39. Day 14 (Aug 29) – Programs in the Townships

(Note: I do not trust the videos in this posting so I have done them twice.  If clicking on the video picture itself doesn't work, clicking on the link beneath it should take you to the You Tube site where they reside.  If neither work, please contact me.)

One of the aspects of Road Scholar that I like is that they generally believe in responsible tourism.  And one part of this is that we visit not just the usual tourist locations but we are given information about other things that happen in the community.  When we went to India, one part of a day was spent visiting a little 2-room schoolhouse in the Indian countryside.  Today the itinerary description of the morning in Cape Town started like this:

"Visit several grassroots, community-based projects through Uthando South Africa, a non-profit organization that gives back to the community.  Visits to these projects are done on a non-commercialized, authentic, and interactive basis with a view to genuine and meaningful interaction."

Uthando is a very interesting organization.  It describes itself as a non-profit and fair trade in tourism accredited company whose aim is to raise funds and other forms of assistance for community development projects in South Africa.  In part it raises money by charging other tour companies for taking people on a tour of one or more of the projects it sponsors.  We had three stops this morning.  In each case we got to see what the project was and how it operated.  We also had an opportunity to meet with and sometimes interact with the people involved in the project and sometimes to purchase locally made goods.

Uthando is a Xhosa word meaning “love.”  While we’re on the subject of language, let’s see what Xhosa is.  The Xhosa language is spoken by about 7.6 million people or about 18% of South Africa.  It is best known as the “click” language and there are three distinct clicking sounds – represented in the written of the language by the consonants c, q, and x.  Thus the name of the language itself starts with a click.  It is one of the official languages of South Africa and among the Bantu languages (i.e., all South African official languages except for English and Afrikaans) it is the most widely distributed throughout various parts of South Africa although Zulu is spoken by a greater number of people.  It is not uncommon in South African to meet people who speak English, Zulu, and Xhosa and sometimes even Afrikaans (although many non-white non-coloured don’t speak Afrikaans as it is viewed as the language of the oppressor).

Our first stop was at the Ekhaya eKhasi Art and Education Centre.  Like all three places were visited, this was in the Khayelitsha township section of Cape Town.  The name means “new home” in Xhosa and is said to be the largest and fastest growing township in South Africa.  We were welcomed by the director, Lulama Sihlabeni.

Lulama Sihlabeni, Direct of Ekhaya eKhasi Art and Education Centre

This was the most diverse, in the sense of activities involved, of the projects we visited.  This included activities involving training of women, 

Training of Women

a family literacy activity, 

Family Literacy Activity

edible gardening (with a rooftop garden)

Edible Gardening Rooftop Garden

and AIDS awareness.  

The second place we visited is called Abalimi Bezekhaya (Xhosa, I believe, for The Planters of the Home).  Its goal is to improve sustainable food production and provide self-employment through gardening and micro-farming.  They have a garden center called People’s Garden Centre provide free advice, information, a subsidized gardening resources as well as demonstration gardening / farming.  Here are some pictures taken there.

People's Garden Centre - 1

People's Garden Centre - 2

People's Garden Centre - 3

The third project we visited is called NOAH which is an acronym (in English) for Neighbourhood Old Age Home – or rather we visited one of the 2 community centers for NOAH.  In addition it has 12 houses for the fit elderly, 2 assisted living facilities, a primary health care clinic, and what is described as a growing network of social clubs.  

As we approached the community center where a number of the poor elderly South Africans were gathered, we could hear music.  They had all gathered, as they do regularly, to sing and dance.  And we were getting the privilege of getting to see this event.

When we entered, we were able to see the dancing and hear the singing, as you can too in this short little 24 second video.

Singing and Dancing at NOAH Group
The t-shirts that many of the people are wearing represent a visit many of them had made earlier that year to nearby Robben Island (see next post), the site of a brutal prison run by the apartheid regime where Nelson Mandela and many other ANC people were held during the struggle.  Since freedom only came 20 years ago to this group of older South Africans, that is a very real and meaningful celebration.

We all eventually were seated along the walls.  

Seated Along Walls at NOAH Centre to Talk with Members

We were then each asked to stand up, say our names, and tell a little bit about ourselves.  Since most of the people spoke Xhosa (or possibly Zulu to some extent but were not very adept in English), there needed to be translation.  And then there were questions.  We were told that we would be likely asked if we were married and how many children we had.  And, among a population where wealth until quite recently was measured in cattle, the one member of our group who actually had a cattle ranch attracted a great deal of interest.

Now we need to switch back briefly to the earlier stop we made at the farming project.  Irene had asked our guide from Uthando a question about the pronunciation of a word in the South African National Anthem and the guide was impressed that she knew the National Anthem.  This event was memorialized but I hadn’t realized the importance of the photograph until later.  

Irene and Uthando Guide

So, now let’s spend a bit of time finding out about the South African National Anthem.  From a musical point of view, the anthem ends in a different key than the one it starts in, a feature shared with the Italian National Anthem. But that is where the similarities between the two anthems end.

During the struggle for freedom, the song Nikosi sikelel’ iAfrika (God Bless Africa) became the freedom song for the ANC and others who struggled against apartheid, although the song was originally composed by a Methodist school teacher in 1897.  Many of us who participated in solidarity rallies against the apartheid regime are familiar with the song.  In 1994 this song and the Call of South Africa were adopted as national anthems as both were performed at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration.  The songs were finally combined in 1997 so that the first two lines of the first stanza are in Xhosa, the last two lines of the first stanza are in Zulu, the second stanza is in Sesotho, the third stanza is in Afrikaans, and the fourth stanza is in English.  

Before we left for South Africa, Irene had spent some time learning how to sing the National Anthem and we joked that this wasn’t likely to be very useful.  But she was able to sing it the previous day with Albie Sachs and Vanessa September, and as we can see in the picture above, our guide learned that she knew the song.  So, unknown to Irene, the guide set up a special performance while we were at the NOAH Community Center where he and Irene began the song and the rest of the group joined in.  The video of this performance follows.  It runs about 2:05 and is well worth your time.  Notice how effortlessly and beautifully various of the senior citizens harmonize on the song.

And finally notice in the song how many of the South Africans in the group don’t sing the Afrikaans stanza of the song (which begins around 1:08 and goes to about 1:40).  A few more do sing the English version.  Whether they simply haven’t learned the Afrikaans portion of the anthem or refuse to sing it as Afrikaans remains the language of the oppressor I can’t say.  But enjoy the song.

Link to NOAH Group Singing South African National Anthem

Coming up next – a trip to Robben Island.
Link to Full Resolution Photos