Settling In

Those of you who know me well would know that I could never stoop so low as to become hooked on a TV soap opera. In South Africa, the “soapies” come on TV between 5 and 7pm and I am told are 3 years behind the sagas in the U.S. So, my only question for you, is tell me now on “The Bold and the Beautiful:” DOES RIDGE GET BACK WITH BROOKE OR DOES HE STAY WITH TAYLOR? IN FACT, WHO DOES BROOKE END WITH, ANYWAY? Ah, the twists and turns of life as a wise man recently told me.

I am two months living now at my permanent work site that Peace Corps matched me with. I have a nice bedroom with double bed, desk with mirror and ample closets. I don’t have privacy except in my bedroom which I thought would be more of a problem than it is. In South African cultures, friends and family don’t wait for an invitation or appointment to get together socially. One just arrives at the home and walks in. Culture also dictates that if that guest is hungry, he must be given food. If the guest arrives in the middle of some project or work the family is engaged in, then the guest just pitches in. The people feel it is an expression of love and friendship to be this intimate with each other. Nonetheless, I need to get away sometimes and new friends I’ve made will fetch me and take me to church or their homes for supper…….there’s not much else going on in my small town, no movie theaters, no shopping malls, no book stores. So, going to church has been my method of meeting people outside of work.

South Africa is a very religious country. There is no separation of church and state here in South Africa. We gather as a group to begin our work day at the NGO office I work out of with one or two praise songs and then a prayer, usually given by the director of the organization. Before a business meeting we pray and before a meal we pray. The majority of the population is Christian with a minority of Hindus and Moslems. I find this cultural arrtribute helps me keep my perspective and balance during the day.

The major adjustment for me living here has been the issue of race relations. I know this is an indelicate subject, but South Africa’s history and identity is all about race and where you fit in the scheme of things by the color of your skin. When talking about someone in conversation, their race is mentioned as one of the main identifiers. I live in a formerly all white Afrikaaner town. Before democracy in 1994, no Coloreds, Indians, and especially Blacks, could live in town by law. By law, they lived in shacks (and still do), tens of thousands just over a low rising hill by where I live now. They lived far enough away so not to be seen but close enough to ride buses and kombis into town to do the menial labor of the Whites. As I travel around the country I see all communities set up the same way. South Africa is 82% Black and 10% White with Coloreds and Indians making up the balance. Most of my friends are Black. It is more challenging to make Afrikaaner friends. I sense from some of the shopkeepers that outsiders, no matter what color their skin, are to be viewed with caution. It will take more time to gain their trust, I think.

Language is an interesting issue as well. Everyone learns English in school and can speak it well generally, yet I have heard English being spoken on the street just once in 8 weeks. Generally, English is only used for business meetings or when the folks I’m with are trying to make it easier for me.

Work-wise, I am still in an orientation period. The Peace Corps drilled into us at training that we should take 3 months at our work sites before we decide to take on any large projects. One thing I do feel good about is an initiative that I am helping to facilitate which involves a community collaborative between Dutch Reform Church pastors inside town and Black Christian pastors from the township outside of town to create a drop-in center for OVCS (orphans and vulnerable children due to the effects of AIDS) in the township. Without even a thorough survey, our home-based care volunteers have identified 260 orphans in the township, some in child-headed households with the biggest of their needs being food, clothing and shelter…….a disaster relief situation if ever I saw one (and I did in New Orleans). When I saw the bridges of understanding and friendship begin to develop between the two principal pastors of different colors, culture and history, I knew then and there that if I never achieved anything else in my two years in the Peace Corps, I could go home to the U.S happy and satisfied with contributing to the healing and growth of the new South Africa.