This week was a lesson in P and F (patience and flexibility), the buzzwords of Peace Corps Existence. After a beautiful spring day last Sunday, the mountain turned into cold fog and mist. The view into the valley was a solid grey wall, revealing none of the life or sound in the kraals below. Each day, the moist air seemed to get heavier and colder as the dank wind blew through our flat and office. The air was so damp that even the duct tape we used to seal the windows slid down the window sill. We opened the curtains each morning hoping for a break in the fog so that we could get our washing done and the clothes would dry but the fog would not let up. Our Saturday trip to town turned sour as we missed the 6am taxi and had to hike to the tar road to hitch a ride or hope for the bus. All passing taxis were full and no one would stop for the strangers waiting by the side of the road so by 1030am we walked back to the Hospital to settle down for the day. Locals accept the vagaries of transportation and take the delays in stride and with good humor but us Americans think about wasted time and are annoyed with changed plans.
Amazingly we had a great afternoon in spite of the change in plans. The space radio was working in the fog so we were able to catch NPR radio shows including Click N Clack Car talk and Punchline. Surely passing patients wondered about the gales of laughter emanating from the flat behind the business office. This morning (Sunday) turned out bright and sunny so we tried again to head to town and caught a taxi on the tar road minutes after putting our index finger into the air bidding for a ride. Public transportation is doable-it is just uncertain and one has to be prepared to wait or give up when it just isn’t going to happen. The sad fact is that many unemployed people living here at Mountain High could get decent jobs in town but they cannot get reliable transportation to the job and there is no housing for them in town. So intelligent, capable men and women remain unemployed and unable to support their families.
The hat marathon is underway in earnest. By Friday 60 hats were sewn and ready to hit the market. By Friday afternoon the staff had scarfed up over 20 hats and were asking for more. (Of course some sales were IOU and some were layaways, known here as laybyes). But the enthusiasm is building and next week we will hit the pensioner market. Who knows, maybe even the taxi rank!!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hats Are Happening at Mountain High
This week started the campaign for sustainability of the occupational therapy program at Mountain View Hospital-Can income or funds be generated to keep the AIDS patient’s handcrafts going after we finish our service? To date around 300 patients have participated in the Jabule (Happiness) Sizabuntu Helping Project by learning dressmaking skills, beading a necklace, making a pair of sandals from black rubber soles, attending a cooking lesson or just playing bingo for the fun of it.
So how does a US Peace Corps volunteer make a US supported program for AIDS patients continue after the US money is gone and the Americans hurry home to resume their lives in Palos Verdes. The answer is HATS! Or at least this is the plan. For one year the beautiful fleece hats and scarves hand sewn by the patients have been the envy of the staff and visitors. Originally I envisioned selling the exotic Zulu beaded jewelry to provide funds for more beads and fabric but have since learned the age old problem with a product-Where is the market? However, all Zulus love warm fleece hats and scarves when Winter comes and they will pay for style and color. So with the help of the two sewing machines provided by US grant money a sewing marathon has begun to produce 1500 fleece hats with jaunty trims and 1000 matching scarves. The hats and scarves will be sold at pension distribution points and in local towns for R10 ($1.50) which will provide a profit of R6 to keep the program going.
A test market sample of 100 hats and scarves was underway this week. The Jabule Volunteer is anxiously awaiting the results of the sales campaign. What will be the big seller- The cute blue teddy bears or the Burberry knockoff plaid. What about the girly green and purple abstract stripes or the he-man blue, rust and diamonds? Are the hats beguiling enough to make the grandmothers (gogos) part with their scarce funds for a winsome chapeau for their favorite toddler? Will the cash generated be enough to employ the local manager of the program and provide craft materials for the patients? Is the price too low or too high? This experience is a lesson is starting up a small business and has all of the pitfalls of new businesses. However it also has the joy and creativity of making something from nothing, filling a need in the community and teaching a skill to people who want to learn.
Spring came to Mountain High this month! The hills are green as green can be. The Acacias are budding, the green grass is wet and heavy with dew and flowers are pushing their way up through the green carpet. Spring and summer bring the mist to the mountain but also the long-awaited moisture to the empty water spigots and gardens that were recently planted. A hike through the valley today was a very different experience than the last hike in July (Winter). Today the cows were munching the new grass and the matrons were gathered at the water faucets with their buckets. At last the water flows freely from the spigots - they are in a very good mood as it is a beautiful spring day in KwaZuluNatal. Likewise South Africa is also celebrating their green and gold win over Great Britain in yesterday’s rugby match!
So how does a US Peace Corps volunteer make a US supported program for AIDS patients continue after the US money is gone and the Americans hurry home to resume their lives in Palos Verdes. The answer is HATS! Or at least this is the plan. For one year the beautiful fleece hats and scarves hand sewn by the patients have been the envy of the staff and visitors. Originally I envisioned selling the exotic Zulu beaded jewelry to provide funds for more beads and fabric but have since learned the age old problem with a product-Where is the market? However, all Zulus love warm fleece hats and scarves when Winter comes and they will pay for style and color. So with the help of the two sewing machines provided by US grant money a sewing marathon has begun to produce 1500 fleece hats with jaunty trims and 1000 matching scarves. The hats and scarves will be sold at pension distribution points and in local towns for R10 ($1.50) which will provide a profit of R6 to keep the program going.
A test market sample of 100 hats and scarves was underway this week. The Jabule Volunteer is anxiously awaiting the results of the sales campaign. What will be the big seller- The cute blue teddy bears or the Burberry knockoff plaid. What about the girly green and purple abstract stripes or the he-man blue, rust and diamonds? Are the hats beguiling enough to make the grandmothers (gogos) part with their scarce funds for a winsome chapeau for their favorite toddler? Will the cash generated be enough to employ the local manager of the program and provide craft materials for the patients? Is the price too low or too high? This experience is a lesson is starting up a small business and has all of the pitfalls of new businesses. However it also has the joy and creativity of making something from nothing, filling a need in the community and teaching a skill to people who want to learn.
Spring came to Mountain High this month! The hills are green as green can be. The Acacias are budding, the green grass is wet and heavy with dew and flowers are pushing their way up through the green carpet. Spring and summer bring the mist to the mountain but also the long-awaited moisture to the empty water spigots and gardens that were recently planted. A hike through the valley today was a very different experience than the last hike in July (Winter). Today the cows were munching the new grass and the matrons were gathered at the water faucets with their buckets. At last the water flows freely from the spigots - they are in a very good mood as it is a beautiful spring day in KwaZuluNatal. Likewise South Africa is also celebrating their green and gold win over Great Britain in yesterday’s rugby match!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Training at the Honeymoon Lodge
It is Sunday and we have returned to Vryheid as the last leg in our 3 day journey to return to Mountain High Hospital after a week of Peace Corps training at the Honeymoon Lodge in Polokwane (capital of Limpopo, the northern province of South Africa). The Honeymoon Lodge was an appropriate venue as the setting was quite romantic with candlelight for several hours each day due to power failures. Ironically, most of our NGO Capacity Building Group of 30 volunteers are beautiful young women who were not impressed with the romance of the Honeymoon Lodge. The training was the mid-service component with updates on HIV AIDS in South Africa from the CDC and a glimpse into the lives of the other volunteers, professionally and personally.
Most of the volunteers have suffered from the mid-service slump and burnout. They told stories of being shot at in Durban and having the pellet removed, muggings in fancy neighborhoods in broad daylight, being robbed at Backpackers hostels, and Rohypnol lacing of drinks in a college town drinking hole. They also shared their disappointments and failures with their efforts to help the NGO’s and start up new AIDS programs. They have all experienced loneliness, cynicism and boredom. However, the group also discussed their successes with OVC drop in centers and feeding programs, production of an AIDS testing video for distribution in the high schools, lifeskills and empowerment programs for teenagers, computer training for boys in a sports program, and upgrading of administrative abilities at the NGOs. The young women who initially were coquettish people pleasers have matured into thoughtful, focused individuals who know who they are and can deal with unwanted attention and daily marriage proposals. All of us expressed resolve and determination to finish our service and to make the remaining months significant and productive. Brendon and I discussed not only trying to make our current projects sustainable, but seeking out a secondary project that would help the AIDS orphans in our community on a daily basis. We drew strength from the other volunteers as it is only another volunteer who understands the difficulties and triumphs of this remarkable journey.
The nurse from the CDC presented an overview of the current status of HIV/AIDs in South Africa. The good news is that the precipitous climb in infection rates (20% for all of South Africa, 40% for the pregnant women in KwaZuluNatal) is finally leveling off. When we arrived last July there was no end in sight and dire predictions were being made that the infection rate could climb to 50% or higher. The other piece of good news is that the infection rates among those under 20 years have dropped significantly. The lifeskills programs in the schools teaching critical thinking and decision making are credited for the big drop among teenagers. The bad news is that the rates shoot way up as soon as the teenagers leave home for university or jobs. Another aspect is the huge number of immigrants that are fleeing crises in their homeland. South Africa is absorbing many of the refugees from Zimbabwe and their lives are in chaos as they build shanty towns and form new alliances, contributing to the AIDS crisis.
The training was filled with laughter and gallows humor but also respect and awe for other volunteers that are very special people and are committed to using their skills to help this country. The three simple goals of the Peace Corps have not changed in 50 years: provide skills to countries that need help; develop understanding for the country; and help the country to understand America. We have learned so much about South Africa. What have they learned about America from us?
Most of the volunteers have suffered from the mid-service slump and burnout. They told stories of being shot at in Durban and having the pellet removed, muggings in fancy neighborhoods in broad daylight, being robbed at Backpackers hostels, and Rohypnol lacing of drinks in a college town drinking hole. They also shared their disappointments and failures with their efforts to help the NGO’s and start up new AIDS programs. They have all experienced loneliness, cynicism and boredom. However, the group also discussed their successes with OVC drop in centers and feeding programs, production of an AIDS testing video for distribution in the high schools, lifeskills and empowerment programs for teenagers, computer training for boys in a sports program, and upgrading of administrative abilities at the NGOs. The young women who initially were coquettish people pleasers have matured into thoughtful, focused individuals who know who they are and can deal with unwanted attention and daily marriage proposals. All of us expressed resolve and determination to finish our service and to make the remaining months significant and productive. Brendon and I discussed not only trying to make our current projects sustainable, but seeking out a secondary project that would help the AIDS orphans in our community on a daily basis. We drew strength from the other volunteers as it is only another volunteer who understands the difficulties and triumphs of this remarkable journey.
The nurse from the CDC presented an overview of the current status of HIV/AIDs in South Africa. The good news is that the precipitous climb in infection rates (20% for all of South Africa, 40% for the pregnant women in KwaZuluNatal) is finally leveling off. When we arrived last July there was no end in sight and dire predictions were being made that the infection rate could climb to 50% or higher. The other piece of good news is that the infection rates among those under 20 years have dropped significantly. The lifeskills programs in the schools teaching critical thinking and decision making are credited for the big drop among teenagers. The bad news is that the rates shoot way up as soon as the teenagers leave home for university or jobs. Another aspect is the huge number of immigrants that are fleeing crises in their homeland. South Africa is absorbing many of the refugees from Zimbabwe and their lives are in chaos as they build shanty towns and form new alliances, contributing to the AIDS crisis.
The training was filled with laughter and gallows humor but also respect and awe for other volunteers that are very special people and are committed to using their skills to help this country. The three simple goals of the Peace Corps have not changed in 50 years: provide skills to countries that need help; develop understanding for the country; and help the country to understand America. We have learned so much about South Africa. What have they learned about America from us?
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Saturday, October 06, 2007
SpringBreak-Hyenas at the Watering Hole
Our goal this week was to travel the length of Kruger National Park as we took leave from Mountain High Hospital with our son Erik. We also sought fine game spotting and the joys of life in the Bush. The Park is approximately 200 miles long, consisting of different ecosystems every 30 miles or so. So driving through the park is like traveling through thick acacia woodland, savannah, rocky red sandstone outcrops, riverine, mopane groves and grassland.
We entered the Park at the South end through the Numbi gate and headed for Pretorioskop Bush Camp, our home for a few nights while we toured the south end of Kruger. What a shock to see that much of the terrain in the lower half of the park had been scorched to the earth in the tremendous July fire. Being cut off from the media, we had no inkling of the fire’s extent, burning every tree and blade of grass to char. In some of the most devastated areas, shoots of grass were noted sprouting up in the blackened earth and impalas beginning to graze on the new grass. However it appears that even the seeds in other areas were destroyed in this horrific fire. We found routes that avoided the fire’s fury and enjoyed viewing lions at a waterhole, white rhinos feasting on the grasses, herds of cape buffalo grazing, six rare sable buck eating new shoots of grass and even a leopard sitting on the road during an evening game drive.
Pretorioskop Bush Camp has it own charms as impalas, wart hogs, vervet monkeys enter the camp daily to feast on the grass parklands and entertain the guests. A unique feature of the camp is its bare rock swimming pool which was refreshing on a hot day after game viewing.
Kruger’s Numbi Gate at the south end is a short drive to Blyde River Canyon in the Drakensburg Mountains. Blyde River Canyon is the South African equivalent of the Grand Canyon and certainly its equal in spectacle and magnificence. The canyon starts as a small river gouging out round “potholes” in the rocks with swirling eddies. Twenty miles away the river has cut a canyon miles deep with rounded Rondaval forms, red rock tables and dense vegetation The snaking of the river is visible far below the viewing point. The Panorama drive includes several waterfalls and stops in pleasant tourist towns with old pioneer re-creations and great locally grown coffee and pancakes.
However, the most fun was driving the length of the park, viewing the terrain and watching the game roll out. About two hours from Pretoriokop the parades of elephants began with the females and babies traveling in a train and the bulls solitarily gorging on trees by the road. Viewing game at this close distance brings awe and some anxiety to the viewer. Elephants are known to become angry and attack vehicles when they are disturbed or threatened. Their tusks can easily penetrate the side of a car. The situation seems benign but there is an element of fear. Baboons appeared in tandem with the elephants as the troupes ran along the road with the babies hanging onto the mother’s bellies. They are charming to watch but can also be very dangerous when aroused.
A side trip to a watering hole brought the drama of a lifetime! A flurry of fur and activity were spotted at the edge of the watering hole. Six spotted hyenas were pulling at the carcass of a male kudu with the giant spiral horn jutting boldly into the air. Ten brown vultures lay in wait for their turn at the kill. Every few minutes a vulture would venture closer to the carcass-a hyena would then charge toward the vulture and force them back to wait. The hyenas grew hot as they worked at meat pawing and clawing. They jumped into the watering hole and splashed with glee just like dogs at the beach. Then back to work. Off in the distance a stork waited for its turn to enter the watering hole but was no competition for the hyenas and vultures. One brassy hyena got hold of a Kudu leg and tromped off into the bush with his luscious treat leaving the others to push pull and grab. Then splash down to cool off in the muddy water.
Our destination for exploring the northern half of the park was Mopani Bush Camp, named after the mopane trees that cover the landscape. Accommodations consisted of a self catering thatched rock house with full kitchen, sleeping for 6 and a covered patio. The camp is situated above a dam where game come to drink and hippos lounge in the dirt. The camp is the real mopane bush with an electrified fence around. It felt and smelt like the bush as opposed to the older Pretorioskop in the south with grass parklands inside the game fence.
Game viewing from the car or jeep is fun but the sights, smells and feel of the bush demand that one hit the dirt. The national parks offer day hikes in the bush accompanied by nattily dressed naturalists armed with rifles, just in case. So at 5am we headed off in a jeep with two naturalists and two rifles to experience the bush on foot. We drove a few miles from the bush camp, crossing a river with crocodiles swimming through the water and a hippo clan dozing in the center, looking like rounded rocks. As we got out of the jeep a twinge of fear hit but also a sense that we finally had the opportunity to explore and experience the real bush in a slow way. The guide explained that we would walk single file in silence three hours through the bush and could click our fingers if we wanted any explanation of the flora or fauna. Hiking is my favorite pastime so this sounded like great fun. We set off down a riverbed next to the mopane trees. The landscape was dotted with termite mounds and dung of all sizes, shapes and freshness. Dirt for the termite mound is dug below the ground and combined with termite saliva. Then Amos, the senior naturalist, described the source of the dung (giraffe-small elegant; elephant-profuse, wet and fibrous; impala smaller and used as territorial markings) the significance, and the next customer who will use the fresh dung for food. The guides also tore off leaves from the bush plants to smell; one like cat urine, one sweet, and a wild mint. The guides knew the names and calls of every bird and their peculiar habits. The female lays her eggs and finds a new mate; the male guards the eggs. We walked by impalas who quickly ran away, scared by our scent. Ironically, the game are not intimidated by vehicles and are accustomed to the sound of the engines. Man on foot is another story.
Our guides took us to a small rocky mound where they pointed out a large grey object that looked like a rock in the distance. In fact it was an elephant and they turned toward the mark. We walked for about a quarter mile across the bush silent in our single file trek to the game. We came up on the bull elephant and its bull companion tearing mopane trees with their trunks and stuffing the branches and leaves into their mouths. This certainly was more thrilling and more ominous than viewing from a car. Plus the experience of walking through the bush and coming out of the trees upon these massive creatures eating and living their lives was both exciting and humbling. We watched in silence from 30 meters trying not to anger them or scare them. These were older bulls, massive in size. We headed off on our trek and sat down on some rocks for snacks. Off in the bush we spotted two hyenas darting off to find what they could scavenge for the day. They look and move like very large dogs with long fur and rounded features. We arrived back at the jeep and felt safe again to be protected by man’s inventions but missing the closeness to the earth and its smells and sounds.
After the game hike we tried another drive through the back treks of Mopane, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn line. The drive seemed insulated compared to the hike but when the stalking leopard crossed the road I was glad to be safe in the car. The back roads yielded beautiful birds; ostrich, ground hornbills, yellow hornbills, vultures and hammerkops. The delights of Kruger are too numerous to mention. Last year the sight of an impala or zebra was enough to titillate; after spotting leopard and hyenas devouring their kill one realizes that man is easily jaded and always looks to the next level for excitement.
We entered the Park at the South end through the Numbi gate and headed for Pretorioskop Bush Camp, our home for a few nights while we toured the south end of Kruger. What a shock to see that much of the terrain in the lower half of the park had been scorched to the earth in the tremendous July fire. Being cut off from the media, we had no inkling of the fire’s extent, burning every tree and blade of grass to char. In some of the most devastated areas, shoots of grass were noted sprouting up in the blackened earth and impalas beginning to graze on the new grass. However it appears that even the seeds in other areas were destroyed in this horrific fire. We found routes that avoided the fire’s fury and enjoyed viewing lions at a waterhole, white rhinos feasting on the grasses, herds of cape buffalo grazing, six rare sable buck eating new shoots of grass and even a leopard sitting on the road during an evening game drive.
Pretorioskop Bush Camp has it own charms as impalas, wart hogs, vervet monkeys enter the camp daily to feast on the grass parklands and entertain the guests. A unique feature of the camp is its bare rock swimming pool which was refreshing on a hot day after game viewing.
Kruger’s Numbi Gate at the south end is a short drive to Blyde River Canyon in the Drakensburg Mountains. Blyde River Canyon is the South African equivalent of the Grand Canyon and certainly its equal in spectacle and magnificence. The canyon starts as a small river gouging out round “potholes” in the rocks with swirling eddies. Twenty miles away the river has cut a canyon miles deep with rounded Rondaval forms, red rock tables and dense vegetation The snaking of the river is visible far below the viewing point. The Panorama drive includes several waterfalls and stops in pleasant tourist towns with old pioneer re-creations and great locally grown coffee and pancakes.
However, the most fun was driving the length of the park, viewing the terrain and watching the game roll out. About two hours from Pretoriokop the parades of elephants began with the females and babies traveling in a train and the bulls solitarily gorging on trees by the road. Viewing game at this close distance brings awe and some anxiety to the viewer. Elephants are known to become angry and attack vehicles when they are disturbed or threatened. Their tusks can easily penetrate the side of a car. The situation seems benign but there is an element of fear. Baboons appeared in tandem with the elephants as the troupes ran along the road with the babies hanging onto the mother’s bellies. They are charming to watch but can also be very dangerous when aroused.
A side trip to a watering hole brought the drama of a lifetime! A flurry of fur and activity were spotted at the edge of the watering hole. Six spotted hyenas were pulling at the carcass of a male kudu with the giant spiral horn jutting boldly into the air. Ten brown vultures lay in wait for their turn at the kill. Every few minutes a vulture would venture closer to the carcass-a hyena would then charge toward the vulture and force them back to wait. The hyenas grew hot as they worked at meat pawing and clawing. They jumped into the watering hole and splashed with glee just like dogs at the beach. Then back to work. Off in the distance a stork waited for its turn to enter the watering hole but was no competition for the hyenas and vultures. One brassy hyena got hold of a Kudu leg and tromped off into the bush with his luscious treat leaving the others to push pull and grab. Then splash down to cool off in the muddy water.
Our destination for exploring the northern half of the park was Mopani Bush Camp, named after the mopane trees that cover the landscape. Accommodations consisted of a self catering thatched rock house with full kitchen, sleeping for 6 and a covered patio. The camp is situated above a dam where game come to drink and hippos lounge in the dirt. The camp is the real mopane bush with an electrified fence around. It felt and smelt like the bush as opposed to the older Pretorioskop in the south with grass parklands inside the game fence.
Game viewing from the car or jeep is fun but the sights, smells and feel of the bush demand that one hit the dirt. The national parks offer day hikes in the bush accompanied by nattily dressed naturalists armed with rifles, just in case. So at 5am we headed off in a jeep with two naturalists and two rifles to experience the bush on foot. We drove a few miles from the bush camp, crossing a river with crocodiles swimming through the water and a hippo clan dozing in the center, looking like rounded rocks. As we got out of the jeep a twinge of fear hit but also a sense that we finally had the opportunity to explore and experience the real bush in a slow way. The guide explained that we would walk single file in silence three hours through the bush and could click our fingers if we wanted any explanation of the flora or fauna. Hiking is my favorite pastime so this sounded like great fun. We set off down a riverbed next to the mopane trees. The landscape was dotted with termite mounds and dung of all sizes, shapes and freshness. Dirt for the termite mound is dug below the ground and combined with termite saliva. Then Amos, the senior naturalist, described the source of the dung (giraffe-small elegant; elephant-profuse, wet and fibrous; impala smaller and used as territorial markings) the significance, and the next customer who will use the fresh dung for food. The guides also tore off leaves from the bush plants to smell; one like cat urine, one sweet, and a wild mint. The guides knew the names and calls of every bird and their peculiar habits. The female lays her eggs and finds a new mate; the male guards the eggs. We walked by impalas who quickly ran away, scared by our scent. Ironically, the game are not intimidated by vehicles and are accustomed to the sound of the engines. Man on foot is another story.
Our guides took us to a small rocky mound where they pointed out a large grey object that looked like a rock in the distance. In fact it was an elephant and they turned toward the mark. We walked for about a quarter mile across the bush silent in our single file trek to the game. We came up on the bull elephant and its bull companion tearing mopane trees with their trunks and stuffing the branches and leaves into their mouths. This certainly was more thrilling and more ominous than viewing from a car. Plus the experience of walking through the bush and coming out of the trees upon these massive creatures eating and living their lives was both exciting and humbling. We watched in silence from 30 meters trying not to anger them or scare them. These were older bulls, massive in size. We headed off on our trek and sat down on some rocks for snacks. Off in the bush we spotted two hyenas darting off to find what they could scavenge for the day. They look and move like very large dogs with long fur and rounded features. We arrived back at the jeep and felt safe again to be protected by man’s inventions but missing the closeness to the earth and its smells and sounds.
After the game hike we tried another drive through the back treks of Mopane, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn line. The drive seemed insulated compared to the hike but when the stalking leopard crossed the road I was glad to be safe in the car. The back roads yielded beautiful birds; ostrich, ground hornbills, yellow hornbills, vultures and hammerkops. The delights of Kruger are too numerous to mention. Last year the sight of an impala or zebra was enough to titillate; after spotting leopard and hyenas devouring their kill one realizes that man is easily jaded and always looks to the next level for excitement.
Monday, October 01, 2007
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