Election Day in South Africa

[Image from New York Times - check out the link for the full article]

Today is the day!!!

South Africans are going to the polls to elect their next government.

While I am more than underwhelmed at what will most likely be the outcome, seeing the images of South Africans of every shade of color winding around city blocks to write there ballot is absolutely beautiful.

Sixteen years ago this would have been a nearly impossible sight to imagine.

I, along with most people I know who love South Africa, will be anxiously waiting to hear the results, with hopes that no matter who is voted into office, they will represent their communities, country and continent well.

I will leave you with a cartoon by the ever-sassy Zapiro, a South African political cartoonist I follow nearly every single day. His sentiments echo many that I have heard from some of my South African friends:

A Global President..

Here is more on the South African perception of the U.S. election of Barack Obama:
This cartoon is by the most famous South African political cartoonist - Zapiro. It ran today in the Mail and Guardian.
I am continually amazed at the enormous amount of attention that is being paid to this election here. People have approached me almost incessantly since Tuesday to congratulate me, tell me how excited they are, and share the news of what they were doing when they heard the news. It is truly an unparalleled phenomenon. I had a girl tell me yesterday how jealous she is that I get to have Obama be my president. And many people have told me how much better they feel knowing that someone will be in the White House who has a 'global vision'. I am still humbled by how affected people's everyday lives are all of the way across the world by what happens in the United States. It puts in perspective the enormous responsibility our nation holds not only regarding what happens within our own borders, but in a way, what happens to every person on this planet.

My prayers are certainly with the Obamas as they take on the symbolic role of 'global president.'

Mandela hails Obama after election victory

Mail and Guardian:

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on Wednesday congratulated United States president-elect Barack Obama on his election victory, saying he was an inspiration to people all over the world.

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela said in a letter to Obama.

See rest of story here.

South African style U.S. Election Party

Yesterday the other Ambassadorial Scholars and I threw an Election Day party. In South Africa we are 8 hours ahead of Central time in the U.S., so we didn't get to hear the results from the east coast until about 2am, so we passed the evening and night hours by having a traditional South African braai (like a barbeque), painting very partisan signs (I'm not going to tell you who I voted for but I'll give you 1 good guess), and checking the internet incessantly. Though I fell asleep at about 1, I woke up every hour and a half or so to check the results online. It was 6am when we heard that Obama had won. My South African roomies (and all of the South Africans I have talked to, actually) were just as excited as we were. The local news station played a tribute to Obama right after the results were released. However, Kenya has South Africa beat --- they declared a national holiday tomorrow in honor of Obama!!!

Though I am sad I am missing the festivities in the US, it has been so much fun go through this whole experience abroad - it truly paints a completely different picture of the campaigning and results. It has also given me an incredible appreciation for how much our politics in America affect the rest of the world. It is something I will never forget when I vote.

MINE of GOLD

During the Rotary District Conference, some Rotarians arranged for the other Ambassadorial Scholars and I to go down into a working GOLD MINE. We went over 2 kilometers down. It takes extracting over 2 tons of ore to get even 5 grams of gold, so we didn't exactly see a lot of it --- the picture with us pointing is supposedly at something that might be gold. We weren't really convinced. It was incredibly interesting and I am so glad that we had the experience of going down. Much of South Africa's wealth has come from the mining industry, and going down to see how people work was ridiculously eye opening. It was over 104 degrees down there and so deep that we had to pop our ears (like you do when you scuba dive) because of the pressure. It was DARK and WET - there were rats and the the toilets were disgusting. Over 2000 men were working underground the day we went down - just unbelievable.

One of the more memorable moments was just about half an hour before we went down. We were talking to the safety instructor, and suddenly the whole earth tremored. We all looked around in panic, asking - WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT? He replied - oh, don't worry, it was just a seismic event. Oh, ok - THAT doesn't worry us. But we went down anyway. It took nearly an hour to get all geared up. You can see from the pictures-- we were in full body suits, belts, protective glasses, ear plugs, face mask, helmet with light, battery pack, life saver pack (in case of explosion(!), knee pads, huge rubber boots (just like yours Rarthur!) and gloves. And remember, it was over 104 DEGREES down there, with all of that on. I cannot IMAGINE working like that everyday - truly.

Needless to say - incredible, educational experience - one that I will never forget.

Hallelujah: South African Health Minister Makes the HIV-AIDS Link

So most people I talk to find it - surprising - that democratically elected government officials , in today's world, would deny such ideas as ... say... that HIV causes AIDS. However, sadly in South Africa, that has been the case.... but no longer my friends, no longer.

From The Los Angeles Times

South Africa's new health minister broke dramatically on Monday from a decade of discredited government policies on AIDS, declaring that the disease was unquestionably caused by HIV and must be treated with conventional medicine.

Health Minister Barbara Hogan's pronouncement marked the official end to 10 years of denial about the link between HIV and AIDS by former President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

Activists accused [former health minister] Tshabalala-Msimang of spreading confusion about AIDS through her public mistrust of antiretroviral medicines and promotion of nutritional remedies such as garlic, beetroot, lemon, olive oil and the African potato.

South Africa now has the world's highest number of people with HIV, counting some 5.4 million people as infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

Better late than never... right?

you know when you live in a different hemisphere when.....

My parents sent me this picture from the front porch of our house in Idaho. They apparently received about 16 inches of snow over the weekend.

Meanwhile, in South Africa......


I went to the beach.

Chapter one, coming up... and a new president for South Africa!

Today I will submit Chapter 1 of my thesis - eeeek! I have some MAJOR writing to do before this afternoon.


Oh, and we have a new president of South Africa. I really don't know anything about him - other than he sacked the health minister, which leads me to the next news....


BEAUTIFULLY, we have a NEW HEALTH MINISTER!!!!!!!!!!!
The last one was - and I'm not a bit ashamed to feel this way - one of the worst things to ever happen to South Africa. I personally believe that her prevarication has directly led to the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of HIV positive people. That said, I wish her well in her new career and thank God that there is someone else in her position.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200809250958.html

What a year to be in South Africa!

Goodbye, Trevor.

Today 11 Cabinet members resigned along with Mbeki. This includes Trevor Manuel, who has been the Minister of Finance since 1996 - respected throughout the world for his work. The news rocked South Africa's economy today, and the rand fell against the dollar - it is now over 8 rand for every dollar.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-23-sa-rocked-by-resignation-of-ministers

Goodbye, Mbeki.

I just watched the president of South Africa formally resign. One of my roommates started crying (which in turn of course made me tear up as well - can't let anyone cry alone). Though I have been here for 9 months, I can only begin to understand what it would feel like to have to sit and watch the president of your country step down for reasons that are not fully understood. It is a tense and trying time for the nation. However, it is also a point where this young democracy could truly mature, if it is handled correctly. Keep it and all South Africans in your prayers as they face the future.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7627957.stm

wow.

The ANC, which is the ruling political party of South Africa, just announced that it decided to recall Thabo Mbeki before the end of his term next year, a move that could collapse the government. Mbeki has been accused of interfering in the judicial process that was taking place around the incoming president, Jacob Zuma. Mbeki is only the 2nd president of the democratic South Africa - he is the successor of Nelson Mandela.

In other words, they are ousting the president of the country. My roommates are just saying that this is more or less an organized or civilized coup. This is a huge move -- pray for political stability.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/20/africa/AF-South-Africa-Mbeki.php

Pictures from Pretoria

Off to Joburg and Pretoria!

In just a few hours I am heading out to the airport in Port Elizabeth to fly to Johannesburg. I am going to stay with Estelle (one of my roomies) and her family for a few days - I am so excited! I am excited to see all of the places she has told me about and in general, get to know a different part of the country. Then on Wednesday I'll fly from Johannesburg to Malawi for a week!

PS - I am having trouble uploading pictures lately, but I have a bunch that I will send as soon as I can.

Vacillation

On the way to the post office this morning I passed a man I pass almost everyday. He sits under one of the trees on the sidewalk and plays the guitar for tips. Eben befriended him early in the year, and through that connection, he always remembers me as well, and usually jumps up to give me a hug and remind me that I promised to buy a CD from him before the end of the year.

He is also HIV positive.

Today when I walked by him he wasn't playing, and he didn't jump up - he was quite clearly ill. I stopped to say hi on my way back and noticed that his eyes are almost completely yellow now, a sign of jaundice. He lifted his shirt to show me an oozing infection spreading over his stomach. This is an oportunistic infection - one that with a healthy immune system would not have made it past white blood cells. But this infection is rotting his skin and if left unchecked, will kill him.

To stay healthy he needs not only ARVs but also a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and grains - expensive commodities for someone who makes his money on the street at the mercy of those who walk by.

As usual, he asked me for money. This time I actually gave him a few rand hoping that he will buy vegetables, though I have no idea whether he will or not.

He asked me for a loan so that he could get an injection to kill the infection. I did not give it to him. I don't know whether I should have or not. I don't even know if he was telling the truth or not. I don't know if that should matter or not.

A side note - there is a very distinct difference between beggers on the street here and beggers in the United States. In the US, I usually know what to do - I know our systems are far from perfect, but there are shelters and soup kitchens, unemployment agencies, and so on that are in place. It does not work for everyone, but most people who find themselves on the street are able at some point to be reintegrated into the working economy. This is not to say that poverty is not very REAL in the United States - far from it. Poverty is real and alive and affecting thousands of people, something I saw everyday when I was working in Houston. It is something that needs fought with every ounce of strength that Americans have.

But here, poverty and homelessness are different than they are in the United States. Yes, there are a couple soup kitchens (in Grahamstown they are both run by a wonderful Rotarian) - but there is no shelter, or infastructure in place to absorb the people on the street and reintegrate them into the economy. And worse, there is no industry in Grahamstown. Few jobs. Especially if you are sick. Especially if you are dying - which an estimated 18-24% of the population is. That means that roughly one out of every 4 or 5 people of working age are facing similar dilemmas to the man I pass on the street every day - they are HIV positive. And in places like the township, unemployment reaches as high as 75 or 80%.

I vacillate between surges of hope and feelings of futility.

The Best Vaction EVER.

Three of my very best friends came to visit South Africa this month - I have to be the luckiest person in the world! In the course of 6 weeks, I got the chance to travel with my parents around Southern Africa, Backpack through Central Africa, visit my fiance in Cape Town THREE times, and road trip through South Africa with three of my dearest friends.

I cannot imagine having a more amazing vacation. It was so much fun, but it was also so uplifting to me - after all of that I feel so refreshed and grounded. It is almost like I had a trip home!

Here is a link to the pictures of the trip with Rach Kate and Pears!!

Rach Pears and Kate's Grand Tour of South Africa

Pictures from my Parent's Trip - South Africa, Zambia, ZImbabwe and Botswana!!

Just click on the picture below to take you to a picture album!

The Fletchers do South Africa

animal pics from parent's trip!

I left most of the animal pictures out of the album - but here are the highlights!

Whirlwind!!! - Kruger, Grahamstown, and headed to Uganda/Rwanda!

After Botswana, we flew from Zambia to Johannesburg, got upgraded to the most ridiculously large hotel room I have ever seen, and drove to Kruger National Park.

We spent two days viewing game in the park, seeing the Big 5 (Lion, leopard, elephant, water buffalo and rhino!!) within 24 hours, and then drove from Kruger to Durban.

From Durban, we drove another day to get to Grahamstown, where we are now!!!

Right now Grahamstown has been transformed by the National Arts Festival - the 2nd largest arts festival in the WORLD! It is incredibly fantastic. Last night I heard one of the best choirs I have ever heard in my entire life - one of my Rotary scholar friends, Sam, is part of it (see her blog from the links on the side of my page)!! Links coming ----

Today I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get ready for tomorrow, when we leave for Port Elizabeth.

From PE, I say goodbye to my parents :( and head to UGANDA and RWANDA with Rosa!!!!!

I may or may not be able to post for the next couple of weeks as I travel over there, but know that lots and lots of updates and pictures are coming!

Lots of love!!!

Slight Delay

I find it humorous/helpful/surprisingly organized that a few moments ago I received a text message notifying me that my bus would be two hours late.

Cool stuff. Not so much that the bus is delayed (that's not so cool), but that they let me know, and by text message none the less! This country never ceases to amaze me. Anyone who tells you that they have South Africa all figured out... is lying. Or they are much, much smarter than me.

Youth Day - in memory of the Soweto Uprising

Today, South Africa commemorates the Soweto uprising of June 16th, 1976. On that day, thousands of school children rallied in Soweto (a township outside of Johannesburg), in protest of the apartheid government's imposition of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in their schools. The protest was intended to be peaceful, and was supported by the teachers in Soweto. However, police had barricaded the road upon which the students were marching. The crowd by this point had gathered to somewhere between 3 and 10 thousand students. A shot was fired, and chaos broke out. Police open fired into the crowd, killing scores of children. It is estimated between 200 and 600 people died, with thousands injured.

Many state the Soweto uprising as the 'beginning of the end' of apartheid. The event attracted international attention, with the photograph above of Hector Pieterson's dead body becoming the icon of the tragedy.

Today the country remembers those who were killed, but also those who stood up in the face of violence and joined together against injustice. I am reminded today of the power that we all have to effect change.

If you are interested, Cry Freedom and A Dry White Season are both fantastic movies that depict the riots.