Project Bungalow
I think I've said it before: If you think you know how things will work out here, just wait a couple minutes for them to change. Last week, I mentioned that we found a new group of guys to move the bungalow. Well, that was done this week. What I didn't know is that it was moved to someone else's place. The story is this:
Nomasomi has been a virtual no-show at Zwane for the last three weeks. According to Yvonne, she also hasn't spent any time with her daughter in the last month or so. The daughter has been having some real problems with school and the people she is staying with. She's been beaten up twice in the past month for her transport money (she takes taxis or buses to school), and she's also been without food for 2-3 days a time. I had thought Nomasomi was going to take her in and really build a relationship with her, but that hasn't happened. Yvonne thinks Nomasomi is also drinking, which creates a whole 'nother problem with parenting and safety.
So, Yvonne decided that the shack should go to someone else until Nomasomi can pull it together. The woman who lined up the men (she's a cleaner at the Centre and the lead guy was her cousin) is now living in the bungalow in Barcelona, an informal settlement on the edges of Guguletu. I only found out about this on Thursday this week when Nomasomi finally came to Zwane to talk to me. Yvonne took it on herself to proclaim the bungalow a community shack, that would be used as short-term housing for people trying to get on their feet. She was also concerned that Nomasomi would take the shack and then sell it to make money.
I think I'm now in a bind. I made a promise to Nomasomi that she would get a shack for her and her daughter. By moving the shack to a different place and allowing someone else to live there, I look like I skipped out on my promise (even though I had nothing to do with it). Yvonne's frustrated because she was trying to do the right thing but now has upset people on her case. She told me that we can move the other woman out and give the shack to Nomasomi, but I'd feel like a heel for doing that to someone who I see at the Centre everyday.
I honestly don't know what to do. Nomasomi's supposed to come to the Centre next week so that Yvonne and I can talk to her together. Hopefully we can come to some agreement, such as having Nomasomi move in with the other woman (the bungalow is large enough to house two people with an inside wall separating their spaces). I'll let you know what happens.
National Strike
Today (June 1) the unions representing over 1,000,000 national and provincial government workers called a strike (euphemistically called “downing tools”). They have been trying to negotiate a new contract for the last nine months and have not been able to get one. They are asking for a 12% pay increase while government is offering 6%. Neither side is budging, even though the government is saying they have reached an agreement with the unions.
The unions represent a broad range of skilled and unskilled workers. Teachers make up the largest portion, followed by health workers, office staff, and laborers. Teachers are especially underpaid – a teacher with 20 years of experience and a college degree makes only about R10,000 a month, or about $17,000 per year. No one in the government sector exactly gets rich (except the politicians, of course).
No one knows how long the strike will last or if other unions will call for sympathy strikes. There is talk about municipal workers going out next week, but no plans have been announced. That would be really bad, as most services would stop (no trash collection, no license bureau, etc.).
The workers marched in the bigger cities today, with relative calm. Time will tell if the marches get angrier.
Stormont Madubela school
I visited this school a couple weeks ago. Unilever (the big conglomerate) had about 30 people in-country for a meeting and cultural visit. They came to Zwane as part of their tour to see what life in the townships was like. Part of the group delivered a few food parcels (full of Unilever products, naturally) and some went to Stormont Madubela to work on an improvement project.
(I commend Unilever for doing things like this. However, in my opinion, drive-by do-gooding doesn't really work. The group was with us for about 3 hours, and many of them really didn't engage much. I can't blame them – it's really hard to get a sense for the environment and needs when you're only at one place for s short time. Companies really need to make a long-term commitment to action and dedicate the resources to doing projects from beginning to end. End of soap box.)
Stormont Madubela is located in KTC, an informal settlement next to Guguletu. KTC is mostly shacks, and people are very poor. The school has about 300 students in about 12 classrooms. The buildings are actually converted shipping containers, all of which have seen better days. Most classrooms did not have blackboards, or if they did they were so worn as to be useless. Some of the rooms had holes in the ceilings, so when it rained the kids got even more jammed in trying to stay dry. Teachers have very limited space for their materials and papers. Many of the kids lack proper clothing – I saw more than a few with no shoes, and even though the school has uniforms about a third of t
he children weren't wearing them. School fees are R15-20 per year and even those are tough for many families to pay.
I have to believe there's a way to partner schools like this with schools in the U.S. All of these schools could benefit from books, games, sporting equipment (balls, etc.), supplies (pencils, tablets, workbooks, art stuff, etc.), you name it. I would love it if someone could hook me up with a school that could work with Stormont Madebela on a long-term improvement project. If you have any ideas, let me know.
When we left the school's choir sang us three songs, the last of which was the national anthem. I have never heard it sound so good. Many of us were close to or shedding tears. Kids have a way of breaking through their poverty and showing us humanity. I wonder when we lose the ability to do that?
Food Quirks
Just for fun, here's a few things I've found this week:
1. You can't get vegetable shortening here. I'm trying to make some brownies for the clinic staff and can't find any shortening to use. I'm changing to a butter-based recipe. Now I just have to convert the oven temperature to Celsius...
2. For the first time I looked in the meat case at the store. I was happy to discover that lamb is incredibly cheap. I paid $3 for a half-pound of lamb chops. Since beef is not very good here, I'm happy to have a red meat option. Chicken and fish get pretty boring. You can also get ground (minced) chicken but not turkey. In fact, you won't find turkey here at all. I remember when Cindy and I lived in Johannesburg she had to go to a specialty butcher to find a turkey breast for Thanksgiving. Even then I think we had to settle for some other bird. Ostrich, maybe. Which is very good, by the way.
3. They sell a smooth cottage cheese here that is to die for. The dairy must just blend the curds until it's smooth. It's slightly softer than cream cheese and has a tangier taste but not as much as sour cream. You can get it with chives, sweet chilis, garlic, or other additives. Another great protein alternative.
4. I found pancake mix in the store today! It's actually called flapjack mix, because pancakes are really crepes. Most of you don't know that I could live on pancakes, so I'm excited to try them this weekend. My only dilemma now is finding a decent syrup.
5. One of the cooks at the Centre made a special lunch yesterday. She made samp with chicken, spinich, carrot and onion. Samp is whole corn kernels that have been slightly softened. You treat it like beans, overnight soak and long simmer. The spinach was something unlike anything I'd ever seen, with long, thick stems and long crinkly leaves. That must be what Popeye ate and not what we have in salads.
More to come.
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