Same Country, Different Homes…

Again sorry for the late posting, but this should have been posted on Weds, Nov. 24, 2010... Thanks again for reading!

South Africa. When I first thought about this country there were tons and tons of things that just entered my mind, with the obvious being zebras, giraffes, and lions! But as I have now traveled around a bit I am beginning to ‘see’ South Africa in a whole new light. This past week I found myself in Soweto where I attend the Diakonia Aids Ministry (DAM) Gala Dinner that Joy, another YAGM volunteering for the ELCSA’ s Central Diocese and DAM, had invited all the other YAGM to. Being in the Umphumulo Hospital and volunteering at the HIV& AIDS counseling center, I wanted to be present at this event to see what the DAM was about and then be able to volunteer with Joy for a part of the week I would be in Soweto. Soweto is very different from Umphumulo; as cold is to hot and slow is to fast, Umphumulo is to Soweto.

I spent all day Saturday getting ready for the Gala dinner; sweeping the entire auditorium in which the dinner was held and then peeling, chopping, and mixing all kinds of foods to prepare for ~200 people. After the dinner, which was full of traditional dances, choirs, and fun conversation, I stayed in Soweto to volunteer with Joy; Amanda, the YAGM volunteer in Bonaero Park, stayed with both of us too! Monday through Wednesday began with meeting all of Joy’s wonderful colleagues, working in the DAM office, and then left the evenings to venture out into Soweto. One of the first things I noticed about Soweto was how to catch a kombi (taxi). I quickly looked to Joy and asked, “What is everyone doing with their hands?” You see, kombis in Soweto go to various places due to having several things to do. So in order for the driver to know where you’d like to go, hand signals are key. So to get to the Hector Pieterson Museum, a great place to learn about Soweto’s history and the historical riots that were held there, Joy put her pointer finger up to indicate we were heading more into town. There are about four to five different hand signs to catch a kombi in Soweto, and I was so excited to just learn two of them! In Umphumulo, to catch a kombi you just flag down and get in which ever one is passing by or you wait in one until it becomes full due to only going to one destination, Maphumulo or Stanger.

Another fascinating experience I encountered while in Joy’s community was the neighborhood. In Soweto you actually have a neighbor that is not at least a five minute walk up or down hill. You can just yell a simple, “Hello! How are you,” right to the other side of the gate and get a response with a wave too. The welcoming of the neighbors is the same, but instead of isiZulu you hear more Sesotho; finally another language to hear and learn a bit of! Also, I really enjoyed seeing the man pushing a shopping cart down the street while he rang a bell to sell vegetables; this was just like the paleta man at home in San Antonio (as you hear the ringing of a bell down the road, you quickly gather your money as you see the paleta man pushing the freezer box selling a special kind of Mexican ice-cream bar coming along). It was also nice to see the kids playing in the street as they raced with a tire to see who could roll the tire to the end of the road first or as they played a game with what looked like dice. Just having the noise around was very different, yet exciting all at the same time. In fact, just to have noises of all kinds made Soweto very different from Umphumulo. After volunteering with Joy on Wednesday, the three of us (Amanda, Joy, and myself) headed towards Bonaero Park where Amanda was volunteering. Thursday and Friday we volunteered in the ELCSA’s head office and helped out doing random things for the meetings that were being held at the lodge Amanda also worked. We also met several of Amanda’s co-workers who greeted Joy and myself with open arms, smiles, and warm hearts—which made me understand that no matter where I go in South Africa, feeling like I’m at home is just a part of their culture. Like Soweto, Bonaero Park is full of all different kinds of noises and there is just something always going on. Also if you take a walk down the road, whether in Soweto or Bonaero Park, vehicles of all kinds are always passing by; unlike Umphumulo where you’ll see a vehicle passing by every hour or so.

The three of us also ended up attending a Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates soccer game in Soccer City (Soweto). Just to give you an idea of how HUGE this game was, the Chiefs and Pirates are two of the biggest soccer clubs and rivals amongst the soccer fans of South Africa. Getting to the soccer stadium by kombi, was one of the most cultural things I have ever witnessed in South Africa. You looked to the left and there was a kombi with chiefs and pirates fans yelling out the windows for their team, you looked to the right and you could see another kombi with flags favoring the chiefs or pirates waving outside of the windows, and you looked behind you and you could see and hear vuvuzelas, more cheering, and amazing spirit from the fans; we were all South Africans as we rode along in the kombi joining in on the spirit. As soon as we saw the stadium, you could literally see the crowds of people going into the stadium and you could feel your heart beating faster as the cheering from the fans was heard from the distance. As we walked closer and closer to the gate, I began to feel the spirit of the stadium even more. Throughout the entire game the spirit of the fans, which included cheering, dancing, singing, jumping, and blowing vuvuzelas, was one of the most EXCITING things I was able to witness and be a part of myself!! All in all, being in the totally different environments of Soweto and Bonaero Park, which are both a part of Johannesburg (Joburg), has allowed me to see and remember that South Africa is more than just a peaceful, relaxing, and slow place; it is also a place of development, significant history, and different languages and cultures. Now I can understand why Joburg is mentioned as the ‘heartbeat’ of South Africa… Go Chiefs!