I’ve been back in Grahamstown for almost two weeks now after my traveling adventures. Besides being settled again and having regular access to means of communication back home, the absolute best part about being back in Grahamstown is spending more time at Ethembeni (Senior Centre in the township around Grahamstown, see previous entries). Though I am still an outsider for obvious reasons, the place really feels like another home for me. I love the atmosphere and the people. I love taking the mini-bus up into the township with local people. I love trying to speak a little bit of Xhosa. I love meeting friendly people around the area of Ethembeni. This past week our adviser Geoff organized a group of students from the US, including PJ and Brittney from BC and a few rotary scholars, to come up and have lunch with me and the rest of the crew of Ethembeni. Everybody was so welcoming. It was really great. I’m glad other people got to see a different area of the township and see the place I talk about so much. Grace Ngcete, the woman who runs the centre is pretty much my new idol, also invited me to a traditional Xhosa ceremony celebrating the life and death of her husband, who passed away a couple of years ago. That’s in a couple of weeks and there will surely be a story about that. She also let me borrow a scrapbook she had put together with pictures and news articles from around the time of Steve Biko’s death in 1977. Steve Biko was a leader, organizer, and prophet. See the movie CRY FREEDOM. Intense.
Had an interesting trip with my Anthropology class the other day. We went to a rural area outside of Queenstown for an event to commemorate the opening of a National Liberation Heritage Trail. There were around 6,000 people there and a number of performances and speakers. Most of the speeches were in Xhosa, so I couldn’t understand much at all, but it was still pretty exciting. At one point, people on stage and most people in the crowd began singing. The song ended with the rally cry of “Amandla!” and the crowd response of “Awethu!” Together they mean “Power to the people!” That was a significant rally cry during the anti-apartheid struggle. Pretty cool to hear that. There was also something there that has been stuck in my mind since the trip on Thursday. There were a few trucks set up as mobile clinics right outside the event tents and stage. There were HUGE lines of people from the area lining up to get quick medical check-ups. Many of the people walked hours to get to the clinics to wait hours in line for a brief check-up. I suppose it’s a good thing that the mobile clinics are getting out there at all, but yikes, that’s some tough stuff. So many positive things have been achieved but the liberation struggle ain’t done yet.
Had an interesting trip with my Anthropology class the other day. We went to a rural area outside of Queenstown for an event to commemorate the opening of a National Liberation Heritage Trail. There were around 6,000 people there and a number of performances and speakers. Most of the speeches were in Xhosa, so I couldn’t understand much at all, but it was still pretty exciting. At one point, people on stage and most people in the crowd began singing. The song ended with the rally cry of “Amandla!” and the crowd response of “Awethu!” Together they mean “Power to the people!” That was a significant rally cry during the anti-apartheid struggle. Pretty cool to hear that. There was also something there that has been stuck in my mind since the trip on Thursday. There were a few trucks set up as mobile clinics right outside the event tents and stage. There were HUGE lines of people from the area lining up to get quick medical check-ups. Many of the people walked hours to get to the clinics to wait hours in line for a brief check-up. I suppose it’s a good thing that the mobile clinics are getting out there at all, but yikes, that’s some tough stuff. So many positive things have been achieved but the liberation struggle ain’t done yet.
