Final Thoughts

There is something appealing about just driving down a highway and not having to be anywhere.  I've been doing a lot of that in the past several weeks. Why did I take this trip?  For fun?  For ministry?  To just get away?  The allure was the first World Cup in Africa; what more can you say, that's just awesome!  However, I didn't want to travel to Africa only on some grand adventure.  Africa is a place with such a checkered past.  It has abundant disease and poverty, but also has such rich people and culture.  I wanted to experience what God was doing in a few small places.  And finally, I think I wanted to experience some magnificent insight into the future of my life.

And the trip was all that I could have hoped for -- except for maybe that magnificent insight part, but we'll get to that later.  The games and stadiums were spectacular; the people were warm, generous, and hospitable; the ministries were doing immeasurable good.  I saw the beauty and grandeur of South Africa and the diversity of its people.  I learned much about the history and engraved the memory of memorials

And what am I doing with my life?  Who knows...I certainly don't.  I don't mean that in a melancholy sort of way; I mean that in a World at my fingertips sort of way.  I've got ideas.  Do I wish I had a clearer picture?  Sure, but it's nothing to get upset about.  There are so many things that I can pour myself in today that tomorrow should sort itself out in time.  I know God will be there.  "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' " Hebrews: 13:5

 

And what does that leave me with?  I keep on coming back to the SA tourism interview I completed in the airport as I was leaving.  Did my trip change my perception of South Africa?  "Yes".  Will I come back to South Africa?  "Probably".

Hambani kahle! 

A tale of two valleys

South Africa is a place of contrasts.  One place this can be seen is in the Drakensberg mountains, where two valleys tell different stories.  I was staying in a wonderful backpacker's hostel in the Champagne valley surrounded by such things as golf courses, hiking trails, and resort lodges.  Only a few miles away is another valley full of tiny huts, starving cows, and abundant poverty.

UPC (University Presbyterian Church) Betsy Meyers works in this second valley.  Only a couple years older than me, she has been here for six years and runs a home care organization.  She carries a young baby boy named Moses with her that was left by the river; she is adopting him.

Betsy allowed me to join her on home visits in a population that is 40% HIV Positive.  I learned from her how Tuberculosis (TB) is just as big of a problem and how AIDS and TB work together to destroy lives.

In this valley, Zulu politics collides with municipal politics.  Tribal traditions often take precedence over local laws.  Everything is run by a Chief.  If the Chief is a drunkard or otherwise absent judge, problems ensue. 

Education is crucial here.  The first lady we visit has several times stopped taking her ARV's (anti viral medications for AIDS and TB).  Young girls sleep around and have children by several fathers.  AIDS orphans 1.2 million children in SA.  We visit a home where a 19 year old girl cares for four brothers and sisters -- while still going to school.  We visit another house where there are 14 people under the age of 27 (without the parents) in the house.

Watching Betsy, her warm personality connects with these girls.  They laugh about boys and she warns about AIDS.  The organization she founded, Thembalethu Care Organization (http://hopeforaids.blogspot.com/), trains women to be caregivers in the area.  They visit houses and check up on the patients.  If need be, they refer them to the American nurse on staff or to a clinic or to a hospital.  They urge the patients to get tested for AIDS and multi-drug resistant TB and provide taxi fare for getting there.

Their heart is big and their resources limited.  They have carried out God's command to love the poor and the sick; they love unconditionally.  They make due with what they have, but somehow are still managing to build a center that will provide such services as support groups and a children's soup kitchen.  Surely we should all be serving the poor, the outcast, the alien, the helpless, the sick, and the lonely.  Surely this is what the Kingdom of God must look like.

My worst day

Leaving Port Elizabeth, I embarked on what was anticipated to be a long drive to rejoin Cindy and Trevor Francis on the South Coast.  The first thing you should know about the South African highways is they frequently pass through towns forcing your speed to come to a screeching halt.  The second thing that you should know is that sometimes you have to inexplicably take turns to stay on the highway itself.  On my drive from PE, I of course stayed straight on the highway which, of course, means I actually left the highway (because I should have turned off).  After a good while, I realized that I was headed in the wrong direction; but no worries, there was a road that I could cut across to save time! (There are not many roads in South Africa) 

This road, of course, turned out to be a dirt road, at which point I realized I was running dangerously low on gas.  The third thing you should know is that gas stations (full serve and rarely accepting credit cards) are pretty rare on the highways.  But no worries, there was a small town randomly in the middle of this dirt highway.  Rolling into town on fumes, very much relieved, I looked for a gas station that I was not finding.   I finally pulled into a country store where the Domestic informed me that there was no gas station in town!  After a call to the owner in the shop, I ended up hiking a mile or two up the road with the son of the Domestic in search of some gas at an auto shop.  I found out that he had come from Cape Town and was doing odd jobs and some art (that was sold at the shop) to get by on.  I bought the last 4 liters of gas from the auto shop, had some tea with the Domestic, and was able to get to the next city to fill up.

The fourth thing you should know about the highways is that the mountain roads are clogged with very slow semis and are often only two lanes.  SA drivers are very impatient and often attempt suicidal passes.  After leaving the city that I got the gas, a huge caravan of cars ended up getting backed up behind a semi.  They slowly started making suicidal passes to where I ended up behind the truck.  The guy behind me wasn't waiting for me to take my pass so he passed us both.  I went to follow him, but so did the guy behind him.  My side mirror clipped his side and both our cars had some minor damage.  This would lead us to have to file a police report at the police station where he didn't speak English, I didn't speak Zulu, and the police didn't speak very good English.

Moving on from there, I continued on towards the South Coast.  Being without a GPS, I once again failed to turn onto the highway and started going up some mountain highway.  The sixth thing you should know about South African highways is that there is sometimes random speed bumps in the middle of them.  I hit one twice that has to be the biggest speed bump to ever grace asphalt!

After something like 13 - 14 hours of driving, two wrong turns, nearly running out of gas, a traffic accident, and random speed bumps, a very tire heavily caffeinated Irvin rolled into the Francis house around 12:30 am.  Trevor was very gracious to me and even eased my hunger pains with some local fried chicken.  The next morning I was able to recoup and enjoy the wonderful hospitality of Cindy and Trevor before heading out to my final stop in the Drakensberg mountains.

Port Elizabeth, 3rd Place game, and sweet game park

After a couple of gorgous days in Cape Town, I finally experiences a more typical winter day on my way out of town. It was pouring down rain as I headed East along the Coast. As I was leaving, I passed Khalyisha, the largest Township in Cape Town, and was dumbstruck by the sea of poverty and the enormity of the wealth gap.

I decided to take a little detour through Stellenbosch and Franschhoek which are famous for their wine country (nothing like a little alchohol before a cross-country drive). I stopped by two wineries for some fantastic samples -- the second had a well adorned and polished wine room that felt like it was somewhere out of the South of France; I soaked up my wine at my table in front of the fireplace!

The drive from cape Town to Port Elizabeth is quite beautiful as much of it winds along the coast. The highway actually passes through quite a few towns and can get annoying slowing down to 40 Kilometers an hour.

I arrived to meet my host Ashley right around the start of the 3rd and 4th place game in PE (Germany vs. Uruguay). We arrived maybe 15 minutes late amid a freezing rain and a bitter wind.  I'll have to say that this may have been my favorite of several really impressive stadiums.  It was smaller and more intimate.  It was a little bit like Husky Stadium where there was a roof that covered most of the fans, but left the field exposed to the elements; the roof was also really effective at trapping in the noise of the fans and vuvvzelas.  The game was probably the best and most entertaining of all the ones I went to. There were five goals and I was continually impressed by Diego Forlan of Uruguay. Who cares if the game was mostly meaningless?

The following day I went to Church with Ashley and Gharde Gellan -- who did gymnastics at the University of Washington. I had lunch with Gharde, Gharde's mom, and another friend at a restaurant with a sweet view overlooking the water. Afterwards, we drove through a really fun game park. There were rhinos! warthogs!! Cheetahs!!! So cool and we were able to get so close to the animals in our car; at one point the Rhinos started jogging down the road towards our car.

After the game park, we bundled up for what would be a most unpleasant night weatherwise. We went out to the fan park to watch the Final with Netherlands and Spain. After the match, I couldn't feel my toes, but it was fun to hang out with a crowd for the final! It was sad that there would be no World Cup from here on out -- sad for South Africa as well as the country prepared for the post World Cup depression.  Alas, these things must come to an end.

These Numbers Have Faces (TNHF)

The organization that gave me the whole crazy idea of going to South Africa was These Numbers Have Faces (TNHF).  When I was Belfast, I knew an American guy Justin Zoradi who had been down to South Africa several times.  He started an organization based in one of the Cape Town townships (Gugulethu) for helping poor youth getting a University education.  They help sponsor a young men's soccer team and a young women's dance team.  Several of these youth are part of a sponsorship program where a donor can help sponsor their education.  After completing the program, each individual must contribute back a portion of their income.

When I was in Cape Town, one of the TNHF staff setup the chance to meet with two of the male students and soccer players.  They play on a competitive team called the JL Zwane Football Club.  I met Anda, Khanyisa, and Erin (wife of the staff member) at a Cape Town coffee shop.  We chatted and laughed with the guys.  After coffee, we found a spot near the Stadium and filmed some videos for TNHF.  I asked questions to the guys about having the World Cup in South Africa while Erin shot the video.  After shooting the video, we went up to the top of Signal Hill and saw the Noon Gun.  There is a great view of the city below and an incredible aerial of the Stadium.  The cannon fires very loudly every day at noon.

After the gun, we decided that we would head to the Township to eat at Mzoli's.  Mzoli's is a very famous Township meat restaurant in Gugulethu.  Despite the poverty of the Township, they love meat and will typically have a little meat with every meal.  At Mzoli's, you pick out the raw meat that you want from things like lamb, sausage, and beef.  They cook it up in a smokey room and bring the cooked meat out to you.  You typically buy a loaf of bread and wrap up pieces of the meat in the slices of bread.

After eating at Mzoli's, they wanted to show me some of the area.  They took me by the field and gym that they train at for the team.  They then took me to the home of the Captain of their team.  Most of the people in the townships live in tiny shacks that are constructed mainly of tin and he was no exception.  We hung out in the road as chickens wandered around.  The group of us just stood around and shot the breeze.  We spent a couple of hours not particularly doing anything.  Standing there, I got a feel for life of the township.  It was funny talking with the guys and them talking about how they didn't have time to do things like going to Church.  Most of the people don't have a car or a whole lot to do with their free time.  That is why something like TNHF is so important, because it gives the youth something to do with their time and a way out of poverty.  TNHF is also turning its focus more towards women as they are finding that oftentimes women are more responsible with their money than the men.

Being in the townships, you understand the enormity of the problem.  As I was leaving Cape Town, I drove by Khayelitsha -- the largest township in Cape Town.  From the main highway, I could see tin room shacks as far as the eye can see.  It's like gazing as the stars in the sky and feeling overwhelmed by the need that is out there.  I know that the small part that organizations like TNHF are doing is making a big difference in individual lives, but I felt for the all people that fall through the ginormous cracks.  http://www.thesenumbers.org/

My best day

The best day on my trip was my day of sightseeing around Cape Town.  I got up early and started out in Muizenberg.  I took some pictures of the city against the mountains and the coast -- beautiful.  I headed South to Boulders Beach to see the penguins!  That's right, penguins!  African penguins!  One of the coolest things I have ever done!  They have wooden boardwalks that you can walk out and get within a few feet of the penguins.  You come out to Foxy Beach and there are globs of them just chillin' on the beach.  Boulders Beach is next to Foxy Beach and is the beach that you can actually swim with the penguins.  Granted most of them hang at Foxy, but one brave soul wandered over to Boulders when I was there.

Driving further South, you head towards Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.  Contrary to popular belief, neither one of these capes are where the two oceans meet; that is actually Cape Aquinas -- a few hours west of Cape Town.  Cape Point has an old elevated lighthouse that you can hike up to.  When I was there, it was a beautiful sunny day and I had breathtaking views all around -- of the oceans, of the peninsula I had driven up, and of the lighthouse.  I just took and took pictures.  The Cape of Good Hope is actually only a couple of miles down the beach and is the Southwestern most point of Africa.  I went there, took my picture with the sign, and had a few Ostrich crossings.

Outside of the park, there is another market.  You feel kind of sleazy at the markets although you can get way better prices than the shops.  99% of all shopping experiences go so something like this:

Vendor:  "Hello my friend"
You: "Hi"
Vendor: "Your Welcome"
(Your eyes look at an item for three seconds and vendor sweeps in like a vulture)
Vendor "You like?  I give you good price"
You: "How much?"
Vendor: "Normally 150 Rand, but for you 120"
(You decide you aren't interested and try to walk away"
Vendor: "This isn't a store, How much you want to pay?  You tell me how much you want to pay"

Moving on from the market, I drove along the Coast.  The sun was beginning to go down, so I stopped every five minutes to take an even better photo of the coastline.  I eventually reached the world famous Chapman Peak Drive.  It costs about five U.S. dollars to go on and it's worth every penny!  This drive is built on the side of a cliff face (it is periodically shut down to falling rocks);  I was halfway expecting 007 to come racing around the corner while I was there.  I took some incredible photos here of Houk's Bay that could have been postcards -- wow!  I drove further and caught some people having wine as the sun was going down.  I continued on past kids playing soccer and eventually made my way to Cape Town.  I took some pictures of the Stadium and then my found my way to the beach.  I took some stunning sunset pictures as a sailboat sailed on by.

I then finished my day by heading to the top of a famous neighborhood of painted houses -- called Bo Kaap.  At the top of the hill, I ate dinner at a Malay restaurant called "The High Noon Tea Room".  Malay is a traditional fare that does not serve alcohol.  There was only one other couple in the restaurant so I grabbed a seat outside with the most incredible view of Table Mountain (the mountain overlooking Cape Town).  I ate a meal of traditional fish with some sort of Rose milk drink that was similar to a milkshake -- outstanding!  An absolutely wonderful way to finish a most stunning day.

Youth With a Mission (YWAM)

The road from Johannesburg to Cape Town is not the most exciting road in the World.  It is similar to the terrain in Eastern Washington.  Driving the route, you get a lot of time to think.  Not to mention that almost every speed sign has a camera on it to enforce speeding.  Most of the route is two lanes and there are hundreds of trucks going 80 km / hr and I nicknamed it "The Great Truck Weave".  As you approach Cape Town, you pass through a town called De Dooms which is an absolutely beautiful mountain pass.  The startling thing is that much of the town is tin roof shacks beneath majestic peaks.  This is the great contrast of South Africa -- rich and poor; luxury and barely enough.

Coming into Cape Town, I drove the Alternate Route winding around the mountain.  I had just missed the sunset, but I could still see the stunning view of the city of Pearl beneath me.  Later on I arrived in Muizenberg, a suburb on the coast a half an hour South of Cape Town.  I arrived to meet my hosts Bryan and Thandi Whitlock.  Thandi was eight and a half months pregnant, but she still had a delicious meal ready for me. 

Bryan and Thandi are on staff with an organization called Youth With a Mission (YWAM).  I had arrived just in time for the Netherlands / Uruguay match so Bryan and I headed over to the YWAM base to watch the match.  YWAM is an organization that works in just about every country and trains young Christian leaders from around the World.  I met some guys from Kenya, Madagascar, and Brazil.  YWAM actually has many different unique programs depending on the base.  However, typically trainees come to a base to attend a Discipleship Training School (DTS) for three months and then go out to do a mission for three months in another country. 

The next day Bryan and I headed into the city to watch the Germany / Spain match.  We got a chance to talk about his passion for ministry in Africa.  He had these little wafers with verses on them; everywhere we went, he passed them out to strangers and just kind of chatted with them briefly.  He didn't preach at them, but would just kind of say "It's food.  You can eat it".  When the person started asking questions about it, he might say something like "It's Spiritual food".  He was a man at ease -- a man who was right where he should be.  We went around the market.  While I was trying to negotiate for some souvenirs, he would strike up a conversation with the vendor.  None of the vendors are from South Africa so he would ask them where they were from and get in a conversation with him.  One of the vendors was from Sudan which he has a particular passion for and a place he has ministered.  Bryan and his wife want to go to the Sudan in a few years to be full-time missionaries.  I bought some things from the guy and Bryan took some pictures with me and the vendors.

YWAM is one of those things I seem to encounter wherever I go -- I'm always meeting people who have done it.  A few days later, I was in the Drakensburg Mountains and happened to get invited to a dinner at another YWAM base.  There I chatted with a Kenyan guy who had the best English of any Kenyan I have ever met.  He had spent some time in Iowa.  It was interesting talking to him and having him tell me that he had a passion for the people of the United States.  That's the Global nature of YWAM.  The people I have known associated with YWAM are some of the most authentic Christians I know -- so there must be something to this thing.  http://ywam.org/

The kindness of strangers

I think most of us like to think that we are enlightened folks that are above the prejudices of ordinary people -- oh you know, other people.  Sometimes it takes an event to tear this illusion apart.

I needed a place to spend the night in Bloemfontein.  I could either seek out a hostel or try out coach surfing; Couch surfing is the idea of staying in the home of a perfect stranger.  I looked into it and found a couple of possibilities.  I contacted one and he wasn't going to be around.  That left a Muslim guy who had a couple of good reviews, but also had a profile that celebrated trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan.  This of course immediately brought to my mind Islamic fundamentalists and their not so fond view of Americans.  What to do...

I agonized over the decision and put it off.  As the World Cup went on, he got more and more great reviews.  It was reassuring to see a review of an Israeli holding a Jewish flag.  Embarrassed by my blatant stereotype, I realized I needed to trust in his hospitality.

And you know what, it went really well!  I arrived late around 10:30 pm, but yet he and the owner of the house (he rented from her) stayed up and had tea with me.  The next morning they both got up early and prepared a breakfast for me before I headed out.  They told me about places to stop on my long drive to Cape Town.  They were both so hospitable to me and I stood humbled in my bigotry -- no longer enlightened.

PDA Syndrome

This is none other than Put Down the African Syndrome.  It is a self inflicted syndrome that affects the Africans here.

I was talking with my hosts in Malawi and the girlfriend of one said that the Africans treat white people like gods (to which I replied, "well...yeah").  Her point being that there is a lack of confidence in their own abilities.  There is a huge problem holding onto money as many spend it as soon as they get it.  They go spend it on beer or cigarettes or other things like that.  There are a disproportionate number of Indian, Asian, and white run businesses in Malawi.  Most businesses have the owner on site of all times so that they can watch the Malawians who work here.

In South African, there is a huge fear of Xenophobia where the blacks are worried about Malawians, Zimbabweans, Zambians, etc. taking their jobs.  They will even speak to blacks in Zulu and arrest those who doesn't understand.  There is a huge fear right now that other African countries will use the World Cup as easy entry into the country and won't leave.

These are serious issues that  must be overcome for these countries to develop.  Training and education must take place for local run businesses and skilled labor to take off.  These are the type of things needed for serious economic development.  So how to do it?  I wish I knew.

The price of water and sanitation

The McGills in 2008

Perhaps my most eagerly anticipated trip was to see the shallow wells in Mzuzu, Malawi.  I made the long journey north chatting with a lovely missionary from Northern Ireland.  I spent my brief time in Mzuzu with Jim and Jodi McGill.  They are such hospitable and wonderful people.  They have adopted six children and have an Intern staying with them for the Summer, but they still welcomed me with open arms.

Jim works for the Presbyterian Synod (Livingstonia) and is responsible for water and sanitation for all of Northern Malawi.  He partners with organizations like Marion Medical Mission (http://marionmedical.org/) and Water For People -- Malawi http://www.waterforpeople.org/programs/africa/malawi.html) to install wells and eco-latrines. 

An inefficient Play Pump

The preferred shallow well

There is much to learn on the difficulties of effective development work.  For instance, a past organization called Play Pumps installed these play areas where children could play and pump water at the same time.  However, it was found that the pumps were inefficient and that they were overused by the residents.  The preferred well is something called a shallow well that is under 20 feet in depth.  Marion Medical is remarkably efficient at raising money for shallow wells.  For $350, a donor can build a well and get a picture of it.  However, the business of non-profits demands progress and so the target number of wells has been raised from 1,000 a year to 1,200 a year.  Great!  But oh wait, that target outpaces the ability of Jim and his team to effectively determine where the wells need to be.  It is harder to raise money when you don't have pictures.

The self drilled well

The hole they often drink out of

And then there's getting people to use them.  Marion considers that anyone within 500 meters of the well has access.  We drove to a site where there is a well that is within 500 meters of a group of houses.  But they don't use it!  They've dug their own well that is unsealed and often dries up.  When it is dry, they get their water from this hole.  We asked one of the guys why don't they use it.  The first reason that it was too far away and the second was that they didn't contribute to building it.  Marion asks for around 1500 Kwacha a year to maintain the well which is not that much -- even here.  It is equivalent to around 20 minutes of talk time on a phone or 8 beers at the bar.  Ah priorities!

Jim's team is working a new model where the residents would take ownership of the well.  Jim asked this guy if this group of 4 or 5 houses would be willing to take out a 50,000 Kwacha loan over two years through a micro finance organization like Opportunity International.  The guy sounded very open to it...open to the idea of ownership.

Finally, I wanted to mention another cool thing that Jim's team is doing.  They are working with Water For People to install eco-latrines.  These are latrines where people cover their manure with ash and soil.  in 6-12 months, the manure bio degrades into compost that be used for crops or sold for money.

Children of the Nations

One of the reason I wanted to come to Malawi was because I had connections through both Seattle and Atlanta.  One of these connections was Children of the Nations (COTN) where several of my friends had spent a Summer with COTN (http://www.cotni.org/).

Down goes Goliath!!

On my first full day in Malawi, I was picked up by Chris Adare.  I would later learn that Chris had graduated from U-Dub and even went to high school in Spokane with some of my friends.  He took me to go see what COTN was all about.  I visited one of the villages with a team from Colorado.  We play acted David and Goliath for the 1st grade class; I was the King.  At the break, we tossed miniature frisbees with the kids who derived such pleasure from such a simple game!

AWP Windmill

I later went around with Chris, who showed me the African Windmills Project (AWP).  They are in the process of perfecting a well driven by windmills that could be used for irrigation.  The one pictured here is missing the windmill, but can be hand cranked very easily.  The goal of the wells is to be constructed and maintained by locally found materials.  I journeyed with him to pick up wood from a Malawian lumber yard and to a welding shop as he worked on building another well.

Boiling some water!

I tried to ask Chris a lot of questions and also wanted to find out what COTN is doing about drinking water.  One thing he showed me was a solar heating system for boiling water.  The one here can boil water in an hour and forty-five minutes.  Chris is working on doing it in under an hour so that it will be more practical.

I finished up the day by visiting another village with the team.  We were welcomed by song and dance from the widows.  COTN has trained the widows with skills like crafts and baking and they have crafts available for purchase.  Afterwards, it was time to feed the children and we were welcomed by a song from them.  The children eat two meals a day -- one before school and one after school.  We helped them wash their hands and we dished their food.  We also had a Dentist and a Nurse in our group and we had an impromptu medical session where far more kids lined up for help than there was time for.

As for Chris, he got some unexpected time with my host Linga.  As we were wrapping up the day, we realized we could still catch the second half of one of the games.  The three of us went to the Four Seasons to unwind with some Carlsburg (there's a local plant).  Linga peppered him with questions about where he lived and what he was doing in Malawi.  It turns out the following day that we had to go pick up a credit card I lost from Chris.  We met him a local place far out of town where the power was out.  We sat on a porch under the stars and once again moved at the African pace.

The World is watching us

It is a little unsettling to be sitting in the house of a Malawian Pastor while an American courtroom show is on in the background.  CNN, I get.  MTV, I get.  But Judge Joe Brown?!

The eyes of the World are on us.  News of the BP oil spill and the Russian spies are readily available in Malawi.  Many of the homes I was in had news feeds from CNN and the BBC.

Africans are acutely aware of the sporting landscape as well.  Wimbledon, Tour de France; yes they are watching those. But soccer reigns supreme and they follow the Premiership with fervor.  They know what club team every World Cup players plays for and they have strong opinions on the new Liverpool coaching hire. 

You can get an idea of how risqué Vixens is

And then there is MTV, VH1, and E; and I wince.  It is strange to be sitting in a home that suffers from frequent power outages while Malawians watch the Hollywood lifestyle of the Khardacians or the sickening South African show "Vixens".  All these types of shows are so popular here.  As I watch them, I feel the need to qualify that most of America is not like this.  My hometown of Inverness, FL is just as foreign to Orange County.  Why must they see this?

Yes, the World is watching us.  And what do they see?  They see the U.S. financial reform debate and they know the latest American unemployment report.  They see Eclipse and the lastest Gaga video.  This is why people either love or hate us.  Yet it is such a skewed picture of us; I wish we could show them more of what they can't see.

Campus Outreach

Beth -- my initial contact in Joburg

When I was in Johannesburg, I stayed with a group of Americans and South Africans who are part of an organization called Campus Outreach.  I had a lot of fun times with this group.  Pretty much all of the Americans headed west for the USA -- Ghana game.  One of the South Africans, Tumelo, served as my personal tour guide through the Apartheid Museum and SOWETO.  One night, I was over at the girls' house.  At one point, they were very excitedly talking about the Twilight movie coming out and how they were going to the opening night midnight viewing.  At which point, I said "Really?  Even here?".  I had high hopes for the South Africans, but they let me down.  They also made fun of the tiny cell phone that I had picked up in SA.

Some Campus Outreach folks getting interviewed by Al Jazeera TV

So what's going on with this Campus Outreach (http://www.cojohannesburg.org/) ministry?  The ministry is based out of Atlanta and connected with Perimeter Church there.  The ministry works in various Universities throughout the World.  For those of you familiar with Tim Keller, he is connected with the Campus Outreach in Joburg and is traveling there later this year.  Their mission, as best I picked up, is to evangelize and raise up leaders on the University Campus.  There is also an emphasis on staying connected with these leaders after they graduate and move into the workforce.  Brandon, one of the guys I was staying with, is an American guy who is responsible for maintaining these relationships post-College.  I really enjoyed my time meeting and talking with the many Campus Outreach folks I met.  A few of us even sought out the rare Mexican Restaurant in South Africa! 

The sound of a vuvuzela

When I was in Johannesburg, I got to see the main Stadium twice in the period of 4 days.  The first for the Germany -- Ghana game and the second for the Mexico -- Argentina game.  The Stadium was an impressive feat of engineering holding 90,000 people in the middle of nowhere.  All the new stadiums were incredible and I think my favorite was the one in Port Elizabeth for the intimate setting and the noise trapping roof reminiscent of Husky Stadium

That's a serious vuvuzela!

The most asked question I get is what did all those vuvuzelas sound like?  The answer is that it sounded like a giant swarm of bees.  With the African teams, the chorus would get louder and more forceful when they went want on the attack or made a great play.  The actual most annoying sound for me was a Mexican fan's wooden noisemaker on the row next to us.  This fan was a heavier set guy with mustache, face paint, devil horns, Budweiser (the only beer sold in the stadiums), and Mexican flag draped as a cape.  The noise put out by this one little box was deafening.  Fortunately Mexico got down pretty quickly ,so he quieted down until the second half because he was looking for reasons to play.

A little TP for the Argentina / Mexico game

The Argentinians were the most well supported foreign team that I saw in person.  Before the game, a group of them were bunched together in the concourse.  They beat their drums and waved their flags and marched festively into the Stadium.  Argentinians love to throw toilet paper onto the field (and for you purists, I know it's called the pitch...but I'm American!).  They even threw a couple of rolls onto the field during the game.  The rolls were on the field for around 10 minutes of play before the Mexican goalie took upon himself to clear the rolls during the game -- once again, well done FIFA.

Up close to the action for S. Korea / Nigera

I saw some great moments during this cup.  The best game was the Germany -- Uruguay game and Diego Forlan is a heck of a player.  I think that the best goal that I saw was the German strike against Ghana.  I saw the South Korea free kick goal against Nigeria and the Nigerian player who missed the easiest possible goal you will ever get.  I saw the Landon Donovan penalty kick goal and a Ghanaian defender who raced past a slow U.S. defense to put us away.  I saw Tevez score on a blatant offsides against Mexico and him also scoring a masterful second goal.  I also witnessed plenty of great moments in fan parks (such as Germany's second half goals against England) and various other venues such as the YWAM base in Muizenburg, the four seasons in Lilongwe, Malawian homes, and the final in a very cold and wet PE fan park.  So all in all, some pretty good soccer.

Take a bite out of crime

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One of the first things you notice about South Africa is that many people live behind barbed wired fences.  The staticians say that Johannesburg is just about the most dangerous city in the World not in a war zone.  On my first night in Joburg, one of the guys who had picked me up from the train station told me about a "smash and grab" -- this is when someone smashes your car window when you are driving, has a gun, and steals your car.  It hadn't happened to him, but he knew people who had.

New Town fan park in Joburg

Crime is an interesting thing.  I have lived in Sarajevo and Belfast and felt safer there than many places I could find myself in American cities.  As I was preparing to come over, one of my hosts in Joburg said that you can't trust any strangers there.  The American Government had put out a travel advisory for South Africa.  I had Malawians tell me that they were scared to go to South Africa because of the crime.  So definitely some things to get psyched out about, but I have long since decided that I cannot my life in fear.  Trust my God and try to avoid doing really stupid things -- with me the latter being a difficult task.

Police were everywhere in South Africa.  The government clearly decided that they did not want any International incidents during the World Cup.  Many of the homeless and other so called questionable characters were shipped to areas outside the cities. 

My foolish sunset walk just on the other side of the fan park

And what happened?  On the stupid count, I had two occurrences without incident.  I took a questionable walk from New Town to Auckland Park after sunset by myself and I got lost on the highway system while nearly running out of gas.  I actually witnessed an attempted carjacking in Malawi, but nothing in South Africa.  Everyone treated me very well.  I did not have one incident or problem with a South African anywhere I was.  As I was in the airport on the way home, I was asked to do a lengthy survey by the Government.  Towards the end of the interview, they wanted to know if I came away with a better opinion of South Africa and whether I would come back  I thought about it and answered "Yes." and "Probably".  They say that most places that host a large International Sporting event lose a lot of money; thinking about those last two questions, I think it was money very well spent.

Born in the U.S. of A!

In my travels, I have found that many Americans I come across abroad try to distance themselves from American culture.  That has never been a problem for me.  In Belfast, when the other Americans were trying to learn the Norn Iron English and accent, I was wearing flip-flops (or white socks when wearing shoes), cargo shorts, and baseball caps; I was using words like "soccer" instead of "football" -- unless of course I was talking about American football :).  All this to say that I have never had a problem taking pride in my country and supporting the Yanks.

So last week, Landon Donovan scores a dramatic goal to beat Algeria in injury time to send the U.S. team into a round of 16 match against Ghana.  I happened to be staying in the vicinity of a number of Americans doing campus outreach in Joburg and discussion quickly began how to acquire tickets.  After a little trouble, we were able to track down tickets to the game.  While I have always taken pride in my American roots, I have never been a flag waving / wearing type of guy so this left me with the dilemma of needing something to show my colors.  This was quickly resolved by heading to the Nike store to acquire my very own authentic American soccer jersey!

So 14 or so Americans made the two and a half hour trek west to Rustenburg for the game.  And what do Americans do before big games?  They tailgate!  We busted out some grills and cooked up hamburgers and drank Coca-Cola!  We were trash talking with some Zimbabweans in our group and were even joined by a couple of Australian Socceroos (This is also the first time I have ever met an Australian Indian).  It was glorious.

We soon got on a bus full of other Americans to get to the game and we got some good U-S-A, U-S-A cheers going to drown out the Africans on the bus -- again...glorious!  Wandering around the Stadium, it was fun to see the crazy outfits that people were wearing for both teams.  I at one point came across a guy in an Elvis jumpsuit.

Both teams were well supported and there may have been a slight edge for the Ghanaians, but there were plenty of American flags to go around.  I was in firm support with my jersey and vuvuzela.  Of course, the Yanks suffered a heart breaking loss in extra time.  I would have preferred to see a USA victory, but it was cool to see the Africans throw their support behind the Ghanaians.  One of the Ghana players even ran around the Stadium with a South African flag tied to a Ghana flag.

It was a long trip back due to poor organizational planning on FIFA's side, but it was sweet to get to go to a U.S. game.  We may have lost the game, but we're Americans!  And we're darn proud of that!

To be sobered by the human condition

One thing that I wanted to do in South Africa was visit the Apartheid museum.  Coming here, I read a book on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that occurred in the aftermath of the atrocities of Apartheid -- a commission that would give a voice to the victims.  It gave me a good primer and I picked up things here and there from a magazine article on South Africa or a movie like Invictus, but I really didn't know a whole lot about Apartheid or what happened.  I hate that feeling of ignorance.

Starting off they send you through one gate if you are a white and another if you are a non-white to view ID cards of the race that isn't you.  Being white, I saw cards of blacks, Indians, and coloureds ("coloured" was a term used for mixed race people).  However, you soon realize that this was a whole lot more than a black and white issue.  It's funny, we like to make things black and white because it's simpler, but life isn't simple.  This was an issue of black, white, Afrikaner, Indian (Gandi lived in SA and there is a very large Indian population), Chinese, Zulu, and San (the bushmen and first settlers of the area) to name a few.  One of the plaques captures this perfectly showing how 1,000 people managed to change race in a year.

The museum covers around 100 years from roughly 1900 to 1994, but my head was spinning trying to grasp what happened and how it happened.  You learn that the English had something to do with it and that the Anglo-Boer wars had something to do with it.  You learn that the discovery of the largest gold deposit in the World (underneath modern day Johannesburg) had a lot to do with it.  Poor whites and poor blacks moved there and mingled together in slums and worked mines together in miserable conditions.  The Afrikaner (whites of Dutch origin who came in the 1600s) would nationalize after wars with the English and over trying to improve conditions for the poor whites.  Segregation would develop and then a critical election of 1948 would see the National Party come to power and pass the first of many Apartheid laws that would severely restrict what non-whites could and could not do.

Opposition would form with groups such as the South African Communist Party (became largely black), African National Congress (ANC), and the more violent Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).  Nelson Mandela would become a leader in the ANC and is one of the individuals who helped move the ANC from a mostly peaceful opposition to a more forceful opposition.  These efforts would land him and several other leaders in prison in 1962.  This crackdown by the Government would scatter the opposition until a student (teenagers) march in 1976 that resulted in the deaths of several kids would help mobilize the general black population and revitalize the ANC.  This event is memorialized by the Hector Pieterson memorial in the poor and extremely large townships of SOWETO.  SOWETO is a very significant place here and is where Mandela and Tutu both lived when in Joburg.

The next 14 years would see horrific violence by whites against blacks and blacks against whites and even blacks against blacks.  The Truth Commission revisited all these atrocities by people from all sides.  A change of leadership in the National Party in 1989 and mounting internal and external pressure would lead to the release of the political prisoners in 1990 and free elections for all in 1994.  These four years were hardly peaceful as the Zulu (large black tribe in Southeastern SA in the province that Durban is in) dominated Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and ANC would fight violent turf wars with the IFP at times being supported by the white government and police force.  The government began negotiations of the election process with the IFP only to end up shifting towards the ANC.  Nelson Mandela would emerge from prison mellowed by his years of interacting with the white guards and would champion a nation of forgiveness and inclusion (He had not always been this way).  If it had not been for him, South Africa could have easily become another Zimbabwe.

So many thoughts raced through my head.  How do people do this to other people?  How does a group of people become collectively brainwashed? How do we justify it? How do we look the other way? How do our Churches justify it?  It felt so incredibly complex that I felt like an ignorant American who thought he kinda of knew what was going on, but didn't have a clue.  I thought about how I was 11 when the elections happened and I didn't know about a thing about them.  I vowed that I would someday remove the veil of ignorance from my children.  Not knowing is never an excuse.

I've noticed something else since I've been here; I've noticed hope.  It's a small sample size so it may not be worth much.  I see whites who talk about the horrors of racism.  I see blacks who support many of the non-black World Cup teams (even the Dutch!) because they like the brand of soccer they play.  I have seen conversations made up of English, Zulu, and Afrikaans.   I see a multitude of cultures that embrace Bafana Bafana (The South African Soccer team).  There are many problems here to be sure and concerns about a corrupt Government.  Things could certainly get worse, but I have this incredible sense of potential for this place.  There is such a warmth and a joy in the people and the spirit of Mandela looms large.  What is the power of a leader?  A leader can brainwash a people or bring them back from the brink.  Let us pray that the right kind of leaders can take charge of this place.

"So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.  Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.  The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.  He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene." Isaiah 59: 14-16