a place as beautiful and exciting as South Africa, this experience, and similar ones in the future, will stick out more in my memory in years to come than the trip to the beach or our prospective trips to Cape Town or Addo. To me, the life that these children lead is more foreign than any lion or elephant could ever be. It may sound pretentious or snobby, but I think that most people would agree. There are few places that I know of that could compare to the picture we've been painted of the daily lives of these young boys. I may be naive, but I think that it would be difficult to find a fourteen year old drug addict who is routinely involved in begging, stealing and stabbings in the States. Luckily for these boys there is a place like Amasango where they can go to stay safe during the day and continue their education. We met some boys at the shelter who "graduated" from Amasango and are now in high school in the township. I think that's so inspiring.

I plan now to volunteer at the school. Although the children are dangerous and often difficult I do not think that they deserve to be forgotten. Jason informed me that there are far fewer girls at the school than there are boys and that often they are very much forgotten and neglected, so I have elected to teach an art class for just the female students. He and I both think that the girls will be very receptive to the art, but also to a female presence. I am very much looking forward to this experience. In addition, I will be leading a sort of weekly art therapy session at a local adult AIDS center in town. There I will engage the patients in artwork and then lead a discussion in the end allowing them to practice English, which is usually their second language. I knew that I would be coming to South Africa to give back to the community, but I never thought that South Africa would be able to give so much back to me. I've only been here for a week and a half and already I have learned so much in and out of the classroom. The people are genuine and kind, the landscape is breathtaking and every day is just becoming more and more eye opening.