Whatever You Thought About South Africa, Think Again

It amazed us to realize just how many languages are spoken in Cape Town let alone South Africa. Portia, one of our IES guides, revealed to us that every student must learn both their mother language and English, essentially creating a country of people who speak multiple languages. Our perception of the origin of the Afrikaans also shifted. We originally thought it was the “oppressor’s language.” However, we later it was created by slaves in the Dutch kitchens from languages around the world. Even within the English language, the dialect here is so different from back home. Just trying to ask the waiter for “watt-er” (which we eventually learned to pronounce as “whot-taa”) took a few tries.         

 We were also really surprised by the amount of diversity in Cape Town.  We spent a lot of time in the Maymester seminar talking about the differences between black and white South Africans that many of us thought we would mostly just see those two groups.  However, there are a lot of colored people, and many of them are very hard to tell which ethnicity they are – some look like light skinned black people, others Middle Eastern, and quite a few Asians.  It was interesting that the cities and restaurants/bars aren’t as segregated as we though they would be because there were people of all colors inside, but we noticed that people tended to stick to their own groups when out in public.  We were also surprised that there is a fairly large Muslim population here, which was really brought to our attention at the welcome dinner and when we heard the prayer calls throughout the city.

We did learn about xenophobia before we left, and many of us were under the impression that Cape Town was excluded from the violence. While there are no protests or demonstrations in Cape Town, we've learned that locals here are still affected by xenophobia. When we went to a salon we met a woman working there named Dada. Dada is from Burundi and fled to South Africa five years ago to escape the violence. Dada's sister was shot the day before while she was driving in Cape Town because she is not from South Africa. She survived but Kristen asked her if she felt safe, and Dada said no. While there are no mass demonstrations here, xenophobia in South Africa is still impacting locals and their quality of life here in Cape Town.

Katie, Kristen, & Amanda

Week 11: Ten Rules for Restaurant Success

One of the problems that Mzansi's is experiencing is that their business has been somewhat at a standstill.  They are making enough to pay the bills, but their business isn't really growing or expanding.  This article explains that there are many factors that contribute to owning and running a successful restaurant.  To create a remarkable restaurant that people will talk about and recommend to others, a restaurant should offer a simple, but delicious menu that consists of a dozen or less main courses.  It should also have enough seats to serve as many people as possible, a nice sign to attract customers, a no frills atmosphere, a memorable waitstaff, a good location, memorabilia to aid in profits and marketing, a social media presence, engage in opportunities that provide free press, and offer the little things customers need like napkins. While Mzansi's has achieved a lot of these things, there is still work to be done in some of the other areas like creating a social media presence and finding free press opportunities.  By helping them in these areas, I hope that we can help Mzansi's attract more customers while we are in South Africa and even after we leave, so that they can begin to see even more profits.

Article URL: http://blog.bradleygauthier.com/10-rules-for-restaurant-success/

Week 10 Poverty Tours: A Learning Experience or Simply Gawking?

Article URL: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/22/travel/india-poverty-tourism/

This article basically discusses the pros and cons of poverty tourism in the slums of India.  While many have good intentions for going on these tours, such as opening their eyes to the extreme poverty that many people around the world live in, some locals feel they are being treated as zoo animals who are there for tourists to look at.  Tour companies claim they want to show the positive side of the slums and eliminate the negative stereotypes about those who reside in the slums.  One company claims that 80% of their profits go back to local communities.  Others argue that it portrays poverty as entertainment and as something that can be momentarily experienced and then escaped.

This relates to my service learning project at Mzantsi Restaurant because it is a restaurant catering to the needs of tourists, but it is located in a township.  I have heard many great things about the restaurant from Austin about how it provides many jobs to people living in the township that otherwise wouldn't be available to them.  I am not necessarily opposed to poverty tourism because I think it does a good job of really raising awareness.  It's different to see something on television than to see something firsthand.  Seeing something with your own eyes is much more powerful.  Without exposing people to the extreme poverty and raising awareness around the issue, I don't think we will be able to inspire people to bring about changes and actually do something to help the situation.  I also think it is a good way to pump money into these local townships since many of the people living there don't have the traditional job skills their competition has, such as education, job experience, means of transportation, etc.  They are capitalizing off of what they know and what they are good at.

Week 9: Class Top 10 List

I think this is a wonderful top 10 list because it encompasses so many different issues.  The Apartheid Timeline and the Power and Privilege definitions do a great job at helping us understand the history of apartheid and oppression that occurred in South Africa.  "Cape Town: Gangs, Race and Poverty 20 years after Apartheid" also helps explain why many black South Africans are still struggling to get ahead even though Apartheid has officially ended.  They have been oppressed for many years, so it is going to take some time to come out of that oppression and be able to truly better themselves with the opportunities that have been only been granted to white South Africans for such a long time.  "Here's how South African students talk about race and gender" does a good job of explaining the current situation so that we are really prepared to understand what the race relations are when we arrive in South Africa.  Coloureds were also harmed by the system of Apartheid, so I think "Not White Enough, Not Black Enough" does a good job of depicting what their struggles and frustrations are, especially since they are often overlooked by history, their own government, and the international community.  It also explains that race is not as simple as black and white, as many people tend to think of it as.  "South Africa Progressive on LGBT Rights but Gays Still Battle for Social Reform" and "Realizing Women's Rights in South Africa" are very informational.  Since the racial situation in South Africa is so complex and so urgent, we sometimes have a tendency to look past these other oppressed groups, such as homosexuals and women.  However, they are also fighting hard for their rights and their stories are inspiring.  Lastly, the Bucket List to visiting South Africa and Culture in South Africa mostly just got me really excited to be going on this trip.  They showcase South Africa's beauty and positivity.  We spend so much time talking about upsetting topics, sometimes I lose sight of the progress South Africa has made and how much the country has to offer.

Week 8: Top 10 List

In no particular order:

#10)  Apartheid Timeline - This is just really helpful for me in visualizing how the movement played out and how long this system lasted. When we talk about it in class, I tend to think of everything happening all at once or over the span of a couple of years.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/endgame/timeline.html
Posted by Joshua Alvarez

#9) US Anti-Apartheid Movement - It's important to understand relations between the US and South Africa prior to traveling there.  The US was influential in putting an end to apartheid, but many criticized us for not getting involved sooner, so there may be some tension there.
 http://www.voanews.com/content/us-anti-apartheid-movementhelpsbringchangetosouthafrica/1900704.html
Posted by Bianca Alcorta

#8) Not White Enough, Not Black Enough - Very informative article about what it is like to be a "colored" person in South Africa.  There is also a difference between being black, colored, and mixed race, which I never knew.  It explains how many colored people feel they are not benefiting from post-apartheid democracy because many policies are aimed only at black South Africans.
http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/in-south-africa-after-apartheid-colored-community-is-the-big-loser/?_r=0
Posted by Elsia Benavides

#7) South Africa's Ticking Time Bomb - Explains most of the economic problems impacting South Africa today.  Their currency has dropped 70 percent against the dollar, 2/3 of all unemployed South Africans are under the age of 35, only 37 percent of the youth labor force has a high school degree, etc.  All of these problems are leading to increases in crime, such as gangs and robbery.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2014/07/02/south-africas-major-problems-youth-unemployment-and-economic-inequality
Posted by Nestor Castro

#6) Race Relations at Crossroads in Mandela's South Africa - This article describes the current tensions between whites and blacks in South Africa.  I was very surprised to read that only 53 percent of white South Africans believed apartheid was a crime against humanity.  Clearly, there is a lot more work to be done between the two groups before the country can truly move forward.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/664567-race-relations-at-crossroads-in-mandela-s-south-africa.html
Posted by Joanna Windom

#5) Power and Privilege Definitions - These terms are important for all of us to keep in mind when we travel to South Africa so that we are aware of our own privileges, the problems oppressed people face, and how to become an ally to them.
Posted by Joshua Alvarez

#4) Why is Crime and Violence so High in South Africa? - Explains why murder rates are so high and only half of the cases at best even make it to court.  During apartheid, many of the laws were unjust and also unfairly enforced.  This was designed to keep living in fear, so many people don't have respect for the laws.  There is also a large amount of government corruption.
http://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/Why-is-crime-and-violence-so-high-in-South-Africa-20140918
Posted by Tiasha Ullah

#3) South Africa Progressive on LGBT Rights, but Gays Still Battle for Social Reform - I was impressed to learn that South Africa was the first country in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.  However, under the rule of apartheid, gay men could be imprisoned for up to 7 years.  Just because the laws have changed, does not mean homophobia has disappeared though, particularly in townships,
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/south-africa-progressive-lgbt-rights-gays-still-battle-social-reform-1471213
Posted by Ignacio Cruz

#2) Factbox: South Africa since Apartheid - This article outlines the major problems South Africa is facing since the end of Apartheid.  I knew housing was a problem, but I didn't realize that there was one formal brick house for every 43 blacks.  Also, there is a huge rich-poor gap.  Blacks make up 79 percent of the population but only earned 41 percent of the national income.  Whites make up 9 percent of the population, but earn 45 percent of the national income.  That is a huge inequality.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-24/news/sns-rt-us-safrica-anc-factbre85n067-20120624_1_blacks-south-africans-african-national-congress
Posted by Faith Izuegbu

#1) Education Today - Education is so important, so I was sad to read that of the 1 million students who enrolled in school in 2000, 50 percent of them ended up dropping out and only 25 percent passed their matric exams.  Many public schools are being shut down due to lack of funding.  South Africa really needs to start investing in their youth by providing them with adequate education.
http://www.freedomtolearn.co.za/education-today
Posted by Denice Carpenter

Week 7: Peers' Research

I read the article Denice suggested on “Realizing Women’s Human Rights in South Africa.”  It’s interesting to read that many South African men feel threatened if their wife works or will not accept a woman’s wages.  The four main factors that continue to prevent black South African women from obtaining their rights are the unwillingness of men to adapt to changing gender roles, the perceived incompatibility between cultural preservation and human rights, poor urban planning coupled with the economic vulnerability of women, and the police and courts' inadequate implementation of legislation.  Men in South Africa also argue that there is a bias against them in legislation that is aimed at protecting women.  Things that were maybe acceptable when they were growing up and learning how to treat women are no longer acceptable, and they could face arrest, so it is a difficult to change to make.  Practices such as labola, the groom's family paying the bride's family upon marriage, continue in South Africa today.  Practices like this one allow the idea that women and wives are property to continue living on.  This is dangerous because it is often used as a way to justify abuse against women.  While some of the practices in South Africa are more extreme than the ones here in the US, women in South Africa face a lot of the same challenges women in the United States face as well.

I viewed Larisa’s link on the Sharpeville Massacre.  It was horrifying to read that 180 people were injured and 69 were killed, which is what really triggered the militant approaches in the anti-apartheid movement.  It was also inspiring though that 5,000 to 7,000 black South Africans came together to protest the pass laws.  That is a massive amount of people, and this really caught the attention of the international world.  I think it is especially shocking to see something like that because we often take advantage and forget the privileges we have here living in the United States.  None of us lived through the Civil Rights Era and saw blacks beaten by police officers, much less seen mass amounts of people shot and killed right in front of us, so we don't really think about it.  When we do see something like this happen, it's nearly impossible to continue to turn a blind eye to it.

I looked at the article Hashem posted called, “Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s unsavory next president.”  I never knew he faced many charges of fraud and racketeering, was accused of raping a woman, and has several wives and 20 children.  I guess it's pretty common for government officials in South Africa to be viewed by the public as being corrupt, creating a lack of faith in the ANC.  It's also very interesting that someone could run for president without any education or finances because in the US, most of our presidents attended very prestigious schools and it's pretty much a requirement that they are wealthy as presidential elections are extraordinarily expensive.  I can see how this does appeal to the ordinary man though.  He is a lot more grounded and relatable than our elite politicians.  Perhaps they believe that a president who experienced the same hardships they have will move to action quicker in providing them with the services they need.

Week 6: The Status of Coloured People in South Africa

It was interesting to read about the status of Coloureds in South Africa.  I have always been taught that race is a social construct, but it was interesting to see how subjective race truly is depending on the area you're in.  When I hear "coloured," I immediately think black, but Dr. Gilbert explained to us that it meant other minorities who are not black, so I began to picture Asians and Indians, like in the Nelson Mandela movie.  However, the article explains that many coloured people may actually look black, like Usher and Denzel Washington, and tourists probably would not be able to tell the difference.  It is unfortunate that they are not considered African and are often overlooked by their own government.  They were first discriminated against by the Afrikaner government, and they are now being overlooked again by the African National Congress, despite the fact that they worked with the blacks to eliminate Apartheid.  The wife of former president F. W. de Klerk described coloured as "non-person...the leftovers." In contrast to America, where most mixed people tend to identify as African American, coloureds in South Africa usually tend to adopt the religion, language, customs, and family names of their white oppressors.  Many coloureds feel that they are now at the bottom of the pecking order under the rule of the ANC.  All of this information is important for us to keep in mind because most coloured people live in Cape Town, where a lot of racial mixing began to occur about 350 years ago.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/world/2013/10/south_africas_coloreds_identify_most_with_blacks_in_the_us.3.html

http://www.economist.com/node/21546062