I want more than just ok

new blog

2009-05-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

hey friends

I got a new blog that I will be using from now on b/c I logging in issues.

www.burningoutbright.blogspot.com

back to africa

2009-04-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends,

I haven't written in here for a VERY long time, but I'm trying to bring it back as I am about to start a new adventure in Burkina Faso. For now, I'm just posting the recent e-mail I sent to some friends with my news.

So here it is:

It's about that time for an update, and some pretty big news as well. I’ve been living in Chicago for the past several months, but not for much longer. June 8th, I’m heading out and joining the Peace Corps to go to Burkina Faso (West Africa). Pretty crazy!

It all happened very quickly. I was still deciding about the Peace Corps and regardless I wanted to wait until last summer/early fall, however a week ago I got a call from my placement officer and she had this unique opening with the Girls Education and Empowerment program in a French-speaking country. It seemed like there wasn’t going to be anything like it again, and it might have been a while for any French-speaking placement, so I had to go for it even with the inconvenient timing. It really felt like the right decision and is close to what I wanted to do all along.

So, I’ll be in Chicago until mid-May and then will go back to Kansas for a couple weeks then head out. I’m definitely terrified and nervous and anxious, but also really excited about it all. I’ve been reading a little about the country (though there isn’t a whole lot out there on it) and I recently got a packet about my specific placement which is helping me get acquainted and excited. It’s crazy because I actually know 2 people who are already in Burkina Faso with the Peace Corps. As I said, I’m going to be working with the Girls Education and Empowerment program as a community outreach/developer doing various activities, programs and general support for education in the community in which I will live, focusing specifically on girls when possible. It’s going to be a big challenge, especially as the education level is quite low in the country, having the lowest literacy rate in the world. However, I've been hearing wonderful things about the people and culture; and the program has had some significant success in the past few years.

As for my life in the past several months, I’ve been enjoying Chicago overall. It was really difficult to find work but I’ve been doing some substitute teaching, including a long-term assignment as a special ed teacher at a high school fairly close to where I’ve been living. It has definitely been a good learning experience and different then anything I’ve done before. As some of you know, I was supposed to start a new job working with CPS but the start date got pushed back around the time when I heard from the Peace Corps, so I just decided to not do it, as I wouldn’t have been able to complete the project since I’m leaving Chicago so soon. I’ve really enjoyed being close to some friends and seeing so many of you! While definitely hard and challenging at times, overall I’ve really enjoyed my time in Chicago and have found some fantastic ways to get involved, learned a lot and met some really amazing people.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll probably write you all again in a month letting you know what is going on. If anyone is going to be in Chicago before May 20th, let me know, or around Kansas City before June 8th. I also want to thank you all for all the support you have offered me this past year. Life takes us down unusual paths sometimes and many of you have provided a lot of guidance, strength and inspiration to me, so thank you for everything!
I hope you are well and take care.

peace,
Kim

home?

2007-08-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

well I made it back safe and sound.

thought I would let you all know.

not sure what I think of all this being home business. I feel strange to say the least. I am enjoying reconnecting with people who I've been missing in ways the past 7 months but I fear losing my connections with those I grew close to in the past 7 months. The two worlds are tearing me in different directions and that is painful. And I'm still in a process of reflecting and absorbing my past experiences while constantly being faced with the future and that's overwhelming. It's going to be a hard process but I also look forward to growing in and continuing to learn from it. And I'm thankful that I'm forced to endure this process because of what it means I've come from.

go back to school in a week, not sure if I'll keep this up or not, we'll see if anything moves me.

thanks for all of you who went on this journey on me and take care.

saying goodbye again

2007-08-02T02:10:00.000-07:00

I’m tired of saying goodbye. I have said goodbye to people more in the past year than ever in my life; friends and family at home, friends who graduated, Namibia and now Cape Town. How do you properly say goodbye to people who have impacted your life more than you can ever explain and to places that warms your heart and fills you up when ever you look around you? So much more I wanted to share in my posts about my experience in Cape Town, for instance, I never explained what I really do at SHADE and what they do as an organization which I should try to explain again some time because it really is incredible, so many people are reached, thousands, incredible. I would really love to work for an organization like SHADE someday; I’ve never experienced working for something that I believe in as much as I believe in what SHADE does. This organization made up of 5 permanent staff (plus a couple volunteers) is impacting people all over the continent in enormous, life changing ways, and it truly is all done out of love.

I went back to Namibia to visit for a week. I don’t know what it is about that country but my heart just feels happier there. It was so nice to be back, strange for sure, but so nice. My visit was far too short but I think it was good it didn’t last longer because who knows if I would have left this time if I stayed longer! It was wonderful but painful to leave again, God willing, I’ll be back someday.

Yesterday was my birthday and it was definitely one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had. The night before I had dinner at my fellow interns’ house and then we celebrated some. Next morning, pancakes then to work for a couple hours which were filled with music, dancing, mardi gras beads and toilet paper streamers. Then a visit to Robben Island, the island off the cape that hosted the political prisoners like Nelson Mandela. The island was interesting but a little disappointing because half of it was closed for maintenance. The boat ride however was spectacular. Get picked up just to be brought to my place for a surprise party for me. I had absolutely no clue and it was so nice and so fun, made me feel extremely special and Branca sure can cook J Then a few of my closest friends and myself went out and got our groove on, African style, so much fun.

Today I spent a couple hours on the back of a motorbike driving through the mountains and along the coast, breathtaking views, really refreshing, definitely a highlight.

So now I’m trying to say goodbye and prepare for my trip home, which quite frankly I’m absolutely terrified of. My loved ones at home: don’t take offense if I don’t seem like I don’t want to be there, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you, it just means I miss this place like crazy and not sure what I think about living in the states.

What I will miss about living in Woodstock, Cape Town:

Hearing the daily Muslim calls to worship
walking by my friend Nicolas who is painting the house near me who continuously greets me and tries to teach me a little Xhosa
walking by my friend Babishe the security guard who continuously tells me I’m crazy for various things and trying to communicate to him through his broken English and my broken French
hugging Tembo’s (my boss) children
hearing david (tembo’s husband) laugh and tell me naughty boy every time he needs me to move so he can get in the safe
Philomene’s laughter and asking me to make crazy phone calls and then trying to understand what the heck she’s talking about
Everything about philomene
Laughing with Branca (my housemate) about men and Americans and everything crazy in life
Pap and spinach
The wonderful music that makes my soul sing
Milos and Don Pedros
the ocean
The mountains, the incredible mountains that seem to stretch forever and especially into my heart
Hiking table mountain and looking upon the city
Conversations and gaining words of wisdom from Retha and Greg and how they seem to care
Freddy’s dancing
Walking by the video guy on my way to Shoprite who just laughs at me
Taxi drivers yelling “Cape Town, Wyneberg” and chasing after you when you certainly don’t want a ride
living in a constant state of awe and fear
Buying lots of grocers for very little money
Sunrises and sunsets
Feeling like I can contribute
Walking to work and taking public transport to most places
Learning to communicate with people whose first language is not English
Being part of something important
Late night chats with Kelly
The girls from Sivewe and watching them run around half naked on the beach
SMSing
Sunny days in cape town
many peoples' laughter
Attending Woodstock Methodist church
Mama Charlotte
The colorful houses and streets
Talking to random people in the streets
Not continuously having guilt
Hearing stories of refugees and stories from those under apartheid
Feeling free and inspired on a daily basis
Everyone I’ve met and grown to love

I will surely miss everyone and everything (well not quite everything) here and in southern Africa. I have now spent a little over 6 months in southern Africa and it has been incredible. I wish I could somehow express how I’ve changed and what I’ve learned but that you’ll just have to see for yourself. I’m so glad I had this experience and will never be the same because of it, and generally in a good way. For all of you out there who wonder about Africa, all you really need to know is that the people are incredible; I have never met a collective group of people who are so friendly, so hospitable, so loving and so joyful than those I’ve met in the past 6 months. That is what I want to take back with me the most: to love people like I’ve seen love here.

youth tujenge 2007!

2007-07-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

So part of my internship responsiblities is to work with the youth. Last week was a camp that is designed to provide a fun place for kids and a place where they can grow to be strong leaders and responsible people. They play lots of games but also many talks and lessons are given - good mixture of both. I was one of the main leaders helping organize the camp and responsible for a few of the talks. There were around 55 kids ranging from age 5 to age 18 and then around 13 adult leaders. It was crazy and hectic and exhausting to say the least. But it goes without saying there was a lot of beautiful moments and incredible joy and fun. I learned a lot about the youth that week but also about myself and my limits. It was an incredible growing experience and it was an incredible chance to experience love and inspiration from Africa's youth.

we had the camp in a place called Franshhoek, absolutly beautiful, surrounded my mountains and wonderful weather.
here are some of the girls from the camp
Moussa led a lot of the talks with the older youth, this is one of the times, and it was quite amazing how much they understood and shared and frustrated and inspired me.
my name is Kapale and I love baboons!!! - craziest and funniest kid
Here is me with Judith, one of Tembo's (my boss at SHADE) daughters whom I love. she is one of those people will love you first and get to know you second. (and check out my hair!)

here is the hair party - the 4 US girls got their hair plated (braided)
ok, don't laugh too much, but I was a African model for the talent show (so were the other US girls). The last night all the kids put on acts, danced, sang, modeled, acted, for a talent show. It was absolutly incredible! All the kids were incredibly supportive of eachother, screaming and cheering each other on. There was tension sometimes at the camp between the younger youth and the older youth but the older kids really supported the younger kids, it was really great.
I have never seen so many icnredible dancers than in the past 5 1/2 months. I'm just in awe and how these kids can move. Here is Rocher and Benny do their dance which was great.
Chad with the little boys from the camp who were frustrating when they didn't listen but they also were very inviting towards me and really enjoyed spending time with us and eachother.
here is the whole crew.

It was a challening but amazing week and I will miss some of the kids and the moments.

more next time...

the most beautiful places

2007-07-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

So long time since my last post. I'm going to do 3 posts fairly soon. This one, the first, will be about some fun times hiking and bumming around the Western Cape, which truly is one of the most beautiful places, like they say it is. I've been up table mountain a couple more times since my last post. The 2nd time was on a way called ledges, which is exactly how it sounds, I had to climb up rock wall and shimmy across ledges, exhilirating and amazing, great time, great day.
There's a group of women who are somewhat involved with the 3 churches that make up inner city mission which SHADE is somewhat connected to, who have a group called JAWs and one weekend we took a trip to Betty's Bay. Betty's Bay is about an hour away and the drive there and the place is probably the most beuatiful scenery of my life. It was a fun week-end full of laughter, food, chatter, and amazing views.

Here are some of the ladies. Kelly is on the left who is the other intern here for the summer. Branca is on the right, she is my house mate.
we took a walk through some gardens/park which was beautiful, here is a waterfall that we saw.
This is where the penguins are, and well, just look at the pic, it's spectacular.
penguins! there were lots and lots of penguins all over the place - such funny creatures.
here is a view from Lion's head - another mountain near table mountain that one day we went up. those are the 12 apostles - though I'm told don't bother counting, it doesn't add up to 12
here's another view of cape town from lion's head - the mountain in the pic is called devil's peak
here is chris and greg and his daughter katie who rides on his back when he runs up mountains
me and kelly on top of lion's head - robben island in the background which I'm finally going to this weekend!

pictures will come of me petting a wild zebra hopefully soon, along with my next post on the camp I just help run, then a post on SHADE and their work and their wonderful people.

ps - I'm really happy here and can't believe my time is almost up - in a week I go to namibia for a week then come back and have a week left, then home, crazy.

sunrises

2007-06-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

This week has been good, no it's been great. I'm having one of those weeks where I am grateful to be alive and really happy to be where I am.
I was struggling, and still do at times, with being in Cape Town. Sure it's beautiful here and I really like my job and I've met some wonderful people, but it's also lonely sometimes and boring and different and hard to be so close to a country where I know I'm happy but can't go there. But it has also been continuously getting better, and this week just made me realize how fortunate I am to be here and helped me look at life in a more positive light.
So we'll start with sunday...
Sunday morning Kelly (other intern) and I made fruit salad for a meeting after church and then got completely soaked walking over (it rains a lot here). I went to the Woodstock church and this week Tembo, my boss, was preaching and the whole service was great, best one I've been too in a while. After that the church had a meeting and social time, talked, ate food, building community. From there Kelly and I enjoyed an episode or two of West Wing and some good discussion and after that just a relaxing evening with a phone call with my mom and some movie on tv.
Monday, was just a fun day at work. Tembo and Greg (2 bosses) are out of town this week so it's quieter but Tembo's daughters and friends came in and had some fun chatting with them. Later went over to Kelly's for dinner.
Tuesday work was good and Kelly and I tried to go to Observatory b/c Kelly was supposed to lead this service at an old-folks home but it got cancelled but it was a fun adventure. From there I went to town for French class and thoroughly enjoyed it. Making friends with a couple of the students to that's good.
Wednesday was amazing. Came to work and then we get a crew together to go to Franschook, a town about an hour or so away from Cape Town. SHADE is hosting a youth camp the first week of july and it will be at Franschook so we decided to go check it out and it was a good excuse to have a nice day trip. Absolutely breathtaking drive through endless mountains, I wish I had my camera, it was really amazing. We get to this place and its just a few cabins and dinning hall in the middle of trees and mountains. The guy shows us around and then we go up to his place at the top of the hill and man this guy has it made, he has 6 dogs, the most incredible view and a built-in ground trampoline which I quite enjoyed. From there we went to pick-n-pay (grocery store) got food then took it to a field and had a picnic, in the middle of mountains, which ended with a small game of tag. I needed to get out of the city for a day and see some nature, it really does wonders on my soul. It was great company and a great day.
Yesterday was another good day. I started the day with a short run and the most beautiful sunrise. I ran up to the office and stood on the railing so I could see over the houses and was taken aback by the beauty. The sun was peaking over a mountain shining on the ocean and the buildings as the clouds just hovered over the tips of the mountains, and it stretched far and wide, truly incredible. Kelly and I decided to take the afternoon off and Joyce, Tembo's 18yr old daughter, joined us and showed us around. We went to the waterfront for lunch and then walked along the ocean (so wonderful and so needed) to sea point to have coffee. Joyce was so much fun to be around and quite handy as well as we tried to figure out the bus system. we went back to waterfront and wandered around for a few hours as our ride was stuck in traffic because the president of the DRC was on his way to where we were (the mall is connected to a hotel). So we grabbed some dinner (I missed french class) and went home.
Today I look forward to the youth coming and tomorrow a braai at tembo and david's house, sunday some music and then we'll see what happens from there. So a great week, great country, and great times. I'm finally starting to good about everything again and that is a refreshing feeling to have.

le berceau

2007-06-05T06:08:00.001-07:00

I’ve been in southern Africa over 4 months, Cape Town 1 month and have exactly (from yesterday) 2 months left. So many emotions and feelings and experiences, no idea to do with it all or myself. But am still happy to be here and look forward to my return someday. My internship is going well but more on that and life here in an up and coming post. For now I just wanted to share an example of my work and the beauty of Africans that I recently witnessed.

Fridays are youth club and this Friday we had 16 beautiful girls from the local orphanage/home for girls who can no longer live at home come. There was confusion on what was supposed to happen that day so they were the only ones there. Kelly (the other intern) and I had to wing the whole thing because we were informed we were in charge a couple hours previously. So we got 100 Rand to pay for snacks and thought we would propose the idea to the girls that they could to whatever they wanted with the 100 Rand as long as they worked together, made sure everyone participated, and it was within Woodstock (the town). They got so excited and decided right away that they would use it to buy food and would go to Shoprite (grocery store) to get everything. Kelly and I stepped outside to let them discuss and come up with a plan on their own.
They did fabulously; they called us in and had a list of what they wanted to buy and how they would get it all. We asked them to make a few rules about the trip and they came up with some basic but important rules.
Keep in mind there were 16 girls ranging from age 5 to 17, and not to mention they all live together. And they had a budget of around US$13. They were so excited and grateful to have this opportunity to buy what they wanted for once and make their own decisions about it; it was quite humbling.
We walked down to the store and there was some confusion in deciding what to get but overall I was very impressed how they worked together and were willing to compromise on what to get. They only went 23 cents over and got bread, polony, chips, drinks, cookies, marshmallows and little candies.
We got back to the SHADE office and a few girls went in to make sandwiches for everyone while everyone else split up everything, and I mean everything. They counted the cookies and put them into piles. They poured a little cool drink into every cup until they knew there was enough for everyone. They counted the marshmallows and distributed them evenly, and the same with the candies. It was incredible. And no one ate until everyone got their share. That is something I have noticed a lot in Namibia and South Africa, people ration out food to make sure everyone gets an even amount. And you would think in a places where food isn’t quite as bountiful as in the US, people would be more selfish about it but it seems to be the opposite here. The only falter with the girls was the chips, they went a little crazy fighting for the chips but once we pointed out how they acted they offered up theirs to share.
I was completely impressed and amazed at how mature and responsible all the girls acted with the activity. I was also amazed at how much they enjoyed the exercise and were grateful for the opportunity. If we had done the same thing for kids in the States, gave them $13 (or even $50) to spend however they wanted, they most likely would laugh or would just want the leaders to get it for them. But these girls kept saying thank you and truly enjoyed the experience and took it in stride.
It was a beautiful example of life here but also a beautiful example of how humanity can be; sharing, respectful to all, and continuously grateful for what given.I left SHADE that day with joy in my heart and on my face after witnessing such beauty.

starting over again

2007-05-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

well, welcome to cape town - a bustling city of 5 million and me somewhere amongst it all.
Cape Town has been quite the emotional roller coaster since I have arrived. Days go by where I am happy as can be and then end up feeling depressed later on. Cape Town has not been easy or anything like Namibia so far - but I'm sure after time I will adjust.
Leaving Namibia was very difficult - I don't know if I have ever been that consistently happy before - so coming some place new it is impossible to not compare it.
I spend the first 10 days with my CGE group. We did some amazing things, met great speakers, saw a lot and overall it was good. But we were all emotional about the program ending and I am anxious about my new adventure starting so it was hard to be as excited about everything as I would have been if it had just been a vacation and we all return to Namibia afterwards. They all left a week ago and that was very difficult - I keep thinking about all of you and what you would say or do in certain instances - miss you!
After the 10 days a couple good friends stuck behind for a week and we did some travelling together, some bumming around Cape Town and in the middle I started to move in and get adjusted. One of the highlights was going on an overnight trip and we went to the southern most point of Africa! It also happens to be where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet – I have now touched the Indian Ocean – new experience for me J
Cape Town is a little overwhelming and I think I have been experiencing some culture shock - it is much more developed and westernized than Namibia. And I don't like it at all when people say Cape Town (or South Africa for that matter) aren't real Africa - it's all Africa my friends - but it is unlike the Africa I fell in love with. I think if I had come straight from the States to Cape Town I would be in love with the city and be so happy to be here - its extremely diverse, lots to do and see, and heck I'm surrounded by mountains and ocean - but since I'm coming from Namibia its different. However, I know once I get settled in and meet more people I will love it here as well.
I think my internship is going to be great! SHADE seems like an organization that fits with my views wonderfully and does a lot of good. I am working with a lot of Democratic of the Republic of Congo (and living with) refugees so I am sure I will learn a lot from them - not to mention get in a little french practice. They already have ideas and projects for me to work on which is a great feeling after my time at Beautiful Gate. SHADE has a program called Sister 2 Sister which empowers women to start grass-roots programs all over sub-saharan Africa and they are supporting 28 projects in 20 different countries! I can't wait to learn about all of them.
So despite my struggles and adjustments and moments of feeling lonely - I know this will be another positive experience and I will learn to love it here and learn so much. Here's a few pics of some I've done so far.

Here's what I get to look at on a daily basis - Table Mountain - symbol of the city and yes I climbed that beast - oh to rub it in a little more, when I look the other direction there is the ocean
Some of my girls that I will miss dearly - Shani, Courtney, Chantal, Jess, Kesem - love you all!
One day we went to Cape Point - beautiful, really breath taking.

Here's me at Cape Point soaking up all of the beauty around me
Here's a place right outside of town that we went to after visiting an old township. All these houses are brand new - built after apartheid ended - government housing essentially.
We went to District 6 museum - very interesting. District 6 was a mixed community but in the 1960s the government evicted 60,000 people and forced them to the outer townships and Cape Flats because they didn't want a mixed community anymore and made it a whites only area. So many sad stories of families and friends being seperated from eachother and their homes and their way of life.
We went to a wine farm one afternoon - it was very beautiful. South Africa has some very famous wineries.
Here's a view from Table Mountain - seriously one of the most difficult hikes - imagine 95 minutes (just on the way up) on a stairmaster and you might get an idea of what it was like

well that's it for now - hope you all are doing well.

saying goodbye

2007-05-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

two days left in namibia, I can't believe it, nor do I want to. I have had such an amazing time here and have fallen in love with the country. I remember when I was in South Africa I was sad to leave it for Namibia, and now I am sad to leave Namibia for South Africa. The landscape and scenery here are beautiful but the people are even more so. I cannot begin to explain what I have learned and how I have changed, just know that it is immensely. I will never be the same, nor do I want to be. I hope never to forget my experiences and the people here. I have met so many kind and giving people. I have seen so much pain and poverty yet I have also experienced much hope and love. I will pray everyday for this country and hope that it will live up to its enormous potential and bring justice to all its people. Here are some pictures from my internship at Beautiful Gate. I did not gain the internship experience that I had anticipated, but I tried to make the best of it. The people made all the difference, they have such big hearts for their work and each other, and even made a little room for me.

The quietest boy whose name I didn't learn and then there is Roland who made it a daily ritual to sit on my lap or have me watch him perform some kind of "trick" aka "look teacher"
quinton
Juma - funniest kid - from the Democratic Republic of Congo - a little bully at times but sometimes he'll surprise you with his complete kindness

my beautiful Elizabeta - I was probably closest to her - always sat on my lap and swung around

Kristolina!! sweet girl who always braided my hair and made fun of the way I said nice

Edward - love this boy - he was definitely a trouble maker but could also be the sweetest boy you will ever meet - will definitely miss him
Nevell - this boy wins the funniest kid award - he has so much personality - he has a eye sight and walking problem but he takes it in stride and makes life fun regardless
Alina - she ran the kitchen -she always made sure I had something to do or to talk to - she definitely took care of me and I learned so much from her
Amilia - she's been working at beautiful gate for 4 years now and was fun to talk with
Oh how I love Pauline - she is the sweetest lady who has so much strength and love - always trying to grow as a person and always showing love to everyone indiscriminately

Sadly I don't have a picture of Sarah - probably the person who I got closest to at Beautiful Gate - she spent some extra time with me and was so much fun and welcoming - one of the people I will miss the most in Namibia

Saying goodbye was hard but amazing. I went in friday morning to drop off some grant stuff I had been working on and to say goodbye. Sarah had made me a card that everyone had signed and then all the kids sang to me and blessed me and so many hugs and tears. Beautiful Gate was a struggle at times but overall it is so filled with love that you can't help but enjoy yourself.

So now I am heading to Cape Town. It is a bizarre feeling knowing I am only half way done while everyone else is headed home, but I am glad of my decision to stay. For those of you who don't know I will be spending the next 3 months (exactly) in Cape Town, South Africa. The first 10 days I will still be with the program then a few days of traveling with Kim and Courtney then I will start my internship with SHADE - www.shade.org.za - I'm sure it will be an amazing experience as well. I am sad to leave Namibia (and maybe I'll come back sometime before I head back to the states) but I need to be grateful for what I've experienced and I'm sure the future will be incredible as well.

zambia!!

2007-04-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

okay, so zambia was a while ago, but I cannot possibly leave it out, it was absolutely incredible.
we start by taking a miserable 17-hr bus ride to Livingstone, Zambia. A very touristy but nice town. 15 of us were on the trip and we all stay at a fun backpackers lodge.
a few things about zambia:
it is beautiful - very different landscape than Namibia, it is very wet and lush and green, and while I still think Namibia is breathtaking, it was nice to get a little change of scenery and see some greenery.
it is definitely less developed than Namibia, overall, certain parts are better or worse in both countries but overall Zambia is a few steps behind Namibia. for example, the roads were horrible, to get somewhere 20km away takes 45 minutes.
the city is quite touristy and strange. men are everywhere, I hardly saw any women out, and they all try to get you to come over and "talk" with them which means let me sucker you in so I can try to sell you something. sometimes it was really overwhelming, we went to a couple markets a few times and all these men try and tell you stories about their products and make you feel really guilty for not buying anything, I'm not sure if they were really desperate or it was the scheme to sell more.
despite that, the people are very friendly and kind, I am continuously blown away by how people are so welcoming everywhere I go, Zambia as well.

So some highlights of the trip:

Crossing from Namibia into Zambia over the mighty Zambezi River - one of the most powerful and large rivers in Africa, and the world. It is the only place in the world where 4 countries meet - Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, we were only in the spot where 3 met though.
Here is the Zambezi again, we took a sunset dinner cruise, lots of fun, beautiful sunset and good company.
Victoria Falls!!!! the main reason we went to Zambia - it is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world - I've now been to 2. There was lots of places to hike around and see the falls from different areas. It was impossible to really see all of it, no matter where you see them from you can't see it all. and if you are close the mist is so strong that it is hard to see, but if you stand and watch every so often the mist is blow away and you can see them and it is spectacular. standing that close to something so powerful is quite an experience.
This is us hiking down to the boiling pot - we hiked through water and mud and climbed over rocks and it was the "african jungle" - it was a lot of fun - at the bottom we were next to the river and it was spectacular
here are the falls from one angle - I wish I could have captured the true beauty of the falls. we went the first day and the last day because it was so amazing. you walk across a bridge fairly close to the falls and get completely soaked - completely - not a dry inch on the whole body.

well hello mr. monkey! we saw a lot of monkeys at the falls - they were quite used so humans and the second time I went I even got in a little fight with one about the trash. another monkey experience was on the canoe trip and I fed a wild monkey from my hand - pretty cool.
The next day we went to a village (not putting pics on here) which was strange but interesting - felt a little exploitative but talked to some locals about it and they said it was strange at first but then they saw the benefits of it and were happy about it, it was still awkward though. anyways, then we did some extreme spots (above). 6 of us did a fully day of repelling (frontwards and backwards), zip lining, and gorge swinging (below). it was incredible, a lot of fun.
here is my doing the gorge swing, you jump off and free fall for a few seconds then it catches you into a swing - I went 3 times and it was extremely scary each time but then when you start swinging and look at the view it was amazing.
so then 7 of us took a 2 day canoe trip on the Zambezi. we left early one morning and came back in the evening the next day. the whole trip we are cameoing between Zambia and Zimbabwe which was cool - close to another country but not quite there. It was an absolute blast though. I of course was the person who fell out during the rapids the most, but it was fun. Sometimes it was relaxing and other times it was hard work. Our 2 guides were a lot of fun and took care of us. It was a little exciting and scary because there are a lot of crocodiles and hippos in the river so we could only jump out during the rapids and we had to constantly do hippo checks and bang on the side of the canoes (inflatable canoes). It was a great trip.
here is where we got off from our canoe trip - those are the falls.
Overall Zambia was amazing and I am so glad I went. met some nice people, saw amazing things and saw another part of the world - I'm a happy person.
Was sad to leave but when we entered Windhoek I was joyful to be home again for a while and enjoy everything Namibia.

let's have a little reconciliation

2007-04-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

hello again, long time. internet here is very sketchy and I haven't been able to log in very often and when I do I try to upload pics and then it dies again so I'll just have to wait and do Zambia and Luderitz another time.
So for now this past week...
It was a really nice week actually, ups and downs as usual but it all came together in the end with this amazing church service I went to.
Monday was a nice day at my internship followed by some quality time with some friends and then quality homework time. Tuesday we went to the prime minister's office to speak with one of his special directors. The director is currently working on projects for the betterment of the Saan people, the oldest group of people in the world but also the most marginalized. It was interesting to hear how they are approaching the situation, trying to fit people into the society who live so radically different than anyone else, but it does seem they are making a real effort to do it in a culturally acceptable way.
On Thursday we had a women come speak to us about her experiences during apartheid and how SWAPO, the leading liberation and political party, put her in a dungeon for a couple years because she was a suspected spy. SWAPO has unjustly hurt a lot of people with this and she and others are just trying to bring the truth out. From there we went to a seminary and spoke with a pastor about reconciliation. Namibia did not have much of a reconciliation process, partly because of SWAPO's history with the spy camps, and they didn't see it necessary. This is an area that I think South Africa has really done well with in comparison to Namibia, it had a reconciliation program that I believe really made a difference.
After that some of us went to Katutura to get tested for HIV. No, I have no reason to believe I need to get tested but I thought it would be a good experience, see what people go through. Also, as Americans we look at people here and wonder why they don't get tested ever but when we look at ourselves, neither do we. However, we could not get tested. And this is actually very frustrating, because testing is only available during the week and it starts at 8 am and finishes when they meet the quota each day, and generally that does not last very long. How do people get tested? It is free but people are at work during the week and most cannot afford to take work off, even if their work let them. Anyways we went by the community radio station where a couple of our friends work and visited them and then went with them to a market and got some fat cakes :)
After that a few of us went to parliament gardens to read and talk. It was cool because a lot of graduates of the University of Namibia were there taking pictures. I was just thinking of how proud the parents must be to have their kids graduate from university. There were not universities in Namibia before independence. So to graduate must mean a lot. Also just the fact that they were on the parliament lawn with people of different races is a huge deal when you stop and think about how that would have been illegal less that 20 years ago.
On friday we had a wonderful woman, Patricia, come speak to us, the first woman we've had so far. She directs Hope Initiative which has helped so many children and people in the informal settlements of Katutura. Her heart and passion was radiant and it was so nice to see someone making true progress and a difference in Namibia. As I have mentioned before, I sometimes get frustrated with how impossible everything seems here and no matter what you do little gets done, but this lady gives me reason to believe otherwise.

Moving on, the weekend was really really nice, just stayed in Windhoek and spent time with a friend.
Sunday comes and I go to the church down the street that I have been to a few times and it was an exciting day because the three separate Lutheran churches are coming together to work as one church. This is a big deal regardless, but even bigger because 60% of Namibians are Lutheran, so this event is helping unify 60% of the country. There are two black Namibian churches and one German church that joined to make a council that will help unify the three churches so they can begin to work as one. It was an incredible event that incorporated so much of my experience in Namibia. There were people from all over the world, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, USA, and then South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A band played conducted by the composer of the National Anthem. I saw the former prime minister there along with a few speakers we've had. People of different races, languages, nationalities, and cultures all came to celebrate the event. That was reconciliation at its heart that morning; four hours of coming together as a church to serve God and to help Namibia come together as nation. It was so amazing to experience the apologies and forgiveness between peoples for the harsh history of colonization and apartheid. So many speakers mentioned their desires to work towards healing and helping Namibia by creating social and economic justice in the country. As frustrating and unhopeful it can be here at times when I experience things like this and meet all these people who are passionately working to help this country I know that the country will make it and grow beautifully.

mooving on to the next place

2007-04-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Rural homestay: amazing
So we drove from swakupmund to Omaruru, a town a few more hours north. From there we met with Mayor Mike who hooked us all up with homestay families. From there we drove an hour or so to a tiny town - one person stayed there - from there we drove another hour (all dirt roads with nothing around) to some farm communities/villages/towns/whatever pc way you want to call them. I stayed in Otjiarango, a town made up of a primary school, 2 or 3 shops, and probably a few hundred people and a few hundred cows. I ended up staying with another student b/c my "should have been sister" was supposedly out of town at the beginning and I was to join her the second day - she didn't leave town until the third day and by the time they found me a new family it was towards the end and I wanted to stay with my family that I grew to love. so that was a little disappointing - I wanted to experience my own family but C'est la vie, and I had a great time. My family consisted of my sister, Jubilene (28), her daughter (6), and Jubilene's grandmother. Jubilene was the only one who spoke english. The town is all Herero people and only those who had completed a decent amount of education (and it had to be in the later part of apartheid) spoke english. I met amazing people and learned a lot. The community was very strong there. Everyone knows each other, and almost everyone is related, and everyone seemed to take care of each other. I got to know a lot of people by the end of the week and felt really comfortable walking around and could see people I knew all over. Everyone was very friendly towards us (there were 5 of us in the town) and were really appreciative that we came to see how they live and get to know them.
Here's a few highlights:

Me milking our cow - it is more difficult than you think - I probably only got a cup's worth
View from our house - it was really beautiful there - dry but beautiful - you can't even imagine all the stars at night - trees and mountains and the most incredible sunsets
my sister jubilene and her daughter ngoumme (goo-may)
where we slept and one of the cows - our family only had a few cows and goats but everyone's wandered everywhere, and I mean everywhere - it is a communal farming area so all the land is shared

donkey cart time - main mode of transportation (though a few people have cars) - it was so much fun to ride, even when we ran into a tree - just an example of life there - we just asked random people to give us a ride and they said yes - then he turned out to be my sister's uncle
a couple guys took some of us and our families on an incredible hike - a mountain basically made of rock - great view from the top
cool area of the hike that had old Saan people paintings on the walls
my grandmother and ngumme and one of the many cats - she was a super sweet lady who couldn't speak english and just laughed and laughed when we tried our Otjihereo on her

What I learned during my homestay:

how to live without running water or electricity (and it was kinda nice after a while), how to trust, how to share everything, about Herero culture and people, a few Otjihereo words, that I love people, a few dance moves, how to milk a cow, how to be comfortable with myself, about the affects of colonialism and apartheid, how to communicate without words, how kids are the best way to find out what's going on, to cook outside over a fire, how to "see" in the dark, about community, about the struggles of living in a rural area in Namibia, about love

and the lesson that I learn on a daily basis living over here that just was strengthened during this experience is that we are all people - we are all human beings worthy of life and respect, no matter where we live, what language we speak, what our culture is, what our skin color is - we are all people - we all laugh, cry, get angry, feel pain, we all dream, hope, smile, learn, love, and we are people, all images of God

So after that we packed up our things, said our goodbyes and went a few more hours north to ethosha - biggest game park in namibia and one of the best in africa supposedly - lots of animals - zebras galore, kudu, springbok, a few lions, giraffes, and a lot more

Namibia has the best clouds and some of the bluest skies - and I just thought this was a cool pic
Next time - Zambia! I'm almost caught up!

and it continues...

2007-04-06T03:49:00.000-07:00

So after my homestay we have a "normal week" of classes and internship. I went to intern on wendesday and afterwards stopped by to visit my host sisters - nice to see them. That weekend was a lot of fun. some good girl time. then an amazing hike in a park near windhoek.
then we went to swakamund - town on the coast of namibia - beautiful. the first day we took a tour and saw the town. It is a crazy german touristy looking town. we learned how it was set up during apartheid - we went to the DRC settlements - little shacks in the middle of nothingness desert then took a five minute drive to mansions on the beach - strange. so how do I cope with it? I decide to jump out of a plane :)

ok so pictures are out of order but you'll figure it out

here is kesem, jess and me about to head up

view from the plan - inbetween walvish bay and swakupmund
landis this one is for you!
dunes - some of the largest in the world - from the plane

during our hike back in windhoek - there are wild zebras if you look closely flying through the namib sky!!!
hiking the most incredible dunes - it was spectacular - definitly one of the coolest things I've ever done
hiking again - namibia is a beautiful country
we got a flat tire on the way to swakup in the middle of the desert and had some good times while passat fixed the car

swakup beaches makes my heart joyful - well any beaches does - but it was really nice

wow

2007-04-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

So it's been quite some time and I'm going to have to back track quite a bit because there are just some things I cannot leave out - but the last three weeks are what I'm most excited to share - and hopefully in the next few days I will be posting a lot.
So here is pre-3 amazing weeks trip around southern africa.
I had a 10 day homestay in Katutura, a township of Windhoek with a nice family consisting of Trudy, my mom, Sam, my dad, and two girls, Oli (16) and Mweneni (17) who aren't the daughters (they don't have any kids) but are relatives living with them for a while. My family was quite nice. I didn't really have an amazing bond with the parents or anything and at times it was kind of rough, but they were still nice and the girls were wonderful and I am so thankful to have met them and spent time getting to know them. The first weekend we went to a funeral, went swimming at a park, went to church, saw some family and just sat around and relaxed a lot. Then during the week I still had classes and internship like normal. It was really nice in some ways because I lived close to my internship and could walk there. Walking to work and living in the community in which you work to me is one of the most gratifying things. It was also nice coming home to an actual family after being at work or school, even though I felt awkward at time, I still felt welcome and at home which is nice. The thing I missed the most during this homestay, as opposed to the soweto one, was the sense of community. My family doesn't associate much with their neighbors or community so I didn' t have that experience. However I met a lot of their extended family so that was cool. I talked to some interesting people and learned a lot. The second weekend was the best part. We went to their farm, about an hour away from windhoek. It is a communal farm, so it is essentially free and everyone shares land and everything. They had some goats and want to expand eventually. It was just nice being away in nature, no electricity or running water, and it was very peacefull and relaxing there. Two other girls joined us, ages 12 and 14, and they were wonderful. I had a lot of time hanging out with all the girls and getting to know them. One night we played Idols (like american idol but africa version) which was a blast. Trudy and I were the judges and everyone else sang 4 songs. Nothing like singing and making fools of ourselves to bring people together. It was really nice and I felt much closer to my family after that weekend, too bad that is when it ended.
Unfortunatly, I got incredibly sick after that, I mean more sick than I have felt in a really long long time. I think it was the water from the farm or some food they fed me. oh well, it's over and done with now.
The next week we just had classes and such like normal. We met the former prime minister which was interesting and I had some good times at my homestay.
now for the pics

Here is my homestay house - don't be fooled - the neighborhood didn't look anything like this - it kind of stuck out. it was a very nice house

here is my sister Oli

here is my cousin - cutest little girl ever

heck yeah I can make fat cakes

on the farm - beautiful !

2007-03-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

hey everyone
sorry no post in forever - before I left the internet was down all week and now I'm on a three week trip traveling around Namibia and am currently in Zambia.
I'm alive and well and having the time of my life these three weeks. So much to tell, not to mention about things before the 3 week trip like my 10 day homestay in Windhoek and amazing hiking/concerts/people/internship.
So I hope everyone is well and I probably won't update for another week - then expect a really long one!!

settling in

2007-02-28T04:44:00.000-08:00

well if I had to pick one work to describe the past couple weeks it would be overwhelming

not to say that I'm not glad to be here, in fact being overwhelmed comes from good things too, I'm just really overwhelmed with everything I've been experiencing, learning, seeing, and doing

so last week was a "normal" week of classes and internship. we had 3 speakers that week for our different classes and that was really interesting
1st speaker - incredible - I think his name s professor Karina - but anyways he named Namibia and co-founded SWAPO (south west africa people's organization) the leading anti-apartheid group and now the leading political party of namibia. he was the first namibia to go overseas for education and before that learned from mandela, dube, and other famous south african leaders. he lived in the us for 30 or 40 years because he had trouble getting back to namibia and it was still under apartheid rule. during his time in the US he was very active in namibia politics and the civil rights movement in the US. he spoke in front of the UN about namibia and later helped MLKJ (they were good friends) get a slot to speak in front of the UN, he had dinner with Malcolm X every friday and was close friends with Maya Angelou. so big deal. he shared a lot of things that need to be done in namibia and sad things that were going on but he also reminded us that namibia is still a teenager - it is celebrating it's 17th birthday next month.
2nd speaker - used to be the minister of education in namibia so talked a lot about education here, he was okay but mostly it is just hard to think about how much needs to be done to get the masses educated. education is required here but people have to pay school fees so many people do not complete education and a lot of schools are full. for example today I went to 3 different schools for my internship to try and see if we could get this boy into 10th grade and none of the schools had room for him - so even if he could pay for school he couldn't get in! that is just absurd to me.
3rd speaker - a guy from the US embassy in namibia. very fascinating. told us a lot about what is going on in namibia and what the US is doing. the US is actually doing a lot and is starting a new program which sounds really positive but who knows what kind of strings are attached because of it. however we learned a lot about AIDS and different issues facing Namibia. For example, as I've said before, Namibia has the largest gap between the rich and the poor. Around 80% of the population makes an average of US$100-200 per year while the top percentages make US$200,000 to 1 million per year and there aren't too many people in between.

moving on...
we are currently doing a home stay from last thursday until this upcoming sunday. we still attend our internships and classes but the rest of the time we spend with our home stay family. I live with Sam and Trudy and two girls (16 and 17) who are relatives living with them for a while because they needed some help and one of them is an orphan. They are a very nice family and I especially like the girls. However we haven't done a lot and they just can't compare to my last home stay. We don't really talk with the neighbors or talk much in general - just eat together then go our separate ways. But I am enjoying being there and just spending sometime away from the center and with a family. this weekend we are going to their house on a community farm which should be fun. over the past weekend we just hung out a lot and on saturday I went to a funeral (interesting) and then we went to this park just outside of Windhoek to go swimming. It was absolutely beautiful there. And I saw giraffes!!! We were driving out and there were a bunch of wildebeests then 4 giraffes really close to the road, I was excited. pictures will come if my computer ever lasts for more than 30 minutes at a time.

So it's been good but hard at times. I struggle a lot with how I fit in here and especially at my internship. I really want to positively impact my internship but I don't know how. My advisor is never there and when she is she is not very helpful. I enjoy the people and the kids (who knew I liked little kids, not me) but I don't feel like there is a project for me to work on. And then I talk with people about possible ideas and everything seems so impossible. Namibia does not have the same programs and outlets and resources as in the US so I feel more or less helpless in doing anything. I really enjoyed it today when we went into the community and visited people - also I just feel like I belong there now, and that is a nice feeling. I'm going extra tomorrow to visit the youth club which should be good and I'm trying to brainstorm and research but haven't had much time for that either. But hopefully I will think of something and I'm enjoying it in the meantime.

Well that's it for now....
hope you all are well

oh snap!

2007-02-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

picture time!

welcome to south africa! this is an old powerplant in Soweto that was shut down because it was causing health problems to the people but has not been transformed into a city symbol in preparation for the 2010 world cup that everyone seemed to be excited for

this is the hector peterson museum, a memorial of the 1976 student protests and those who were killed during the protests - this was dedicated by Nelson Mandela himself and Bill Clinton. We got to speak to a photographer who witnessed the whole thing.

this is at the apartheid museum in Johannesburg, it represents the 8 pillars of South Africa

this is the south african parliment building in pretoria (capital)

some girls from my group when we were in pretoria

some beutiful girls at the birthday party (larato is the birthday girl in front) in soweto during my homestay

cutest boy ever! (at the birthday party)

my beautiful little "sister" Mapule

this is the house of my favorite person who's door (can you guess who?) which we rang 5 times but alas no answer - and his spot as my favorite person was only confirmed by visiting south africa :)

here is the whole crew plus a couple who were like family and missing a couple who were like family - from the left: karabo (20) and her baby (9 months), saza (15), thandi, emmy, mabule (5), moureen (mom), me, and I can't remember her name she rented there

welcome to namibia and its beauty!!!

my home for the next few months, windhoek!

these 2 are from camping this past weekend - this is at a dam/lake

more beautiful namibia - there are mountains everywhere you look, I really hate that (not!)

and that my friends is a taste of what I've been doing/seeing, hope you enjoyed

well toto, we're definitely not in kansas anymore

2007-02-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

As the title implies, namibia is different than any place I've ever been, particularly kansas (or valpo for that matter). but I do like it...
first week of classes went alright, not too much exciting during the week except we went out for dinner on valentines (all 20 of us) and ended up waiting 2 hours for our food that wasn't very good, and my internship went better (but still not sure what I'm gonna do the whole time), and I think I'm going to enjoy my classes.
so 11 of us went camping this past weekend. we left friday late afternoon for Rehoboth, a town about an hour away from Windhoek with a population around 20 or 30 thousand. The make up is different than I've seen before, almost everyone is of mixed race, and they refer to themselves as basters. we ended up at the wrong camp grounds, but it ended up working out. just chilled on friday and saturday we went to a dam/lake and hiked around. very very beautiful. there are so many mountains around. namibia is very dry but some parts still seem to have lush looking plants, though overall the look of the country is dry (it's dessert). just radically different from the midwest. came back to the camp grounds and met some locals and spent the evening talking, dancing, relaxing with them. incredibly welcoming people. one man offered for some of us to come stay at his place for a month, others offered to have us over if we were ever in town again. a couple girls took us on a walk to a stream/waterfall the next morning which was beautiful and we got to see some of the city that we would have never seen if it wasn't for them. since the town is smaller and racially different than windhoek we got some different reactions from the people, but overall people were friendly and wanted to make sure we enjoyed Reho, which we did. It was a fun weekend, though apparently we missed out, because some girls met the first prime minister of namibia and hung out with him all saturday evening! however, I saw two baboons near the road on the drive back and that secured it for me that we're definitely not in kansas anymore. :)

it's summer time in namibia

2007-02-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

I stole the title idea from courtney but it seems fitting because it is hot here, but I'll take this over the freezing weather in valpo right now
so namibia is beautiful
we flew in last wednesday and the airport is in the middle of no where so we had a nice long drive to windhoek and enjoyed the scenery. so apparently there are mountains here, lots of them and it is so nice to walk around and every where you look there are mountains (pics will hopefully come soon if I can ever get on with my comp). the 20 of us got settled in to our very nice house and met our profs and the CGE staff.
Some things I've done and seen:
we took a tour of windhoek and learned some history of the segregation and apartheid within namibia. we drove through katatura (part of the city) which was really hard to see. it is an informal settlement but there are street names and everything. thousands of tin shacks were everywhere, too short for people to stand up in and I'm sure multiple families living in each one. it's really sad too because the government isn't doing anything about it. at least in south africa they are building houses for people for free, here they just seem to ignore it.
we went to the soweto market (yes soweto is in south africa) which is just place in katutura where people have little shops and sell different things. we ate lunch there and helped a lady make fat cakes which was fun. the people seem a lot more hesitant to us here than they did in south africa becasue there is still a lot of race problems. so people look at us and seem uneasy but once they know we are americans (and not afrikaaners) and are okay then they warm up a lot. we learned some prices of different things and then calculated the costs for them in us dollars for an average namibia worker and a liter of milk would be US $ 13 and a roll of toliet paper US $ 3.50, crazy, no wonder there isn't much of either around.
we had 15 or so students from 2 local (and only ones in namibia) universities for a forum/social get together. that was really cool. It was fun to meet some namibians our age and get their perspective on things. some of them took us out to a club that night which was fun.
Sunday we went to this ridiculously long church service (3 hrs) and basically none of it was in english except when they invited us up to introduce ourselves (imagine 400 people turning to look at the 5 of us) and then later one of the pastors came over and interpreted the sermon for us which was really nice. Afterwards we met a lady who we asked where we could get food and she took us to her house then went to the markets to eat with - how incredible!
Monday was my first day at my internship and well... it is at a place called Beautiful Gate and it is a really cool organization started by this couple from South Africa. It has 61 kids (3 to 6 year old) during the day who come and learn some basic english and other things and get a good meal or two in them and get some love and play time. A few days a week they have an after school type program for older kids but unfortunately not on the days I'm there because little kids can make me nervous sometimes. Anyways my supervisor was only there for about a half an hour then I just cleaned dishes and floors and made jello and stared at a tree for an hour and half and watched 50+ kids run around screaming and climb all over me. So not my favorite but maybe it will get better and I have to sit down with my supervisor and set goals and come up with a project to work on so hopefully I will get valuable experience not just screaming kids and making sandwiches and jello experience. It was a little disappointing too that only a couple of the adults are from namibia while the rest are from SA, Holland, US, and maybe australia. C'est la vie, n'est pas? Just have to stick with it for a while.
It was really difficult seeing all the kids though - a lot of them suffer from serious malnutrition, have TB, have HIV/AIDS or their parents do, or are orphans living in abusive homes. And the neighborhood it's in is really sad too, especially when I can leave and come back to our nice house and lots of food.

south africa!

2007-02-10T02:23:00.000-08:00

So the time has come to tell of South Africa, a beautiful country with even more beautiful people that have captured my heart a little. Sorry for such the long post - it could have been much longer though - I'll keep it shorter from now on, hopefully.
No pictures yet because I still can’t get on the internet with my computer, but hopefully soon. Anyways…..
The 20 of us flew into Johannesburg on the 28th of January and just got settled in this guest house right next to where Desmond Tutu went to school :)

The first day we took a tour of Soweto, a township/”suburb” of Johannesburg. Soweto has about 4 or 5 million people in it and Joburg totals around 14 or 15 million people, so a lot. We toured around and saw a lot of houses, ranging from very large nice houses to tiny shacks. We went to the school where the 1976 student protests started which sparked a lot of international attention but mostly added a lot to the anti-apartheid movements within South Africa. We went to the Hector Peterson (first boy who died during protests) museum which beautifully portrayed the story of Soweto and the protests. People in Soweto are very proud of their city and all it’s history, rightfully so.

The next day we went to the apartheid museum which was incredible. It was constructed and planned out so wonderfully. It brings forth a lot of deep emotions and is very informative. It is so nice to be able to see what I have studied and discuss it with other people. Sometimes when I stop for a few minutes and think about what South Africa has experienced as a country I'm overwhelmed. The pain and hurt is unimaginalbe and the struggle was so strong, but the people are so happy now because they have gained their independence. After that we visited an orphanage in Soweto which seemed to be doing a lot of good for those kids and the community it was in. Then we went to a park and discussed what we had experienced so far, which was nice because it is hard to take in everything I’m seeing and feeling.

Next day, we went to the Khotso House which I had read about because it was bombed during apartheid. It hosts the South African Council of Churches and we got to talk to the Secretary General, Eddie Makue, who was brilliant and absolutely fascinating. The churches in South Africa were such an important role in fighting apartheid and are really working hard for economic justice now. That night we headed to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, which was about an hour away. We just went around and ate out that night which was fun.
Pretoria is definitely different than Johannesburg and especially Soweto. There is a lot of white influence there and larger Afrikaner population. We went to this one area that was completely Afrikaners which was good to see, to know that separation still occurs, but sad to see because it shows that there is still a lot of apartheid occurring. Anyways that day we went to the Voortrekker Monument which was strange. It is hard to visit a monument which celebrates a history of a people who oppressed and killed so many South Africans. Then we ate at the Parliament Building gardens and walked around the Parliament. Urbanus, our professor who is from Namibia, said it was very difficult for him to come there because of the history of Pretoria, it was the think tank and enforcer of the apartheid regime so it brings back a lot of bad feelings. However I have been surprised of how forgiving most South Africans are and how accepting to others most are; there is so much hope in South Africa, you can just feel it.

Next day we went to the US Embassy which was really interesting. Needless to say I don’t agree how the embassy works but it was interesting to learn about it. Then we came back to Joburg and packed for our home stays.

The home stay has been by far the best part of the trip so far. Friday night we headed over, we did this one in pairs. We arrived at our host family and meet everyone: Moureen, our mom, Karabo, 20 year old sister with a nine-month baby, Saza, our 15 year old sister, and Mabule our 5 year old sister, plus all the neighbours and family friends who we spent a lot of time with and were basically family. That night we ate cow intestines which was probably the most disgusting thing I’ve ever had in my life, but I managed to eat about half which I was proud of. Then we walked around and met people. Everyone was so welcoming and giving towards us. The next day we woke up and ate an enormous breakfast then walked around to meet more people. It is so incredible how friendly and loving every person we met was, just amazing. We met this traditional healer which was fascinating; she talked to us about what she did for about an hour. She had a patient with her and told us what everything she used was for. It was interesting because she did it all in the name of God and has had a lot of success. It was incredible. Then she danced for us and the whole family joined in and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Then we went to a birthday party for a 10 year old. By the end of the night there were at least 100 people there. It was defiantly a cultural experience I won’t forget. I played a lot which children and danced and ate a lot and met so many people. The race politics is very interesting in this country. People in Soweto are surprised to see us there. Most children are fascinated by us, and the more elderly people are so appreciative to see us there, and it differs as lot with everyone in between. The next day we went to church which was beautiful. Then we walked around the neighbourhood again and met with people and just talked. The sense of community here is so strong. Then we went to this soccer meeting, which was kind of confusing but it ended soon and we just hung out with the people for a few hours. Everyone is so excited about 2010, when South Africa hosts the world cup. Then we walked by Nelson Mandela’s old home and Desmond Tutu’s new home (we tried ringing the door but no answer :) ). We came back to our home and relaxed and talked with people. That seemed to happen a lot, just sitting around and talking or dancing which was wonderful. Alcohol seemed to be a big problem in my neighbourhood however. Our mom sold beer on the side so we hung out with a lot of hard core alcoholics. They were all wonderful people though. Overall the weekend was one of the best experiences of my life and I will never forget the beautiful people and how wonderful I felt living there, despite the awkward circumstances at times and cultural differences. I fell in love with Soweto that weekend.

We just reflected and relaxed the next day which was a nice change of pace.
Next day we went to Museum Africa which was kind of a bust but the part where we saw the migration compounds where workers stayed who worked in the mines during apartheid was good to see. They looked like concentration camps. We went to a market and a play the evening which was interesting.

And that my friends was South Africa. I hope to go back this summer/winter. I loved it and saw so much beauty, not just in the landscape but the people. It has such a rough history and has a lot of work to do before real justice is done, but there is so much hope and beauty in the people. It was a truly inspiring trip.

I'm here!!

2007-02-08T09:22:00.001-08:00

yes friends I'm here.... still can't believe it sometimes. we just got to namibia yesterday after a 10 day stay in South Africa - incredible. however internet is currently limited because it is not working throughout the house so I'm going to have to update what I actually did later. so just checking in, expect a detailed account of south africa soon. thanks and hope you all are well

count down continues.....

2007-01-23T17:27:00.000-08:00

2 days , a flight to DC, a day with my roomie, and an 18 hr flight and then South Africa!!
the clock is ticking.....

here's the line up for the semester
1/28-2/7 johannesburg, south africa
2/7 - 3-10 windhoek, namibia (2 weeks will be at a homestay)
3/11 - 3-24 rural homestay (up north)
3/25 - 3/30 spring break somewhere
4/1 - 5/5 windhoek (some travel to southern namibia in there)
5/6 - 5/13 cape town, south africa

you can write me at (allow 3 weeks)
Kim Hover
c/o Center for Global Education
P.O. Box 21377
Windhoek, NAMIBIA

ps - I won't have my cell phone as of friday morning so if you want to call - call thursday :)

count down

2007-01-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

2 weeks from today I will be on a plane crossing the seas to Johannesburg, South Africa. I am extremely excited, I cannot explain it. I'm a little nervous and am missing people already but I know this is something that is going to change my life and be an incredible experience. I've been looking forward to this for a couple years now. It will be so incredible to finally experience everything I've been reading about and studying for a while. We have to read a few books in preperation. I finished the book Kaffir Boy a week or so ago and it was intense. A really good book if you are ever looking to learn about the basics of apartheid. It brought back so much of what I had learned in my class on apartheid last year. So many stories of destruction of life, religion, culture, families, and everything. I had to constantly remind myself this book was a true story. Fortunately for me I have studied the ending of apartheid. It is an inspirational but still sad story. There is so much hope for the country of South Africa but it must first deal with the terrible state apartheid left it in. It will be very interesting to experience South Africa and see the affects of apartheid, after all it only ended 13 years ago. We will spend the first 9 or 10 days in Johannesburg and then head to Namibia! Right now I'm most excited about South Africa just because I know more about the country's history, but I can't wait to learn and experience Namibia's as well. Lots to do in the next 2 weeks to prepare, but I'm sure it will get done. Oh, I probably have a intern in Cape Town set up for the summer, which sounds amazing, more on that when I know for sure.
In case you're wondering where Namibia is....