It seems to be quiet. Saturday, we (Anasuya, our visitor from The Netherlands Reinier and me) drove to Khayelitsha and didn’t experience any abnormal situation.

Lots of churches have opened their doors, refugees camps have been created at different places in/around the city. We drove past a Church in Observatory and saw lots of refugees standing in the garden. There was confusion in their eyes. Or was it fear I could see? Refugees on a hunger strike, demanding a better place to sleep. Aid gets commented (by aid-workers): why does this South African society wake up and get into action at this Xenophobic crisis moment, but does not do anything for its own community on a daily base. Do they know how many of their own, South African people need participation, integration, action, sharing and care????!!!!!

We organized a compassion diner for our 3 Zimbabwean friends this week. They are fine! The fireplace in our new house in Woodstock works well. Thank god, because the evenings start being very cold.

For the Dutch-speaking readers: I have started an online public conversation with Petra Kroon, the Founder of ‘Goedgeefs’, a Dutch organization that forms an intermedium between Dutch Corporations, who want to work on their CSI (Corporate Social Investment – or Dutch: MVO – Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen) and projects in South Africa. Petra has a big passion for South Africa, lives in Amsterdam, is a very creative and intelligent woman with lots of great ideas and actions! We had a inspiring meeting, a few weeks ago in The Netherlands, after our online correspondence the past months. You can find our online conversation, along with more information about Petra and her organization at the Goedgeefs website; http://www.goedgeefs.nl/#/weblog/

Enjoy!

By Peter Deitz

After nearly three months living in Cape Town, South Africa, the last thing I would have expected to see was a bus full of white South African school children pulling into the parking lot of an elementary and middle school serving mostly Xhosa, Zulu, and Tswana children. But low and behold, a week prior to my departure, I had the chance to witness just that only a few minutes from the nation’s capital city of Pretoria.

For the last two years, The Centurus Colleges Trust has maintained “outreach programs” at each of their three Christian private schools. With the exception of a handful of bursary students, the colleges enroll children from upper-middle class South African families. Most of the tuition-paying students are white. A few hail from the Indian and black families who have done well in post-apartheid South Africa.

After school, the vast majority of students return to their high-security homes that include virtually every amenity a child would need for a healthy and fun upbringing: a functioning family unit, plenty of toys, a desk at which to do their homework, a quiet place to sleep, ample food in the kitchen, and often an outdoor swimming pool. But there is also something missing from the picture, something essential for raising well-balanced and civic-minded children. A good dose of reality.

If it weren’t for the “outreach programs” at the Centurus Colleges, the students would have virtually no meaningful contact with the country’s majority population, which confronts daily the trauma of AIDS/HIV, the struggle of finding work and making ends meet, and persistent discrimination on the basis of skin color. Hence, the reason for the school visit Fre and I had the privilege to attend in late February 2008.

After the kids disembarked from the bus, they were met with smiles and commotion as more than two hundred school children poured into the courtyard where the visitors would be received, each carrying a chair on which to sit. Through a series of culture sharing events, the two groups of South African youth had a rare chance to rub shoulders and learn from one another.

The first day of the school trip was designed for grade 5 & 6 students. They were led into a large courtyard. The thirty-five students from Tygervalley College sat together near the back of the seating area. The grade 5 students performed a waltz in their Centurus school uniforms to introduce their hosts to the traditional culture of white South Africa. This quiet affair was followed by three lively African dance ensembles, performed by students at the host school. They wore traditional Xhosa, Zulu, and Tswana attire, appropriate to each of the three dance performances.

Later in the day, the grade 5 & 6 students from both schools were introduced to one another and asked to find pen pals with whom to correspond. The pen pal pairings fell along expected gender lines. The girls were quick to introduce themselves to one another and pair off. The boys from both schools required a bit more cajoling on the part of teachers to get the conversations started.

On the second day, grade 7 & 8 student from Tygervalley College arrived with gift baskets for grade 1 students at the host school. The decorated goody bags included candy, snacks, and a drink. After distributing the goody bags, the grade 1 students sang a song for the Tygervalley College students. The Tygervalley College students returned the favor by improvising a performance of some kind. My mind is blanking on the details. Later in the day, the grade 7 & 8 students took presented gifts of books and toys to the school library. They then spent an hour reading to grade 2 students from the host school.

It’s easy to get down about the state of South Africa. Fifteen years since the end of apartheid, many of the systemic problems that characterized the darkest period of South Africa’s history persist. In the meantime, AIDS/HIV has devastated families and entire communities. South Africa’s government is failing to deliver basic services, including electricity and drinking water, to the communities that need them the most. And yet, wealthy South Africa buzzes along as if nothing is wrong.

The two days Fre and I spent assisting with the “outreach programs” at Centurus Colleges allowed me to focus on something very positive. The experience reminded me that children the world over have an easy time setting aside their differences and finding common ground on which to become friends.

On February 13th and 14th, I witnessed the full beauty and diversity of South Africa’s founding peoples and was given much reason to believe they could build a nonracial and socially equitable future for their country.

A note from Fre:

It is heart warming to see those students interacting and making friends. See for yourself in the video we made! It is sad, sad, SAD to realize that this exchange, and actual meeting of black children and white children, took 15 years after Apartheid to happen. Thanks to the leaders at Centurus Colleges Trust, who have made it easy for these kids to “make friends”! Bravo! check also our photo gallery for more pics of this day…

By Anasuya Isaacs

The Arts and Leadership Academy is off to a rousing start! We have just completed our third session with the COSAT 11th and 12th graders. Yesterday, we were blown away by the remarkable progress they made from week 2 to 3.

In Week 2, We took them deeper into the distinctions of leadership.
What a Leader is NOT
Leader = Boss: someone who “makes people do things”.
Leader = Center of attention; who it’s all about
Leader = “Them”: anyone else responsible

A Leader IS someone who knows
To Lead is to Serve
To Lead is To Follow
To Lead is to Listen
To Lead is To Risk

A Leader is someone who is always arrives first and leaves last. They learned this the hard way by incurring my wrath. Our first Class starts when everyone is present so that no one is left behind. Most were late, but the last three to arrive came 25 minutes late. Not a great way to start the day. I had to make sure that this behavior ended right then and there. So in my calmest, tone I let it be known that a real leader would not be so selfish and self-centered enough to have people waiting for them (since the majority of them who were late had arrived early to the school and were just hanging in the hallway talking to friends). We reminded them that there was a waiting list so that they were all replaceable and that this was the last time we would have this conversation. It was crystal clear what was at stake for them.

The students explored the impact of wanting to be leader so that they can be everything a leader is not. When they thought about those who embodied what a leader is not, they saw for themselves how things don’t improve; there’s more corruption and abuse of power. They were coached on making a presentation, on what the inner and outer state should be to get their message across clearly. They then began to share the essays they wrote addressing a need they saw in their community and how they would solve it using their role model, the thing they loved the most and a cultural tradition. They received feedback on the thought that went into solving the problem and originality as well as on their use of the proper inner and outer qualities. Most were very good and a few put little time in and it showed! All were taught how to give feedback based on the work, and not on the person, so that they could develop their critical minds. The standouts all came from the 12th graders: Zukile (watch his video!), Nobenathi, Zimkhita, and Ntuthuzelo. Bravo!

The focus of yesterday’s class was team: if one fails, they all fail. They are just one group, one being and they were all going to win or nobody was. They created a buddy system so that no one is late or absent unless in an emergency. They don’t know each other well as they come from all of the surrounding townships to this special school devoted to Math and Science, so to get them to take on buddies to support one another is a big thing.

The students left last week determined to go deeper, give it more team and to expand what they think they could do. They came back yesterday, to our session that were held 1) for three and a half hours sessions vs. the regular two hours and 2) on a day school is closed due to the Easter/ Spring Break holiday. These kids were early, ready, and absolutely brilliant! Their work had improved tremendously and there was pride! Yes, PRIDE in the work they had done. The 11th graders were great but the student who raised the bar was Wanele, the older of the twins, who clearly was speaking the United Nations in his address. Please take the time to watch the video of his presentation. This young 16 year old is the next Nelson Mandela!

The twelfth graders were stellar, raising the bar and encouraging one another to do well. They are really starting to be there for one another as if the other were them. There’s a quote that they are beginning to embody: “You are ‘me’ cleverly disguised as ‘you’”. A true leader is one with the team/community/country.

To lead is to serve! Next we will be putting this quote of wisdom into action very soon! All of the students are starting to get very clear that there is no one coming. There isn’t someone else to come fix their community, their city, their country. They are the ones we are waiting for and these bright lights are going to deliver!

Blessings from Khayalitsha!
Anasuya