We’ve been in Durban, South Africa for the last 4 days for a short vacation. Durban is on the eastern coast of the country, and it’s very warm, almost tropical here. I guess anything is warm compared to Zonkizizwe right now! Today is our last day in Durban. Tonight we will head off to a place not far from here called Pietermaritzburg. Supposedly we’re going to be staying in a guest house in the bush. I’m really excited for that because that means it will be quiet! I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a quiet night since I’ve been in South Africa. In the townships there is always noise—radios blasting, dog barking, roosters crowing, people yelling. In Johannesburg you hear the various sounds of a city. I’ve been told that we will be stopping at a local NGO and a primary school before we leave for Pietermaritzburg.
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Before we left Durban we made stop at a place called the Sweetwater Center. The center is located outside of Durban in Kwa-Zulu Natal province, in a rural area in the valley of the mountains. Women come to the center from all over the province to make quilts, bags, placemats, and jewelry to sell. Some of the money they make will go to the center to purchase fabric and sewing machines, while the majority of the money will go into their homes as income. I bought a huge quilt from a woman named Sibongile Nkala. It’s one of the biggest quilts I have ever seen, with very intricate stitching and lots of small, bright square pieces. I paid R 600 for my quilt, quite a large chunk of money for the average South African, but only about $80 US. In the United States one would expect to pay at least $300 - $400 for a quilt that size. I learned that sometimes a team of multiple women will work day and night on the quilts, making a quilt as complex as mine in as little as three or four days! The women are really talented at what they do. I really liked the idea of the Sweetwater Center because it is a bigger part of an operation seeking to empower women in South Africa.
The center is part of a bigger organization called the Rural Women’s Movement, or RWM for short. RWM is a community based organization geared toward empowering women that was started by Sizane Ngwbane in 1998 and became an official NGO in 2000. It started out as an organization that educated women about land rights and translated English legislation into isiZulu so that women could vote with confidence. Now it has expanded to teach women their rights to own land and access resources throughout the country, trains women to acquire land and learn sustainable farming, as well as gets them on their way to self-sufficiency. Today it helps between 40 and 50 thousand women in rural areas across South Africa! I find that absolutely amazing—and to think it all started with one woman!
After leaving the Sweetwater Center, we visited a local primary school called Ibubu Primary School. When we got there some children in Grade 6 put on a performance for us. Though the gesture was sweet, it always makes me feel a little uncomfortable when African children perform for white tourists. They did an excellent job, however, and it made me think that if our children at VVOCF could get some musical training, they could really develop their already blooming talents.
As the rest of the MSU students stood around outside, I asked permission to go inside an unattended Grade 6 classroom. I walked inside and the kids went crazy! “Umulungu! Umulungu!” (or “White person!” “White person!”) they kept saying, and I responded with: “Hey! Ugubani igama lami ngu Nicole, NOT mulungu!” (“Hey! My name is Nicole, NOT white person!”). They were shocked that I could speak isiZulu! I tried to speak to them in Zulu for a little bit, but my knowledge of the language is very limited. When my Zulu ran out, I used English and they understood just fine. They were so nice, funny, and curious about everything. They asked a lot of questions about me like: Are you married? Do you have a child? How old are you? Do you live with your parents? They were also fascinated by the flower tattoo on my ankle. They laughed when I told them it was an “imbali” or “rose” in isiZulu. When I was in that classroom I looked around at their simple chalkboard and wooden desk set up and I could not help but feel a pain in my heart. Something strange came over me and I had the biggest urge, no—more like a waking dream—of becoming a teacher in South Africa. I could see myself sitting at the teacher’s desk writing on the chalkboard, looking out at the faces of my learners. What a feeling! I was sad to leave them, but it was time to go.
When we left the school we went to get some food in town. Some people went to a local supermarket to pick up food for the night’s dinner. I ate at a McDonalds-- it was the first one I had seen in South Africa and the first time I had eaten it in months! After the first couple bites I realized that I hadn’t been missing much. After that we were off to our lodge in the bush area. After getting lost and stalling a few times going up the massive hills, we finally made it. We settled into our little log cabins and started cooking dinner. Each cabin made something to eat and we all brought it together at one cabin. People piled their plates high and we all ate like one big family. When the dishes were done, people started to relax and enjoy the starry skies, the wind in the trees, and the sound of crickets.
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