Monday, July 15, 2013

Promise, Perspective, and Privilege

Promise, Perspective, and Privilege
Hello again Friends!
So much has happened since my last post, I almost don’t know where to start! In any event, I title this post as such because I have a few reflections to offer that in their own ways capture the experiences that have given me the most food for thought over the past week and a half.  

Promise
I speak of promise because for me, that is exactly what the young ladies I’ve been working with represent. Amidst the myriad of structural and cultural influences that wish to reduce their lives to another data point within a population some might think, similar to the moniker for New Orleans, “care forgot”, they show up ready to challenge those realities daily.
                                                                                  Sister's Keeper ladies creating the "talking stick"
Monday through Friday, for about an hour and a half each day, we spend time strengthening the structure and culture of the Sister’s Keeper program. We did this first by creating a space over which the ladies felt they had ownership. This essentially boiled down to about four things: 1. Create ground rules for the space, 2. Create a method that would allow us to communicate clearly in the space, 3. Create a tool for voicing feelings or concerns that may be difficult to voice in the group at-large, and 4. Create a name for the space. My local colleague had already spent time working with them informally on some of these things, so rather than reinventing the wheel, I simply continued from where she left. The girls decided to call the group Sister’s Keeper and under this umbrella, I gave them a day and a half to collectively create these items with an arsenal of art supplies at their disposal. The project was complete only when each of them were able to add a piece of their creativity to all three of the items. The end product was a handmade list of rules they collectively created and agreed on for the space, the "talking stick" that once in one’s possession would give that individual the floor to freely communicate without interruption, and a box for confidential sharing, which they decided to call the “talking box.”

                                           Sister's Keeper ladies creating the "talking box"

Our sessions begin and end in the same way each day. We start with a short warm-up that’s often a combination of stretching and some kind of vocal exercise to prepare ourselves to enter the space. We then each find a chair to create our Sister’s Keeper Circle and begin our “memorable moment session,” which gives each young lady the opportunity to share something interesting that may have happened in their lives since meeting in the circle the day before. At the end of every session, I ask each young lady to find someone within the circle to hug, and tell the other person, “Thank you for sharing.” The intention behind all of these activities is to not only make this space special from the other spaces in which they may be interacting with each other and others, but also to develop a sense of trust and comfort within the space that will allow us to dig deeper as the weeks progress.
                                                                           Pictures from one of our blindfolded trust activities

Each week of what we have estimated will be a 4-5 week intensive program, we focus on any one of the following themes: Trust, Communication, Support, Self-Esteem, Confidence, Abuse, Leadership and Empowerment. These were the themes I realized were most important to focus on after my initial group sessions and one-on-one interviews with the girls. The intention is to build on these themes after each week so that by the end of the program, we will have been able to offer the ladies the tools with which to confront these themes in their lives. Developing an environment of trust has been the hardest of all tasks so far, but in my opinion the most critical, and I am thankfully seeing some progress. We dedicated the past week to focusing entirely on Trust, Communication, and Support, which he have through incorporating a series of games and activities that are intended to strengthen these skills in a group setting. We participated in rounds of Trust Falls, Talent Chairs, blindfold activities that test their communication skills, and series of written and theatrical exercises that allow them to communicate in different ways their relationship with any of these themes. After each exercise, we then devote time to discussing takeaways and lessons learned from the exercise. Some of these activities have been more successful than others, but I can see that after each session, the girls are learning to interact with each other in a more respectful and supportive manner.

                                                                                      Pictures from Joint Sister's Circle
The most impactful of activities happened in the final days of the week. In one exercise, I asked them to choose someone in their lives who were a poor representation of trustworthiness, communicating effectively, and supportiveness, then with a partner act out a specific scene that one of those moments. This was after asking them a few activities earlier to choose characters from a book or TV show then individuals in their personal lives that best represented     trustworthiness, strong communication skills, and supportiveness and present to the group. The scenes were telling and made me realize the extent to which some of these young women are dealing with harsh realities of verbal abuse. The second was what we called a joint Sister's Circle in which we invited the female American student volunteers for ArtWorks for Youth to join the circle so as to facilitate a mutual learning experience for both groups of girls. Among many other discussions, the young ladies were able to learn of both similar and different challenges each of them face as young women in their respective communities. The last session marked an important moment for the program, as the girls were able to comfortably share some of their deepest personal challenges. I look forward to seeing what happens in the coming week as we focus on Self-Esteem, Confidence, and Abuse.

Perspective and Privilege
My reflection on privilege and perspective came after the past week and a half of several interactions with individuals who in one way or another echoed the sentiment that the level of crime, violence, poverty, and injustice that exists in "Africa," and South Africa in particular, is to a disturbingly higher degree than that which exists in America. To that, I said this:

Statements like these deeply frustrate me. First, when we begin to get in the business of saying "my injustice is better than yours," we are traversing treacherous territory that makes such statements neither productive nor useful. MLK reminds us that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". Period. Secondly, I ask you to critically consider that statement in the context of the lived realities of MANY other Americans who do not have the privilege to speak from such a favorable reality. Tell that to a mother in southside Chicago who fears for her child's life every day he or she leaves the house because her child is more likely to die to gun violence than graduate from high school. Tell that to churches, physicians, and activists working to reduce the overwhelming numbers of HIV/AIDS infections in our very own nation's capital of Washington, D.C., whose HIV rate is greater than SEVERAL sub-Saharan African countries. Tell that to Tanya McDowell, a homeless mother from Bridgeport, Connecticut who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for enrolling her child into another school district for better educational opportunity because schools in Bridgeport, ranked #161 out of the 165 Connecticut school districts, were inadequate for her child. And tell that to the parents of Trayvon Martin who fought hard for justice to be served for their son, whose life was abruptly stolen because he was armed with a bag of skittles, a hoodie, and the color of his skin.

Like many others, I too would like to think that these realities are the exception to America's meta-narrative of equal liberty, opportunity, and justice for all, but friends, it is NOT. This is regrettably the reality for many Americans. What is it then about America that makes it so exceptional from the rest of the world? Are people not suffering, hurting, and dying in the America much like people in any other part of the world? One's distance from these realities in America does not deem them nonexistent, less relevant or less important. Before we make grossly generalized statements about America relative to the rest of the world, I ask that you pause to consider the reality that the America you have either heard about or have had the privilege of experiencing may still be an America that many other Americans have yet to experience. 

Each of us, and each of our experiences, deserves the dignity of being acknowledged.

This experience is teaching me to be ever mindful of my privilege and the ways it can shape my perspective on how I view the world around me, but most immediately, how I view my work with these young people and their community. It’s less important how different their experiences are from my own, but rather how much they can teach me from their experiences how to be a more effective and more humane public servant. Stay tuned for next week as I continue along this journey!


                                 

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Beginnings of Sister's Keeper in Joe Slovo Township


That's me with a couple of the young ladies I'm working with this summer

There are aspiring doctors, scientists, artists, and social workers among the young women of Joe Slovo Township ---that is at least what I learned over the past week and a half since meeting some of the young ladies I will be working with over the summer. My first interactions with them confirmed that they were much like any other 13-18 year olds I’ve met. As they often switched between English and Xhosa in conversation, they shared their love for music, celebrity gossip, and “girl talk.” They hasted not to express their love affairs with Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian, India Arie, and local South African artists, but also surprisingly, some others before their time, like the unmatched(my objective opinion :-)) LutherVandross and Celine Dion. They love reading books and discussing its characters, a credit to their own interests, but also to the academic support work of ArtWorks for Youth, which encourages reading to both expand the mind and increase English proficiency. Through a combination of group sessions, one-on-one meetings, and informal observations, I have learned that these young women are FIERCE, even FIERCER than Sasha Fierce. They are articulate, strong-willed, ambitious, and have tremendous potential to be anything they want to be, but their lived realities paint a picture that makes it almost impossible for their aspirations to become anything besides that.

Joe Slovo Township
A drive through the Joe Slovo Township on any given day is enough to expose you to the complicated nature of poverty, community, a history of racial bias, and the intimate relationship among the three. I learned that Joe Slovo was an informal settlement established on Port Elizabeth’s outskirts years ago by a few Xhosa families unable to afford housing in Port Elizabeth proper. The land was initially private property and after a few inhabitants turned into a few thousand, the government recognized it as a settlement, where it has remained home to thousands of black South African families of Xhosa background. The homes are a combination of small government-made concrete structures and homemade dwellings made of zinc, scrap wood and metal, and other materials one might find in your average junk yard.




Some of the homes immediately outside of Joe Slovo Primary

While the government has recently begun constructing roads, dirt roads dominate the township, which have names, at least according to the handmade street signs on some street corners, but remain unknown to many community members and police officers alike. Running water and an indoor sewage system may exist in some of the government-built homes, but certainly not in the others constructed by residents. Estimates place Joe Slovo’s unemployment   at a rate of 50% at the least, though many suspect it to be even higher. Alcoholism is a common form of drug abuse within many families, and the lack of suitable and affordable public transportation make it even more difficult for people to secure economic opportunities that may otherwise provide a more promising future for these young ladies and their families. Yet, in spite of its unfavorable conditions, Joe Slovo, through the subtlest of gestures, represents both home and community to the many kids who playfully run along the streets and the men and women who eagerly reciprocate the gesture of a “thumps up” to other passersby, which is essentially the equivalent to a hand-wave in the states.

Joe Slovo Primary School
A 10 to 15 minute drive through Joe Slovo eventually gets you to Joe Slovo Primary School, which is one of the only schools in the township, if not the only one. It is also home to most of ArtWorks programming and to put it mildly, the catalyst for ArtWorks’ creation of the academic support program. It did not take even two days for the young ladies and ArtWorks’s founder to share with me the substandard educational conditions in Joe Slovo. On average, a fraction of the teachers show up to teach the students on any given day, and in the likely event that it rains, that number is reduced even further, as some teachers will leave their classes early to avoid the muddy roads they are likely to encounter on the walk home. On the days that teachers do show up, many students are learning at a pace that keep them several grade levels behind. Though the government made English the official language, most people speak almost exclusively Xhosa, which presents its challenges in the classroom. Compounded by the dearth of resources, students are unable to access other learning materials that may allow them to learn more effectively. Many of the students mention apathetic teachers and strained relationships between teachers and students, which make it more difficult for students to be engaged in the classroom.
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                                      Some of the girls playing netball at Joe Slovo Primary School

Being a Young Woman in Joe Slovo
If the neighborhood and school conditions weren’t enough, young women endure especially onerous circumstances in other parts of their daily life. Young women and their mothers are expected to fulfill domestic duties when they are at home, some of which include cooking and cleaning for the family. Among the girls that I am working with, many of them are coming from fatherless homes, and some are living with grandparents, aunts, and uncles, which I have learned is quite common. Access to sanitary towels is nonexistent at school and at home is considered a luxury for many families in Joe Slovo, so many young women will opt to miss school to avoid the humiliation and discomfort of menstruating while at school. Many are often raped by people they should otherwise be able to trust, including family members, boyfriends, and acquaintances. The idea of talking to family members about these issues is not socially acceptable(many mothers of these young women have themselves been raped too), so many young women do not have the supportive space they need to heal from such trauma. I have already noticed that these young ladies struggle with issues of low self-esteem and confidence, and have an especially difficult time trusting people, including their own friends, and for good reason.

                             A picture of some of the girls working on preparing the rules for Sister's Keeper
The Silver Lining

I know this post has been a bit lengthy, but I wanted to offer a better sense of the context in which I am working. This may all sound overwhelming, because quite frankly, it is. I find myself on a series of emotional rollercoasters as I try to both process everything that I have been witnessing/hearing and embrace the moments that inspire me to continue the work I have begun. After spending the first week getting to know the girls and conducting one-on-one interviews with them, I have been working closely with my local colleague to craft a program that we hope will address some of the common issues we know the young women are confronting, including low self-esteem and confidence, lack of trust, family issues, and abuse in various forms. The girls have already given the program a name, which they have aptly named Sister's Keeper. We have devoted the first part of the program to fostering trust and a sense of team within the group of young women, which I can already tell you, has been no easy feat. However, it is my belief that if these young ladies can begin to trust each other, they can be that much closer to nurturing a space of support that can empower them to more affirmatively chart their own paths towards becoming the doctors, social workers, artists, and scientists they aspire to be. Stay tuned for next week!