After
numerous meetings with Zoe from Africa Unite, after hour-long commuting to
Nynaga every Friday, after being greeted by swarms of kids on some days and
greeted only by stragglers and the few who could make it to practice on others-
somehow we managed to pull off a spectacular talent show.
Even
as I say spectacular I have to smile because it was far from what I had planned
As it unfolded I could only watch, attempt to make last minute interferences
backstage, and sweat as I looked on at my kids dancing, singing and acting for
their community. The community also came up and did their pieces- traditional
dance, hip hop dance, and a few skits that perhaps should have been censored
for such an event but went unchecked and drew forth a powerful performance on
stage. Putting on this show was a lot
like trying to heave a ton of bricks up to a third story window- there were
plenty of challenges, luckily the rope I was using was long, and many hands
helped to heave until it became what it was- simply spectacular.
As
proud as I am though, I must admit that I had some issues seeing how this project
had actually helped to make any contribution at all. It seemed like a drop in
the ocean, a feel good for me, a tourist on a trip trying to get some good
pictures. I am still slightly guilt ridden- because of the shortage of time
that they actually had to learn what we had to teach, for the language barrier
that I could do little to leap over myself and had to rely on their
translations, and for the unsustainability of the project. My main concern was
who would continue this when we left? Who will make it their initiative to
provide a dynamic afterschool program for these kids that empowers them to
explore their own creativity and talents rather than stand on the corner
sliding down a slippery slope into gang life and drugs.
These
are still my concerns- my worry grows for them because I don’t have those
answers- I have run out of time to consider them while still in Africa but to
be sure their faces are fresh in my mind and those issues burning in my brain.
Some thing needs to be done. I plan on going home and starting a new club at
UConn that will work with one of the surrounding schools that is struggling to
win the competition with gangs. The new intiative that I have decided on is
sustainable mentoring- Morgan has added that it might be valuable to have an
underlying cause for anti-bullying and rape victim blaming. UConn students will
be trained with the first half of the semester on how to be a proper mentor and
in the subsequent semesters we will be actually using that to train high school
students how to be mentors to the younger grades. Essentially, it’s a
mentor-to-a-mentor program. ( I like the
ring of that) I cannot personally really relate to exactly what kids in the
middle school are going through with the peer pressure aspect and new forms of
harassment that have infiltrated our schools. I can however train someone from
the same community who the younger student may already be looking up to, to be
the saving generation, to set an example for the younger student and perhaps be
the reason why that student chooses an alternative route than seeking
protection from gang life or salvation from a joint.
Looking
back at Africa Acts Out, I wrote the following in my essay to Marita and
honestly cannot find any better way to rewrite it.
These
dang kids have broken me down in so many ways I can’t describe it even to
myself but I will try to for the benefit of this paper- and maybe in years to
come I will have a better idea of what exactly they’ve done to this heart of
mine. I think they have stolen it. Taken it in their little hands and kept it
as a pet. My mind wanders to them in my free time, my hands fiddle toward my
computer to look up more activities to give to them, and always- every time I
think of them I feel riddled with guilt that I haven’t lived up to an
expectation. This must be what it feels like to be a parent- a sweaty and
nervous relationship and sense of urgency to teach everything you know as their
childhood clock ticks faster, yet also letting their young minds explore for
themselves. After finishing a practice and while you are sitting on the bus
back home a heavy feeling settles on your shoulders no matter how great
practice was and suggests in your ears that you let someone down, that somehow
you blew it. And then, you come back next week for practice again and you stand
in front of them with all the energy that you’ve got. They run to hug your
legs, and they smile just when they see your face bobbing up the street.
Somehow all the anxiety that you felt the whole week dissolves and you feel
like you are their person, that thing that they have been waiting to see all
day. I can’t describe how special that makes me feel. I am honored to be
someone’s person.
 |
| Avery introduces the program |
These
kids need someone to expect them to be more. Many of them come to practice
every week in the same clothing that they had on a week before, and even more
of them come with empty stomachs. So, yes- I want them to be there so that we
can get them snack. I want them to be there so they can feel accepted and build
a community with other students who have an interest in productive expressions
rather than be out on corners starting the initiation process to gang life.
Yes, I love them. I have found that loving someone is among the most enjoyable
hardships of life and the struggles that we have worked with this semester-
from lack of communication, unsure transportation methods, and all of the
chairs being stolen from the site we practice-have done nothing to break down
this experience, on the contrary they have given it the particular slow-cooked
and zesty flavor that I will always associate fondly with South Africa.
Once you have turned your attention to a
problem how can you ever disregard it again? I believe that the entire purpose
of this trip has not been for us to come in and change South Africa- rather to
observe ourselves within it and realize what can be done with that. I think what we were supposed to take away
from this activist project was not that we effected some great change- rather
that it has changed us, perhaps forever. I now see that with some determination
and energy you can raise projects from where there were previously none. That
with a team of fellow devoted individuals you can broaden horizons of many
while also impressing yourself with the extent of talents you didn’t know you
had.
It
is with deepest pleasure and honor that I welcomed an audience on Saturday
afternoon to the first ever Africa Acts
Out Showcase Extravaganza. I
hoped that they enjoyed the show as much as I had enjoyed putting it all together.
I am so proud of all the contributions that everyone in the group has made to
make this the success that it has been. We may be an insane group of mentors,
but I strongly believe that behind every big event is a decent helping of
insanity and a whole lot of hope.
 |
| Brianna, Vara, Tekowa, Lindsay, Janiel, Jerard, Avery & Larissa |
Larissa
for being an awesome dance instructor and inspiring her students with the
perfect combination of poise and a vivacious attitude, for caring so deeply
about their well being as well as their enjoyment, for being my right wing
woman throughout the planning process, and above all her sincere desire to
inspire her own passion for dance in the young girls.
Jerard
for being so good natured about the decision to cut creative writing but
nonetheless his creative addition to the acting portion and his strong patience
for my nerve-wracked anxiety both during show time and in the hours before when
it felt like the world around me was unsupported. Thank you for being my support.
 |
| Jerard and Avery with their improv group |
Brianna
for using her voice to exhilarate the students, her rapping skills to inspire
them, her love of Nikki Manaj to show them what a powerful female was capable
of- and her heart, for loving those kids with every bit of it.
 |
| Brianna with her young vocalists |
Tekowa
for her unfailing nerve in the face of great stress and composure in tense
situations that I admire deeply and need to learn from- as well as her many
contributions to the show by MCing and preparing the kids for the songs they
wanted to sing.
Vara,
for her true desire to help, her rational personality in the face of
confrontation, and a true resolve to work with Woolworths and secure the food
donations without which we could not have hoped to feed the influx of hungry
bellies that pushed their way in from the Township yesterday. I would like to
express my sincere appreciation for her work.
Lindsay
for her beautiful smile that infected crowds of children, her ability to take
any task and happily accomplish it no matter how I dumped it on her yesterday,
and for her contribution to song with accapella- the gift that god has given
her was rewrapped for many children.
Janiel
for her vibrant and beautiful personality that could leave a room in tears from
laughter, for her contributions to the Dance group and her graceful appearance
on stage, as well as her deep desire to do good in this world and an intensity
brought to every situation where she is presented that opportunity to do so.
 |
Brianna, Vara, Tekowa, Lindsay, Janiel, Jerard, Avery, and Larissa
with some of Nyanga's amazingly talent youngsters |
It has officially been 6 days since I have left Cape Town, 5
days since I arrived in my own home, 4 days since I unwillingly unpacked my
suitcases and realized I wasn’t going back to Cape Town in the next couple of
weeks…. 3 days since I already had a fight with my friend whose opinion on the
world is so starkly different from my own that I am afraid of how or if we will
communicate now about issues that we both feel polar to. It has been 2 days
since I visited with my grandmother and tried to explain in pictures what I
couldn’t, until eventually I dissolved. 1 day since I went back up to UConn to
see how life had carried on with my peers during the semester I was
abroad and found that my friends had been active all semester with amazing
causes- everything from UConn Amnesty to UConn Empowered.
