Looking to the Hills, Part Two

Friday, August 6

After a good night's sleep in Hopefield, we awoke to the sounds of the morning, roosters crowing, people going off to work.  We also readied ourselves for another day at the school.  The day before we were asked by Headmaster Koti to prepare and opening devotional ceremony complete with an inspirational speech.  I agreed to do the devotional.  Ben Lukens and Kristina Frenette agreed to do the speech.

Only one portion of our group arrived on time for the opening devotional (the group of which I was a part).  Not even the headmaster nor most of the teachers were there.  But I led the devotional and we sent the children to their classrooms.  Those of us that were present also went into the classes with the children.

The older Hopefield learners and our group were scheduled to go to a neighboring school to meet with the students and recruit them to come to Hopefield when they reached the older grade levels. 

We had an assembly in the school yard.  Ben and Kristina did they speech.   Everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Some of the learners did some skits, and the Hopefield Choir performed some songs.

After another enjoyable morning, we returned to Hopefield and had lunch.  By then it was time for adjournment.  School usually adjourns around 1:00 on Fridays.  It was then after 2:00. 

Not having any more students to went to a near  by reservoir and then into town to pick up some sodas and snacks.  We then returned to our host families for a good night of fellowship and sleep.

These "home stays" are very enjoyable.  Life is at once different and the same.  Most of us in New York do have indoor plumbing with sinks and showers and toilets.  The household in which I stayed had none of these.  There was an outhouse with a flush toilet.  But we didn't go out there after the house was locked up by our host.  We washed in a basin with water heated on the stove.  (It was interesting shaving this way.)  So life is somewhat different than that to which we are used.  But much is the same.  We can talk about the world cup.  They watch a South African soap opera on TV.  Children go to school.  Parents work.  And we all are blessed.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

Looking to the Hills

Wednesday, August 5

Today is a traveling day.  Up for breakfast at 6:00 in order to get on the road by 7:00 (quite a feat for a group of 22).  We did it, though.  We needed to be in Fort Beaufort by 9:00 to start our work in some rural schools.  Actually, we divided our group so that half of us would work in the Newtown Township primary school (outside of Fort Beaufort) and in the village of Hopefield (about a 50 minute drive from Fort Beaufort).

Even though we got started on time, we ended up being 30 minutes late in Newtown and then an hour late in Hopefield.  Headmaster Neville McDonald greeted us warmly in Newtown.  He quickly gathered the entire student body to greet us.  A choir of the older learners (they do not call them students) regaled us with song.  Those of us that were going on to Hopefield then piled into our van and headed farther up into the hills.

The Hopefield group was greeted by the leader of the student body, 13 year old Sibonekuhle Mabandla.  She took us to greet the headmaster Xolani Koti and his staff of teachers.  Since we were late, classes were well under way.  Therefore, we filtered into different classrooms.  Of course, our relationship with the children and teachers was a little stilted at first.  But soon everyone seemed to get used to being together.  After lunch, we became much more adept at relating to the children.

I walked into a room to pick up my backpack that I had left when we met the teachers.  It was quiet and dark, so I was surprised to see about 10 learners sitting there. They were waiting for their teacher.  So, I sat down and we started to chat.  They asked me questions about New York and the US.  I also asked them about their life. 

One of our group, Kristina Frenette from Amherst also came in and joined the conversation.  She asked them what they wanted to be when they left school.  Each of them had a ready answer (they had obviously been thinking about it).  Two said they wanted to be nurses, two more said they wanted to be social workers, another wanted to be a policeman, another a journalist, another a veteranarian and the last an attorney.  Later, I asked their teacher about the chances of them realizing their dreams.  He said that a couple of them might be successful.  I still had hope that more than some would become the people about whom they dreamed.

This small country school has a great choir, well rehearsed in the songs that they sing and in the dances that accompany the singing.  We were given many examples of their work.  And were amazed and grateful.

Our group of 12 (including our driver, Monte) then divided up again to go with our hosts for the night.  Supper was to be with our hosts.  My group of four (two Germans -- Josephin and Isabelle -- Sarah and I) stayed with one of the teachers.  We were so exhausted by the time we arrived at dusk that we were all falling asleep before supper.  We ate, then went right to our rooms by 8:00.  Everyone, host family and guests were in bed with the lights out by 9:00.

What a great day!

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

"I write what I want"

Steve Biko was a great and inspirational leader of the anti-apartheid movement.  He grew up in a township outside of King Williams Town (about an hour's drive from East London).  He was killed in prison in 1989 at the age of 30.  We visited the Steve Biko Foundation in King Williams Town, learned of his life, visited his grave and the last house in which he was place on house arrest.

In a book of lectures on Biko's life and works Chinua Achebe wrote of Biko, "A young man with a sharp intellect and a flair for organization and leadership, Biko realised the need to raise the sagging morale of black people, to raise their consciousness and self-esteem; in his own words to 'overcome the psychological oppression of black people by whites.'"

It was an honor to get to know more about this courageous and brilliant man who wrote what he wanted in trying to lift the sense of self worth and determination of the black majority in South Africa.

This was a good but tiring day.  After a late lunch we were scheduled to go the "Great House" a museum of indigenous tribal life at the site of the "Great House" of a King of the area members of a Xhosa tribe.  It was interesting, but we were too exhausted to pay attention.  We did not stay long.

One of our drives, Byron Jonas, invited us back to his house for a cookout.  We agreed to go out of obligation to him.  Afterall, we were exhausted.  As it turned out it was one of the best things we did.  We had a great time, got to be with his family (wife Yolanda, his daughter and son).  It was our last night in East London, and even though we had to get up early the next morning we stayed until 11:00.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

Never Give Up

Tuesday, August 2

It was a day of beginnings and endings for us in East London.  On the docket were visits to the Samaritan Care Centre, a palliative care clinic and outreach program supported by Common Global Ministries, and Isiah 58 a school and orphanage.  We split up the group between the two places in the morning, ate lunch at the Samaritan Care Centre then swapped in the afternoon.

I spent the morning with the Samaritan Care Centre.  We toured the building, met the staff and the patients and walked around the neighborhood to see several of the people suffering from HIV/AIDS that the Centre treats.  Such visits are heartrending and hard.  The patients rarely have anything to say.  They are sick!  And, we are strangers.  Plus they live in such horribly foreign conditions to us that it is difficult to stay very long.

In one home that we visited the patient was out doing something.  He was a man of 40 suffering from AIDS.  We spoke with his mother, father and sister and prayed with them.  The caregivers also need much prayer.  This household had already lost one son.  Now, another seemed well on the way.

In the afternoon we visited Isaiah 58.  What a contrast this school and orphanage was to the others that we had seen.  It was established about 30 years ago by Christians with an established mind for how to run a business.  The buildings, all donated by various international service organizations, were in good repair, and the interiors were clean.

The executive director runs a tight ship.  When he speaks the children jump.  Still it is obvious that he adores the children.  We spent nearly two hours playing with the children. They also sang for us.  One of these was the school song, entitled, "We will never give up."  Knowing the poverty and the hardships whence they came, the song was quite moving.

It was hard to leave, but leave we must.  And so, we returned to the hotel, went out to dinner at Guidos again, then back to the hotel and bed.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

When Separate is Not Equal

Monday, August 2

The affects of apartheid remain in the Townships and "Informal Settlements" on the outskirts of cities and towns throughout the country.

Today we took a tour of Mdantsane Township outside of East London. Mdantsane is the 3rd largest township in South Africa.  Mdantsane is located about 5 km outside of the city.  Closer in is the Informal Settlement of Duncan Village.  It is a horrible warren of tin and scrap wood and cardboard shacks crowded in every available knook and cranny between more conventional neighborhoods.

In the Village we first stopped at a Creche(a nursery school)  The school "campus" consisted of four steel storage bins that had been brightly paintede inside and out that served as classrooms.  These housed four classes of about 100 children total.  They crowded around us when we stepped inside their classrooms.  They love to have their photos taken, especially when we can show the photos to them immediately from our digital cameras.  They sang their "ABC's" and we all sang, "Jesus love me". It was very hard to leave.  In fact many of us were wiping tears from our eyes.

The tears continued to flow as we then went to an orphanage in the Village.  A woman living there looked around her and saw the great needs of the children in her neighborhood.  So many were victims of abusive, drug addicted and/or HIV/AIDS infected parents.  She decided to do something about it.  She started an orphanage.  It was a pretty downtrodden place.  The one building was under construction, but had hit a "funding snag".  So the construction had stopped.  They have four walls and a roof, but little else in the main dormitory.  There is an adjacent building that serves as a classroom. The children sleep on small plastic mats on dusty floors.  It was very sad.  One of our group walked away shaking her head saying, "We take so much for granted."  I thought how even this ramshackle place was better than those places whence those children came.

The Township was the foundation of Apartheid South Africa.  Blacks, coloreds and Indians were each provided separate sections of these townships.  The townships were placed far out of town.  Most of these had one road leading to them.  It was a fine way of controlling any potential disturbances among the inhabitants.  Of course, the whites lived in the cities. 

Apartheid, like Jim Crow laws in the United States were insidious means of disenfranchising and keeping entire segments of the population in poverty.  Even with Apartheid ended, the Townships and the poverty remain.  In part this is due to the pretty steady improvements in the lives of those living in the townships.  There are now shopping malls in the Townships.  New houses are also being built.

Life in the Informal Settlements seems to remain in rather constant misery.  But at least there is some improvement in the Townships.

One of the fascinating parts of our "Township Tour" was our visit to a cluster of Natural Healers.  We spent about an hour with them, learning about what it takes to train to become a healer, what is involved in the healing process, as well as a time to ask questions.  Some interest learnings about the Natural Healers is that theirs is a mixture of the indigenous worship of the ancestors along with Christianity.  We were told that each member of the healing clan was a Christian.  They also said that most of them served on the boards of the local health clinic.

Quite a day followed by a good dinner at an Italian bistro, then off to our rooms.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

It's Nice to Worship God!

Sunday, August 1.

We decided to have our breakfast together. The young women of suite 25 set forth a great spread of breads, cereals, fruit juices and cheese for all of us. They have a great room with a porch overlooking the ocean. What a beautiful morning it was – the beginning of a beautiful day.

Byron and Monte picked us up at a little after 9:00 AM and took us to the Volks Kirk United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), in the Parkside section of East London. We were greeted by the Rev. Sippo Makuseni, retired pastor of the nearby Brownsback UCCSA. The 9:30 service began promptly at around 9:45. The sanctuary was filled to overflowing. The Volks Kirk congregation had invited the neighboring congregations of Dunn Asher and the Parkside UCCSA to join them (an us) in worship.

Each visiting pastor gave a word of greetings on behalf of their congregations. Walter and I each gave greetings from our group also. There was much singing. As the congregation awaited the start of worship, they sang chorus after chorus as a congregation. Someone would start singing and everyone joined in, and heartily. No need for hymn books or worship leaders…just the faithful praising God in song.

The pastor began worship with the declaration, “It’s nice to worship God.” To which the congregation responded, “It’s good to worship God.” This went on for two or three more rounds, when the pastor asked, “Are you happy to be here today?” And we all shouted, “Yes.” (I couldn’t help but wonder what the response would be in our churches if the pastor dared to asked such a question!)

Worship went along in a similar fashion to our services. There was more music (2 or 3 church choirs needed to be included as well as 5 visiting pastors). Most inspiring to me was the leadership of the liturgy of the Eucharist by the Rev. Dr. Colin Joosty.

Dr. Joosty was a freedom fighter during the apartheid years. He also was forced into exile during those years. He came to the US and studied in our seminaries. He came to know of the United Church of Christ and worked with the Board for World Ministries (now Common Global Ministries). And, for our liturgy he used the UCC Book of Worship. Why? Because as he said, “Freedom also requires and equality of gender as well as that of race.” And the use of inclusive language in the UCC Book of Worship witnesses to this truth.

It was an honor for Walter and me to be included in administering communion at the service.

When the service was finished we moved a couple of blocks away to have a fine luncheon at the Dunn Asher parish hall. I was a fine time for fellowship with the gathered congregations. We felt very welcomed indeed.

We returned to the hotel in time to take in the flee market and side walk tables of treasures set up on the beach road. A few of us went swimming in the Indian Ocean. Most of us just shopped. By 4:30 we were on our way back to Dunn Asher for an evening program of praise music, scriptures and prayer. The choirs were wonderful, especially the dance ensembles of children and youth.

At the close of the service our group was invited to the dais to receive glasses with the engraved logo and name of the church. One of our group members from Port Elizabeth , Jonathon, presented each of us with “ubuntu” bracelets to witness to our one-ness. And, Kristina Frenette thanked the congregation on behalf of the group.

Back at the hotel, we gathered in the one of our rooms to get to know each other in a more intentional way. We went around the room with introductions, saying our name, where we were from, our ages, and what we like about our home churches. I distributed a packet of personal devotional pages, including a listing of song lyrics for us to rehearse. The song on which we spent most of our time was “Siyahamb’ ekukanyen kwenkos” (We are marching in the light of God). We sang it several times, then decided to translate the English lyrics into Xhosa, Africans and German. It was fun.

What a wonderful group we have. I feel very blest to travel with them.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

Coming Together

Saturday, July 31

Airports are wonderful places. Sometimes planes are on time. Sometimes they are not. Sometimes one’s luggage arrives when one arrives. And sometimes it does not. Our flights were all on time. The connection from Johannesburg to East London was actually early. Unfortunately, not all of the luggage arrived with us. Sarah’s luggage remained in Johannesburg. This occasioned a quick trip to a soon-to-close clothing store in order to have clothes to attend church the next morning.

We were met on time by Byron Jonas, owner operator of the transportation company, and our guide. Byron and his cousin Monte are wonderful: very accommodating and friendly. We were also greeted by Katherine Beckett, a UCC chaplain from Ohio who has spent her three month sabbatical leave from the palliative care department of a hospital outside of Columbus, to work with the Samaritan Care Center in East London, that provides palliative care for the residents of the neighboring “temporary settlement” that suffer from HIV/AIDS and other ailments. It was nice to meet and to share a meal with her

We were very happy to get to our hotel, overlooking the Indian Ocean, and to meet our German and South African fellow trippers. We were the last to arrive. Walter Schneider, known to many New Yorkers that have been involved with our Conference partnership with the EKHN in Germany, organized a crew from our group to walk the 1 ½ miles to the nearest supermarket to buy groceries for our breakfast in our hotel rooms. We’ve rented 4 suites capable of accommodating 6 persons in each. Each has a kitchenette and plenty of room to gather as a large group.

With the gradual arrivals and other errands that needed accomplishing, we didn’t go out to eat dinner until 8:00. We found a place overlooking the ocean, the Terraza Restaurant that provided a nice meal for us. After a very long series of days and a good meal, we walked back to the hotel, dispersed to our rooms and promptly fell fast asleep (after a very refreshing shower, for me, at least!).

Blessings,

Rick Cowles