And here we have a phone of two of the preschool teachers during their computer lesson. There are 6 teachers, and I teach them basic computer literacy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons as part of the volunteer work that I do for the local community-based organization. This responsibility was not one that I was particularly passionate about –computers aren’t exactly an interest of mine, and I felt that teaching computer literacy to beginners wasn’t a great use of my skills and expertise- and I had ambivalent feelings about what the merit of computer-literacy would be in a place where the only place to charge computers is through the solar batteries at the NGO office, and where only one local person actually owns a computer (the principal of the local school bought one a few weeks back; at that time she didn’t know how to turn it on). That said, 7 months in I’ve come around somewhat. Four of the six teachers (including the two pictured here) had never sat in front of a computer before, and it’s been great to watch how proud they of their new ability to send an email, create and print an attendance list of their students and so forth.
In this picture one of the teachers is emailing Karen, who is now back home in the USA (see earlier posts for info on how Karen is and what she was doing in this village), and one is emailing her sister who is in CapeTown completing her high-school qualification. I’m really proud of them.ng-away gift from my friend Roula, who put a lot of thought into this fantastic gift. However, I could only get a static-free radio signal if I was touching the end of the antenna. A few weeks ago I had an epiphany: I could use this stir-fry pan instead! Now all I have to do is get up on a chair, hang the device from one of the nails on my rustic-yet-stylish pot-hanger, and bend the antenna so that it touches the handle of the pan. Now I get SAFM (South African national radio station), Mhlobo radio (“friend” radio; basically local pop music), and two Afrikaans stations (needless to say, I mostly just listen to news). It’s changed my life.
On the fieldwork front, things are also going well. My translator, the community health worker and I have now finished out quantitative and qualitative profiling of about 80% of the village; it’s a lot of great data, and I feel that I have a much better understanding of the circumstances of most people in the community now. I’ve also got more interview files than I have time to transcribe, which is fantastic. One of the more interesting findings to come out of this data is an interesting understanding –or misunderstanding- of the relationship between rights –in liberal-
democratic sense granted through the South African constitution- gender power, and social freedoms in this community. Without getting deeply into it, when asked about changes in the behavior and lifestyles of young people in this community, I’ve had adults say things like “I don’t like these rights. The women don’t belong to me anymore, they belong to the government” (middle-aged father of a large family, expressing frustration with his daughters), and “young people are disrespectful these days. They stand in front of elders with their boyfriends or girlfriends now, and it’s all done in the name of one word: FREEDOM! These problems are since voting. Since Mandela.”
Otherwise, the past couple weeks have had their ups and downs. I’ve been to the nearby town two weekends in a row to watch Canada and South Africa play in the Rugby World Cup (some of you know what a fan I am. Its killing me that I have to drive 2 hours just to find a TV), which has been good fun. On the downside, I battled with a two-week-long gastrointestinal affliction AND got impetigo (a very-contagious but easily-treated with antibiotics bacterial skin infection that a lot of the local kids –and some of the local adults- have). Keeping healthy in the field is an ongoing battle. Both afflictions are cleared up now, though. In other news, last weekend a local guy got stabbed to death in a drunken brawl in the village, and a much-beloved and very talented middle-aged man passed away after battling with AIDS and TB for some years now (his heavy drinking didn’t help. Drinking is a fundamental aspect of social life here, especially for people who have achieved the social standing that comes with mature adulthood; this can pose problems for people on ARVs). So this weekend everyone in the village –me included- will be going to his funeral.
Finally, here’s a photo of one of the very oldest people in the village. This woman is absolutely lovely, and is completely blind. I enjoy running into her when I pass her home, partly because initially she doesn’t know that I’m not from the community because she can’t see me (she clues in pretty quickly once I start talking, but still). I find her extremely striking-looking, which is why I’ve included this photo.
More news next time!
AAAARGH! Formatting problems again!
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