blairabouts

More newspaper headlines

2010-07-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

In browsing the archives of Cape Argus front pages, I've come across some startling images and stories (like the whale leaping onto the yacht, which I've discovered has been quite widely covered and circulated). Many have been entertaining in an "only in South Africa" kind of way, such as the latest episodes of scandal ("Zuma nephew in R71 000 booze row") and a story (also picked up by some North American media) on how some communities across the country, such as of Constantia in the Cape Town area, are "being held hostage" by a marauding troop of rowdy baboons (not to down play the very real danger posed by these primates...).

On a more serious note is coverage of the spike in xenophobic attacks, "Foreigners under attack" and of the on-going high rates of crime. On the crime front, I found particularly disturbing a story on hikers being accosted on Table Mountain's network of trails, "Mountain mugging alert." The article reports on a spate of attacks in some of the most wonderful hiking territory I've ever been in - territory where friends and I hiked while I was in Cape Town (at the same time as some of these attacks happened) and where South Africans I know are certainly still hiking, or perhaps not since a whole list of trails have been declared "'no-go zones' after muggers, brandishing broken bottles and knives, attacked hikers and residents in at least 10 incidents since May."

I had a chance to discuss life in South Africa at a recent dinner party when I was seated across from an American married to a man from Durban. Since the late 90's, they have gone back every other year for an extended visit. She acknowledged the risks and challenges of life there, but also said that, like anywhere, one just needs to pay attention and have some "street smarts." While I agree that I certainly felt "awake" during my stay (an exhilarating but exhausting way to live!), I consider myself lucky to have avoided being a victim of crime. She also mirrored the contradictory feelings that I've been having when she commented that she'd love to live in South Africa, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others as a travel destination. I'm eager to talk to people who went to the World Cup about their experiences.

A busy week for South Africa's icons

2010-07-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, July 18th, was Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday. Celebrations, well covered on the Independent Online (IOL) website, included an appeal from President Zuma for national unity in the spirit of Mandela, a Madiba (Mandela's familiar nickname) "Fan Walk" in Cape Town to oppose xenophobic violence, and prayers that he reach his 100th year.

In an unfortunate twist that recalls an earlier post (see May 30th), armed gunmen attempted to rob Mandela's daughter Zindzi and her four children in their driveway as they returned to their home in Johannesburg. Here's the article in the British Mail Online (note the vigorous debate raging in the comments posted in response to the article).

A front page headline in yesterday's Cape Argus announced the news that South African icon number two, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has decided to scale back his involvement in - and ultimately retire from - public life. According to a brief article that accompanies a video of Tutu's press conference on IOL, "The 78-year-old cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner announced at a press conference today that after his birthday on October 7, he would start limiting his time in the office to one day per week until the end of February 2011. After that, he said, he would withdraw entirely from public life."

These moments hint at an uncomfortable reality for both figures: their remaining time is limited. It is hard to imagine South Africa, or the world for that matter, without the voices of these two great men who have been so instrumental and influential as South Africa has sought to emerge from and move beyond its dark apartheid past. Their voices have been exercised so eloquently, so effectively, and with such great moral authority that they have inspired millions and changed our world. Who, I wonder, will step into the void? A momentous question, especially in South Africa.

Terrific radio documentary: Soyinka on South Africa

2010-07-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

I heard part of a great radio program the other night. It was a part of the documentary series "The Changing World," a joint project between BBC World Service and PRI (the partnership that produces the daily program "The World"). The description from their website offers this description:

"Nobel Lauriat Wole Soyinka fought apartheid from his native Nigeria. Now, with apartheid long abolished, he visits South Africa and meets with those who are still fighting to improve conditions there."

Soyinka, who narrates this thoughtful travel log, must have been in South Africa earlier this year. He includes discussions with numerous South African writers and also reports on two events I experienced and posted about while in Cape Town: the Equal Education library student protest (March 23rd) and the opening of the Fugard Theatre in District Six (April 9th). MP3 downloads and podcast of the two installments are available on "the Changing World" website.

World Cup post-mortem

2010-07-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

Interested in how the hosting of the World Cup was being discussed in South Africa, I took a look at recent articles in my favorite South African newspaper, the Mail & Guardian. There are many articles that take on the question from a range of angles, from "Post-World Cup blues hit SA" to "Banks score from World Cup." I found this to be a particularly good one, "South Africans ponder life after the World Cup." It captures well the tension between optimism and anxiety which characterizes, in my experience, South Africa today. Here are some excerpts:

"That is something this World Cup has brought: nation building and social cohesion."

"The optimism of the early nineties was so unrealistically high that the only way was down. Many South Africans have since become disillusioned about political corruption and cronyism, a chronically slow response to the HIV/Aids epidemic and the failure to lift millions out of poverty.

There is now anxiety among South Africans about a similar fall from the euphoria of the World Cup. Can the momentum be sustained?"

"Not everyone shared in the World Cup honeymoon. Some missed the games because they had neither TVs nor electricity. People still died from Aids, or in poverty, or at the hands of criminals far from the world's cameras. Informal traders were driven out of stadium exclusion zones and protesters claimed they were evicted from their homes.

The voices of dissent, marginalised during the month-long jamboree, are returning to the fore: if we can spend billions on football grounds, why can we not build houses for the homeless or hospitals for the sick? They wonder why it took Fifa, an immovable deadline and a worldwide audience to concentrate minds.

Patrick Bond, director of the Centre for Civil Society, which ran a World Cup Watch project, says: 'The elite have pulled off bread and circuses for the masses. We live in one of the most unequal societies in the world, and we've just seen an amplification of that inequality. The costs will become increasingly clear.'

There are fears that an ugly side of patriotism is about to reveal itself with rumours of a fresh wave of xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals. Mindful of the violence that left 62 people dead two years ago, some are already fleeing back to their home countries or South Africa's rural areas. The army is on the streets and last week Reason Wandi, a Zimbabwean, told how he was thrown from a moving train

South Africans are accustomed to riding incredible highs and apocalyptic lows. They will go to work tomorrow knowing their moment in the sun has passed, and wondering with some anxiety what happens in the shade. But there will also be some lingering epiphanies and quiet satisfaction at what they achieved."

And, of course, South Africa's renowned editorial cartoonists Zapiro is offering his distinctive take on the nation post-World Cup, including the cartoon at the top of this post and this chilling reference to the xenophobic attacks that the article warns about:

Recycling champs attend World Cup game

2010-06-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

These learners from Fezeka Secondary School (the high school in Guguletu that I visited frequently) got to attend a World Cup game as a reward for placing third in a recycling contest (see pictures in February 20th post) A brief story is on the Education without Borders website.

Education without Borders (EwB) is a Canadian non-profit that "aims to provide improved educational opportunities and facilities in disadvantaged regions of the world." The EwB website has lots of information about Fezeka, including a video about the school and a link to a blog written by a Canadian teacher who spent 2 and a half years teaching there.

Part of EwB's work at Fezeka has included providing personnel to support the school's programs, including the woman who helped coordinate the recycling effort (while also doing her main job of running a maths tutoring program). The recycling contest was sponsored by Coca Cola and inspired Fezeka learners to gather over 42,000 cans and bottles from their community. Unfortunately, once the contest was over, the school was on its own to sustain the collection program - and this proved too difficult given resource limitations. Hopefully, some other source of help and support can be marshalled to support such efforts at schools throughout the city and province...

SIFF weekend

2010-06-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the summer, Seattle has its annual international film festival (known by its acronym SIFF). It's a pretty big deal, and every few years I carve out the time to make it to a bunch of films. Although this year the incentive was a long weekend visit by Kristina (who chose the great selection of films), often I attend the festival thanks to a friend and former teaching colleague who makes the trip out for it from Pennsylvania whenever he can. He's a big film buff who often sends me his reviews and recommendations. Since he didn't make it this year, I wanted to return the favor. So, here's the report I sent to him on the seven movies we saw (in three days!):

"Mugabe and the White African" - a bleak but important documentary that follows a white Zimbabwean family's efforts to keep their farm in the face of heinous pressure. Complex because we resist the easy default of identifying with the white people in this context, except... they deserve it in many ways.

"Life During Wartime" - billed as quirky independent film with Alison Janney and Allie Sheedy... betrays all promise with a pointless - and tastelessly comedic - romp through the world of pedophilia with some infidelity included. What was anyone involved thinking!? - or what did I/we miss? I'd investigate/seek positive reviews if it were worth it.

"Winter's Bone" - almost brilliantly shot and near-perfectly acted exploration of a young woman struggling to hold on through crisis in a meth-tainted, impoverished community in rural Missouri (about a far from Seattle as I can imagine, and yet it's still America; go figure). Worth watching for.

"Son of Babylon" - we achingly follow a Kurdish woman and her grandson as they travel occupied post-Saddam Iraq trying to confirm the death of the boy's father, just one of the many victims of Saddam's wars. No revelations, but served effectively and without any heavy-handed politics or emotional appeals. Just a raw, real story. A good reminder that we are an occupying nation at war in places populated with other human beings.

"Turn it Loose" - 2009's world break dancing championships in S Africa. Engaging stories and some great dancing footage, but felt at times like a Red Bull (the sponsors) production.

"Cairo Time" - complex story of a Western woman waiting for her husband (working for the UN in the region) to join her for a vacation. Alone in an unfamiliar and not always welcoming city and with only her husband's Syrian colleague to hang out with, introspection and "before sunrise"-esque intimacy ensue - and with the pyramids as a back drop! Acted with terrific realism and depth, and refreshingly shot on site without sterilized locations and trained extras. This one should come to a theatre near you (well, maybe not that near to you...).

"Mao's Last Dancer" - Communist China sends a ballet prodigy to Houston in the 1980's... this could go in many directions, not all of which are good. However, with flashbacks and enthralling dance scenes, the strong cast tells this story with effective sincerity. Although it's a bit "Hollywood" and is sure to get a theatrical release, it deserves it - and it's a true story! This may have been my favorite of the batch; I think Kristina's vote goes to "Cairo Time."

All in all, a wonderful cinematic experience!

Brazen daylight robberies!

2010-05-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Holiday weekend, I was struck to read about a spree of daylight robberies, all in northern neighborhoods near my Seattle home. According to the article in the Seattle Times, in three separate incidents (it would later grow to five related attacks), individual women were attacked in their driveways, perhaps after being followed home from stores. In each case the women had their shopping bags and/or purses stolen, and at least two of the victims were stun-gunned during the robbery.

Part of what struck me was how relatively minor the reaction to this news story was, especially in comparison to how accounts of a similar incident during my time in Cape Town affected the neighborhood where it occurred. The story that was related to me at a dinner party told of a resident of one of the nicer northern suburbs being followed home from the store and then robbed in her driveway. As a result, families all over the neighborhood had changed their routines; they were diligently watching their rear view mirrors, planning errands for daylight hours, and implementing other precautionary measures. This story had instilled a definite fear of victimization, and the threat seemed quite real. We, a gathering of expatriates, all shook our heads, tsk-tsked, and added another entry to our ever-growing list of "ways one can be a crime victim in Cape Town." A very different response than I feel myself having to this considerably dangerous crime spree happening literally mere blocks from my house.

In hindsight, I realize that if my dinner host had the details of where and when this crime had occurred, I did not get them, nor did I see then (or could I find now) a news story about this particular incident. That is not to say that the crime did not happen or that the story is apocryphal, for driveway attacks certainly have and do occur in Cape Town and elsewhere in South Africa (a quick search yielded two accounts of such crimes, from May and September of 2008; I also found an announcement for an ADT "Anti-hijacking/driveway robbery workshop," also from 2008 - "Snacks will be served"!). Rather, I recognize - even more now than before when I was living in the midst of it - just how influential the narrative of vulnerability to an omnipresent and escalating crime threat is in Cape Town, and perhaps throughout South Africa. It is a powerful psychological force that has a disturbing effect on people's daily lives, and, in a place where nearly everyone who can afford to lives in an alarm-equipped home behind walls, gates, and barred windows, shows in our response to the driveway robbery story.

Crime rates in South Africa are certainly high, but I am struck by how important of a role our perceptions and expectations play in how relatively vulnerable or safe we feel in particular places and situations.

Three weeks back, feels like I never left

2010-05-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

So, I've heard from a few people in now about failing to update the blog. Sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know that you've been checking! It certainly hasn't been for lack of material, but it turns out that a weekend between getting home and starting back to school was not enough time to...well, to do anything much more than try to get my body adjusted to the 9 hour time shift. It's been great to be back at Northwest. The school community has been wonderfully warm and enthusiastic in welcoming me back into its comforting and familiar fold. At the same time, it has felt jarring to just abandon all of the routines and relationships that I established in Cape Town. For example, I have to admit (sheepishly) that I've hardly checked the news sources that were my daily diet during my stay. Did the ANC discipline Jacob Zuma beyond a slap on the wrist? Have there been more school protests? Has the World Cup squad been announced? Who made the team? Clearly, I need to spend some time on the Cape Times and Mail & Guardian websites!

As far as processing and synthesizing my South African experience, I have submitted an article to the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa's Bulletin on the multi-school work party model, and a fellow Fulbright awardee and I have proposed a session on our experiences for the regional private school association conference in October. Beyond that, I still have a lot of notes and impressions to sort through. I may get a chance to present at a global education conference in July. If so, that will be a good target for organizing a coherent summary of my research.

For now, however, a very patient group of students deserves to have their exams graded!

Updates (in progress)

2010-04-22T02:48:00.000-07:00

Based on subsequent events, and on looking through the newspaper clippings I've saved and the notes I've written, here are a few updates to previous posts:

On corruption in the ANC and its effect on the current conflict between Malema and the party leadership (President Zuma et al): "The extent to which the ANC has lost its hold over its own core principles is astonishing... If corruption, verbal or monetary, is not dealt with the moment it manifests itself, the corrosion will spread. The more it spreads the harder it becomes to stop... It all on boils down to a question of leadership. Good leaders lead by example. Uphold your principles and the rest will follow. Condone and cover-up and things fall apart." (Cape Times editorial column by Allister Sparks - journalist, author, and political analyst; 14 April 2010)

Amid letters on... (uh oh! can't find the rest of this file...)

to be continued

One word...

2010-04-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

Eyafjallajokull !

(Saturday, April 24th: Actually, my flight from Cape Town through Amsterdam went off as if the aforementioned Icelandic volcano were still dormant. There weren't even masses of stranded travellers in the Schiphol Airport. Duped by media hype again! The only jarring part of the trip home was the superfluous stopover in Minneapolis. With all due respect - and one branch of my family has roots in the region, it felt like I'd been dropped onto the set of the movie Fargo. I won't elaborate except to say that I clearly was NOT in Cape Town anymore.)

Wrapping up my stay (draft)

2010-04-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am trying to take full advantage of my final days here. That has meant fitting in some excursions, such as a summit of 1000m Devil's Peak (got there this morning on the second try! The first one ended with driving my hiking partner to the ER, but that's another story...) and a great mountain bike ride (followed by a dip in a reservoir!) on the backside of Table Mountain. On the work front, I have been quite busy getting in my last visits to schools - mostly by bicycle (after getting the car collision damage repaired, but that too is another story). I did join the photography intern here from Seattle U for an epic pilgrimage by mini-taxi back out to Hector Peterson School for a last visit there.

A huge highlight was organizing what turned out to be a quite successful multi-school environmental service project yesterday. Thirty learners from seven different schools turned out to do some invasive plant clearing at a conservation area (co-located with an active horse racing track! We would pause to watch the races go by.). I was thrilled with the turn-out!

tbc

Zuma in the US; SA social fabric continues to fray

2010-04-14T02:36:00.000-07:00

As I assume the US media covered, President Zuma was in Washington DC for the summit on nuclear security, at which South Africa was proudly singled out and praised by President Obama for being the first country to abandon a nuclear weapons programme. According to allAfrica.com, "South Africa gave up its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 1993 making it the first and only country to start abandoning a weapons programme voluntarily." Zuma also met with President Obama as part of the trip. Although the picture only appeared on page 5. I find it interesting to see the difference between the image chosen for publication here (above) and those published in other sources, such as below (from IOL) where JZ looks oddly deferential to a stern-looking Obama. IOL reports that the meeting "covered a number of bilateral issues, including strengthening co-operation on areas like agriculture and HIV and Aids. They also discussed the promotion of African peace and security within the ambit of the African Union and United Nations." (Ambit means "sphere or scope"; I had to look it up.) One has to wonder what was going through Obama's mind about some of the issues they didn't talk about (lifestyle audits, polygamy, etc.).

In other news, questions of race relations are still in the forefront of the public conversation, as are growing concerns that the World Cup may not be the economic boon and boost for the country that its promoters have been promising. An editorial in today's paper (Cape Times) encouraged South Africans to skip the games and instead to donate an equivalent amount to education or other needs. Coincidentally, the front page story this morning was of pupils going on a rampage in Malmesbury (a town about 45 minute north of Cape Town) to protest their over-crowded school. As legitimate as their concerns are (over 60 pupils in some classes), there is something disconcerting about students resorting to torching portables to make their point and about the incident escalating to police shooting kids with rubber bullets. In the melee, a "criminal element" apparently exploited the chaos to rob and vandalize some shops owned by "foreigners" and to beat the shopkeepers. In a related story, municipal workers all over the country went on strike Monday in response to a lack of progress in on-going labor negotiations. The images of the march were celebratory for the solidarity and resolve that they showed, but they were also menacing for the anger some workers expressed and for the vandalism engaged in by some of the protesters, particularly the gleeful overturning of rubbish bins onto the streets and the damaging of other municipal property (see Cape Town strike video here). According to the Cape Town mayor's office, for every three rand spent on upgrading municipal infrastructure, two more rand are spent protecting and repairing it due to rampant vandalism and theft. A lot of resources are being devoted to containing these festering problems in the run-up to the World Cup. Whether or not those efforts can be sustained or victorious in the long-term is an open question.

My advice: come to the World Cup if you can, but all bets are off for what happens in its wake.

Anniversaries & commemorations (*updated)

2010-04-12T01:15:00.000-07:00

Largely overshadowed in the current media storms was the anniversary on Saturday of the assassination of Chris Hani. On 10 April, 1993, Hani was killed by right-wing extremists as he returned home to racially mixed suburb of Johannesburg. Hani was active in the apartheid resistance from the early 1960's on, and he was, among other roles, a popular leader of the South African Communist Party. Hani's death is widely viewed as a critical loss to the nation's leadership cadre right when the new nation was being forged. His killers were caught and convicted, and the TRC determined that his killers, who are still imprisoned for the crime, were not acting as part of a right-wing conspiracy (although some of his family and other supporters still appeal for a full disclosure of the circumstances of his death). In an ironic twist, the new constitution that they surely opposed spared Hani's killers from death sentences. Here are links to an overview of Chris Hani's life and to Nelson Mandela's speech at Hani's funeral. Many prominent South Africans have paid tribute to Chris Hani, including Blade Nzimande, Jeremy Cronin, and Tokyo Sexwale. These are easily found on the web.

Another tragedy being commemorated in April, also in Africa and from the same era but of an incomprehensible scale, is the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Starting on the night of April 6th, after the shooting down of a small plane which had the presidents of both Rwanda and neighboring Burundi on board, a mass slaughter began that would claim the lives of over 800,000 people (10% of the nation's population) in a mere 100 days. The details of this horror are numbing, and its roots and reverberations are complex. It was, as the title of an episode of PBS's Frontline declared "A Triumph of Evil," a near total moral collapse of an entire society. It was also a shameful abdication of responsibility on the part of members of the international community (including the US and the UN) who had the necessary information and means to have intervened to stop the bloodshed. (The Frontline website is an excellent resource to learn more.)

Here at UCT, the East African Student Society held a sober commemoration of the genocide. There were speakers, including officials from the Rwandan consulate, the reading of testimonies from survivors, and the screening of a documentary, "When Good Men do Nothing" (The BBC Panorama version of the Frontline program). Both titles come from words attributed to Edmund Burke:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

The professor of the course I took also spoke. He was typically eloquent as he warned us in the audience to remember "how quickly we humans succumb to base and low instinct" during these "extraordinary examples or barbarism." He also exhorted us to apply the privilege of our university educations to the meaningful work of "expanding the boundaries of inclusion." His conviction is powerful when he speaks, and it makes sense that he has been appointed to the position of deputy vice-chancellor, responsible for, among other things, the institution's transformation strategy. (The UCT website has published a nice profile of him.)

One more April commemoration is the upcoming 30th anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence. While the holiday in Zimbabwe is this Sunday, 18 April, UCT's active and numerous Zimbabwean student group is hosting a retrospective lecture presentation this Thursday evening. South Africa has absorbed a large population of refugees from its troubled neighbor (related article and slide show), and, despite continuing support for Robert Mugabe from the ANC government, South Africa has recently taken a more active role in helping bring peace and order to Zimbabwe after years of conflict and unrest. (See post from March 20th.) I look forward to attending that event.

Lenses & mirrors

2010-04-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

Here's something different for those of you not captivated by South African political squabbling (which is what the previous post focuses on after the first two paragraphs):

Experiencing the world from a different vantage point is one feature of living here, as is the case I suppose for any American who spends time in another country. I have gotten a chance to see some of the ways that South Africans view international events, which is a quite different lens from the one my news of the world is filtered through at home. I have also been exposed to how the United States is viewed in South Africa. While both of these perspectives are accessible to some degree from home, I am appreciating the frequency, variety, and proximity that being here affords. The US is much discussed here, both in a current events context, such as this past week when, on environmental grounds, the US opposed (along with and Netherlands) a $29 billion World Bank loan to South Africa for the completion of a coal-fired power plant. There are also frequent (and logical) social and historical comparisons drawn between our two countries. For me, it has been particularly interesting to have my "home" society and culture reflected back to me through the mirror of South African coverage and commentary, both formal and informal.

Here are a few recent examples of how the United States has come up in public discourse here: numerous parallels being drawn in classrooms, the media, and conversation between slavery in the US (and also the treatment of the Native Americans during our expansion) and apartheid; hearing a climate change scientist mention US plans to dump shiploads of scrap iron at sea as one of the threats facing the South Atlantic Ocean; and listening to a speaker at a Human Rights Day assembly indict IBM for its role in facilitating the implementation of apartheid laws (the subject of a current court case against IBM and other major corporations).

One that has caught my ear is a radio interview excerpt that has been played for weeks now as a promotion for the talk show. It has an American journalist (I assume) claiming that a “dirty little secret” of the US is that soccer is actually very popular but a different impression is conveyed by a “racist” media because “soccer is not popular in the white suburbs.” With as popular as soccer is in the US, particularly in the often very white suburbs, this seems an incomplete explanation for soccer's perpetual neglect by a media dominated by football, baseball, basketball, hockey, auto racing, x games, and golf. Here, especially with the impending World Cup, soccer shares the media stage with cricket and rugby, although the fan bases are largely divided on racial lines.

Anyway, I won't be coming home with a passion for following either cricket and rugby, but I do plan to keep checking the websites of South African newspapers as a way to sustain my exposure to the lens and mirror that they provide.

* Speaking of South African newspapers, here's an UPDATE for those rapt by the “ET” and Malema dramas... reports emerged this weekend, though from where it is not clear, as they conflict with official police statements, that Terre'Blanche was found naked and with a used condom nearby. The obvious inference is that he may have been engaging in a sexual liaison with one of his accused murderers. To me, this information smacks of a smokescreen or other such effort to discredit Terre'Blanche (as if he hadn't done a good enough job of that on his own!). Click here to follow the saga and its breaking news for yourself.

Meanwhile, Malema continues to stir up daily controversy and to be defiant toward more moderate voices in his party. The latter seems both a growing group and increasingly impatient. In a shrewd and hopefully sincere move, President Zuma came out strongly against the ANCYL leader's recent conduct.

And, of course, Jonathan Shapiro is offering his astute commentary on it all...

Eventful Easter

2010-04-09T03:34:00.000-07:00

It’s raining this morning, not for the first time in the last three months, but in a more determined, ominous fashion than before. Even though most of the days are still sunny and warm, summer is definitely over here. I've actually been cold a few times in the evenings now, which was an unfamiliar and welcome sensation. Capetonians are starting to bundle up and even grouse a bit about the wind and the cool. For me, heading home (in a few weeks now) to springtime will make it easier not to miss this climate.

So, where have I been for almost two weeks? Well, the secondary schools have all been on a two-week Easter break, and, even though I still had UCT class and soccer commitments, this was a perfect time to host Kristina, my first and only visitor. (Everyone else I know seems to be waiting to come down here for the World Cup; go figure.) We rented a car and did some touring around the Cape Peninsula before heading into the Cederberg mountains for the long weekend. The towns in the mountain foothills were small and agricultural (Ceres, home of the juice, and Citrusdal, for example), and the setting was perfect to meet our goals: some hiking (we carefully selected hikes with swimming potential!), some relaxed meals, and some visits to the Atlantic coast. We also went to see Athol Fugard's latest play, which he is directing as the inaugural production at a new theatre named in his honor. The two-actor production was intense and provocative; it addressed the complexity and brutality of apartheid both in its time and in its legacies - and it did not provide any easy answers or happy endings.

Meanwhile, South Africa's problems and politics did not, of course, take a holiday. In news that I'm sure made the US headlines, Eugene Terre'Blanche, the leader of the white supremacist Afrikaner Resistance Movement (know by its Afrikaans acronym: AWB), was hacked and bludgeoned to death on Saturday by two disgruntled farm workers. Long controversial for his white-supremacist, secessionist, and racist views, Terre'Blanche's death comes amidst a furor over the singing of an apartheid resistance song by another controversial public figure, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema. The song, "Kill the Boer," celebrates (and some say advocates) violence against white farmers, and Malema has taken to singing it quite publicly (and now in defiance of a recent court order). South Africa does have a problem of attacks on white farmers. According to the South African Institute of Race Relations there were 10,412 attacks on farmers and their families between 1991 and 2007 with 1,560 killed. Other sources have been repeating the statistic of 3,000 deaths in farm attacks since 1994. Either way, the numbers are disturbing (especially with the spectre of Zimbabwe's experience always looming). Some commentators have observed that these deaths represent a fraction of the total murders in a nation that contends for the title of murder capital of the world (18,000 people were killed in 2009), but there's little consolation to be found in pursuing that line of argument.

The Malema and Terre'Blanche stories have made an obvious point of dramatic comparison, and there is a strong sense that racial tension is reaching a dangerous point. This means that the ruling ANC government has a new and urgent item on its already full agenda, and expectations are high that it act to calm the situation. In a call for President Zuma to “show decisive leadership” and “rein in users of hate speech,” an editorial in Tuesday’s Cape Times reported on the tension: “FF+ (Freedom Front Plus) leader Pieter Mulder did not exaggerate when he said “the dream of national reconciliation and nation-building is at risk. The interracial atmosphere is brittle and potentially explosive. As [a University of the Orange Free State professor] noted last week, before the murder of Terre’Blanche, South Africa is in a dangerous state, on a ‘precipice’ regarding race relations. Has the ANC lost sight entirely of the Freedom Charter and their reconciliatory heritage which under Nelson Mandela’s leadership looked to be a happy and peaceful future for all in South Africa?” Despite its alarming tone, the commentator, Gerald Shaw, is the author of a book called “Believe in Miracles, South Africa from Malan to Mandela and the Mbeki Era.” (Link to the Cape Times website for more information and related articles.)

To add more calming perspective, the newspaper editor’s piece on the same page makes a case for not equating this year’s events with those of “Easter 1993, when a rightwinger shot dead SACP (South African Communist Party) leader Chris Hani and South Africa seemed to teeter on the edge of civil war.” The editorial does a succinct and cogent job of condemning both the murder of Terre’Blanche (along with a blanket condemnation of any and all murder) and any “foolish or conceited politician who dares to play with the threat of violence.” This is a clear reference to Malema, whose ilk the piece goes on to denounce as “tawdry populists.” Meanwhile, Malema finds himself besieged with scrutiny and criticism, even from within his own party's notoriously loyal leadership cadre. He just returned from a visit to Zimbabwe, where he managed to attract even more negative attention by getting provoked into a profane tirade by a BBC journalist at a press conference yesterday, and was on the radio today to explain himself. Although he can sound reasonable and thoughtful at times (and he does make some valid and convincing arguments), overall he seems disingenuous about reconciliation and dangerous in his revolutionary fervor.

The Cape Times editorial offered an important analysis of the current controversy: “Making Malema into a bogeyman is a convenient way to avoid the difficult question: why exactly is it that this rather unimpressive political leader can garner the support he clearly enjoys in some places? Is it perhaps that he offers an outlet for some of the frustration and disappointment of those who feel left out of the celebrated political ‘miracle’ to which Terre’Blanche was so hostile? Whatever one thinks of Malema, the question demands attention.” Indeed. What to do for the impoverished, disaffected, and increasingly discontented is the big question and challenge for South Africa - and perhaps the world. Clearly a topic worth returning to on another day.

(Here's a link to an interesting opinion piece that comments on the issue and specifically responds to the Cape Times editorial.)

Since last post

2010-03-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

2 more days at Fezeka school,
2 cultural events - the Taste of Cape Town and an Elton John concert,
2 long days spent in the UCT library and computer lab,
2 laps around the Rondebosch Common (5km) this morning,
and
2 more flat tires!

Human Rights Weekend

2010-03-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

After a Saturday that started with a nice group hike up onto Table Mountain, my Sunday involved heading downtown to join the Human Rights Day rally and march for school libraries. It was awesome to be among over 10,000 students marching, singing, dancing, and chanting for a library and a librarian in every school. According to one of the speakers, only 8% of public schools in South Africa have libraries. That certainly fits with what I've seen in the schools I've visited; libraries are uncommon (at least in the under-resourced schools), and well-stocked, staffed ones are quite rare. The protest was coordinated by Equal Education, a relatively new (2008) organization that "advocates for quality and equality in the South African education system and engages in evidence-based activism for improving all of the nation’s schools." A highlight was running into the delegation from the Hector Petersen school, including one of the learners we worked with in 2008.

I stayed downtown for the afternoon - I browsed a bookstore, changed a flat bike tire, and ate a late lunch with the Man-U/Liverpool game on in the background. I was hanging around to catch the 6:00 p.m. screening of "Streetball," the documentary about South Africa's Homeless World Cup team. It was great, and the team, its coaches, and the filmmakers were all present. (I hope to schedule a mini-tournament with them as practice for the UCT team.) The screening was part of the Cape Winelands Film Festival, and it happened in the planetarium, part of a museum complex on "the Company's Grounds." This site, named for the Dutch East India Company who oversaw it until going bankrupt in the 1790's, has been a park since 1848. It includes a botanical garden, the Houses of Parliament, and St. George's Cathedral - all in the heart of the city! This weekend, the Grounds hosted the annual Cape Town Festival. This celebration of the city's diversity, with its slogan "One City, Many Cultures," made a great place to hear some music and get more food while waiting for the movie. With the "Taste of Cape Town" opening tomorrow evening, the end-of-summer celebrations appear to be in full swing!

On the work front... This week I'm back at Fezeka doing some demonstration teaching and putting on a workshop on "group learning strategies" for the social studies teachers. Today I taught a lesson on population distribution to grade 10 Geography students. I had a room with an interactive white board for two classes, and in between I taught a class in a room with just a chalkboard and no electricity - and over 40 students! Here, as anywhere, smaller classes - and consistent technology! - would sure help facilitate greater student engagement and more interactive teaching! The most "functional" schools here have both.

Other recent school visits have included: "International Day" at the American International School, a cultural performance evening and a Human Rights Day assembly at a public girls' school, and a tour of an ambitious recycling program at "the oldest school in South Africa," an all-boys public school. I also got to accompany 75 learners on a field trip out to "GIS Week," an annual event hosted by the Geography Department at the University of the Western Cape.

Human Rights Day - 21March

2010-03-20T06:14:00.001-07:00

This is a three-day weekend here in South Africa. The national holiday, Human Rights Day, commemorates the killing of apartheid pass law protesters on 21 March 1960 in Sharpeville (famously) but also here in Cape Town in Langa. Here is a short video of President Zuma's visit to last year's event in Langa.

In more recent Zuma news, the South African president met this past week with the leaders of the power-sharing government in Zimbabwe in an effort to move forward their contentious negotiations. I was pleased to see Zuma address this long-standing issue, and I was also both pleased and amused that he came under criticism for all the plastic bottles of water seen on the table in the pictures of the meeting leaders.

In far more sobering news, reports this week offered grim tales of the devastating effects of poaching on South Africa's precious rhino population (link has news story and video clips). My encounters with these creatures (both species) in the HluhluweUmfolozi Park back in 2008 were the most memorable of the trip.

On the topic of news, I've just discovered the World News (WN) Network's website. According to its website, WN "was founded in 1995 and launched online in 1998, with the primary objective of being the most comprehensive, one-stop news resource on the Internet. Today, World News has over 20,000 global thematic and regional news sites - enhanced by the web’s most comprehensive multilingual search engine." Seems cool at first glance.

A few vignettes

2010-03-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

vignette

Pronunciation: vin-ˈyet, vēn- yet

Function: noun

Etymology: French, from Middle French vignete, from diminutive of vigne (vine)

Date: 1611

1 : a running ornament (as of vine leaves, tendrils, and grapes) put on or just before a title page or at the beginning or end of a chapter

2 a: a picture (as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper b: the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering

3 a: a short descriptive literary sketch b: a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie)

Although I'm using the term to describe a blend of 3a and b, I'm not anticipating achieving anything "literary" here. I just like the word - and it sounds better than "miscellany" or "observations."

So, in South Africa, movie theatre seats are assigned - or, in some cases, selected - when purchasing tickets. I forgot about this when I took myself to see "An Education" a few weeks ago. It wasn't very crowded, so I settled into a comfortable seat smack in the middle of the house, American-style, with a nice buffer of empty seats around me. After the previews had started and more viewers had arrived, I realized my mistake. Fortunately, the four young women who arrived and found me in their row were just as happy to sit a few more rows forward. I've had a lot of these moments where relatively familiar and routine transactions (such as paying for groceries or getting a train ticket) have been just different enough for me to feel disoriented or at least clumsy.

A reader of this blog recently pointed out to me that my blog's name is not original. In picking it, I made an Internet 101 error. As it turns out, "blair abouts" are a model of slip-on shoe long available from (though perhaps now discontinued?) from the Blair corporation in Pennsylvania. (Read the company story here or go to Blair.com to shop). The lesson: check out a name before you use it by running a basic Google search - although I think I still would have gone with the name...

It was hard to sleep last week as the temperatures neared 40°C (that's over 100°F!). Actually, even when the nights have been cooler, the stories of fatal muggings, home invasions, and other violent crimes that are always in mind have often been enough to stave off any truly restful sleep. Then there are the mosquitoes. Even though Cape Town is malaria free, it only takes one buzzing invader to get me to bolt up, turn on the light, and seek to exact a mortal toll. Since the windows in my cottage have ventilation holes cut into the pediment above them, the mosquitoes can easily get in. To deter them, I use a plug-in repellent dispenser. Nonetheless, every few nights I am tormented by a few pesky blood-suckers that seem immune to the poisonous fog in the room (perhaps another obstacle to a good night's sleep?). At least it's been easier to go to bed early now that it's getting dark so early.

Even though the days are getting shorter, and so the bright sun is rising ever later, my days start early. Three days a week it's to get to 6:45 soccer training sessions. I set an alarm, although I don't need one on Monday mornings. Since this is trash day, my wake-up call each Monday is sounds of the "trolley people." Starting as early as 5 a.m., competitive waves of resourceful scavengers descend on the neighborhood, pushing shopping carts (trolleys) to see what of use or value can be recovered from the garbage bins lined up on the streets for collection. I was caught off guard by this at first (how would I react to this at home?), but now I greet them as I pass by on my way out to start my day in a Cape Town that, I imagine, is largely unknown and certainly inaccessible to them.

That sentiment reminds me of an Adrienne Rich quotation that I came across in a teaching textbook yesterday:

Invisibility is a dangerous and painful condition... When those who have power to name and to socially construct reality choose not to see you or hear you, whether you are dark-skinned, old, disabled, female, or speak with a different accent or dialect than theirs, when someone with the authority of a teacher, say, describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing. Yet you know you exist and others like you, that this is a game with mirrors. It takes some strength of soul and not just individual strength, but collective understanding- to resist this void, this non-being, into which you are thrust, and to stand up, demanding to be seen and heard.

"Invisibility in Academe"

An overwhelming news day

2010-03-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a bit of an off day, and I attribute that, in part, to the news I heard during breakfast this morning. The broadcast included a horrific story of four boys killed in Soweto on their way home from school Monday when a drag-racing car plowed into them. The story is attracting more attention than it might otherwise (sadly, as road fatalities involving school kids are tragically common) because one of the drivers is a well-known hip hop star, and drugs and alcohol were reportedly involved. There was also a report of protesters blocking streets with bricks and debris as they made their demands for such basic services as toilets! Plus, there were updates on the two most prominent and controversial public figures in South Africa these days: President Zuma, who did not meet a public disclosure deadline and, by some accounts, is claiming exemption from that law, and Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League president, who is defiantly challenging his critics to arrest him if anyone can prove any wrongdoing against him. (He is accused of profiting from his post and of not having paid taxes). In both cases, the obfuscation is so convoluted and the rhetoric so heated that any "truth" or resolution feels quite elusive and unlikely.

And now, at the end of the day, besides a picture of Lance Armstrong preparing for Cape Town's big bike race this weekend, the newspaper has a shocking story about controversial remarks by Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (no stranger to controversy). A headline in one paper (above) attributes the comment "Madiba [Nelson Mandela's nickname] let us down" to her, and an article in another paper quotes her as saying that "He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks" (a legitimate claim, although it seems unfair to saddle Mandela with all the blame), that "Mandela is now a corporate foundation... [who] is wheeled out globally to collect the money and he is content doing that," and that she "cannot forgive him for going to receive the Nobel [Peace Prize in 1993] with his jailer De Klerk." She also apparently denounced the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a "charade" and called Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu a "cretin." This will certainly give all of us here plenty to talk about for the rest of the week!

Meanwhile, editorial cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, aka Zapiro, continues to wield his editorial pen with his characteristic incisiveness. I can't believe I've gone this long without posting - or at least linking to - any of his stuff! Click here more of his work.

100 days to the World Cup - and the mid-point of my stay

2010-03-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

With the World Cup now a mere 3 months away, soccer is everywhere (of course, cricket and rugby still get plenty of coverage too). The South African Premiership (the top national league) is wrapping up play this week, and European and UEFA Champions league results are followed closely. The big question in the media is whether or not South Africa is - or will be - "ready" for June 11th, (according to the papers yesterday, "we're 80% there!"), and many comparisons, favorable and not, are being made with past host countries of both World Cups and African and European tournaments. The most interesting soccer-related items in the weekend paper were a piece about South Africa's homeless soccer team, about which a movie, "Streetball," has been made (perhaps it will make it to SIFF?). Check out this great trailer! There was also an article with an attention grabbing headline: "Stars to wear old plastic bottles at World Cup." Yea, recycling!

My own soccer life has quite active these past two weeks, although not with playing. I am, for the moment, the assistant coach of the UCT men's first team. We took four try-out days to whittle almost 120 guys down to around 25. We're training at 6:45 three mornings each week, and we've already played two practice matches (a loss and then a win). It's fun so far, and the field has a quite dramatic backdrop!

I am continuing to visit more high schools - and to return to some as well. Besides my inquiries into the degree to which they offer a global, or international, curriculum and program (my general research topic), I am also working to support environmental, or "green," clubs in the schools. These clubs are, in most cases, just starting up. I am sharing ideas from how such clubs work at NWS and through YESC, and I am also helping connect clubs and advisors both to each other and to the "Green Campus Initiative" at UCT, a relatively new venture itself but also a potential resource for the high schools.

Regarding my project, here's an expanded excerpt from an email response I sent this past week when asked about it:

My project... well, I've spent at least part of 15 of the last 20 days visiting schools, and in each school I am looking for effects of globalization on curriculum, mission, teacher training, and other programs. I've found a wide range. The private schools and the wealthy (fee charging, so basically also private) state schools are well connected to international learning and teaching networks (Internet lessons, exchange programs, etc.). In contrast, I've met teachers at some of less-resourced schools who don't have email and are not even versed in web surfing; the other day, for example, I introduced a teacher to both Explorer and Google (and mouse clicking!) so that I could show her a resource for South African teachers hosted by an in-country organization and designed to support the national curriculum. It's comparing apples and... not even oranges, let's say ducks. This digital literacy and access divide occurs at the teacher, student, and school levels, and it is a big problem, not just as an obstacle to global information and connections.

Another problem is that, even though there is a unit on "globalisation" in the grade 12 national curriculum (and it is an assessed competency at grades 10, 11, and 12), the topic is not tested in the history section of the matriculation (high school graduation) exams. As a result, the topic is not generally taught, as teachers are under considerable pressure to prepare their learners for the exam, and it has even been dropped in the latest revision of the national teaching guidelines for grade 12. When you add to all this that neither history nor geography is compulsory after grade 9, the prospects are dim for widely attaining a high level of global literacy among South Africa's students.

So, I'm not sure what form my final project will take, but at least it's all been very stimulating - and I feel like my small contributions are at least helping the teachers and schools that I'm working with. Overall, everything is going well here. It is simultaneously a stressful and rewarding environment.

In the news...

2010-02-23T00:22:00.000-08:00

I've been caught off guard a few times now by stories in the papers here about events in the US: the snowstorm on the East Coast, a plane crashing into a Texas tax office, etc. [Update on Thursday 25 February: the cover of today's paper was an aerial shot of the orca tanks at Sea World; it was a shock to read about that tragic event.]

In general, besides the occasional sensational snippet, North American happenings just don't make the news here unless they have some relevance to South Africa, or at least to the African continent. This means events that I normally would have followed closely at home, such as Obama's State of the Union address and the Winter Olympics, are barely in the media or on the public's radar here. Instead, I've been getting caught up in the coverage of South African President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation address, widely considered tepid and unremarkable, and the more closely followed announcement of the national budget a week later. The latter included some bold - and controversial - proposals: including the raising of so-called "sin" taxes on cigarettes and alcohol and getting a carbon tax in the works. The carbon tax is preferred here to the, less effective (in my opinion), carbon-credit trading scheme favored back in the US. Energy prices are also in the news, as Eskom (South Africa's public power supply company) has requested rate hikes of 35% for each of the next 3 years. The company argues that they need to increase capacity and, plans to do so have been delayed for the past ten years, but there has been much public opposition to this request. [Thursday update: with much public outcry, the National Energy Regulator announced yesterday that it has granted Eskom rate increases of 24.8%, 25.8%, and 25.9% over the next three years.]

Another issue fomenting debate here is an increasing demand for public officials to be subjected to "lifestyle audits." Accusations of corrupt profiteering and abuse of office, which are supported by conspicuous purchases of luxury items (fancy cars and homes, for example) that get publicized in the media, have been simmering for a few years now, and a number of prominent party officials and other public figures have been subjected to awkward grillings over their lavish lifestyles. The latest to be asked to explain the origin of his wealth is the already-controversial Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League president. The result has been an exchange of partisan and increasingly vitriolic accusations. The mudslinging is a bit entertaining, but at its core it's all more discouraging than anything else. It will be interesting to see if these "audits," whether they get formalized or not, start making any difference. ANC unity does seem at some risk, and their hold on power may be eroded as public opinion, at least in some quarters, sours on the ruling party.

More from Fezeka...

2010-02-20T00:28:00.000-08:00

I've been spending at least one day a week, sometimes two, at Fezeka High School in the Gugulethu township. The campus houses about 1100 learners (students) in grades 10-12. The fluidity/uncertainty of the enrollment is indicative of the organizational challenges the school's leadership and staff face. It also took a few weeks for the daily timetable (schedule) to be sorted out, but they now have a set 7-day rotation for classes. For the first month of school, the various sections of each grade level mostly stayed in the same room while the teachers came to them. Now, the teachers are being assigned, as much as possible, to consistent rooms that the classes come to. This is a big improvement from the teachers' perspective, as they can now decorate their rooms with resources and better supervise their use (and misuse) during the course of the day.

Another part of the effort to achieve greater organization and productivity in the school is a new policy designed to reduce student (and teacher) late arrival. The staff is now meeting the learners at the school gate starting at 8 am, by which time everyone is supposed to have arrived and classes are supposed to have started. Even though this procedure delays the beginning of first period, there has been a marked decline in late arrivals in the first days of this new policy.

An exciting project to watch develop in the past few weeks has been the school's participation in a recycling contest sponsored by Coca Cola. Schools that collect at least 20,000 aluminum cans and plastic bottles get World Cup tickets and are eligible for other prizes. I haven't seen the contest in action anywhere else, but it's been great to watch the enthusiasm with which many Fezeka learners have participated. It's amazing how much litter they've picked up and removed from the waste stream! The big question is if and how they will be able to continue the program after the contest ends next week.

In the classroom, my time at Fezeka so far has involved working with the Social Studies HOD (Head of Department) to develop a group activity as an alternative way to teach a development project case study to her three 11th grade Geography classes. The activity built up from group presentations to group debates yesterday. The engagement and energy levels were great! Now, we'll see how they do on next week's individual assessment task. We'll also survey them to see what they thought of the approach as a learning exercise. I feel lucky to have found a teacher, department, and school so open to and eager for collaboration.

Lastly, a documentary film has been made profiling Fezeka's choir director and a trip the group took to the Salisbury International Arts Festival in England in 2008, apparently the first trip abroad for all 77 learners who went. The clips from the movie are inspiring to watch!

South African Idol, Black Flag, and macrocephalic aliens

2010-02-17T05:17:00.000-08:00

After 8 hours of class on Saturday (which were actually made quite worthwhile by engaging content, terrifically committed classmates, and a brilliant professor), it was time for a little fun - in the form of an outdoor concert on Sunday at the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The leading act was Jamali (pictured), a 3-woman group who performed, along with some guests (one of whom apparently won the last round of South African Idol?), a song-list fitting for Valentine's Day (mostly covers). It was quite crowded, and I think I beat most people home by being on bicycle (and by living down the hill!).

Monday morning, it was back to class. It was my turn to bring food (so I rode up the hill to the upper campus with a pineapple, a cantaloupe, and some nectarines) and music that could be used in a lesson. For the latter, I chose "Free Nelson Mandela" by the Specials and Black Flag's "Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie." Any guesses on when and how I've used that one in teaching? The Monday morning class which I'm helping teach is the subject-area methods class for post-graduate students seeking certification in history. On Thursdays I also work with the geography group, and on Tuesdays we meet with both groups for lesson planning and micro-teaching (they teach ten-minute sessions that are then video-taped and critiqued). Having been through such a thing a few times makes me sympathetic to these students, all of whom, so far, have been quite well-prepared and effective.

I've been to two schools in the first two days of this week. Between classes on Monday (the one I'm taking meets Monday afternoons 4-7), I went to give a guest presentation on Marxism in a history class, and then, on Tuesday, a math teacher who spent last year in Oregon toured my colleague and me around an excellent all-girls school. The school, Rustenburg High School for Girls, is a fee-charging public school, and it had an exceptionally focused and functional atmosphere. They have an active environmental club, and I plan to go back to see it in action.

Last evening, I accompanied one of my landlords to a quite good outdoor production of "Anthony and Cleopatra." I don't particularly agree with this review of the production, but I chose to link to it because it includes the line "macrocephalic alien from Star Trek"! We were both struck by the intensity of the lead actress - and also by the live snakes handled by the Egyptian mystic.

Twenty years ago today...

2010-02-11T00:36:00.000-08:00

On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela took his "short walk to freedom" through the gates of Victor Verster prison in Paarl. He would go on to play a leading role in the dismantling of apartheid, the liberating of the South African people, and the founding of a new, democratic nation, work for which he won a Nobel Peace Prize. Please consider taking a moment today to honor the man as well as the movement, accomplishments, and hope for humanity that he symbolizes.

Here's a link to the Nelson Mandela Foundation website.

Signs of hope and other good news

2010-02-08T05:02:00.000-08:00

As I review the tone of my musings on South African society so far, it occurs to me that I ought to offer some of the signs of hope and sources of optimism that I have been encountering here.

One is certainly the quite vigorous and markedly free press ("the freest in Africa," one source claims, and #26 in the world rankings) upon which I am relying for much of my information and source material. There is, on many issues, a healthy and widely followed (and widely participated in) debate in the newspapers and on the radio and television. Such thorny and controversial topics as racism, education, and corruption, as well as the government's efforts to address these issues, all receive extensive news coverage and then are thoroughly analyzed and discussed by both expert commentators and engaged citizens. It helps that there are multiple daily (20, plus 13 weeklies; ibid) papers and that newspaper circulation is broad (14.5 million in 2006; ibid). I've particularly enjoyed the political cartoons in the papers. One example is the work of Jonathan Shapiro (aka Zapiro), who is well-known internationally for his insightful, uncompromising, and occasionally controversial sketches. The radio and tv system seems much like the British/BBC model. There are, for example, multiple radio stations operated by the state-owned broadcasting service SABC, and there are only four standard television stations (three of which are run by SABC), with many more available on cable.

This influential media is currently contributing to several initiatives designed to unify South Africans and to encourage civic behavior among them. One is the campaign to mount a successful World Cup. Under the slogan, "South Africa can do it. South Africa will do it," citizens are being encouraged to look for ways to contribute to the hosting preparations and also to support the build-up by wearing a national team jersey on "Football Fridays." Another initiative is a series of PSA's and other media programming that is part of an Africa-wide campaign to reduce HIV/AIDS infection rates through responsible sexual behavior. The initiative includes a "Imagine Afrika," a continent-wide reality television series, promoted with the tag line: “Imagine the Possibility of an HIV free Generation: It Begins with YOU!” Also underway is an admirable, SABC-led appeal for donations to the relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti. The message, "Let South Africa be counted among caring nations," encourages a compassion and empathy that can only serve benefit those working to address South Africa's internal poverty. As Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale put it, "We are dealing every day with a man-made disaster... It is Haiti every day. The earth broke there. Here the earth is not broken, but consequences are the same. It is a disaster."[Full article]

Back to the uplifting theme of good news, another source of hope here is the prevailing spirit of ubuntu (described well on Wikipediea). Broadly ubuntu, as I understand it, is living with an openness and generosity toward others that is rooted in a recognition of our common humanity and interconnectedness. Certainly this attitude was reflected in the drive for forgiveness and healing represented by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. In my time here, I feel that I have experienced ubuntu in the open, friendly manner in which most people have welcomed and interacted with me. I think it is also reflected in what the head of a school I visited this week described as a "rapprochement" between whites and blacks that has happened and continues here in the Western Cape province (perhaps more so than in some other parts of the country). I have also experienced a general mood of joyfulness and optimism in the classrooms and schools that I have visited.

One way that this joyfulness manifests itself is in song. To end the week, for example, the students at the Hector Peterson School (all ~1300 of them!) gather in their spacious common hall to sing; it's amazing to hear! There is a great documentary film about the role of music in the resistance to apartheid called Amandla (there is also a CD soundtrack available). Here's a link to the IMDb description of the film. In the paper here a few weeks ago, there was also an excellent review of the DVD of Paul Simon's Graceland Concert that provides an overview of and tribute to artists who suffered under and resisted apartheid. I would add also that many South Africans seem to manage not to take themselves too seriously and show an enviable capacity to laugh at their own foibles and prejudices.

Finally and importantly, always in the background is South Africa's inspired, inspiring, and inspirational (I think all apply) constitution. Here are links to its Preamble and to its "Bill of Rights" section. The document articulates high ideals and sets ambitious goals and standards, and, despite some considerable shortfalls (such a spotty record of scandals and corruption) and some unresolved challenges (crime reduction, delivery of basic services, growing income inequality, etc.), these ideals still seem to be steadily guiding the march toward the promise of a democratic rainbow nation.

Re-cap of the week

2010-02-06T06:26:00.000-08:00

It’s been a good and busy week. A definite highlight was getting up before 6 on Monday morning to hike up to the top of Table Mountain for the first time in ten years. For those familiar with the mountain or just curious, my hiking partner (a groundwater professor from Miami University of Ohio) and I started at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and went up Skeleton Gorge to Maclear’s Beacon and back down Nursery Ravine. A good 4 hour circuit (see the 4th hike described at this link)!

During the rest of the week, I was able to visit four different schools. Two of the schools reminded me a lot of Northwest School and other familiar private schools. These were St. George's Grammar School, the "oldest private school in South Africa" (1848!), and the relatively new (1998) International School of Cape Town, which is housed in an old mansion. I also got to do some demonstration teaching at Fezeka (see January 25th post). I started a 3-day group exercise with 3 grade-11 Geography classes; I'll be back there for the other 2 days of the activity next week. The Social Studies Department Head is curious to share and compare techniques for group work, and I enjoyed the challenges of teaching unfamiliar students and of teaching the same lesson 3 times in a row (I think for the first time!?). Finally, yesterday, I escorted a small delegation to the Hector Peterson School, the site of the 2008 digital storytelling workshop. Our group included another Fulbright teacher, a representative from a foundation working to help fund post-secondary education for the school's graduates, and a student from Seattle University who is going to working with the school's Bridges to Understanding student group.

UCT classes start Monday, and I'll be both taking a class and helping teach one (details to come). That meant that this was a good week to get to some movies ("Up in the Air" and "An Education" - both pleasant surprises; comments anyone?) before the homework starts. I also found time for two pick-up soccer sessions (one indoor and one outdoor).

In closing, here's a passage from an email description I recently sent:

"Overall, while it's beautiful here, all the social problems and challenges are quite near the surface and rather raw. They're the same issues that the whole planet faces (alleviating poverty, providing quality universal education, battling crime and corruption), but the racist history here combines with the ongoing (and worsening) inequality in a disquieting way - like it could all just explode at any point. I feel relatively safe, especially here in the suburbs, but there's an edge to daily life here that we don't have at home."

Setting up house and settling in

2010-01-31T03:39:00.000-08:00

After an itinerant first two weeks, last weekend I was able to move in to the place where I will stay for the rest of my time here. It is a spacious one-bedroom cottage (pictured at right) in the front yard garden of a house near to the university. It was nice to unpack fully, but the best part so far (besides that view of the side of Table Mountain in the background) has been having a full kitchen. I've had fun stocking the cupboards and doing some cooking and baking. My landlords (a UCT professor and school librarian, both semi-retired) are wonderful, and they are great resources both for my project and as I explore the neighborhood. I have my sister to thank for the connection, as she stayed here ten years ago while doing research.

I've started to explore farther afield from the UCT neighborhood. In part, this is due my becoming more comfortable navigating the transportation options, such as the ubiquitous mini-van "taxis," as well as having found a used bicycle (pictured below). The bike is not flashy (which may not make it theft-proof, but should help); it's a classic, basic machine that has already had a liberating and joyful effect on my daily travel.

My getting out more is also largely thanks to having linked up with some other American visitors (all of whom have cars!); there is a second teacher here (from Boston) on my program, and also a professor from Miami U (in Ohio) here on a Fulbright with his family. I've also met a family from Seattle who is here for six months. All this has meant some social invitations, including a few dinners, being invited along on an excursion to Cape Point yesterday, and a Table Mountain hike planned for VERY early tomorrow morning. These emerging friendships are a nice counterbalance to lots of time spent researching and reading, which has been enjoyable but also rather solitary. A large contingent of foreign students from all over Africa and the world (including a conspicuous number of Americans) has arrived at the university this past week, and the South Africans are starting to show up to. I look forward to meeting more people through classes, which start next week, and through playing some soccer on campus (I've found a group that plays indoor soccer during the luch break).

Race and "transformation"

2010-01-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

So, it's time to broach the thorny topic of race. Unavoidably, due to its history, South Africa society is highly racialized. Discourse at all levels – media coverage and conversation, government documents and statistics, political rhetoric, and daily individual interaction – is framed in race terms and replete with race references. I find this a welcome contrast to home, where race issues are often discussed, at least in “polite” society, mainstream culture, and the academic realm (read “white dominated” in all three cases) in such general, indirect, or politically correct terms as to be nearly completely deprived of their urgent relevance to the daily life.

The ways in which modern (a.k.a. “post-apartheid”) South Africa is racist, however, is a more complicated question. Certainly, institutionalized racism endures (and parallels with the United States are unavoidable); patterns in housing and educational access are stark examples of this. At the same time, many South Africans, including many of its youth (those in the so-called “post-apartheid” generation,) seem quite committed to living out the reconciliatory tone and promise set out in during the dismantling of apartheid and the birth of the democratic “rainbow” nation. (For anyone unfamiliar with South Africa’s constitution, its preamble is worth a read.) Currently, the desire to host a safe, successful World Cup and support of South Africa’s national soccer team, Bafana Bafana (victorious over Zimbabwe last night!), are being used as rallying causes for national unity and lauded as opportunities to showcase South Africa’s harmonious racial integration. As much as South Africa is a work in progress, the ambitious project of building a new, free, and equal society (generally referred to as “transformation”)is moving forward, and the World Cup presents an undeniable opportunity to advance it.

Working against this progress are some familiar bugaboos of dismantling institutional racism. For example, the Black Economic Empowerment program of affirmative action in the business arena has led to accusations (and realities) of tokenism, reverse-discrimination, and corruption. Also, past racism and discrimination, while very real, make convenient scapegoats for a government that is not managing to bring basic service delivery to large segments of the country’s poorest citizens. Some populist politicians have stirred up racial tension with inflammatory rhetoric (ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, for example) that reinforces negative relations, exacerbates division, and, at its most extreme, stirs up fear, anger, and hatred (even leading to violence). At the same time, those opposing change (almost exclusively members of the formerly privileged racial groups: Whites, Indians, and Coloureds) have been quick to resort to racist explanations for everything from political corruption and business failure to poor educational results and even losses on the Cricket field.

No longer insulated by apartheid, South Africa’s whites are now free to be unemployed and to slip into poverty and indigence, and a few are doing so. That said, the white minority continues to enjoy disproportionate wealth and access to educational and other opportunity. This privileged position is being maintained while at the same time South African blacks make considerable gains as a group, although these gains are largely being enjoyed by an small portion of the majority population.

According to a newspaper summary, a study just released by the Bureau of Market Research at Unisa ("The largest university in South Africa and one of the largest distance education institutions in the world" - according to itself) reports that white households make up 10.8% of the population, yet accounted for 40.2% of consumption expenditure in 2008, down from 48.1% in 1993. During the same period, the share of consumption expenditure by black households rose from 38.6% to 47.1%. The remaining 2008 expenditure was done by Coloured and Asian households, at 7.8% and 4.9% respectively. The article did not give population percentages for non-whites. (“Spending patterns reveal past inequity,” Cape Times, January 15, 2010, p. 14)

The "transformation" of South Africa is indeed still in process.

A few scenes from Fezeka S.S.S.

2010-01-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

I got to spend Friday visiting the Fezeka Senior Secondary School in the Gugulethu township. This was thanks to my friend Swallows who is the school's Computer and Technology teacher. He has a couple of labs to work with, although the Internet service is frustratingly out of order. The school is a science and math focus school, and it also offers instruction in Sotho. This means it draws students from a wide area. The students have six 50-minute periods per day, with a seven day rotating schedule. The facilities are basic, little beyond desks and chalk/white boards in the rooms, but functional. To the delight of the teachers, the school is getting some interactive white board set-ups (as seen in the classroom photo). A Canadian non-profit "Education without Borders" supports this school, including by sponsoring an English teacher. More information about the school, such as a clip from a recent film on its award-winning choir and a link to the Canadian teacher's blog, are one the EwB website. There is also an American volunteer at the school (just graduated from university) who, among other tasks, is helping start a recycling program. Fezeka, like many South African secondary schools, is dealing with the fallout from last year's (2009; unlike in the U.S., their school year coincides with the calendar year) very poor "matric" results (passing rates on the end-of-high-school exams).

More on what has developed as an education "crisis" to come. For now, a good primer is an Economist article contributed by Steve Z.

At work and play

2010-01-21T05:51:00.000-08:00

On the work side, I am getting some ground work done for my project. My goal is to visit schools to assess two things: first, how is globalization changing curriculum and teaching here in South Africa? second, how much of these changes are relevant and accessible to under-resourced schools? These same questions are being asked around the world and in the US. Resource-rich schools are linking up on the Internet to share lessons, accessing the wealth of resources available on the Web, developing innovative internationalized curricula, and sending students on a range of service and exchange trips. Meanwhile, many schools and students are being left out of these changes and the connections and opportunities that come with them. I am particularly interested in exploring this gap and contributing to strategies for narrowing it.

I plan to visit a range of schools here, and just this week I have been to the International School of Cape Town and to the Hector Peterson School in Wallacedene township (the school where Kristina and I worked during the Bridges workshop in 2008), with another visit planned for tomorrow to Fezeka Secondary School in the Guguletu township. My hosts will be a teacher and student who also participated in the Bridges workshop.

For play, I managed to find a couple of weekly pick-up soccer games near to the university (unfortunately, they are back-to-back on Saturdays). I had a good time playing for the first time in two months last weekend. Today, I rented a mountain bike and did a nice ride up logging roads and down some manageable single-track trails at a forest preserve about 10K (6 miles) from downtown Stellenbosch. It´s in the 90´s today, and the riding felt a lot like Eastern Washington in the summer.

I´m off to find some water to jump in!

A Tale of Two Worlds

2010-01-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

Excuse the cheesy title for this entry, but I find that, more than anything else here, I am the most struck by the disparity between the affluent areas and the, for lack of a more nuanced word, poor areas. While the neighborhood around the University of Cape Town is relatively mixed economically, even there two levels of service infrastructure exist side-by-side. One example is transport. There are private cars and taxis for the wealthy(and in South Africa that still means largely white), and cheap, crowded, "unsafe" (depending on who you talk to) trains and mini-van taxis for everybody else. This pattern of parallel yet vastly different standards of living is particularly evident in housing. This was quite evident on Sunday, when a friend drove me about 30 miles away to the small city of Stellenbosch. Along the way, he narrated the history and racial makeup of the different communities that we drove by. Long after the repeal of the Group Areas Act (the apartheid law that segregated housing areas), Cape Town´s outlying communities are still divided by race, and the quality of housing varies by designation. Black, Indian, and Colored (a particular designation used here for people of mixed race who are descendants of a blending of indigenous Africans, imported slaves from Malaysia, and early White settlers who are concentrated in the western part of the country, the former Cape Colony) South African largely continue to live in segregated communities, and it is the Black areas, townships and "informal" settlements that have the highest densities and the fewest resources.

Stellenbosch itself is a dramatic example of this continued separateness. Part wine tourism destination and part college town, this historically Afrikaner city (of about 100,000 people) might as well be any American college town. The climate is a lot like parts of inland California or Eastern Washington, and the city boasts safe, clean streets and an abundance of wine tasting rooms, cafes, shopping boutiques, and restaurants. This is orientation week for first-year students, and the streets are teeming at all hours with energetic (and overwhelmingly white) young people. Meanwhile, just on the city limits is a Colored community and a Black township. The latter, Kayamandi (which I visited yesterday), is a typical township where entire families share one-room wooden shacks and entire streets share a common toilet block and water source.

To be fair, economic inequity is a global phenomenon. Perhaps, it is not unusual to have such extremes living so close and yet so alienated. Even the uncomfortable racial dimension is not unique to South Africa. At the same time, South Africa does have one of the world´s highest scores of inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient or index, a widely used measure of income and wealth discrepancy. Perhaps all this makes South Africa an excellent laboratory for addressing the issue of inequality... except that in the 15 years since the end of apartheid, the gap between the haves and the have-nots here is worsening rather than narrowing (see link above). Hmmm...

crime & security, leadership & reform, and World Cup 2010

2010-01-14T05:24:00.000-08:00

Well, so five days in, and it feels like much longer. Some of that is certainly due to how hard my brain is working. I’m hearing different accents and languages all day, I’m having to look over the other shoulder and in the other direction for those cars I hear coming, and I’m having to process a lot of new data from my new surroundings. I am, of course, also on edge due to all the discussion and cautionary tales of violence and crime here. These stories started with the taxi ride from the airport, when I heard about youth dropping rocks onto cars from overpasses, and continued the next morning when a newspaper headline reported vandalism and theft at schools on the eve of their opening. While conversations and media coverage inevitable arrive at reports of crime, I’m keeping in mind the school building theft and park muggings that have recently happened almost literally in my own back yard in Seattle. Two other recurring, and related, themes so far have been preparations for the upcoming World Cup and evaluating the ruling ANC government. Any discussion of the ANC (South Africa’s dominant political party) invariably includes commentary on the controversial figure of Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s newly-elected president.

On the one hand, President Zuma is a celebrated hero of the resistance movement, a charismatic populist, and a beloved representative of the Zulu, the nation’s largest ethnic group. One the other, his critics condemn him for his leftist rhetoric and leanings, his alleged role in a corrupt major arms deal (involvement for which he was belatedly indicted and then controversially unindicted even as his close friend and associate was convicted and sent to prison), and his promiscuous lifestyle that includes multiple wives and a large family, on which he spends lavishly, and an accusation of rape that, although the case was dismissed, led to the exposure of some problematic attitudes about sex and AIDS. (As these stories have been covered in great detail, as you might imagine, more information about any of this is quite easy to find.)

The debate in the media, and among the few South Africans with whom I’ve had conversations about politics (an admittedly small and unrepresentative sample), seems to center around whether or not President Zuma is genuinely committed to making meaningful and sustainable progress on South Africa’s most pressing problems: infrastructure development, massive unemployment (currently near 30%), wealth redistribution, and delivery of basic services. One necessary step will be reigning in the rampant corruption that seems to afflict all levels of government (numerous ANC officials have been accused of enriching themselves at public expense) and to be rampant in the private sector as well. He will also have to decide whether or not to embrace post-apartheid reconciliation and help lead South Africa toward the non-racial democracy that its constitution envisions. Given apartheid’s undebatably shameful history and its damaging, and enduring legacies, it is easy – and often politically convenient – to blame the past for current problems. In fact, such claims inevitably have elements of truth to them. Any path forward is made all the more challenging by a host of other factors, including the global economic crisis, South Africa’s enduring (even worsening) economic inequality (still largely split along racial lines), and the ever-present spectre of Zimbabwe’s collapse and ongoing implosion.

Alec Russell ends his new book Bring Me My Machine Gun: the Battle for the Soul of South Africa from Mandela to Zuma, an excellent and up-to-date history of the post apartheid era (that gets its title from a resistance song) ends with an ominous warning about the fate of the nation if the ANC does not undertake significant reform:

“South Africa will – in a decade or so – find itself led by an ossified ruling party overseen by bickering apparatchiks presiding over a sclerotic dysfunctional state. The dreams of its becoming a beacon for the continent will lie in the dust.”

A chilling, sobering, and discouraging prospect.

However, against this disquieting backdrop is a pervasive resiliency and a cautious hopefullness. This can be seen well in the preparations for and enthusiasm about South Africa’s hosting of the upcoming World Cup. For the soccer-illiterate, this is, in terms of intensity and importance for its fans, the equivalent of March Madness or maybe the BCS, except the teams are from 32 different countries and the tournament is only held once every four years.

To be continued…

Welcome to Cape Town

2010-01-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

For those of you just tuning in...

I have finally arrived in Cape Town, South Africa (late last night) and will be starting my research project in the coming weeks (more on that later). For now, I am busy getting settled and adjusting to both a big time shift and a much warmer climate. I've come here after spending almost two months living in Washington DC. During that time, I created this blog in part to keep family and friends up to date and in part as a personal journal. I included a few pictures as well as links to some of the most interesting exhibits and events that I attended. Feel free to browse - and to comment on - these archived entries. Now that I am here, the tone may shift in a more academic direction as I start visiting schools and having other experiences here. We'll see.

Happy new year, and thanks for checking in on me!

Joyeuse fetes de Quebec!

2009-12-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

Technical difficulties prevented a Christmas Day post, but we have left Washington DC behind for now and have ventured north. After two nights within the charming walls of Old Quebec City on the frigid shores of an ice-choked St Lawrence River, we have come up into the interior to a winter lodge. The snow was a bit wet for our short ski after arriving this afternoon, but it will be colder - and hopefully snowy - tomorrow.

Update: The next days of skiing turned out to be quite cold (highs of 8-12 F!) but wonderful. Here are a few images from the trip.

"Winter Wallop"!!!

2009-12-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Well, we woke up to a blanket of snow (about 8 inches), and it's been snowing steadily all morning (up to 12 inches now). The alarmist news channels and weather reporters are having a field day; they're calling it "Winter Wallop." To be fair, the region's airports have shut down, lots of businesses and public buildings are closed, and many events have been canceled (including our evening plans to see the Capitol Steps). We also do have a blizzard warning until 6 pm (though the winds are well below the 35 mph "blizzard" threshold), and a winter storm watch until morning. After a walk out to visit the cat we're watching this week, looks like a good day to stay inside.

Photo Gallery

2009-12-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

Waiting for a big snowstorm...

The DC area is supposed to get hit with a major winter storm tonight and tomorrow - up to a foot of snow! It's been cold all week, and a bit wet and/or windy at times, but the days have been mostly clear.

Good weather for walking around and exploring. Highlights from the week include: seeing the Botanical Garden (once by day, above left, and once in the evening), running the DC "Jingle All the Way" 10K (in the rain) with one of the Einstein Fellows and his wife (above right), discovering that we have a National Library of Education (another great place for research), and getting to see more museums. These included the incredible National Museum of African Art (which, besides an impressive permanent collection, is hosting a terrific, provocative exhibit by Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE), the Hirshhorn Museum of modern and contemporary art (check out "Trailer B" for the 12-minute short film "Next Floor"; hopefully it will come to SIFF!), and an evening visit to the Corcoran Gallery of Art (where we saw "seascapes and coastal scenes from the early career of John Singer Sargent." Also, just today, I went on a tour of the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, maintained in Alice Paul's former home by the National Woman's Party to honor the struggle for equal rights and suffrage for women. The house, built in 1800, survived being burned by the British in 1812 and was the headquarters for the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment.

After a very dramatic fire response around the corner one afternoon (above left; 20+ emergency vehicles, including the police!), I finally remembered to carry my camera around with me a few times. I've really enjoyed how different it is to live in a dense urban setting, and I've been charmed by the brick sidewalks and row houses in our neighborhood. I took a few representative pictures on the way home one day. Ours is the right half of the white building behind the blue car (lower right).

A few…

2009-12-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

…weeks left in DC (actually only two at this point!). So, those of you who have lived here (my sister & brother in-law, my old boss, my current boss, et al) or otherwise know the area well, now is the time to pass on your tips and recommendations!

…landmark sights still to be seen: the US Botanic Gardens, the Corcoran Gallery, the National Museum of African Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the National Cathedral. Yikes!

…pleasant discoveries in the past week: a vegetarian soul food joint adjacent to the Howard University campus and the collection at the Freer Gallery of Art, whose exhibits include Buddhist Art, Arts of the Indian Subcontinent, and Arts of the Islamic World. Check out these samples: a brass and silver canteen from mid-13th century Syria and illuminated manuscript samples of the Shanama, the Persian national epic.

…words I don’t know that I came across reading Rousseau’s Dog (the story of the philosopher’s great falling out with fellow Enlightenment giant David Hume): threnody, irrefragable, and plangent. Anyone?

…movies on the “to see” list: Invictus for sure (Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela using an historically racist rugby team to unify post-apartheid South Africa); maybe Up in the Air, Precious, or The Blind Side (all got good reviews). Any suggestions?

...things I miss (besides family, friends, colleagues, students, pets, and soccer teams): a bicycle, teaching, my favorite cookbook, and mountains!

...things I DON'T miss: driving, grading, television (no more "let me just see what "Seinfeld" is on..."), and I-5 traffic!

Tech glitches abound!

2009-12-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

In my life as a teacher, I've lost track of how many class sessions have been derailed by technological glitches - documents, images, and links not opening (even though they worked fine the day or night before!), projectors refusing to recognize laptops or just plain shutting down... I'm sure anyone who makes presentations can relate. So, it has been reassuring to see that these glitches happen even to experts, with high-end equipment and plenty of tech support, and in some quite prestigious settings. For example, last night, the National Academy of Sciences hosted the premiere of "Whiz Kids," a documentary following 3 students who enter the Intel Science Talent Search, and the projector decided to shut down at a key moment well into the film! There was a similarly temperamental projector at an education presentation at the Capitol last week, and, at a Johns Hopkins lecture, I could empathize with the poor visiting professor who just couldn't get the map slides he had prepared to stay on the screen for his presentation on the Congo. Even though everyone is vulnerable to these glitches and most audiences are understanding, I still feel incompetent every time one strikes in front of a room full of students.

Rants, Raves, and Reading

2009-12-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

Rants*

*Since it seems to congenitally in my character to notice, frequently comment on, and often try to redress the failings in human society and systems, I figured I'd share what's been riling me up even in this overwhelmingly pleasant city.

First off, pedestrians cross streets here at their own constant peril! Walk lights, crosswalks, courtesy, and safety all seem trivial distractions to the average driver. For their part, pedestrians cross streets at reckless will, and the result is a dangerous free-for-all! A chaos that transpires in plain view of the ubiquitous public safety forces.

Rather than foment and fulminate further, I'll just mention that recycling awareness and other indications of commitment to sustainability are spotty here. Single-use coffee cups abound (hardly a re-usable mug to be seen), as do styrofoam take-out containers. There are some promising signs - emerging recycling infrastructure, for example. In addition, the federal government does use compostable cups, plates, and cutlery in its cafeterias (although they love bottled water), and a ban on plastic bags goes into effect January 1st in the city of DC.

Raves

The very walkable National Mall and the array of museums and monuments that border it are a treasure, especially at this time of year when the tourist traffic is light. This morning, which was brisk but sunny, I ascended the Washington Monument and then stopped in to tour some exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History: "the Evolution of Evolution," award-winning nature photography, and "Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake." It was great to visit this sprawling museum without crowds and without feeling pressure to "see it all". The best part is that I did all this with nothing in my pocket but a house key. All the national museums and monuments are free, and, while there is security screening at each entrance, entry does not require presenting identification. I think this is something for us to be proud of.

Reading

My research into global education in general has led me in a few directions. For example, last week I finished Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage, a book about the overall phenomenon of globalization, especially from a business perspective. Most of what I am reading is related to global education in general, including such riveting titles as World Class: Teaching and Learning in Global Times, Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives, and Going Global: Preparing Our Students for an Interconnected World. I'm actually finding the topic quite interesting, and I have even found some good resources for the state of global education in South Africa. Besides allowing me to mine data bases for articles and reports published in South Africa, the Library of Congress even has its own copies of some material that is proving quite useful and relevant to me (but otherwise seems rather obscure); for example, I was able to peruse the findings of a recent study of "Factors Affecting Teaching and Learning in South Africa."

To supplement this research, I have a couple of current, non-fiction books about South Africa. I have started with For Whites Only (thanks Daniel!), which is a warning to white South Africans not to play into the hands of those who would replace reconciliation with racialization, and I have Bring Me My Machine Gun, a post-apartheid history from Mandela to Zuma, on deck.

(See Comments for a discussion thread on South African fiction.)

At school in the city

2009-12-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

It is still noteworthy to me how many national and international organizations have their headquarters or at least an outpost here in DC. It makes sense that anyone with an agenda would want to be part of the conversation here. Also, to raise their profile and get noticed in the resulting crowded field, every organization, agency, institute, and advocacy group sponsors events. What it means for me, a guy with a flexible schedule and no papers or tests to grade, is that I can choose from a rich daily menu of options - and this is above and beyond the offerings from the various federal institutions. Today, for example, I hit an eclectic trifecta. First thing in the morning, I attended a presentation at the John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies on "The Great African War: Congo and Regional Geopolitics, 1996-2006." (Right up my alley; thanks to NWS alum Adam for the tip!) The Belgian professor, who has been on a US academic tour promoting his book of the same title, had his hands full with an animated Q&A, including some pointed questions from (according to him) representatives from the Rwandan embassy. Next, I ventured to the relatively tamer Senate viewing gallery. At first Senator Harkin seemed to be alone on the floor, earnestly addressing his remarks to C-SPAN. However, a group of Republicans (including McCain, Alexander, Grassley, Hatch, and others) soon appeared and began to deliver their arguments in favor of a McCain amendment that would eliminate Medicare cuts from the Senate version of the Health Care Bill. I couldn't help wondering how the display boards they were using as props came across on tv.

I left the viewing gallery to attend a screening of a pro-school choice (i.e. charter schools and vouchers) movie produced by a "free market" think tank based in San Francisco. The film, titled "Not As Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School," used a particularly corrupt and dysfunctional California school district as its negative example (they had valid points, but the extrapolation was a stretch) and championed a particularly successful Oakland Charter School and Sweden as its positive models. While I think they were a bit too convinced by their own points, I found it interesting to be presented with an argument for reforms about which I am generally skeptical.

Tomorrow, I have a ticket to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the National Geographic Society. (Thanks for the tip, Steve.) However, the big task for tomorrow will be tracking the World Cup Draw! (For non-soccer fans, it's the dividing of the 32 qualifying teams into their groups for the first round of play.)

Recap of a whirlwind week!

2009-11-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

It was another sunny and warm day today to end the long weekend. We spent the bulk of the day wandering through the National Arboretum. This isn't an especially colorful season there, other than some fall blooming camellias, but we enjoyed wandering through the "dwarf and slow growing conifer" grove, learning about plants that offer alternative energy possibilities in a special "Power Plants" exhibit, and visiting the amazing Bonsai & Penjing Museum collection. It is the largest collection of such tree in North America, and many of the trees date from the 1800's or earlier (one originated in 1625!). It's great to have this large (446 acre) park just two miles from the Capitol building. We'll be back there Tuesday evening for a "Full Moon Hike."

The Story of a Week - Part I

The theme of the first part of the week continued to be Washington DC and its many events and opportunities. First of all, besides providing me with access to resources and a great study space, the Library of Congress offers cultural events. We caught a night of their "Motown in the Fall" film series, a double-bill of profiles: The Supremes and the Four Tops. We also attended a forum at the Center for American Progress, "Education Reform in the 21st Century." The speakers were Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, and Kati Haycock, President of the Education Trust. It was pretty cool to be in the audience for this heady dialog; there is a lot of determination and resolve to turn around the nation's most troubled schools and improve the quality of education reaching the least served, but the task also seems Herculean at best. Finally, we went to see a production of "Much Ado About Nothing" (set on the eve of a Caribbean carnival!) at the Folger Shakespeare Library. And that was all in three days!

The Story of a Week - Part II

For Thanksgiving, we were invited up to rural Pennsylvania where a former NWS colleague now teaches high school English. He and his wife live on a horse farm where she teaches riding, boards horse, and retrains retired thoroughbreds for life post-racing. We had a lovely visit, including a day-trip to the Gettysburg National Military Park. After so many years of teaching about the Civil War, it was incredible to tour the actual location of its most famous battle. I was particularly struck, as we toured the expansive battlefield site, by all of the monuments to the fallen soldiers from both sides (Wikipedia says there are more than 1,600 of them!). These range from simple stone markers to massive statues and even small buildings, such as the Pennsylvania State Memorial. I had not expected to see memorials honoring the Confederate side, and I was taken aback by these tributes. (I am not alone; apparently this has been an issue of controversy since the war.) At least initially, I was indignant. After all, "Weren't they the 'bad guys'?" As we continued our tour, I found myself awed by the sacrifice of life and regretting the carnage for all. Perhaps recognizing both sides was, and continues to be, important to sustaining Lincoln's vision for restoring union. This is just another example of how living in such a different setting here on the "other" coast continues to challenge and re-shape my thinking. More on that later...

No yard, no car... no problem

2009-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

I continue to adjust to, and generally enjoy, a new rhythm of life here in DC. One dramatic daily difference is row house living. We inhabit a narrow two-floor flat with shared, windowless walls on both sides. Our front porch is the sidewalk, and the postage stamp "backyard" consists of a pleasant shared deck and a small brick pad ringed by untended planting beds. While I miss the space and view of home, it is nice to be free of the yard work. It is also liberating to be without a car. We walk a lot more, including to a cluster of shops and restaurants about four blocks away, and we take the metro for longer excursions, such as today's great outing to the zoo. Part of the Smithsonian system, the National Zoo occupies the southern part of Rock Creek Park (an oasis of nature in this city). It has some terrific naturalistic exhibits, such as a "lemur island," and it is always free. Some highlights from today were the Mexican wolves, a pair of browsing gibbons, and a surprisingly upclose and unmediated-by-bars encounter with an exploratory Dusky titi monkey in the Amazonia house (my photo above). There is also a series of towers connected by ropes via which the orangutans can traverse from one building to another! A thrilling prospect, but not a feat that we got to witness today.

Find of the week: the National Geographic Society's warehouse sale!

Missed opportunity of the week: the Library of Congress staff's benefit book sale. I can only imagine what that group might have donated from their book shelves!

Movie seen: Pirate Radio - a fun treat, especially since it wasn't what we set out to see (see below).

Movie missed: Skin - still on the list.

The Neighborhood Library

2009-11-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

The highlight of the week has been getting my access card for the neighborhood library - the Library of Congress! As a registered "reader" (which any citizen can sign up to be), I am able to work in the various reading rooms of the three library buildings (Jefferson, Adams, and Madison), use library data bases and other computer resources, and request materials. There is also a special entrance directly into the non-tourist areas. I've been using the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson Building; The physical space is beautiful and inspiring, but it's easy to get distracted by the other features of the building. They have, for example, reassembled nearly all the titles from Jefferson's original collection, nearly two-thirds of which was lost to fire (which is ironic since Jefferson originally "donated" his library to Congress after its first collection was destroyed by fire during the War of 1812). There are also incredible temporary exhibitions, including "Creating the United States," an amazing collection of early documents, and "Discovering the Americas," which features some of the earliest world maps to include the Western Hemisphere, from 1507 and 1516! So this is the setting, despite all the distractions, in which I am finding good resources to help prepare me for my project in South Africa.

Besides a pleasant run along the Mall one morning, the primary sightseeing activity this week was an evening tour of the Naval Observatory. We learned about the importance of precise time for ship navigation and also got to see Jupiter and four of its moons through one of their giant telescopes (interrupted by the Vice President's helicopter coming in to drop him off). The weather has turned to a familiar cool, wet, and gray, but it's not supposed to last (unlike, sorry, how I hear it is at home).

Stay dry!

Welcome to Washington DC

2009-11-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

Glorious, near-70 degree weather welcomed me to the nation's capital, and it was a great weekend of spending time with Kristina and enjoying the rich cultural opportunities Washington offers. Here are some highlights so far. After a morning of grocery shopping, including a stop at the nearby Eastern Market, we spent Saturday afternoon in the National Gallery of Art. On Sunday, I went for a run out to the old stadium (RFK) on a route that included East Capitol Street. This wide street starts out with charming tree-lined row houses, and then goes by a couple of schools before reaching the stadium. I found out later that East Capitol is deemed (at least by the Rough Guide) as unsafe on foot, even in daylight(!). I felt quite safe and loved starting and ending my run in nearby Lincoln Park where I was greeted by statues of Abe (this park is home to the famous Emancipation Memorial) and Mary McLeod Bethune (DC's first monument to the achievements of a black American). That afternoon, we visited the Phillips Collection, the nation's first art museum, where we were treated to a piano recital (they have a weekly concert series) and then saw a permanent collection that includes half of Jacob Lawrence's 60-piece migration series and a special exhibition of African works and photography that features them. It was quite a first 48 hours!

Today, it was back to work. I accompanied Kristina on her walk to the Rayburn House Office Building; it's just 15 minutes up Pennsylvania Avenue - a great stroll past the Library of Congress buildings and with the Capitol dome in view the whole way. I went to the South African Embassy (and then to the Consular Office, 2.5 miles away!) to get the forms I need to apply for my visa. It looks like I'll be going back there a few times to get everything in order.

So far so good; keep in touch!