yebo guys
well the calender says its been 4 weeks (!!!) now of being in the village, and almost 2 months of being overseas - and things are indeed coming together.
Indigenous games
In a neighboring village, some of the teachers organized the indigenous games and traditional dances for some of the younger schools. Being a camp counselor for some time in the past, i thought i knew all the games….but how could i not know Depeke! As one of the pictures shows, it is some sort of combo between my favorite camp games, Dodgeball, Soccer Baseball - and a bit of cricket. strange as it might sound, this game needs to make an appearance back at my old recreation centre.
The dancing was incredible, many of the kids dressed up and had been practicing for sometime - the best teams moved onto a regional final. As you can see from some of the pics, some groups went all out, showing some skin means bonus points in my book.
Quick movie - but its no good to watch really because theres no sound - the music was wicked dancing kids
Works is geeet Goiin
thigns are happening despite some setbacks (teachers are on strike, my soccer and vballs are less then flat) I’ve got a huge meeting with the whoel region discussing the future of a local sports committee (one has yet to be created) . It seems the biggest part of my job isn’t organizing things itslef, but connecting the right people to the rigth job. Theres lots of politics between workers here, and not everyoen is talking, so its up to the maloogo to bring the good peopel together - haha we’ll see how this meeting goes…
Next Step
My provicial boss is coming to visit ina few weeks, and i’ll be heading to Namibia next month to do Kicking Aids Out Training (www.kickingaidsout.net) i’ll be meeting up with the other canadian sport volunteers and hope to travel a bit after its over, get down to the coast or just find some giraffes.
i’ve tried to post a few links,here they are again. 3 other Sport Volunteers have their own stories and blogs - Jonothon from sweden, Lena from norway, and Myrium from Canada. everyone is a different part of the world, and have their own adventures, interesting to read
http://www.lenalillestol.blogspot.com/
http://www.jonatanrosengren.blogspot.com/
http://skmyriam.blogspot.com/
Ah yes, the southern hemisphere, opposite seasons. Typical western generalizations: africa = always hot dessert. The past week has been my village = freezing cold, wet, snow in the mountains. Luckily i’m making good conversation with people, figuring out what the word Cold is in xhosa (Banda) has been very beneficial:
Me: Molo unjani! (hey how are ya?)
Villager: Ndiyagula, kabanda.. (i’m sick, its cold)
Me: Ewe, BAAANDAA kakhulu! B- to the BAAAANDA! (yes, very cold)
Me: Ndivela eCanada (i’m from canada)
Villager: Yho! ecanada..Molungu uzima banda (Gosh, canada…white person brings cold)
Me: uhh ewe…(yes…)
Actual work:
Things are slowly progressing, but its a lot of waiting around, “Africa Time” means chill out and be really patient. I’ve scheduled meetings that take place about 2 hours after the initial starting time, people here are very relaxed about punctuality, something to deal with. However I did start working at one of the high schools, helping older students create their own school leagues and tournaments, and aiding the newly formed football association in my area with their tournament happening this Saturday. Next week hopefully working with two of the younger schools, encouraging the students to teach volleyball and soccer skills to the near by elementary school.
Foods I desire: Ice Cream, Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, Kraft Diner
In the village, food is different. Pap I’ve enjoyed mostly everyday. Pap is a kind of porridge, corn paste and doesn’t taste like anything by itself. There are different kinds of pap, morning pap, diner pap, hard pap, soft pap - my closest comparison would be to have something that looks like mashed potatoes. Very starchy and fills you up, its goes well with every sauce they’ve put on it so far. My family has been fortunate/unfortunate to taste some of my own cooking too! First week was Pasta with sausage and salad – last week was Nico Special Sweet and Sour Stir Fry. In terms of Cultural Coercion, I’m forced my host brother to enjoy Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches (traveled 2 hours to find strawberry jam)
Church: Went to church with host father, absolutely no idea what was said, but I figure I understand most of whats going on. Something about sins. Lots of signing, and me humming along. Go jesus GO!!!
enjoy the summer heat while you can,
I’ve been waking up the past 5 days to roosters and what i can only describe as a type of indian “lalalalalalalaaaa!!!” call from the women in the neighbor hood. It has been intensifying everyday until the big day - today the mngiti comingback party. The lalalaala basically signify “The new MAN is coming to town!!!” Mngiti: It’s a kind of right of passage, kind of comparable to a bar mitzvah, but not at all really. Those who are 18+ or when they are ready, take off to the mountains to learn how to be men. When they come back they are no longer boys, but men ready to come back to the village. Its supposed to be a big secret about what really goes down, but i can explain the jist of it. First off theres a big ceremony for the going away party, the boys are wrapped in their blankets without seeing anything, and are lead to the bush. From there comes the main part: Circumcision. Yep you got it, Snip Snip, gone. The rest of the 3 weeks they are taught about making sacrifices, killing goats, making shelters and the Virtuous of being a man. When they come back, everyone comes down, sings, dances, and drinks Qhomodi (q is a click) , kinda like , porridge, ciggerettes, alcohol and sugar…mmm..,
A few points to note: i’ll give an analogy: they were mince before, and now their birds flying high…BUT if they go crazy, or get sick and run home, which does occur… they are bats! Basicallly you’re forever an outcast in your community, not a boy, not a man, just something inbetween, and you cant just “do it again”. There is also a similar right of passage for women called indojani, not as commonly performed and not as intense. The women learn how to be a good wife, and even learn how to “please their man”. The men of the community would rather a wife who has had the training.
Where am I? And What exactly am i doing?
I’m in a village called Tendergate 1, in the area of Ntabethemba, about an hour away from Queenstown, Eastern Cape. I’m currently living with the Tweles, Jorge and Lucy Twele, and Jorges brother Willy Twele, the principal at the school down the road. Everyone here speaks Xhosa (i’ll try to make a quick Learn Xhosa page so you can learn how to say the words i talk about) , and some speak Sotho. Most people know english a bit, but its mostly just the youth in the schools and teachers who understand english well.
I’ll be working throughout the community. Mostly involved with 5 schools developing new and strengthing previous sport codes, organising the youth to try to create local sports committee, doing leadership and fundraising workshops and Kicking Aids Out training. (google it)
Basic needs?
Well, there is electricity. I have hot water when its boiled. No central heating, and it gets pretty cold at night. Internet is about an hour drive away. Traffic is mostly cows, sheep and donkeys. My alarm clock is the roosters. My bath/shower…is kinda like the size of a laundry basket, you’ll have to see it for yourself. No landlines in this area, but i do have my cellphone, and all mail goes to the store down the road. Taxis and a couple of busses will drop by here each day, which is enough to get out of here when i need to. TV: very interesting.. think any show you see on tv, but the characters switch back and forth speaking Africaans, Zulu, Xhosa and English - same with news, soap operas, sports.
Pics? Well i’ll try to upload pics when i can, however. I dont expect to take many pictures of the people here until i get used to the community. Reason being, if i start showing off my laptop, ipod, camera, it sets me apart from everyone - . Next is theft too, i’m not showing anything expensive around until i know my neighborhood well enough. Lastly the kids and some adults too go crrrazy if you even pretend to take a picture. Once they know you have a camera they will always be asking “show me show me!!!” they know digital cameras indeed.
I’ve tried to upload a quick video. I’ve ran the past few days, this spot where i filmed is about 15 minute run from my village – you can kind of get an idea of where i’m living.Panorama of my Hood
Emails are good, keep me updated when you can. My address is:
Nico Koenig
Nomzamo Store
PO Box: 767
Queenstown, 5320
Eastern Cape, South Africa
