Zwelethemba, South Africa

• My first impression: children and women everywhere. From talking to my host sister, I found that most people have many children (usually at least 4 or 5) and some people have children when they are still in high school. There are also some families where mothers have multiple children with different fathers. I found this very interesting because around 50% of the population in Zwelethemba is Christian. However, this phenomenon that I'm witnessing is not typical of behavior that I would normally associate with Christianity. Is this behavior contradictory to the teachings of Christianity or perhaps they can co-exist. This is an interesting question that I unfortunately never had the opportunity to fully explore in Zwelethemba.
• We had the chance to speak to a community journalism group that came to visit us while we were having classes. As this study abroad program is a public health program, we naturally asked the group about health, in particular about HIV and AIDS. The group felt that one of the largest problems about HIV and AIDS in South Africa is that men don't want to change their attitudes towards having unprotected sex. Everywhere, people are taught the ABCs of HIV: Abstain, Be faithful and Condomize. However, men argue that similar to how you can't have candy without tearing off the wrapper, sex is not pleasurable with a condom on. This example has taught me the limitations of having analogies because they can often be twisted to any purpose. In addition, it reveals the difficulty to change behavior in society. My questions for myself: When people have the knowledge and information, what stands in the way of behavior change? From personal experience, many of my friends know about the merits of healthy eating, but how many of us can actually withstand the temptation of sweets, desserts and other "unhealthy" foods?

Time with my homestay:
Mama Eunice is a very sweet and motherly figure. She always makes sure that we eat a lot of food and sometimes at night, Mama Eunice and her daughter, Thully, make us muffins or pancakes. Mama Eunice's other daughter, Annalin, is also very sweet. She always gives me hugs when I ask for them and is an incredibly fun-loving child.

One of the more deeply-touching moments that I had with Mama Eunice was when she recounted her experiences of apartheid with us. The war against apartheid is known in South Africa as "the struggle." Mama Eunice spoke about how her eldest daughter (who lives somewhere else in South Africa) was always the courageous one and how her son (who lives in the neighboring house) was always timid. During the struggle, everyone in the house had the participate. If your family was not at the resistance, when the people came back, you would be questioned by your community. As part of this resistance, Mama Eunice's eldest daughter and son went out to fight against the government. When they were chased by the police with their guns, Mama Eunice's eldest daughter and son hid in the drains. Her son was crying but his older sister kept telling him to be quiet, otherwise they would get shot and killed by the police.

Another story that Mama Eunice told was how a father sent his son out to town to get groceries. During the time of apartheid, curfews were imposed for everyone. By the time of curfew, the father become worried because his son wasn't back yet. As a result, the father went out in the streets to try to look for his son while trying to hide from the police. He finally saw his son crouched behind something, but they were separated by a street. The father called to his son to cross the street and come home. However, the son said that he could not be seen by the police by crossing the street otherwise he would get them both killed. He cried out that the police were looking for him and asked his father to go home. However, his father kept insisting that they would be okay. Eventually, the boy crossed the street and the father found that his son had been shot. The police found the pair and threatened to kill the boy. However, the father said that his son had only been out to get groceries and tried to explain the situation to him. The father said that he didn't believe that the police would shoot because his son had not done anything wrong. Unfortunately, the policeman paid the father no heed and simply shot his son a couple more times until he died. In this way, the son died in his father's arms while the father was trying to plead his innocence. I could not help but almost start crying at this point.

Another similarly tragic story that comes to mind is a story that I heard from a documentary about apartheid. As a result of the struggle, many so-called colored and black people died. What I was really shocked by was that during these people's funerals, the police would sometimes come and shoot at the people randomly. Most of these people were shot in their backs, indicating that they were shot while running away and while the crowd was already dispersing. I can't believe that people were denied even the basic need to grieve due to political reasons. In addition, the brutality of this oppression, such as the continued shooting while people were running away, is simply heart wrenching. This has really made me rethink everything that I've taken for granted in the past. While I knew even before this trip that we have to treasure material things, such as water, electricity etc.. I now realize even more the need to protect and to value the intangible, such as the right to walk around freely on the streets, the freedom to speech, the freedom to believe in any religion, the freedom to grieve and to celebrate.

It simply astounds me everyday how people can show each other such cruelty and brutality. While we often hear that some emotions are universal, such as everyone cries when they are sad and everyone smiles when they are happy, how can a person have no empathy for others? It is so easy to say that we've changed because apartheid is now a thing of the past. However, these things are actually still happening around the world. It is easy to just choose to focus on our own lives because these things aren't directly affecting us. However, we have to remember that those who are being oppressed often aren't having their voices heard and need a spokeperson for them. I think that when I return to the United States, I will pay much more attention to the political issues and stories of oppression that I hear, such as the Coca Cola issue, the exploitation of child labor, migrant workers and illegal immigrants, and the genocide in Darfur. I will see these issues in a new light because I have heard from the perspectives of some of the oppressed. If these issues can evoke such a sense of injustice from an outside such as myself, I can only imagine what it feels like to be directly affected. It saddens me that I know so many people similar to myself before I came on this trip who often say, "Oh, I have a mid-term coming up so I don't have time to think about these things. Anyway, I'm only one student and don't have the power to change anything. These things will have to come later when I'm a person of standing in society." However, it also gives me a sense of hope that there are students at home who are willing to take time out of their lives to stand up for those who are oppressed and to try to make a difference. I hope that the difference that these students (and other people around the world) make is enough to make this world a place that is a little less violent and oppressive.