What do Global Bridges Scholars do for fun, you ask?

One of my absolute favorite things about this group is that, no matter what, we always find time to have a little fun. Below are a few photos that document some of our downtime in between our official duties as "Global Bridges Student Scholars"!

During one of our breaks from conducting interviews in Kenneth Gardens, Thula, Nomonde, Carrie, Sihle, and Chiedza decided to have a little fun. Can you read between the lines? 

(Hint: they may or may not be posing as a "B", "G", B" "exclamation point"...get it? eh, eh?)

Zoe, Carrie, and Nomonde taking a quick lunch break and soaking up a little sun on a bench outside the CCRI building before heading back to work 

Zoe enjoying a break from her photographer duties by playing with one of the children in Kenneth Gardens

Me trying to show Nomonde some love! (perhaps a bit too much? haha)

Another beautiful day in South Africa

Today was yet another beautiful day in Durban!  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Much like spring in Virginia, the temperature typically ranges from a bit cool in the early morning and evenings (~45 degrees Fahrenheit) to a sunny and comfortable high in the 70’s in the afternoon.

So, I was very pleased to be able to work outdoors today, conducting interviews on the tree line of a small grove in Kenneth Gardens.  Our first day of key informant interviews went remarkably well.  We did not experience resistance to the process of written informed consent, which some suspected might be a problem.  My UKZN partner, Thula, and I completed the most interviews in the group.  Four!  …but who’s counting?  I also must admit that Thula did two of the interviews in Zulu, without much help from me!  It was really interesting to learn more about the residents of Kenneth Gardens, their experiences with healthcare and health service needs.  The information gained from our interviews with clinic users should be very useful in evaluating the clinic performance and in guiding the implementation of new services.

Interviews and jazz

Morgan and Yende interview a resident (residents granted permission for their photos to be used)

Michelle and Lisa interview a resident (residents granted permission for their photos to be used)

A few of us went to the Centre for Jazz at UKZN to see Sir Walrus Band, a jazz-rock band. They were really fun! I recognized the guitar player from a jazz show I saw at VCU last spring. VCU Jazz and UKZN Jazz have an exchange program and he visited and performed on campus. We chatted for a minute, what a small world!

Intoxicated with Joyful

“I give thanks for my time upon the planet earth. By all of Your beauty I am so inspired. “ – India Arie

The young people of KG have been the highlight of every day I have been blessed enough to work with them.  Each day I am amazed more and more by the luminosity of their minds, their ability to think creatively and critically, and their newly discovered talents as photographers. Working with my mentees has by far been the most fulfilling aspect of my work in South Africa. They remind me so much of myself when I was their age – thirsty for knowledge, incredibly loyal to their friends, hardworking, thoughtful, compassionate, and full of gifts that can be used to create change. I remember growing up as a teenager in a low income community. My focus was so heavily on my family. I remember wanting to work so I didn’t have to be as big of a financial burden on my mother (and so I could buy cool new clothes to wear to school). I remember wanting to help her but feeling powerless – I wasn’t old enough to sustain a real job and I knew money was what we needed. That burdened me. I wanted to make my mother happy, make her proud. Helping out around the house and doing well in school were the primary ways I achieved that. When I was in grade school I used academic achievement as therapy. This was a place where I could succeed. I was no longer powerless. I could make my mother very happy by performing in a certain way. When I began to join clubs in high school I took a similar approach. I poured myself into all of my endeavors, using my experiences as a type of therapy, finding my escape and my healing.

I wonder if our mentees from KG see their involvement in this project in a similar way. I don’t know what all of them are dealing with on a personal level. I don’t know what they go home to every night or what they leave every morning. I don’t know what challenges or successes meet them at school every day. I do know this - when they show up to meet us, they give 110% and based off of some of their work I definitely see this experience as therapeutic for them. I see how they feel encouraged, appreciated, and empowered through this experience. Places like open fields of dirt surrounded by trees become soccer fields that help them escape from life’s difficulties and the dangers in their neighborhood. Churches are places where they can learn to be humble and alleviate their heavy shoulders from the problems they carry on a daily basis. And mentors from UKZN and VCU become inspiring individuals that motivate a young man to “keep going” despite adversity. Lessons that I am still learning – they seem to know well. They inspire me, uplift me, and make me want to be better, try harder, and operate as my best self. Today I spoke with one of my mentees who photographed a political leader that works in his community. It took some skillful probing but after some time he shared with me that this picture could be used to educate people by “letting them know that you don’t have to have a lot of money or things to make change in a community.” I looked him square in the eye and said “Now that’s what I’m talking ‘bout!” He laughed, gave me an awesome high five, and I smiled at him in peace and admiration. He probably thinks I’m a weirdo because I am always smiling but I can’t help it. In a world where scholars are trained to believe you need grant money to facilitate change in communities – this simple truth was a much needed breath of fresh air.

The students make me so happy; make me so full of life and energy. After a long day at school they come and work hard. They never complain and they make the most of their experience and time with us. Young people can teach us so much. They make me so happy that I never want to leave them. Every day we spend with them I am one of the last people on the van to go home – often after I have been told we are leaving about 5 times and threatened to be left. I can’t help it! They’re addictive – as the title of this post boasts, I’m intoxicated with joyful.  I love their smiles. I can’t wait for their warm hugs. I love listening to their funny jokes – I promise some of them are comedians. I happily answer their questions about American culture and laugh at their certainty of my Jamaican heritage (not so – but believed to be because of my locs). I appreciate their willingness to teach me the same Zulu words over and over again – these young people pour so much into me that they make me fear the day when I will have to say my good-byes and head back home. Instead of living in that fear, I am determined to enjoy them and all of my experiences in South Africa one second at a time – taking in the beauty of the land and the people.  I am inspired by this beauty and thankful for the time that God has given me to witness it and contribute to it. I thank God for allowing me to having this experience…just like His love my time here has been truly priceless.

Ngiyakuthanda Moy' ongcwele

Jasmine

Sala Kahle

Everyday I am among the last to say goodbye. Sala Kahle- Stay Well. Hamba Kahle- Go Well. Impatient looks glare at me from the bus. It is time to leave our Brettonwood learners again, and I don't want to. I stay a little longer. Engage them a little more. Relish a few more smiles; take in a few more stories; entertain a few more requests to come back with me to the States. Just a little longer.

Can I do it again? Can I go again with one of the learners to meet her beaming mother? Hear again how she rushes home everyday to share with her family what it means to spend just a few hours with her new "sister"? I mean really, does it have to end? Do I have to turn in the worksheet that describes the Building Global Bridges team as the "group that makes living in Kenneth Gardens better"? Let me read it again. Please.

Do we absolutely have to leave the children that rejuvenate me everyday? If so, can I at least hear them again ask that I pose for a picture because I am someone important in their lives? What about another hug? Especially since my learners held me super tight because they knew they would not see me again until Thursday? Too long. Much too long. So how about it? Impatient eyes stare holes in me from the bus. No? Ok.

Sala Kahle- Stay Well. Hamba Kalhe- Go Well. A distinction that was made clear to me today by one of our brilliant learners, Andile. "If you are leaving, then you should say "Sala Kahle".

Ok. I'm coming. "Sala Kahle Andile"

Morgan    

Informed consent

We spent the first half of today practicing and preparing to interview key informants and clinic-goers in Kenneth Gardens. Here are some pictures of VCU/UKZN team pairs role playing interviewer and interviewee and practicing giving proper informed consent.

Dr. Mosavel, Chiedza, Lisa

Thula and Carrie

Nomonde and Michelle

PhotoVoice

We just completed our second day of data collection in Kenneth Gardens.  We have been working on the PhotoVoice project, which provides individuals with a “voice” to document their surroundings and experiences and reflect on them in a thoughtful way.  Yesterday, the VCU and UKZN students took pictures.  Since none of us reside in Kenneth Gardens, I thought it might be difficult to take meaningful pictures.  However, we were asked to think about the different perspectives of an insider, outsider and the space in between, and after a short walk around and a few practice pictures, I really feel like I got the hang of it.  I am pleased with the photos I took. 

The “resident experts” the Brettonwood learners were asked to take pictures of the people, places and things in Kenneth Gardens that are important to them.  They quickly took to the project and have surprised us with their creativity.  This is shaping up to be a really awesome project and I already look forward to seeing the finished product! 

Tomorrow we will begin our first day of key informant interviews with the community elders and clinic users.  I’m a little anxious but mostly excited about beginning this next phase of our research.

Taking the cameras out

Group meeting at Kenneth Gardens before Brettonwood students arrive for their first day of shooting

Yende and two of his learners reflect on the day's photos

Michelle and Nomonde work with their learners

Thula helps his learner get his thoughts down on paper after the shoot

Lessons from a City Walking Tour and a 10 Grader

Since it is impossible for me to succinctly recount all that I learned during my first week on this project, I will focus on a few that stood out the most. The first two photos below were taken during a city walking tour of Durban, led by our trusty guide Doung. The last photo was taken today, during our first day conducting research "in the field". It was a discarded note from one of my students (or "learners", as they call them here). One thing I've discovered in my short time here: when you are an outsider in a foreign culture, you never know who your "teacher" is going to be- be it a knowledgable tour guide or an insightful 10th grader.

This is N3, one of the major highways that runs from Durban all the way to Joburg. According to Doung, during Apartheid this highway essentially operated as a racial divider: whites lived to the left of this road, and blacks lived to the right. While the neighborhoods have since become more integrated, it was obvious as we proceeded on our walking tour that a stark contrast still exists between the two sides. 

Throughout the tour, Doung pointed out several instances where people used graffiti to make a statement about important issues facing them today- not in the negative sense that most people think of grafitti.  I found this one example particularly poignant. The "HV" stood for High Voltage- this is a picture of a generator- but someone wrote the "I" in the middle to write "HIV".

The city walking tour crew. Doung is in the middle with the blue pants. Dr. Mosavel, her children, Katie, Carrie and I all agreed that the tour was truly unlike any other we had experienced.

I found this note in Kenneth Gardens. It was lying among the weeds, either discarded as trash or perhaps accidentally lost. Curious as to what it said, I picked it up. Midway through reading it, I realized that this flashcard was from during one of our Photo Voice exercises, when we asked our student mentees to reflect on what various pictures taken meant to them. Since today's Photo Voice assignment was to take photos of the "places and spaces" that were most important to the student learners, this note was particularly well-timed and compelling. It reads: "It's like a place where no one lives in it. An unprotected place where the government or individual who owns the places doesn't look after it." Such poetic, insightful words. I am proud of whichever student wrote this note. It is just one small example of the perceptive thoughts and bright imaginations that characterize the Brettonwood students with whom we have the pleasure to work these next few weeks. 

New Week New Adventure

Our first weekend provided a much needed respite following the whirlwind of orientation and training activities of Week 1.  Most of us took some time to rest, unpack, and prepare for the week ahead.  A fortunate few of us were able to take Doung’s (pictured below) city walking tour.  It was unlike any of my experiences with city tours and exceeded all my expectations.  He offered a truly unique perspective on the life and culture of South Africa and on the larger context of human nature.  Doung was particularly interested in noting the “spaces in between” where nature and marginalized people often appear.  He also emphasized the difference between looking and seeing – which depends on the filters you use to analyze the information.  We asked if he would be willing to speak with the Brettonwood learners, so they could have this information while conducting the PhotoVoice project.  I hope he is able to come, as I know we would all benefit from hearing more of his philosophy.

I am looking forward to continuing this adventure this week – to begin collecting data with our global partners and utilizing my old and newly acquired research skills!