That being said, I'll be posting up my GAPA journal entries on here. Writing them, I forget that it's work. I'm actually really glad I "have" to do this. I didn't mean for my first one to be this long, but once I started typing, I just didn't want to leave anything out--there's too much that got me thinking, and too much I don't want to forget.
Friday, 30th April, 2010
Today was GAPA’s “idaba,” their large group meeting that they hold on the last Friday every month. These women are fierce. Yesterday at the CDRA, James asked us who were the first people in civil society to address the HIV/AIDS issue—the grandmothers who had to take care of their dying children and their grandchildren. So cool.When I came in today’s idaba, there were a woman passionately yelling in Xhosa. After her, they started singing, and many stood up and started dancing. Immediately after that, another granny would stand up and start talking again. Another song. This repeated several times. Emotions were high, but these emotions differed from what I say Monday. These were positive emotions, and though I didn’t understand what they were saying, I knew the tears I saw were ones of joy. While they were singing, I stepped into the office and asked Althea what they were talking about, and she confirmed what I was thinking—they were sharing their inspirational stories of that month. I was so impressed and amazed, and I briefly shared with Althea my feelings of enlightenment about GAPA and the grandmothers. Sitting back in my chair in the front row, and listening to their stories, though I could not understand any of what they were saying, I could not help but be happy and want to cry with them.
With Althea’s help, I was connected with granny Sylvia Ngewu, who translated for me for a large portion of the idaba. I’m so thankful she was translated and explained to me things that were said during the meeting; I learned so much in the half hour to 45 minutes she was sitting next to me.
Vivienne, the GAPA director, shared her story of how she came this morning feeling sad, but after arriving, she was uplifted. She knows God is with her and will allow GAPA to grow. Vivienne and all the grandmothers have an enormous amount of energy and faith, and it’s so admirable. My eyes got watery while listening to Vivienne.
The next part of the program was a man who tried selling energy-efficient stoves. To be honest, I do not think he did a good job selling his product. One, beyond explaining that it would reduce electricity costs and would be energy efficient, he didn’t do a thorough job of why I should really care or its importance. He didn’t take time explain the problem; he just started talking about how to use it. That leads to my next point, which is that he wasn’t clear on how to use it. Even though he was speaking in English and I could hear everything he was saying, I still didn’t get how to use the little green stove. How much more for the grandmothers when it’s being translated and consequently diluted? I looked around the room, and everyone looked so confused. Three, he didn’t display any knowledge of Xhosa culture or how life was in Kyelitsha. A little knowledge in these two things would have a made a difference in his overall presentation to the grandmothers, and the grandmothers’ perception of him. For example, when Althea introduced him, the grandmothers responded in “Molo Mama…” Laughter erupted. He smiled and nodded his head. He had no idea he was just addressed as an elderly woman.
I found it really interesting to be sitting next to Sylvia during this part of the program.
She explained to me her reasons for not wanting to buy one; for her, it wasn’t practical. Additionally, she would explain to me why people would laugh when the granny would be translating his words. I could understand his English words, and he was not for humor; so why were people laughing? The translator would add jokes to help explain his words better. I also asked Sylvia to explain to me the feelings of the other grandmothers in the room during the presentation. At one point, it seemed like most of the women were going to buy a stove; but by the end, Sylvia told me that probably no one was going to buy one. “Why,” I asked. “Because you have to buy coal and wood to use it; and we don’t have the money to keep buying that.” But in the beginning of his presentation, he mentioned that you could use paper…? I tried explaining that to her…but she had already made her mind, and he didn’t take the time to really explain that.
Althea talked about documentation and the new letter-writing campaign they are going to be doing with two other organizations in Uganda and Kenya. Althea and Vivienne asked for the group’s consent after explaining the importance and possibilities of documentation. There was consensus, and I think Althea was surprised when a larger number of grandmothers volunteered to have their stories required. Only eight were needed, and so decisions would have to be made on those would be. Vivienne gave her opinion and her reasons, but she openly said to everyone, that they are free to agree or disagree with anything that she ways. I really respect Althea and Vivienne’s approach to the decision-making with the grandmothers. They let know have the power and responsibility for what happens.
Later, Vivienne and Althea formally introduced me to the grandmothers. I explained to them in addition to learning adult education and working with them for the next six weeks, I’m learning about South African history and Xhosa. By the looks they gave me, I could tell they were happy that I was taking the time to learn and understand their history and culture. I wish I could remember more of what I have learned in Xhosa class; I decided today that I’m doing to try and memorize some more phrases…a little bit of language could take me really far, especially when trying to gain trust with the grandmothers.
Towards the end of my day at GAPA, I go into the office and meet with Althea. For the next half hour, we do updates, review, and brainstorm ideas for the documentation and health club projects. I’m really excited to initiate projects and be part of the implementation. Althea’s awesome, and even though I just started working at GAPA, she’s receptive of my ideas and suggestions.There's flexibility and freedom, yet there's a lot of things of "limitations" because I'm increasingly becoming more aware of what it means to be a health intervention in a community very different than the ones I identify with (that's a combination of the challenging questions that result from taking "Prep to Community-Based Research and Adult Education). One of the things I’m most looking forward to is being able to apply everything I’m learning in ALL of my classes. In different ways, I’m learning more about the country’s context, the Xhosa culture, health, dialogue/communication, partnership with communities, cultural humility, adult learning (which I’ll be doing with the grandmothers), etc. etc. The list goes on. With my learning, I hope to continue growing in my intentionality and critical thinking skills to be most helpful and effective in my service-learning.
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