"Good Hearted People"

So I know I mentioned briefly that the other students in my Cape Town group were pretty amazing, but today truly solidified that for me. We had our final presentations in our Service Learning class and each student had to present for 10-15 minutes about what they have gotten out of this entire Cape Town experience. Let’s just say I cried on at least half of them. I feel so honored to have been in a group with so many genuinely kind and service-oriented students. It was clear that regardless of who we all were when we arrived in South Africa on April 4, we were leaving, not necessarily as transformed beings that looked at the world in a new way, but just as students with new insight and the ability to adapt to places that may be completely foreign to us. Since there’s no way I can go back and give a recap of each student’s individual presentation, I will now like to add what I thought were some of the highlights. To conclude, I’ll describe my own presentation, which pretty much highlights my ups and downs of being in Cape Town.

During his presentation, Parth said something that I couldn’t agree with more. When describing what the other students had meant for his time here, he said, “The Cape Town program truly does attract a certain type of person.” There are a variety of reasons why university students choose to leave their home country and spend time studying abroad. I can say that for this group, that underlying reason was because we are truly hoping to use our agency to create a difference in the world we live in. I can’t think of how many times our professors here have told us how different our group dynamic was from most others. They noticed we had formed a close bond and really engaged with communities, classes, and the local people we met. We didn’t let our preconceived notions of what we thought South Africa was “supposed” to be influence the things we took away from this trip. I know it is so easy for people from overseas to come to a developing country with the intent of giving or serving others, but I do think our group sought and received reciprocity. There was an exchange that took place when we went to our service placements. We got to know them, allowed them to ask us questions about our lives, about our country, and we took just as much away from the communities here as we left behind. There was a level of trust that formed amongst us through our group Spotlights (each student gets the spotlight on them to share their life story with everyone else), and through that trust we leaned on each other to help deal with the various emotions we’ve experienced in the past 3 months. So, when they say that Cape Town, the only study abroad program with a public service focus,  attracts a particular type of student, I could not agree more.

Francisca’s presentation was another highlight of my day. She got up to present and immediately forced us all out of the classroom and outside into a larger, more open space. If you’re wondering, our presentations could be in any form we chose. There weren’t any particular guidelines besides give a 10-15 minute presentation about what you’ve learned during your Cape Town journey. Back to Franny, we all went outside and she made us form a large circle. She pulled out her notebook and a big roll of yarn and began reading how different people she’d met in her life had helped create the interconnected, multi-faceted person she is today. She simply read sentences about old teachers, family members, our Cape Town tour guide, etc., and the things she had learned from each of them. As she read each example, she would hand the roll of yarn to someone on the other side of the circle. In the end, it was one “big jumbled mess” as she phrased it, but I could definitely understand what she meant by that. We are all just a big, jumbled mess of past experiences, hurts, joys, and these are the things that help shape our existence. There is probably a name for this activity. I’m sure I’ve seen it in like an icebreaker or something, but for now, Franny’s “Big Jumbled Mess” will do. I loved it!

Another highlight, seeing all of our community partners inside this room to watch their student’s presentation was amazing. Some of them expressed so much gratitude about what our time at their organization had meant to them and it was so wonderful to hear how much of an impact we’d made. Of course we had learned, grown, and felt appreciated but it was nice to hear that feedback come from them directly. Just to know what some of the community partners had to do to even make it to our side of town where the Stanford Centre is located meant the world to us.

Kathryn included something in her presentation that I’ll never forget. She used a picture from Ghandi’s house in South Africa we’d visited in Durban and on that picture was a quote by Ghandi she felt she could relate to. I think most of us could. It said, “It was after I came to South Africa that I became who I am today.” For me personally, I can definitely say this experience has been one I will never forget. Kathryn mentioned how this entire trip a lot of us had been waiting for a big, transformative moment to come to us in which we finally were able to realize the answer to these major social issues we’d been grappling with. However, for most of us, there was no specific moment like that. Rather, our entire time had been small pieces to the puzzle. And although we may not have found any concrete answers, just the fact that we were hoping and searching for one says so much.

Rachel’s beautiful singing of the song, Thula Sizwe, which means “Be still country, Do not cry”, Parth and Irene’s movie that represented Etefani, Aliza and the Purple Crayon, Allie making us listen to the song, “Keep Your Eyes Open”,  Hannah showing us the value of reflection… All of these moments plus many more are what made this day of final presentations, probably my favorite this entire quarter. I thank each and every one of the students for sharing their journeys with me. I even thank those that made me cry (about 8 or 9). This day was so transformative for me and I can’t describe how awesome it felt to be a part of it.

As promised, I’ll share what I did for my own presentation. I was the last one of all 22 students to present and I was NERVOUS! It was 4:00pm (we started at 9:00am), everyone was tired, and it was time for me to somehow put into words all that I’d gotten out of my time in Cape Town. Since I was last I felt a bit of pressure to try and find a way to conclude things for everyone since it only seemed right. I walked up, took my oath that Torie made me say (promise not to break down and cry), and taped a huge piece of paper to the board. I began by repeating the first assignment we ever had to complete on our first day of Service Learning class: making a timeline of our life highlighting three significant events or learnings that had taught us something. I blogged about this earlier in the quarter so if you don’t know what events I included, feel free to read my earlier posts and find it… ;-) I explained to everyone why that event had been so important for me, therefore I decided to replicate it for my final presentation. I made a timeline of my time in Cape Town. I highlighted the Garden Route trip, my first day at the orphanage, and the very first event on there was the day I arrived. Those three events had been so crucial for me because they all provided things for me to turn back to later in order to evaluate where I started and where I was finishing this journey. So, I simply returned to my blog and took my thoughts from the beginning and read them to the entire room. I felt that would be the easiest way to give them an honest look at my preconceptions about the students, about service, and about me being in South Africa.

Garden Route

“It all started on the Garden Route trip where I was quickly introduced to this amazing group of students… Throughout it all, my favorite moment had to be at the braai where everyone shared what they were hoping to get out of this experience in Cape Town. All of our responses had to do with escaping from the pressures and expectations we face on campus and at home. We all just want to enjoy life and live in the moment. All of the students mentioned how important public service was to them, which they didn’t really have to say. Something tells me I’m with the right group of students on this trip. Nothing but good times ahead.”

This is an excerpt from one of my first blog posts. I hadn’t known the other students for an entire four days and already, this is what I thought of them. I was dead on when I said “Something tells me I’m with the right group of students on this trip.” By my final days in Cape Town, I’d realized just how much the other students had helped shape my time here. From hiking Table Mountain to even dinner conversations, they had all been so encouraging, engaging, and just amazing confidants. I told Hannah how much her talking me through the letterbox at the Cango Caves, where I had a panic attack because I just knew the guide would have to “come cut down the whole cave” to take me out of that thing, had meant to me. Those are some of the moments I will always cherish.

It’d truly been an honor to be in Cape Town and learn from all of the other students. I sincerely thanked them for being amazing. Finally, I shared a little story. The previous week Torie and I had taken a trip to the mall to finish up our souvenir shopping. On the way home, we called our reliable Excite Taxi company and requested a cab. When the driver got there he asked us our address and after giving it to him he replied, “Oh you guys are with the group of American students.” We told him yes and he replied, “I have a nickname for you all, it’s the good-hearted people.” In that moment I knew our time in Cape Town had not been in vain. We’d made a difference without even trying to. & if the taxi driver knew it, there’s no telling who else we’d touched during our time here.

Linawo Children’s Home

Then, I switched gears and focused on what I’d gotten out of my service experience at the orphanage. In an early blog post, I wrote:

“Our time here is extremely short and will be over before I know it, but I am dealing with children who have been abandoned by their own parents. I do not want to be another person who comes into their lives for a short period, forms a relationship, and then they never see me again. These concerns have led me to promise to never forget about them once this program is over.”

These were my thoughts before starting to volunteer at the Children’s Home. I knew I wanted to make a lasting difference in the kids lives, but I guess I just didn’t really know how to go about doing that. The children at Linawo taught me what it means to truly use your agency to come out of the victim status. They showed me how to be resilient. The way they just spring back after enduring such pain and tragedy is truly a guide for how I want to live my life. I never look at myself as a victim. I’ve had a very good life and I have to not let the sad moments define me. I've been blessed with opportunities that some people can only dream about and for that I am enternally grateful. Being here in a country where most people live with so little I am realizing how rich I am in earthly possessions.

Most people would never guess all that those children have been through. Some were left in toilets, one is HIV positive, another has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and can no longer write his own name or read a book…This list could go on forever with all that they have endured at such a young age. However, these kids were never sad or depressed when I showed up to volunteer. They chased me around the house, on the soccer pit, and just taught me what it really means to not let your circumstances define you. The kids at Linawo are a lively bunch and if they can find a reason to wake up every day and smile, then so can I. Only through reflecting on my relationships with the children was I able to figure out the idea of service learning that I am leaving with. They are the ones who have taught me that service learning is about changing my view of how I look at the world. Linawo has allowed me to change the way I think, act, and see myself in relation to others. They have helped me define what service learning has meant for me. In my opinion, it is finding a way to connect students with community organizations, which allow them to gain a new understanding of the world they live in. It is a demanding form of engagement that forces us as students to contribute just as much to our education as we take away from it. It allows for the appreciation of voluntary activities because of the deep reflections and emotions we can take away from them. Service learning is an extremely meaningful form of education that helps build civic responsibility and value-oriented students. Linawo and the reading that was assigned for our first seminar, “Learning Service or Service Learning: Enabling the Civic”, have shown me that service is truly not monolithic. I now understand what the authors meant when they said, “Service can be deconstructed in order that students might puzzle through it from the inside-out” (Boyle-Baise 25). It took for me to truly become engaged with the children’s home in order to allow the experience to break down every preconception I had of what it meant to “serve” others in order for me to be able to define that for myself.

Finally, I shifted to the last portion of my presentation which focused on what I’ve learned about myself from being in South Africa. I explained why one reason I was coming here was to somehow figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve realized that this is the type of work that makes me happy, being able to work for others, especially those less fortunate than me. It’s not about how much money I make or what my friends/family think about it, it’s about if I’m truly fulfilling my purpose in life. To conclude my presentation, I told them about an email I got from one of my mentors that asked me to tell her what I wanted my legacy to be. This can also be found in another blog post! ;-) After explaining my legacy I ended that post by saying I’d ask the kids at Linawo to write down what my time here had meant to them to see if I was off to a good start on that legacy. So, on my last day there we did a little group project. I brought in a huge posterboard, got about 40 pictures printed, and together we decorated the board so I could leave a little piece of “Sis Brittani” behind for them. After all the photos were glued on, the children took turns writing little comments to me. Here were some of my favorites:

1.     We love you a lot Sis Brittani!

2.     Thank you for coming to Linawo and helping us.

3.     God bless Sis Brittani and her family.

4.     Sis Brittani looks like a sunflower.

5.     Sis Brittani I think you’re going to miss us soooo much!

They were absolutely right about that last one. I will miss the kids at Linawo, the house on Herschel, my professors and staff, Mama Z, Long Street, long nights at the internet café, Chai Milkshakes from Mimi’s, and the city of Cape Town soooo much!

Xoxo,

Britt