"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad
Saturday was our last day in Cape Town, and we had a free day until dinner. Kathy and I teamed up with Sharon and MaryLynne and their partner teacher, Naomi. Naomi and her son picked us up at our guesthouse and drove us wherever we wanted to go all day. Sharon wanted to visit the University of Cape Town bookstore to get a sweatshirt, so that's where we started. As we parked the car and got out, we were approached by a man in the parking lot who we paid R5 to keep an eye on the car. Naomi told us that this was another way of creating jobs for people. They earned a little money, and drivers felt a little more secure leaving their cars.
We found a shop that had University shirts on this street near campus.
We headed back toward town to visit a jewelry store and a local crafts store, then moved on to the waterfront for lunch, sightseeing, and more souvenirs.
Nobel Square, V&A Waterfront
Bronze statues represent South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates:
Albert Lithuli (1960), Desmond Tutu (1984), FW de Klerk (1993), and Nelson Mandela (1993)
At first I thought this 12-meter tall statue was made from Legos, but he was crafted from 4200 Coke crates.
Naomi was in the crowd the day Nelson Mandela made his first public appearance on this balcony after his release from prison.
Our last dinner in Cape Town was really exciting! It was about a 30-minute drive to Moyo-Stellenbosch, and we didn't know what to expect until we got there. It was quite an experience with outdoor dining under a Moroccan-style tent, face painting, and traditional African entertainment and food. The temperature dropped quite a bit while we were there, but you could get blankets brought to you. It was a great way to end our time in Cape Town!
On Friday, Andrea and I went with Gail to her school, Windermere High School. It is located in a very disadvantaged area and has about 650 students in grades 7-12 and only about 20 teachers. Funding for the school comes from student fees which are R700 per year (about $106). By comparison, the fees at a more affluent school nearby are R17,000 (about $2,575). Gail teaches multiple subjects and multiple grade levels. Classes are much larger than what we are used to, with some teachers having as many as 64 students in one class. Lessons after third grade are all taught in English, even though for most of the kids English is their second, third, or fourth language. After 12th grade, all students have to take the "matric," an exit exam that must be passed to go on to University or for certain jobs, and that test is only given in English.
These boys wanted to have their picture taken with me.
Security is an issue, so the school grounds are enclosed by fences topped with razor wire. Many houses or subdivisions are also behind such fences and/or gates.
Inside the school, many halls and rooms also have bars.
After touring the school and talking to several classes, Gail took us to an outbuilding to meet with her student ambassadors, a special group of kids that she works with, along with Runaldo from the local Adopt-A-Pet organization. They take the kids and some rescued animals to visit a center for the disabled. It is a very positive experience for the residents and also for the kids.
The kids decided they wanted to sing something for us, so they quickly put this together.
Before we left, every single one of those kids hugged us and thanked us for coming. It was very touching.
We left the high school and walked a few blocks to a nearby elementary school where Gail's friend, Paul, teaches.
The fourth grade class had 48 students.
We spent some time visiting with the principal, Professor Isaacs. The Professor was a prisoner for 13 years on Robben Island where he was known as "the teacher" because he taught the other inmates.
Here I am with Andrea, Professor Isaacs, Paul, and Paul's wife.
From there, we drove to Adopt-A-Pet, a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats, but they also treat horses there.
We visited lots of rescued dogs and cats.
We also watched Runaldo and an assistant putting a microchip into a dog being adopted. (This puppy reminded me of our old dog, Josie.)
We had to go back to Kirstenbosch in the afternoon to share our experiences, but we were running late and still needed to eat lunch, so to save time we went through the drive-up window at McDonald's. It was really weird to hear Gail order a Big Mac, and then to eat a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in the back seat of a '94 Toyota Corolla hurtling across Cape Town.
After our debrief, each pair of U.S. teachers went home with a local teacher for dinner. Gail's friend, Kevin, also a teacher, drove us around all day, and we actually went to his home for a braai (barbeque). When we went in the front door, we found an elderly lady standing there with a stick held up over her head. It was a little disconcerting, but it turned out that she was Kevin's 79-year-old mother, and she wasn't trying to hit us; she had just used the stick to help her close the curtains.
We were made to feel at home right away and put to work in the kitchen. Kevin's mom directed Andrea in the making of beer bread. While it was baking, Gail helped me make koeksisters, fried dough dipped in a simple syrup and coated with coconut. They were delicious! AND we got to eat them before we ate dinner!
During the evening, various family members came by. Here we are with Gail, her mom, her son, and her brother.
Gail was happy with the t-shirt and backpack I brought her from my school.
When it was time to leave, Kevin discovered his car battery had died, so he needed a push to get a jump from Paul's car.
It was sad to say goodbye to our new friends, but I hope to keep in touch. They are all very special people.
Wednesday was another full day of activities with a focus on learning about conservation along the Cape Peninsula. First was an overivew of key environmental issues with Patrick Dowling from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA). WESSA focuses on conservation and education.
We headed to Kalk Bay for World Wildlife Federation marine site visits. This area is big with surfers and is also a hot spot for white sharks. Surfers and sharks don't really have a good relationship, so surfers started training the locals who found parking places for people to spot sharks for them. The surfers would all chip in to pay them. Shark spotters now also help collect data for researchers. We stopped by a shark spotter's stand to have a look for ourselves, but we didn't see any sharks, only surfers.
We enjoyed a presentation at the Save our Seas Shark Center by Paul Miller, and then went to explore the tide pools.
A piece of leathery kelp in my hand.
Gail picked up a sea urchin for me to hold.
I took a few moments after lunch to run outside and snap some photos of these changing huts on the beach.
As I was taking pictures of the beach, this man wanted to pose for me.
I am fascinated by the women who carry their babies like this. I can't figure out how the babies stay up.
When they think about African wildlife, most people probably don't think about penguins, but they are there, and I was really looking forward to seeing them. We drove to Boulders Beach, home to a large colony of African Penguins (also called Jackass Penguins) and one of the few places where they can be seen at close range.
Penguins in action.
Craft sellers at Boulders Beach. Sharon was a champion shopper.
Some local talent.
We ended the day back at the V&A Waterfront and a brief visit to Two Oceans Aquarium before dinner.
From the first time I read about it, I wanted to take the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain.
I knew I would have to be brave, because that kind of thing scares me to death, but I was going to do it. We had a free morning Tuesday, so some of us took a cab to the mountain. When we got there, it was too windy for the cable car to run, and I was soooooooo disappointed. I had to settle for these views from part way up the mountain.
Three of our group decided to hike to the top, but Kathy and I knew our limitations and took the cab back down to the waterfront to do some shopping instead. We had a great time buying souvenirs for friends and family back home, and wandering in and out of stores like Gucci, Prada, and Jimmy Choo pretending we could actually buy something if we wanted to. However, I did learn that I could learn to like $1,000 shoes!
Our afternoon was spent at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (KNBG). We met up with local teachers who would be sharing in our program for the rest of the week, and toured the garden in small groups getting to know each other.
Andrea and I were teamed up with Gail Neethling, a high school natural and life sciences teacher.
KNBG sits at the foot of Table Mountain.
My favorite thing in the garden was a silver tree.
Calla lilies are everywhere! If only I could bring them home for Karen's wedding.
Dinner was at Idasa's (the Africa Democracy Institute's) Cape Town Democracy Centre. There was a book shop and restaurant in front where I had my first malva pudding (yum!), and a large meeting room in back with Desmond Tutu hanging from the ceiling.
These are pictures from the prison on Robben Island that I couldn't get uploaded before.
Mandela's cell.
Our second day in Cape Town was very full. We started out at MaAfrika Tikkun, an international organization that helps people in disadvantaged communities. (Tikkun is a Hebrew word that means to correct or repair.) The Western Cape branch works with the people in the Delft and Mfuleni Townships providing basic needs such as education, health care, and social services. The community center we visited was very busy, with people coming and going all the time. We toured the facility, including the garden where they grow many of their own vegetables, the computer lab where basic skills are taught, and the kitchen where cooks were preparing lunch in the biggest pots I have ever seen.
After a brief orientation, we divided into small groups to visit people in their homes in Delft and learn more about what their lives were like. We decided before we went that we would designate one photographer, so we weren't all snapping away taking pictures. Those pictures haven't been posted where I can download them yet, so I don't have photos of the home visits. I will add them later, but this picture shows a typical street in the area.
My group visited two homes. We walked through an open field and then down some roads into the housing area. In the first home lived an elderly woman, her daughter, and her three great grandchildren. The children's mother was away receiving care. We stood outside talking in the sun about what their needs were while the children played around us and curious neighbors lingered nearby. Getting by on just her small pension, the elderly woman said she washed the children's clothes every day so they could wear them again the next, because they didn't have any more. She also said she shared her blanket with them at night because they didn't have enough for everyone. We were invited inside the front room, which was very neat and showed efforts to decorate and keep it nice. There were large, framed photographs on the wall of each of the women in younger days with their husbands. They looked very happy in the photos and were very well dressed.
The second home we visited was a little larger, but not by much. At home were a mother and several of the 11 children who lived there. The father, a truck driver, was at work. Because of several moves, some of the kids' birth certificates had been lost, so they had not been allowed to attend school for three years. One of the boys led us through the house to the back to show us where he had built a makeshift pen for his six pigeons. He was very proud of it. Then the mom asked her two youngest girls to sing for us. She told them to sing the Jesus song from church. I was expecting "Jesus Loves Me," but instead they belted out Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel." Mom was very emotional while talking to us, especially when she said she was glad none of her kids had committed suicide yet.
We went back to the community center to share our experiences and eat the lunch that was cooked in those gigantic pots. Then we were treated to a demonstration from the Iqala Ngam Dance and Drama Group. These girls come after school to learn dance from leaders who were themselves part of the group when younger. After they danced FOR us, the girls danced WITH us, trying to teach us some of their moves. FORTUNATELY, I don't have any pictures of me dancing; that would just be too painful for anyone to see, but here are some of the kids. They were so excited to have us there. I should add that the dancers are all girls. Those boys just wandered in to see what was going on.
Later in the week on our free day, a couple of the teachers traveling with me went back to spend more time with the girls. They have since posted a couple of videos on YouTube if you want to check them out.
