KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape

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Sawbona and Molo from Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape!

I am writing to you from the beach city of Port Elizabeth, South Africa's 5th largest city. People here talk about the "big five," and they mean animals (hippo, rhino, elephant, lion, and leopard), but on the Fulbright Hays we have a different "big five," that would be South Africa's top five cities, all of which we will visit on our tour.

On Sunday we landed in Durban, a center of Indian culture in the province of KwaZulu Natal, or KZN. KZN, as you might imagine, is also the native homeland of the Zulu people and the province that is hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The realities of this are striking when you consider the following information we learned in our briefing from the eThekwini Department of Education:
--40% of educators in the region are HIV+
--The top three goals for the school system are:
1. A physical classroom for every student. Currently students have classes in trees, churches, and shacks.
2. Running water and an indoor toilet for every school.
3. Electricity in every classroom.
The Regional Director who was briefing us was also very forthcoming in sharing with us the "worst" school in the region--it's one where the students have to swim across a river to go to and from school each day.

Still, despite these odds, of course we found the people to be upbeat and dedicated to achieving these goals and further excellence on behalf of their children. Our first stop was to a school that is locally famous, the Nonhlevu Secondary School. Over the past five years, they have brought their exit exam pass rate up from 4% to 100%, and turned the school around from a crime ridden hideout for criminals to a clean, happy place. We also visited the Albert Luthuli Museum and Grave Site. Chief Luthuli was one of the founders and first president of the ANC, and he also won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on their behalf. Our first evening in Durban concluded with a dinner hosted in our honor, where we were entertained with Zulu and Indian dances performed by local school children.

As I got ready on Tuesday morning, I had my drapes opened to the amazing view of the sunrise over the Indian Ocean. I was a little nervous about going to this next school, this was to be our first opportunity to have some real time at a school. I was placed at the Sithengile Secondary School, in one of the townships on the outskirts of Durban known as Claremont. "Sithengile" is a Zulu word meaning "we bought," and like most schools here in South Africa, the name tells the story of how the school came to be. This school was purchased by the local parents for their children about 20 years ago. My favorite part, of course, was talking with the students--I had an entire hour to "address a class."

The students sat two to a desk in a room with no lights, but sunshine through the windows. There were about 50 students in the room, a grade 11 English class. I just opened the floor to questions and the first one was, "What do your people, the American people, think of Mr. Bush and his policies towards other countries, specifically Zimbabwe?" Talk about hardball right off the bat! It was hard only because at our Pre-Departure Orientation in DC they asked us to try not to share our own personal opinions. I managed a diplomatic answer. The students had great questions ranging from inquiries about school fees, costs, policies, to time zones, earthquakes, politics...it was wonderful. The rest of our time at the school was a little disappointing, but the day was saved by our first home stay!

Now, the term "homestay" is a little misleading in this case as we were only going home with a family for dinner. My colleague Karen and I were met by our host, Siva Chetty. Siva is the Deputy Manager of one of the teacher resource centers in the school district we were hosted by in Durban, and a fantastically kind, warm, and funny man. Previously a biology teacher, his wife currently teaches high school and they have three wonderful kids aged 13, 12 and 6. On the way to his home, Siva began telling us about his philosophy of Hare Krishna. Now, all I ever knew of Hare Krishna was the song...and so of course I peppered him with questions. It was fascinating! He even took us on a tour of the Hare Krishna temple in Durban, and I had a momentary scare when in the car I responded to something with my typical "Holy Cow!" and was fearful that I had offended him. Siva assured me that it was actually quite appropriate.

Siva and his family all have Hare Krishna names and I'm sorry to report to you that I cannot for the life of me remember all of them. BUT, I am proud to report that I ate my entire dinner with my FINGERS! It was so much fun and I'm not even entirely sure what I ate, but it was good. It was such a treat to be a part of a family and have a quiet evening in their home.

On Wednesday morning before leaving Durban we had a lecture from Mrs. Ela Gandhi, whose grandfather you may have heard of--Mahatma Gandhi! It was fascinating. Gandhi's non-violent movement actually began here in South Africa, where he spent about 20 years of his life. We also vistied the Phoenix Settlement where he had his home--among the poorest of the poor in the Durban area. Also nearby was the school where Nelson Mandela cast his very first vote in the first democratic election. It was a great morning, but we were in a rush to the airport--South African Airways had been on strike and for the first time, I had a flight that was actually made earlier--TWO HOURS EARLIER--rather than delayed.

A small prop plane carried our group to East London. The coast there was beautiful, and we enjoyed a walk along the beach. Yesterday morning we visited an amazing AIDS Clinic that has been started by a doctor and the community there before we left for the University of Fort Hare. We had our first major issue yesterday--we were supposed to visit three schools and we had no idea about it! Long story short, we arrive at this school that we had no idea we were visiting and the kids treated us like rock stars...it was quite overwhelming, and much more extreme than any of our previous experiences. Come to find out that the woman who had organized our visit had told them we were bringing them FORTY COMPUTERS. I'd be hugging complete strangers if they were bringing my students 40 computers too. Needless to say the whole day was tough as we brought little but disappointment everywhere we went. Thankfully the whole situation has been worked out.

Last night we were in Grahamstown, where we had dinner with the mayor and the first black female South African to earn a PhD in Mathematics, who is also a member of the Fulbright Commission here. It was a great evening.

The paragraphs are getting shorter because I'm running out of time! Today we spent most of our day in and around Grahamstown, visiting three more schools. Each of them, thankfully, had no expectations of grand gestures and so the visits were great. We ended the day with our drive to Port Elizabeth, where we will be through Sunday morning.

In all, the trip keeps getting better. I find it hard to belive that it's only been two weeks, and even harder still that we only have two weeks left. From time to time, I find myself very much looking forward to coming back, but at the same time I know that I will be anxious to return here in the future. Many of you know that I felt a strong calling to come here, and I know that this trip was meant to be. One of the many great things about our group is a shared sense of spirituality (if not religion), and so we've talked about how much I am looking forward to the lessons God has in store for me from this trip.

It's nearly bedtime and I only have 7 minutes left, so I'll be signing off. More to come from Cape Town, where we will be throughout next week. We depart from there for Botswana.

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