Hamba Ekukanyeni

The few days I have spent so far at my service site, Walk in the Light Ministries, have been some of the most powerful days I've spent in South Africa this semester. The week after we finished our 2 elective classes (Biology and Human Growth and Development), we began the second component of our study abroad semester - service. The 53 of us were divided up into 5 different service sites around the Pietermaritzburg area. I joined the team that was to serve at Walk in the Light (a.k.a. Hamba Ekukanyeni in Zulu).

Some background on Walk in the Light: The founder and leader, Bruce, started Walk in the Light right in the middle of a successful career in the business world. After the near loss of his young daughter a few years ago, Bruce said it was time for him to start serving God's people in need. Somehow, he ended up on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg where he founded Walk in the Light in the township of Haniville. Today, Walk in the Light encompasses a few acres on the side of a highway road across from Haniville. A church, pastor's house, greenhouses, vegetable gardens and sugar cane fields are all a part of the ministry that works to benefit the people of Haniville. What I've found so amazing about Walk in the Light is its strive toward self-sufficiency. By growing rose geranium plants and sugar cane on site, the ministry can raise money for projects such as clothing donation, clinic transportation, youth programs and even local employment. From day one, I have been stoked to be a part of this incredible organization.

Over the past several days, the 20 or so of us have been hard at work helping out with the various projects going on at Walk in the Light. We have been able to help out with clearing land for the vegetable gardens, digging an irrigation trench, as well interacting with a women's group and youth groups that meet at Walk in the Light. It's been truly awesome to get to know the people of Haniville and become a part of the community there - even if its only a small, 4 week part of the community. I have already learned so much about what it means to be a part of a community, and what it means to be truly in need. I am learning how to show love to people who have experienced nothing but brokenness for their entire lives.

Coinciding with our Principles of Community Engagement class taught by a brilliant Kenyan man, Francis Njoroge, our service at Walk in the Light is the field extension of the models we are learning about in class. Francis, a middle aged grandfather with a permanent smile on his face, has devoted his entire life to developing communities across Africa. He is a total storehouse of wisdom, peace, intelligence and friendliness. I am nothing short of honored that I get to be one of his students for a few weeks. Francis has been teaching us how he views community engagement, and what works and what doesn't work in community development. I am learning how real community development must directly involve members of the community for the entire process. The role of outside help is not to develop, but to empower the community to develop solutions themselves. This model promotes self-sufficiency and maximizes the positive effects of development for a community. Learning about it in a book is one thing - listening to it from a man like Francis, and then going into communities and practicing it is completely another.

Today, I worked alongside Bagie, Michael, Tish and a few other locals from Haniville to work on building a house for a man named Mandla. Mandla is crippled from the waste down. He was stabbed by his daughter's boyfriend, and spends his time laying in his bed within his one room house made of mud and iron. On top of his paralysis, Mandla is HIV positive and is infected with Tuberculosis. The mud walls of his house are crumbling, so Bruce and his staff at Walk in the Light have committed to building a new house for Mandla. We hope to be done by this Friday.

Mandla's story is just one story out of hundreds within Haniville. This is a community that is only minutes from half-a-million dollar houses and a modern shopping mall, yet has slipped through the cracks of society where the well-off have turned a blind eye toward the impoverished. There are so many people in need, and the solutions are so available and present. How is it that a man can easily buy 4 meals a day for himself, yet a woman can barely provide 1 meal for her children in the same city? Every day that I work at Walk in the Light, I am reminded how truly blessed I have been for my entire life. But more importantly, I am slowly realizing that after my experience here, I will no longer be able to simply ignore the situation of the broken in this world. Much more to come from my time at Walk in the Light...

Toyi-Toyi and Camping

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go on an overnight backpacking trip in the Drakensberg Mountains with about 10 other students from our group of 53. I'm never one to turn down an invitation to a camping trip, so as soon as I heard that we were organizing some kind of trip in the Drakensbergs, my mind was set. The plan was to drive about 2 hours toward the Lesotho-South Africa border, and overnight in a part of the Giants Castle Nature Reserve called Wonder Valley. I must say, this was one of the best weekends I've had in South Africa.

Our preparations for the trip, after we had settled on a location, began on Friday night as we gathered together 11 sleeping bags and all of the necessary backpacking equipment we would need for our relatively short 6 km hike. Rudi, the general manager here at African Enterprise and avid backpacker, volunteered to hook us up with hot dogs, snacks and way more food than we would ever need for a one night trip. I went with him to Mdeni Meats, a butchery in downtown PMB to pick out some hot dogs. I found out that hot dogs don't exist in South Africa, but "viennas" do. The viennas Rudi picked out for us slightly resembled the American version, but definitely weren't the classic Ballpark Franks. I was a little unsettled by the fact that they were BRIGHT red yet supposedly pre-cooked. My mind was already thinking up plan B for dinner, as I didn't expect the "viennas" to be received so well by everyone. I made sure that we packed an extra supply of peanut butter and granola just in case.

We loaded the van with Reagan, one of our group leaders, and were on our way toward the Drakensbergs at around 9 am on Saturday morning. Somehow, I let my mind wander, and let myself believe that the trip would be smooth and delay-free. I forgot T.I.A. About 45 minutes into our drive we approached the small town of Mooi River. Still on the M3 highway, about 100 meters in front of us, I saw a huge crowd of people gathering in the middle of the road. Traffic became super congested, until we came to a complete standstill behind a mass of police cars. This would turn out to be my first toyi-toyi - a protest, dance, march and song all in one. People of all ages gathered together in the street, blending a dance and march together with political chants in Zulu that none of us could understand. Banners supporting the African National Congress political party and cardboard signs in Zulu popped up all over the crowd of about 100. Apparently, the people of Mooi River were protesting the use of government funds in the region, which manifested in the form of a toyi-toyi. I think everyone in our group of 11 was a little unsettled about the fact that we were only a few dozen meters behind an unhappy mass of South Africans. But Reagan assured us that this sort of thing is pretty common, and we had nothing to worry about. He explained how since the end of apartheid in 1994, the government has insured that every South African has the right to assemble a protest, even if it happens to be in the middle of a highway. I have to say, my adrenaline levels were high, and I couldn't stop snapping pictures and listening to chants as the crowd slowly made its way up the highway. If that wasn't a true South African cultural experience, I'm not sure what is. Luckily, Reagan happens to be an amazing bus driver, and found a detour for us after about 30 minutes of delay.

The remainder of our journey to the campsite lasted about 3 more hours, complete with backtracking, bad directions and bumpy dirt roads. We were all very ready to get on the trail wehn we finally parked the bus. We divvied up the food, viennas and all, and were on our way toward Wonder Valley. We would be staying overnight in a cave that overlooked the valley, so we only needed our sleeping bags as far as shelter went- no tent this time. Our hike began with a river crossing toward a valley that wrapped itself around the boundaries of the stream. The trail pointed us deeper into the valley, as we slowly gained elevation, hugging one of the sides of valley. An overcast marked most of the day, with limited raindrops, so we were blessed with comfortable weather for the duration of our hike. As we hiked along the side of the valley, we walked through thick green grasses with occasional flowering shrubs popping up here and there. We were gifted with canopy cover for parts of the trail, as we crossed one of the small creeks that fed into the river down below several times. The elevation gain got steeper and steeper, until we eventually emerged out of the wooded portion on top of the valley's edge. We reached a vast open area at the top of the valley early afternoon, and were met by stunning scenery. The sun burnt off most of the overcast, so we were able to see a huge section of the valley below, in the foreground of the majestic silhouettes of the Drakensbergs. The valley was more of canyon upstream from us, as the hillsides we climbed up were steep cliff sides a few kilometers up the river from us. The trail continued through the grassy open area on top of the valley for about a kilometer, until we eventually began to drop elevation into Wonder Valley, the valley adjacent to the one we began our hike in. The grassy area turned into canopy cover eventually, just as it did on the other side of the valley, and Wonder Valley came into full view as we reached our cave. We arrived just before sunset, so we decided it would be best to explore and snap photos tomorrow morning.

The cave made for a perfect campsite. It was located in a naturally hollowed out cliff side overlooking Wonder Valley, and was complete with flat areas carpeted with hay - perfect for sleeping bags. With some difficulty due to the damp overcast that day, we got a fire started and prepared the viennas for dinner. Fortunately the sun had set, and there wasn't enough light to see the color of the vienna - I don't think they would have been eaten had everyone seen the BRIGHT red color of the dogs. Color aside, I took my first bite of a South African vienna, and had to immediately repent for doubting the quality of the sausage. They were fantastic! Somewhere between a hot dog and a bratwurst, viennas are the perfect camping food. Placed in a soft chewy roll picked out by Rudi, I couldn't think of any better meal for the evening. We kept the fire going for a few hours, until we eventually crawled into bed, and gazed out into moonlit valley from our sleeping bags.

The next morning, we were woken up by Reagan who had a small fire going for breakfast. We had a couple viennas left over, so I made sure to include one of those in my breakfast of granola and peanut buttered toast. Now that the sun was up, we could see into Wonder Valley (which was appropriately named). The steep grassy sides of the valley transitioned into forest near the bottom, where the stream meandered through cascades and natural pools. We hiked a little ways further from our cave, until we saw a natural pool down at the bottom that looked perfect for swimming in. We eventually reached the pool, which looked like something a millionaire in Beverly Hills would put in his backyard. It was spectacular. A small waterfall poured into a crystal clear pool about chest deep, and was surrounded by an oasis of greenery and smooth rocks. I could have spent the whole day there. But since it was Sunday, we had to be on our way so that we wouldn't be back too late, as we all had service sites to go to on Monday morning. We cleaned up the cave, gathered up our belongings, and were on our way back to bus around 11. The hike back was just as amazing as it was on the way up. Each valley was saturated in natural beauty, and I simply couldn't get enough of the South African landscape. It was definitely a trip to remember, no matter how short or delayed it was. I knew as soon as I climbed back into the bus that I would be back someday to take in the magnificence of the Drakensbergs again.

A Little Bit of History

The 53 of us spent the last weekend touring 4 battlefield sites here in the KwaZulu-Natal province. We packed for an overnight trip, lunches included, and loaded up a chartered bus that would be driving us around for about 5 hours on Friday, and about 6 hours on Saturday. The rumor was that this is the same chartered bus that the Brazilian national soccer team will be using while they are here for the world cup this June. Who knows how true this was, but I didn't mind telling myself I was sitting in the same seat as Ronaldinho or Kaka. At 7 AM on Friday morning we loaded up the super-comfortable bus with our tour guide, Tony Jones - a 75 year old South African gentleman who knew the history of South Africa like the back of his hand. His sprite, old man sense of humor and occasional grumpiness would make for an interesting weekend.

I found my seat at the rear of the bus, next to the ice maker and bathroom. About half an hour into the drive, my body reminded that I get really car sick on buses - especially sitting in the back. Not to get too graphic, but lets just say I spent a little extra time in Ronaldinho's bathroom during the first drive on Friday. Despite the barfy bus ride, I enjoyed checking out the boundless grasslands of KZN though our windows, and taking in the vast openness of South Africa. After a few hours' drive, we arrived at our first battlefield: Spion Kop. This battle took place in the Anglo-Boer War around 1900, where the British invaded and annexed the Afrikaans-speaking, independent Boer republics. The fighting took place on Spion Kop, Dutch for Spy Hill, a strategic lookout point in the Natal countryside. We walked the path to the top of the hill from the bottom where our bus was parked. It was hard for me to imagine having to run up this hill with a gun, and bullets flying all around me. The battle has a special legacy in South African history, as the un-uniformed Boers beat back a much larger force of British Imperial regulars. The top of the hill had been converted into a mass grave for all of the fallen. It was definitely a humbling place to stand.

Our second battlefield on Friday was the Battle of Blood River. Also located in KZN, this battle was fought between the Voortrekker Boers and Zulus in the mid 19th century. After failed negotiations, including a brutal betrayal of the Boers by the Zulus, a force of about 500 Voortrekkers moved into Zululand. They were soon met by a force of about 10,000 armed Zulus. Incredibly, the Boers were able to beat back the massive Zulu force, killing about 3000 - and suffering only 3 wounded. The Boers accomplished this amazing victory by forming a laager (D-shaped circle) with their covered wagons. The deeply religious Boers made a vow to God stating that if they emerged victorious, they would forever dedicate the day as a day of remembrance. The defensively minded Boers managed a crushing victory over the hoard of Zulus, and effectively established their presence in Zululand. The monument at the site included a small museum, as well as a life size replica of the laager made by the Voortrekkers. The monument was humbling ground to walk on. It was bewildering to imagine what the Voortrekkers and Zulus faced on the day of the battle. To this day December 16 is marked by a day of remembrance by the Afrikaners, although since the end of Apartheid in 1994, the Day of the Vow has since been recognized as the Day of Reconciliation.

We stayed overnight in the small town of Dundee, in the northeast countryside of KZN, at the picturesque Royal Inn. This place was the definition of a British bed and breakfast - complete with a rustic lounge filled with British war collectibles, a cozy pub room, banquet hall, courtyard and library. We were spoiled with a delicious dinner, and capped off the night with a Q & A session with Reg, our head coordinator. We asked all kinds of questions, with topics ranging from South African history to theology. Every word that comes out of Reg's mouth is full of wisdom, compassion and intelligence. He's definitely the manifest of who I want to be when I grow up.

We awoke to yet another delicious South African breakfast, and were on our way to the final two battlefields of our weekend. Our first destination was the site for the Battle of Isandlwana, fought in the Anglo-Zulu War. Perhaps the most famous battle of the war, a British force of about 1500 was defeated by a Zulu army armed with spears and cowhide shields. Led by a prideful Victorian gentleman, the British ignored the tactics of the Voortrekkers and faced the Zulu force head on, and experienced total defeat. It was a pretty incredible story to hear, especially from Tony, who couldn't have been more passionate in his description of the battle.

Our final battlefield tour was about 10 minutes down the road from Isandlwana at Rorke's Drift. This battle took place immediately after the devastation at Isandlwana when the Zulus crossed the Buffalo River into British territory, thirsty for more victory. It was not to be for the Zulus, as a resilient outnumbered British defense held up against a Zulu onslaught. The British victory marked a turning point in the Anglo-Zulu War, as the aggressive British eventually conquered Zululand. Each battlefield had its own unique story of bravery and valor, and each contributed to overall picture of South African history. This land may be stained with blood, but the incredible history that forms the foundation of South Africa today makes this a country with a powerful story to learn from. Next: I'll begin my community engagement course with a few lectures, and eventually start my service at Walk in the Light, an organization that operates in one of the townships in Pietermaritzburg.