Impressions of the trip

This is another look at St. George's Cathedral.

Here are some more impressions of this journey.

It was often the small things that were so disconcerting, too. I don't think I ever fully adjusted to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. I got used to it, but driving took effort. The Rand goes in our favor when we travel from the US but I am just starting to get a sense of what some of the coins are. I never stopped staring at the townships next to the highways. The extent of the housing needs here is staggering. I never got used to the people who walk beside the highway everywhere. Even more dangerous are the frequent occasions when people cross the major highways running in between traffic. I don't blame the folks who do this but it seems part of the housing problem and the challenges of the poverty that townships have been built on either side of the highways and this custom, though dangerous, is widespread. And as this is my first trip to the southern hemisphere, it seemed there was something wrong with the sun - like it was inthe wrong place, or came up too late in the day and left too early. It is odd how much our experiences are shaped by the simple rhythms of the sky.

Often the best moments also took me by surprise.
The elephants playing in the road at the big game reserve seemed unaware that some humans were sitting nearby in small vehicles, rapt by their exuberant play.
The sound of singing. This African singing is so joyous, and so often spontaneous. The rhythm is so wonderful and it gets into your body. So many people sang easily and well: AIDS volunteers formed a choir; Sunday school children used their hymnals for percussion; School girls gathering for chapel in Inanda were singing at 7:30 a.m. It made me see that singing is such a natural and life-giving thing to do. It was never a performance, but a part of life - like breathing.

Susan

Wednesday, May 30

Just one day left on this amazing odyssey. Yesterday Sarah and I toured downtown Capetown. We visited St. George's Cathedral, made famous as the church of Bishop Desmond Tutu. It was the place where he called South Africa a rainbow nation, and led the march of 30,000. I found it to be a stunning sanctuary, quite apart from its historic significance.

Sarah and I enjoyed some good time together. She has only a few weeks left here, before she returns to the US in mid-June. This has been quite a significant journey for her, as well.

For my part, I have found that so many of the treasured moments of this trip have been more subtle and affecting than I imagined at first. South Africa is noit a sublte place, at first glance. It has such a melding of races and issues all writ large when you arrive here. The scenery is vast, diverse and beautiful. The wildlife is strange to my eyes, and really wild. These are not zoos we visit. The people blend language and cultures in a new mix that re-defines diversity. My own exposure to so many ministers, professors, and different characters has made this trip rich in many ways.

Even though it would seem there is nothing about South Africa which is subtle, I found the small moments carried the larger significance.

Even for all my planning in advance, it was the chance meetings that brought some of the greatest pleasures. From this vantage - here are a few highlights -

The chance meeting with the school girls in Kwa Mashu. The look on Sarah's face when I greeted her for the first time outside a coffee shop near the University of Cape Town campus. The little girls and boys who studied me in the first church we visited. I realized later that they may not have seen a woman in a collar before, or perhaps they had not seen a white woman in a collar, in their church. The fact that Flo Mandlala wore the cross I gave her to the launch of the AIDS center.

Meeting with Rev. Tim Attwell, Tuesday May 29

Rev. Tim Attwell was the Methodist minister whom I met when I arrived here and went to worship on Sunday May 13. He was quoted in the Cape Times as the spokeman for a group of 19 clergy who raised the issue among the Methodist clergy that pastors should be able to bless same sex unions. The pastors who raised this issue were dismissed temporarily from the conference until the church could determine what to do about this issue. They were promptly re-instated, but the action made the paper. And it seemed quite a coincidence to be there the Sunday after it happened and hear about it from him.

So, I asked if he would meet me to talk. He saw me today in his study at the parsonage of the Rosebank United Methodist Church in Rondebosch. It is an active church and while I waited to see him the church caretaker showed me the soup kitchen where they were preparing to serve 50 homeless people at noon, which they do every Tuesday. Other churches take other days. He arrives at 5:30 to prepare the soup in the morning.

Rev. Attwell met me in his study and we chatted for over an hour. I regret that it seemed rude to ask if I could take a picture for my blog so I cannot show you this pastor who has a great heart for people which has turned him into a prophetic voice.We sat on comfortable brown cordoroy couches surrounded by his theology books, and talked about the progress and challenge of the gospel in our time.

The Cape Times today was full of stories on this topic. 500 clergy and prominent leaders have signed a petition aimed at the South African Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church asking the synod to instate or re-instate gay clergy who have been dismissed because of their sexual orientation. The effort is led by a minister whose son was asked to leave the Dutch Reformed Church because he is openly gay. It looks like that Synod will have to deal with this.

The Progressive Reformed Jewish community in South Africa just decided to allow rabbis to bless same sex unions. So the topic is in the South African news.

Rev. Attwell said that the Methodist churches have not been united in a discussion about justice since the 1980's when concerns about apartheid rocked the church. It is very clear to me that the people who serve these churches have a keen sense of justice which was honed in those days, and which stays clear as they minister in this place.
Susan

Inanda Seminary for Girls Monday, May 28

On Monday we arrived for chapel service at Inanda Seminary for Girls. The story at Inanda is a real story of hope in South Africa. In the 1830's one of the leading missionaries to South Africa was Danial Lindley. He started a seminary for African Boys and then after a number of years his wife, Sarah, insisted on founding a seminary for girls. It was new to insit that African girls needed a high school education. Heri initial concern may have been that young women be suitably educated to serve as minister's wives, but the school has continued to offer educational opportunities to African girls.

Today it has 330 girls and they poured into the chapel and started singing in Zulu on Monday morning. Spontaneously they filled that hall with this glorious sound. The chaplain of the school is a UCC minister names Rev. Susan Valcourt Cuper. She is a missionary appointed by Global Ministries and supported by the church contributions to OCWM (Our Church's Wider Mission). She and her husband, Rev. Scott Cuper, another minister who serves a local church, live with their children on the campus. Susan leads chapel services at the beginning of each day.

Inanda Seminary was almost closed five years ago. The buildings were in disrepair and the UCC could no longer afford to support it. But the alums, called "old girls" are African women who have risen to prominence in their churches and communities. Flo Mandlala, the woman I visited who started the AIDS Care Center in Lamontville, is an active alum of Inanda. She and others were determined to keep the school open. So they took the case to Nelson Mandela, who prevailed upon the major paper industry executives at SAPY. This industry has poured 6 million Rands into the school to begin renovating the buildings. That initial contribution was followed by twice as much again to bring the campus back.

Now it is a great example of a school that is giving African girls a chance to transform their lives through education. I met the headmistress and had breakfast at the home of the chaplain. When it was time for the picture the girls were literally jumping into the photo when I explained that it would go on a website and people in the US would see it. (I thought one girl was really going to hurt herself in her enthusiasm.)

I am experiencing some technical difficulting on this posting, and cannot eliminate the duplicat picture. But if you want to see more and better pictures of this school go to their website - www.inanda.org

Susan

Sunday, May 27 East Woods Church

On Sunday I visited the East Woods church near Pietermaritzburg. This is a church known for its active outreach program in the community.

The church has two ministers. I sat with the Senior Pastor Rev. Awi Boyssen. His associate, an Indian pastor Rev. Vasu preached and led worship.

The people in this church were very gracious and invited me to speak and bring greetings from Needham, which I was happy to do. After the service they also asked me to stand at the door and greet everyone. People greet each other after service saying, "God bless you."

Before the communion took place, the minister invited the children to the altar for a blessing. I took one picture but I doubt that the photo does justice to the tender exchange that took place in this moment. Each child went forward and the minister placed his hands on his or her head and said a blessing. People all over the church were touched by this ritual.

They have an active program to feed the homeless twice a week. It is called a feeding station. They also have a building where they provide child care to AIDS orphans - children living with grandparents or extended family because they have lost both parents to AIDS. They serve 156 children who are AIDS orphans. Awi showed me the expansion that they are trying to build to serve food to more people. He is tireless in his efforts, though it is constant work to raise the money to increase the kitchen. He walked me through the construction site.

Following the service I was invited to the Boyssen home for a chat and Mrs. Boyssen prepared Sunday dinner for all of us, which included a grown daughter and son-in-law.

Awi has his own worries. He and Marie have grown children, but one daughter is HIV+ and her sister, whom I met, is a singer and is trying to raise money to produce a CD to raise money for AIDS treatment. Awi himself, lives with constant back pain after a car accident, but he has a big heart and is tireless in his efforts to help others. It was inspiring to be there.

Susan

Thandalethu Care Center - Launch May 25

On Friday I attended the launch of the Care Center. Thankdalethu means "Our hope." It is the culmination of a dream of ten years on the part of Flo Mandlala. Many town officials - councillors, and representatives of the Mayor of Lamontville Town Ship attended. The local priest gave the opening prayer, and a UCC minister who works for Global Ministries gave the benediction. Scott is supported by UCC church dollars when we contribute to OCWM through out church Outreach budget.

The Care Center is based on the model of the Living Center in Boston. It is a place where people can get medicine for HIV and for TB. It also provides meals so that people will take their medicine with food, and are more likely to keep taking it. At the launch we heard 2 hours of speeches interspersed with singing by the care-givers who have formed a choir. There are 20 caregivers - who are people who go to visit people with AIDS in their homes. Their voices were strong and their message was very uplifting. One of them is HIV+ himself and he spoke. His talk was in Zulu but I could tell that people were very moved. I felt fortunate to have been here for this occasion.

The speakers included a businessman from Durban who contributed to the center, 3 city counsellors, a local doctor who spoke about the deadly combination of TB and HIV. He stressed that TB is preventable but when you have both and fail to take the medicine, it is a lethal combination. Mrs. Hall who has been one of my hosts, also spoke at the launch, as a representative of the Trinitarian Church in Concord, which has supported this AIDS Care Center with their Christmas Offerings.

Following the program we all toured the facility. I have two pictures of it. The garden provides patients with fresh food, and the beds give sicker patients a quiet place to stay, and a hot meal when they are sick all day and no one is at home. The whole event finished with a hot luncheon for all 150 of us. I had visited the center earlier in the week and given the director a small cross. I was so touched that she wore it yesterday.

I continue to be impressed by the great need here and the ways that a little of our support can do a great deal and make a real difference.

Susan

School Children Lamontville Town Ship May 25

When I toured Lamontville Town Ship I visited a Roman Catholic Church and took a picture of one of the paintings on the wall. They had pictures of the life of Christ with Jesus and his disciples as Africans. The whole sanctuary was painted in turquise and black with these brightly painted pictures of the life of Christ on the walls. It was a very joyful presentation of the gospel.

Then I met some school girls who were outside their school. They were not in class because a teacher's strike had shortened the day. So I had the opportunity to talk to them for about 20 minutes. In many ways, this chance meeting was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We really talked.

These 7th graders were fascinated when they realized that I was from the U.S. They told me that they were studying other countries in school. The first thing they asked was about the life expectancy in the US and then they asked if we have HIV. Then we got into this frank conversation about how it is possible to stop HIV but people have to talk about it. They were so eager to talk about it.

They asked about my bracelet which I got from Beads for Life to support women in Uganda who have HIV. We talked about how the ladies made these bracelets out of magazine paper. They asked me how much the bracelet cost and when I told them what it would be in Rands they were amazed at the price. And then I told them the big truth of this whoel trip - the difference in the value of currency and standard of living is what separates us. And I tried to explain that the bracelet which was affordable to me had changed the lives of these ladies who could now pay for their food and buy their own homes. But that was not because I was so rich but because the transfer of income was so much in my favor. It was a big lesson for such a short encounter, but I did not want them to feel so overwhelmed.

But really that has been the lesson of this trip for me. Everywhere you go people are selling African crafts that are made out of our trash. Colored telephone wire is turned into baskets. A man on the beach does sand sculture which is real art and he begs for coins. He is not homeless just an average man with a gift for art. Stones are carved into sculpture. Wood is carved into trinkets. It is all cheap for us.

I bought a few things at the grocery store yesterday and the bill was 35 Rands. Rands run 7 to a dollar so it cost me $5. The great disparity in economic realities is stunning and affects everything.

Then the girls asked if I knew Byonce and I laughed. They asked if I knew Will Smith. They asked if I had met Oprah. Oprah is huge in Africa. There are only a few channels on the television unless you spend a lot on a major dish package. Oprah is on every night at 10 p.m. which must a live feed because she is on at 4 at home. They so wanted me to know someone important and kept asking me about African Americnas they admired. Then I told them that I had gone to hear Desmund Tutu when he spoke at a church in Boston, and I told them he was a great hero to me. They seemed pleased.

When I waved goodbye, one girl told me to say hello to Will Smith.

They also took the time to write their names out because I told them I would put their picture on my website so that people in the US could see them -

Alizwa Mjungula, Lerato Maloyi (She wanted to be remembered as "Princess" because she told me that Americans could never remember her name.) Mitchell Mtombela, Sthembile Nyuswa, Phindile Sicongwane, Snenulanula Mzwilini, Sizakele Nkosi, Zanele Dladla.

Something about this encounter really touched me.

Susan