Sunday, May 16, 2010

Port Elizabeth and beyond....(Part 1)

Greetings on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Soweto! There are only two months to go until my feet will touch American soil for the first time since August, a reality that I do not think will hit me until I am actually home. I will try my best to make the most out of my final nine weeks here in South Africa. My work will continue at Diakonia AIDS Ministry and I will keep spending time with those who I consider my South African family. I will also be attending the final volunteer’s retreat in June followed by a few soccer matches (in case you haven’t heard, there is a big soccer tournament starting in June that’s supposed to be kind of a big deal…). I thought winter was settling in but after a few chilly weeks, it is warm and sunny once again. I have been away from Soweto for about two weeks, so, as always, it is nice to be back.

 Much has happened in the last fortnight (yeah, I really wanted to use “fortnight” for the first time ever in my writing). On May 2, I departed with seven of my fellow Sowetans on the Greyhound bus headed for the city of Port Elizabeth located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. A short sixteen hours later (tongue planted firmly in cheek) we arrived in PE and ventured over to St. Luke’s Retreat Centre, which was to be the site of a week-long training designed to impart the skills of a community organizer on each of us. You may have heard the term “community organizer” before in relation to our nation’s President. In fact, Mr. Obama took part in the very same training lead by the very same facilitator, Mr. Greg Galluzzo, founder of the Gamaliel Foundation based in Chicago (in 2024 the Oval Office is mine!). This organization is affiliated with CBCO South Africa (Communities Building Credible Ownership), which seeks to mobilize average citizens to rally together in order to induce positive changes in their communities. My supervisor at DAM, Reverend Mugivhi, sits on the board of directors for CBCO Soweto, hence my being sent to this training. Community organizing is all about influencing political change. It involves becoming a player in “the public arena,” which is a step many of us who are comfortable in our everyday private lives are afraid or unwilling to take. To influence change one must have to power to do so. To obtain power, one must be able to organize people and organize money. This workshop, in a nutshell, sought to give each of us the tools to do just that. Throughout the course of history, there have been many great organizers. From Moses to Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr. to Caesar Chavez, and of course in the context of South Africa, freedom fighters like Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. The concept is not a new one.

 I will not go into great detail about the theory of community organizing since I do not wish to condense what I learned over the course of a week into this entry. I will just say that the training was an empowering and enlightening experience. Although entering the public arena to influence political change is not an easy task, it seems a bit less daunting after my week in Port Elizabeth. My preexisting ideas were continually challenged. For instance, the notion of “helping” people was something we examined. Instead of helping people, the facilitators suggest we focus on mobilizing people so they can help themselves. For example, it is all well and good to feed the hungry, but the real courageous thing to do would be to rally people together who are angry about hunger to challenge the root causes of hunger in the community. As someone who loves giving others a hand but hates confrontation, this was not that easy to take in. However, I do not doubt the validity of the theory. This world needs organizers; I just have to figure out whether or not I have the courage to become one of them.

 There were times during training when I felt like I did not belong there. While I am used to feeling like a bit of an outsider anyway due to my nationality and the color of my skin, this time is was more because of my past. Throughout the week, we were encouraged (if not required) to share about our lives in order to really unveil what our passions are. For instance, a friend of mine from Soweto lost her mother to and AIDS related illness because she was unable to get antiretroviral medication from the government. It is no wonder why my friend is now volunteering at Diakonia AIDS Ministry. Another person shared about how his late father spent eighteen years imprisoned on Robben Island, sentenced alongside Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial (read about it, please). This person told me personally how he made bombs for the MK (the armed wing of the ANC). He now is a pastor who wishes to bring about political change peacefully. Everyone in that room besides the facilitators and myself were oppressed by the apartheid regime, the physical and emotional scars still evident today. There were times I allowed myself to be reduced to the role of spectator, feeling that as a white American male I could never even begin to empathize. When we had one-on-one conversations (something that was part of the training), I always insisted on being the listener rather than the one telling the story. I suppose that has always been my personality, though. It was difficult for me. I was not only taking part in an intense training, but I was also wrestling with why I was there in the first place. Even as I write now, I am still trying to come to grips with the whole thing. One reason I came to South Africa was so I can find my place in the world. If anything, I am less sure now. Good thing I’m only 24.

 Not all of CBCO training left me feeling like I had gotten my butt kicked (I haven’t even mentioned the “agitation” workshop, which is pretty much as it sounds). I met many amazing people of all ages and different walks of life. I found the younger crowd, many of whom reside in Port Elizabeth, who were eager to take me away from the retreat centre and show me good time around the city. We went out to their favorite bars down at the boardwalk, had late-night hamburgers and ice cream, and laughed until our sides hurt. As a missionary overseas, I often have to take a moment ask myself, “How did I get here?” (Talking Heads reference not really intended) How did I get to a casino in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, having drinks with a bunch of people I just met, yet feel extremely comfortable around? It just the way this year works. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was also with this crew when I celebrated the 24th anniversary of the day I entered this world. Luckily my birthday coincided with the end of training party, so at least there was a party I could pretend was for me. Good times were had by all.

 I am really glad Reverend Mugivhi sent me to CBCO training. I doubt that I will know for some time how the information I leaned will be useful to me, but I am certain that it will be in whatever I choose to do. I did not agree with everything the facilitators said, but I have a lot of respect for them and what they do. I am sure my description of the training did not do it justice, so if anyone is curious to know more do not hesitate to ask (probably when I get home). Following CBCO training, I set off on another kind of adventure. It was originally my intent to write about both CBCO and my solo backpacking trip in this one reflection but I think it is better that I do it as a two-part series. So stay tuned for the second half of my story, which will be posted as soon as I write it. Thanks again for reading. Peace. 

1 comment:

  1. You got to the Boardwalk with a bunch of people you felt comfortable with for one simple reason - you visited the Friendly City of Port Elizabeth, nothing is too much trouble for us......

    Glad you had a great time here in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole. Visit us again soon.

    ReplyDelete