Happy New Year everyone! I am back in Cape Town and I realize I haven't blogged for awhile but I didn't have anything to blog about since the centre was closed but fortunately for me along came the VISION Group from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.
VISION is an acronym for "Volunteers In Service Internationally or Nationally". Since 1987 thousands of students have traveled the globe trying to affect positive social change and to experience the diverse beauty of the world's cultures. There are six components to the VISION Program: Service, Simplicity, Community, Justice Issues, Spirituality and Cultural Exchange. This is the first time that VISION has been to South Africa. The focus of their program is AIDS, Apartheid and the Arts of Resistance coordinated by Kim Vrudney, Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas and Richard Cogill, an Anglican priest in the Western Cape Diocese. The VISION group consisted of one staff member and 9 students, all girls! The VISION group is here for 3 weeks, the first week they spent touring Cape Town and learning the history of Apartheid through lectures, films and books. I come into the picture because they spent 5 nights in the township, staying at the homes of members of the JL Zwane congregation. Edwin (manager of the JL Zwane Centre, I profiled Edwin last year) and I worked on their itinerary and housing arrangements. It was such a wonderful week for all of us. The students raised $8,000 for food parcels that they assembled and distributed one day to 130 people in the community of Guguletu. They visited clinics and hospitals, spent a morning going out with hospice carers into the homes of people who needed assistance, served lunch to seniors at the CPOA Senior Centre (the centre where Mary and Teach were at) and went to a clinic with Siyaya where Siyaya performed a play to educate the people in the clinic about HIV/AIDS, TB and STDS. In the evenings they all congregated at one of the homestay families home for dinner, music and dancing. I went along on the last night where there was much happiness but also sadness in the fact that the students would be leaving the host families the next day. They openly shared their feelings and experiences with their mamas and their new families, I have to say I teared up, the mamas also shared their feelings, it was one big love fest!
If you have been reading my blog you read about me being late to the mass when Archbishop Desmond Tutu was presiding. Well, thanks to the VISION Group I was able to redeem myself. Richard is a close, personal friend of the Archbishop and so the VISION Group was invited to attend mass and meet him after. They invited me along, I made sure that I was on time, in fact early so once again I had the pleasure of being in his presence. After mass we were able to greet him and get our photo taken. I made sure I was in that photo to prove I really did meet him. After mass we had coffee with him and some of the students were able to get their books and postcards autographed by him. I was taking pictures of him, trying not to be too obvious so I decided not to push the autograph thing realizing that I was just invited along, I was not a student!
After coffee we went and toured the Provincial Parliament Building. It was very educational. I learned so much more about the history of South Africa, Apartheid and their government. I still struggle with how their political system operates but I will continue to try and learn.
For their last few days VISION is staying at a retreat centre outside Cape Town where they will reflect on all they have seen, heard and participated in. I am sure they will have a lot to talk about and to share with each other. I thoroughly enjoyed this group of bright, energetic, lovely young woman and hope they took away as much from their visit as I did.
Kevin Winge arrived this week so everyone at the centre is over the moon. I know I will be busy but I will try to blog about all we encounter, always an exciting time when Kevin is here. Having spent 6 months here himself he has so many people that want to spend time with him. It is Kevin's birthday on Saturday and so we are having a party for him. So far there are almost 30 guests, who knew we had so many friends in South Africa!
Photos:
1. Homestay families (note the JL Zwane t-shirts).
2. Team effort putting food parcels together.
3. The seniors singing for the VISION Group.
4. VISION Group with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
5. VISION Group at the Provincial Parliament Building.
Bye for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment