Environmental Service

We went to the tip of the continent today – to the Cape of Good Hope and we hiked up to the lighthouse. The baboons were all over the road and there were many signs about their aggressive behavior – it seems the kids have become accustom to large animals as they didn’t seem too excited to see the baboons or the large ostriches walking among us on the rocky beach. We hiked up to the lighthouse and we learned about the geographic significance of the site and how both warm and cold waters meet there. There were tourists there and it made me realize how many places we have been on this adventure where we have not seen any tourists. After lunch we went to a national park and picnic area nearby and we spent the afternoon pulling non-native vegetation. The students worked hard and many got blisters. We had a contest to see who could get a plant with the longest root. After working in the park for a few hours we went, dirty and tired, to the harbor and sat outside and ate fish-n-chips as we watched the local fisherman load up their catch. The students now are eating their French fries with vinegar despite the easy access to ketchup. It was a great day and everyone went to sleep sore, tired and early!

South Coast

Sunday we headed up the South Coast along the Indian Ocean and the ride was spectacular. It made Big Sur look like nothing! The road was beautifully built with a stone wall on the cliff side and miles and miles of breathtaking ocean and cliff views – with an occasional baboon on the side of the road. We went to Harold Porter Botanical Garden and leaned about the flora of the Cape. The kids then spent some time with water colors painting what ever plant inspired them. We stopped in Hermanus – where all the Southern Right Whales come and calf in the winter months. We spent the afternoon at a farm/vineyard where Dave’s brother and family live. It was a perfect day. The kids ran around the farm playing in the damn and on the fields. We had a braai (bbq) and sat around the old farmhouse talking to the family – hearing stories from the “gogo” (grandmother) about South Africa in the old days. Everyone went back to the hotel, happy, full and tired!

West Coast

Saturday we spent the day traveling up the West Coast. We started in Blaauwberg and traveled a few hours up to a archeological site and the West Coast Fossil Museum. The guide there explained how the fossils were deposited 5 million years ago and we saw the excavation of an extinct form of animal the “short necked long horned giraffe.” It was hard for the students to comprehend the scope of five million years ago. After the fossil adventure we traveled deep into West Coast National Park and had a picnic on a secluded beach with white sand and a Mediterranean blue colored ocean. The kids, Tom and Dave played water soccer and we all enjoyed playing in the sand. Next we went to an ostrich farm and learned about the birds of the area and each of us had a turn sitting on an ostrich. Two parents had a ride on ostriches and we have funny video footage to show when we get home. On our way to dinner we stopped at SANCCOB a bird rescue refuge where Nickie’s partner Carolé works. Carolé came into the refuge to give us a tour of what happens when a bird is injured or covered in oil. She walked us through each stage of triage and showed us how the animals are treated. We saw many birds including penguins, cormorants and gulls. One penguin followed us up to the treatment center and we all got to pet him – the kids were mesmerized by the whole experience – some said perhaps when they are older they will volunteer in such a place. We ended up having dinner at a place in Big Bay by the lighthouse – the students now have their new favorite soft drinks – a bright green cream soda and appletizers.

Housing

Friday we learned all about settlement patterns in Cape Town. Dave gave us a presentation about the socio-cultural history of Cape Town and how housing reflects settlement patterns and what is happening in society. We went to the natural history museum to look at Khoisan (bushman) history and then we went to the District 6 museum. Elaine gave her report on Apartheid and we drove around the city finding examples of Dutch and British rule as well as apartheid. We saw high income areas, low areas, the townships, the shanty towns that host millions with no running water toilets and very little space. We saw spatially how people were relocated depending on their classification – white, colored or black and how the physical barriers of large roads were used to keep people apart. We also saw the governments housing buildings and the areas that effort is being made to integrate. The kids have now spent some time in District 6 and at the museum – it is a pretty powerful place and I think they will think more about neighborhoods when we return home.

Mama Amelia’s Orphanage

This morning the students and their hosts went to their first class and then we all went to the home economics room to bake cookies (“biscuits”) together. We made 10 batches of cookies and packed up our bags and bags of clothes and toys brought from the U.S. and headed out to Mama Amelia’s orphanage.

Mama Amelia is an inspirational person and I am humbled by her. She has had this “family” for about 15 years and has 100s of children from newborns through their late teens. Most of the children are found and delivered to her – some found in the latrines, some in the woods – some delivered by the police other orphans from the villages – they come from all different places to her and she truly is their Mama.

We arrived to tour the house which has been added onto over the years and consists of several rooms. There is one closet that has all the clothes for the orphanage and it is communal – everyone shares everything. We only saw the children under the age of about 5 – those who were not at school - there must have been 80 or so. We saw where they slept, we played, we held them - we laughed. The children we met, because they had not yet been to school, only spoke Khoisan. We delivered the bags of clothes and toys we had been carrying around for two weeks and they were delighted.

When we came back to St. Cyprian’s we all sat for a while and talked about what we had seen and how we felt. The message our students took away was that despite the cramped quarters, these children were loved and cared for. They were clean and happy. As a parent who has tried to simply feed a meal to a small class of toddlers – I can not imagine how she and her teenage helpers manage to feed, bathe and clothes 80 toddlers – not to mention all the kids we didn’t see from age 5 and up who were at school. She is by no stretch of the imagination – a saint.

We talked about how we could help Mama Amelia – I asked what she needed and how we might help her – she pointed to her fence which was a combination of random wood slats, chain link fencing and lots of barbed wire. She said she needed a real fence around her property that wasn’t made of found barbed wire because the children get hurt. David independently asked her the same thing and she told him she needed more than her rented port-o-potty she really needed a toilet. We are talking about ways we can raise some money to help them get these few basic things.

I asked her about her “family” and she proceeded to tell me how she was going to build a school on her lot for children with disabilities because she sees a need to help deaf and learning disabled children that the local school can’t provide.

In small corners of the world there are so many people taking care of the worlds children – they often seem to go unnoticed. Somehow I think we will be back, how could we not?

Exchanges

The students have been staying with their host families all week and going to school during the day. I have been staying with Dave and going to school as well. We have all been learning about the culture and educational community here at St. Cyprian’s. The students have been having a fabulous time and they have discovered so many ways our families, schools and cultures are the same and many ways they are different. They have been so absorbed in the social world of the school that they barely say hello when they see me in the morning. The classes are similar but they take different subjects including an economics class from elementary on up. The Chadwick students have especially been enjoying sitting in on language classes – student here, in addition to English, take Afrikaans and Khoisan (the click language– as spoken in The Gods Must Be Crazy). There have been several assemblies – in the lower school a musical concert in the high school an operetta that takes place in a modern high school classroom about HIV/AIDS.

Because it is an all girls school, our boys are like celebrities with gaggles of girls giggling and talking to them they don’t seem to mind the attention.

We had an assembly where both the St. Cyprian’s girls and the Chadwick students presented their preconceived ideas about each other before the exchange and what they have learned by living together and going to school together. The discussion ranged from things like “we thought all Americans ate nothing but fast food” to what does “colored” mean in each place. Because 10 students exchanged there are 10 times 5 days of stories and lessons learned – too much to put here. Suffice it to say I think this experience has shaped their view of the world in a positive and complex way - I feel like my work is done J.

Chadwick core value = honesty

When we were prepping the students to come to South Africa there was lots of talk about where to put our money in your backpack - how not to get your camera stolen or your valuables taken. Although we didn't explicitly state it, the messages we parents and teacher gave the children was that where we were going there would be dishonest people who want to steal from us. When we drove from Johannesburg to Pilansburg Quinn left his iPhone in the bus - we called the bus company an they are mailing it to us here in Cape Town. One dad left his nice blazer on our South African Airlines flight - they found it and are holding it for him in the airport. Alexandra left her phone, iTouch and all of her cash on her bed by an open window - a housekeeper saw it and brought it to the office to put in the safe.
I hope the students are seeing that even adults have stereotypes and judge groups of people - this is not to say that there isn't a lot of crime - but we have misplaced several of our most expensive possessions and all of them have been found, guarded and returned to us - we are learning.

Host families

On Monday we got up and the parents headed off on a four day tour to into the interior of South Africa to see the landscapes, people, vineyards, caves and to visit a meerkat preserve. The students went up to St. Cyprian's to meet their host families. It is a holiday so the students went off with their host families and spent the day getting to know each other and to get settled in their host homes. The Chadwick students went to their host families in pairs. The families here were so excited to host the Chadwick students that there were and extra 25 potential host families wanting to have one of our students in their home! It feels so nice to be welcomed and wanted. I am staying with Dave Carr the geography teacher, environmental educator and round square coordinator -- the other person organizing and hosting us - we are all doing exchanges!

Throughout the day the host families took our students on various adventures. Some students hiked, some went bowling, others went for a sail on the family's yacht, and others hung out at the house and swam.

In the evening all the students and host families met at a theatre in District 6 - we had dinner together and watched a show about Cape Town. We learned about District 6 and how all the people who lived there were forcefully removed and their homes bulldozed to make room for the whites. The show was wonderful - the theme was "Cape Town - one city three worlds" We saw how three different groups of people experience the city - the whites, the coloreds and the blacks. The dancing was wonderful and the actors had all the students up to learn a few moves. It was nice to see the Chadwick students with their host families they all seemed engaged with each other and very talkative - it is amazing how quickly kids seem to make friends.

Cape Town!

Today we did a whirlwind introductory tour of Cape Town. Our first stop was the soccer stadium for the 2010 World Cup which is taking place here this summer. Everywhere we go there are signs and much excitement about the upcoming event.

We drove along the Atlantic coast - the west coast - and saw the dramatic cliffs and spectacular landscape. We stopped at the beach for a while and watched the students who are the Jr. Guards equivalent swimming in the cold water. We drove into Simontown and had lunch overlooking the harbor. Some of the kids were adventurous - Alison B ate crocodile and Wyatt had warthog - the rest were happy with burgers and fries. We bargained a bit at the outdoor market everyone is getting the hang of it. Alexandra bout a little painting and was able to get the price down below what she was willing to pay but later felt bad that she might have hurt the sellers feelings :). After lunch we drove to Boulders beach and Nickie talked to us about the African penguins, their unique characteristics and their plight. It was amazing and kind-of surreal to see these creatures we associate with the cold on the warm South African sand sunning themselves.

In the late afternoon we took a cable car up to the top of table mountain and saw a panoramic view of the whole city and the coast - it was amazing! We found St. Cyprian's school from above - with tennis courts and a large pool nestled along the wooded edge of Table Mountain. After all those amazing adventures there was still more - we headed to the waterfront and chose to have dinner at a Portuguese restaurant. The food was great - "picky" Micki was adventurous and tried a wonderful Portuguese chicken dish. The kids laughed the adults tried South African wines - it was a fun and relaxing end to a fabulous day.

Saturday March 20th

We left the north after a morning safari and barely made it in time to catch our flight. We arrived in Cape Town to the smiling warm welcome of Nickie Wallace the St. Cyprian's science teacher who is one of our two tour hosts. She got us settled into our hotel and went and picked up pizzas and drinks. She gave the students booklets with worksheet about the places we will visit as well as little presents. There was much laughter and excitement - we are glad to be in Cape Town.

Safari game ride # 2

We all got up before dawn and went out on game ride number 2 of 3 – Yes the students can be up, ready and on the jeep by 5:30 am! Barely into the park, still in the dark, we saw from about 15 feet away two male lions! We used a spot light to see them and our pictures are not great because of the light, but we got to hear them roar across the valley. Soon after the lions we saw a large male black rhino! It was amazing and a bit scary. We drove for a few more hours and saw more giraffe, elephants, zebras and many kinds of bovine and antelopes.

We have the rest of the afternoon and evening off and the kids are running around the resort swimming in pools, playing with the huge lawn chess set and dashing in and our of each other’s rooms. It is fun to watch them use much of what they have learned at school in Africa – when a bird was on one of the wildebeest I heard from the back of the jeep, “dude, symbiosis! symbiosis!” Four sixth graders headed for the restaurant in the lodge for lunch and checked in to make sure how to convert the rate of the dollar for the rand and how to calculate the tip. Its fun to listen to the older kids explain to the younger why the water in the small pool is warmer and how there is carbon in all life. Its just like school - not.

Everyone is great – we are having quite an adventure - another game ride tomorrow morning then off to the airport to fly to Cape Town.

Pilansberg National Park

We drove from Johannesburg north a few hours to Pilansberg National Park – We stopped along the way at a tourist trap and I realized I forgot to talk to the students about bargaining……… by the time I figured it out some of the kids bought some pretty expensive souvenirs J

We arrived at our resort which is wonderful! We have sprawling lush gardens with trampolines, pools, a water slide and other fun outdoor things for the kids to do. We went on an evening safari for a few hours and saw an incredible amount of wildlife. We saw zebras, giraffes, elephants, a warthog, hippos, impalas, a snake and wildebeests. Our guide got a call from another guide about a leopard kill and we raced across the park where in the distance we could see - with binoculars - a leopard up in a tree with the fresh carcass of an impala.

Our guide was amazingly skilled at finding animals and on our way back to the resort, in the dark, while driving quite fast he spotted a 3 inch long chameleon in a bush – at that point the kids named our guide Ninja Chameleon Warrior. It was an amazing evening!

We made it safe and sound - a very non-eventful trip. Ridge was able to watch 7 movies on our second flight and Alison B. found a language learning program on her TV console and kept us all amused with her new Icelandic vocabulary. We are settled into our hotel - after a swim and dinner - we leave in the morning to go on safari. Everyone is fine!