Churchs on sunday

The Kliptown Church

We visited three churches this Sunday. Each one inducted Doris and I as members. The last we went to was in Kliptown, one of the poorest parts of Jo'burg. During one part of the service I held hands with this African girl. She was not more than 15. We recited verses to eachother: "my joy is your joy, my pain is your pain, when I look into your eyes I see family, when I look into your eyes I see myself, and I love you!" she recited the words to me at the same time. She was a total stranger I will never see her again I am almost sure. The preacher had a lazy eye, it was the opposite of crossed. He lead the whole church through this; everyone was paired.

Progress

Ok, Mike and I have to stop with the sad posts!

So here is an update on my progress, as this Wed marks the halfway point of my stay here. Incredible.

I've been working mostly on print materials. So far I have managed to complete:
- Logo revision
- First Draft of Brochure
- Overhaul of Website Structure and Design
- Presentation templates for upcoming conference
- Assessment of Newsletter (audience, content, design)
- Template calendar for event planning and PR

Oh and over the weekend, I was able to get to the top of Table Mountain! The scary thing is there are hardly any guard rails. My driver said during peak season, there's at least one death due to recklessness a month. Yikes.

I'll post pictures when the internet connection cooperates.

{trip to Jinja and the Nile}

Friday's trip to Jinja included a hospice visit, which included several home visits, to typical Ugandan farmers and village homes. My server connection here is faulty so I'm having a difficult time uploading photos. 

Often on the home visits one is confronted by the harshest reality of the situation, which for most is hard to deal with. Seeing human suffering and poverty and illness is shocking to one's sensibilities, especially to western standards and beliefs. We, Dedan and I, photographed several patients in their homes. Dedan is the IT Manager here at APCA. It's distressing to see the real suffering people have to go through. Let alone photograph it. Many of the patients are, sadly, not long for this world. And the best nurses and doctors can do is try to combat the incredible pain they endure, with morphine or other painkillers. I walk away from these visits grateful, but with a profound feeling of powerlessness at my inability to help or alleviate the pain these people and their families must deal with. We, in the west, are lucky to have what we have for a healthcare system, in spite of its failings and inadequacies. Sounds trite, but I have to say it.

Jinja is the second largest city in Uganda, which is saying alot. One wonders what the fourth largest city looks like. All kidding aside, Jinja has not only some natural beauty and falls, white water rafting, but the unique  distinction of being the source of the Nile and the Bell Lager factory. I'm more impressed by the Nile, than beer at this stage of my life and trip. It's not really easy to determine where exactly the Nile begins. It took the English many years and trips to determine exactly. I saw it  and I couldn't tell, but there's a big beer sign that tells me so, so I have to believe it. I stopped believing in beer long ago.

[ soweto + religion ]

This weekend sure was something. While hate crimes towards those within the LGBTI community is a major problem in Johannesburg, most of it occurs within a certain demography - the South African township. Referencing from the testimonies I've recorded of my coworkers, the words of gay and lesbian belong to this foreign terminology throughout a child's upbringing that was neither used or permitted for practice. In townships, it was just assumed you would marry the opposite sex. The Christian church plays a heavy role in these townships - as we have heard, seen, and visited this weekend in Soweto. In fact, Joe and I were noticed in the first church we visited, taken by the hand, brought forth in front of this 100-person audience, introduced, and inducted into the Methodist society with the entire service as our witness. I was so shocked about how quickly we got sucked into the institution. They even sang a Zulu song to us. Yes, the church (if not the most important player) than the second vital asset to keep up in the game. If you're not playing by the church's rules, you'll face the penalties.

Methodist Church members who welcomed with open arms and song.

Kids at play in Soweto streets.

Hanging outside house that is guarded by cheaper fencing.

In solitude.

Solution for the one-woman heavy-load carrier.

Looking dry, maybe feeling dry.

Using resources, being smart. Fence made out of cars.

These kids told me that they love bologna.

Occupied shop.

With Granny.

These boys were cleaning up a littered field in order to make their own soccer field.

Going home.

Coal burns for a "warmer" evening.

In Soweto we were, from morning to near sunset. It's by far the most beautiful place in all of Johannesburg - every pedestrian greets you with a smile. No child will run away from you but actually ride up to you on their old bike and want to shake your hand. Even with shacks as homes and the poor reputation, these people still have lots to be happy about.

I have three more weeks - I'm completely saddened by it. Wish I could stay longer.

Prepairing for 2010

South Africa will host the World Cup 2010.
It's everywhere.

People are wearing caps with logos: 2010 cocacola.

There is construction all over the city in prepairation.

It's got the whole country hopeful.
Stadiums are being built, neighborhoods are being renovated, even the taxis are getting makeovers.

I want to come back then and see how the country has changed.

Recharging the batteries at Lake Issyk-Kul

The remainder of my 2 weeks in this lovely country with its lovely people will be full of even more work than what has been done so far!
Saltanat needed a break too, so we hit the road to fascinating Lake Issyk-Kul.

Lake Issyk-Kul is the largest alpine lake in the world after lake Titicaca in Bolivia/Peru.
It is at 1606 m above sea level. I don't think there is place in the world where while swimming in the ice cold water, we get to see mountains covered with snow! I mean in Lebanon we get to see mountains while swimming but not so close to us and not covered with snow (unless we choose to swim in January).




Hit the Road.





Our resort at Bosteri.




I literally had to hide behind a hanging curtain to try a suit on , , ,




Saltanat










The Market.


Currency ha ha ha - 1 US Dollar = 35 coms.

Out on the Town: Pool with Lasego and Peepho

She looks like she knows what she's doing.

This July 4th Doris and I went out for a rare night on the town in Rosebank tonight. Rosebank is a commercial district, it has a mall with places to eat, a movie theater, as well as nightlife spots. We went to Galaxy, it's kind of like Dave and Busters. They have a large bar/pool hall. Doris and I did a terrible job at representing the United States with our pool skills, we were beaten handily every time. The pictures below do not give justice to the volume of the music being played... After pool we dance for a minute. Over all pretty good time.

Peepho lining up... She was "off her game" she still whooped us


Lessego. all business.


what is Doirs doing?

[ grim day ]

STRIKE. Street closures and large-scale disruptions have been occurring on the way going home. Public servants and Congress of South African Trade Unions are protesting. Waiting in traffic, I took some photos from the back seat:

[ the walk in the dark ]

It's only when this place begins to feel like home that I realize I will be leaving it in three weeks. But we've been told this time around, us Americans needed to learn the way of life here, adjust and feel comfortable with it. Around the one-month mark, I decided to take a walk outside by myself during the evening, fetching some apples for Joe and me. Yes, it's not the smartest thing to do. As Joe says it, " I refuse to be a prisoner in my own home!" We hear it over-and-over again, Johannesburg is not a safe place, especially for a someone who doesn't look like they are from around here. Asian, female, short, and no bulging biceps. Joe can pass for any white South African. Lucky duck.

Night shots and a fast shutter are for Joburg photography.

It was fine. But yes, I won't walk alone again in the dark. On the way back home, the entire neighborhood experienced a load shed. I got to watch the lights shut off house-to-house, lamp-to-lamp. It went from dark to nothing. Just to be safe, I ran the rest of the way with my apples.

We have South African Names Now

Bluto, the brave villian

Because Doris took the profelactic story today, I got the privilige to tell you all about our new names.

Today the kind people here at BTM gave Doris and Me South African Names.

Doris was given the name Sibongile (pronounced Si-bon-gee-le) which means Gratitude or sence of thanks. This is a traditional name given to daughters whose parents wished for them, like boy of our dreams. Dorris even got a middle name: Handeka (pronounced Han-day-Ka). Which means lovely.

I was given the name Manqoba, which I can barely say (pronounced man-*click*-o-ba). I am told it is a very masculine name. It means Brave villain... I thought this was odd at first but than I remembered my roommates at home joke and call me Bluto sometimes.

I always thought of myself as a gentle soul but I guess others don't see it that way :(
oh well.

Doris, you can get the Female condoms down stairs at FEW (Forum for the Empowerment of Women). They have a whole bowl! (reference)

[ where are my female condoms ]

Even in an organization where a majority of the staff identify themselves as lesbian, the men still get special treatment...

I find it hilarious we only supply condoms in the male washroom at BTM
and there are no female condoms in the women's lou.

It's been a shared opinions by many in the office that a black South African lesbian
is targeted more for discrimination than a black South African gay man.

Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth is a beautiful, quaint little city. Here are some photos from the boardwalk:





We made some decisions about the website, and now it's time to refine layouts, design and site structure. Once that's all set, we'll move into implementation in Dreamweaver. More on that to come!

maral is busyyyyyyy

Maral is busy working on the MHS website, working on a logo for the coalition that was formed on the June 18th United Nations meeting (but still waiting for the Russian name and slogan) and preparing for a lecture she will give tomorrow at the American University of Central Asia AUCA which is probably the most prominent university in Central Asia.
Maral wants to watch the Russia/Spain match tonight with Bakay and Bayan and the whole of wholeheartedly involved Kyrgyzstan, but wonders how she'll make it.

Doesn't this sound like a facebook post/change of status?

One last thing for now - Maral might consider taking a break and escaping to lake Issy Kul over the weekend where she plans on wearing shorts and slippers and selling roasted fish at the beach.

Ta ta!

On Our Way Home From the Coffee Shop...

By the time Jan picked us up it was well dark.
We saw a spotlight sweeping the sky.
Jan said: what are they doing? Looking for stars?
I snarfed.
Jupiter is the biggest planet, yeah?
yep... it is in our solar system...

[ disgrace to the nation ]

Dirty politicians just don't make sense. I wonder if they even understand themselves. Projects are still rolling. Roger out.

{trip to Z, contd}

Back from Zambia, where we held a branding and identity workshop for PCAZ, the Palliative Care Association of Zambia. Developed a logo, colour scheme and website template for the association. Will start to produce a visual guideline for the application of the visual elements. Zambia was very oddly quiet and eerie, like being in Florida in a way. Gated communities and big houses. Try not to fly Kenya Airlines....

3 days in Zambia

[ ++ more assignments ]

Bonnie (left) and Clyde (right).

If you haven't noticed, the blog posts of the "Bonnie and Clyde" team are getting shorter and shorter. With just a few weeks left, we try to take advantage of every minute of our BTM internet time and resource strictly for our BTM assignments and tasks. But some real progress and excitement has been reached:

+Mauriello is really shaping and defining the form of the Drupal site.
+Video interviews of each member are detailed and distinct from one another. Editing the recordings will take time but hopes to be fully captured and rendered before my departure.
+A launch of the new brand is planned to be completed again before departure.
+Fellow LGBTI and civil rights organizations in the building have been liking the new work (even trying to tap into joe and my services)