Botswana, South Africa - Disaster Shakti - Multicultural Center for Research and Practice - Antioch University New England

Disaster Shakti - Botswana, South Africa - Team Journals

June 18th 2007, Cape Town, South Africa
Timothy Gillespie

The journey to Robben Island was a lonely one. The excited and anticipatory chatter that accompanied our departure from Victoria and Alfred waterfront was soon washed away by the steeply rolling waves and the somber reality that Mandela and other political prisoners had made this same trip (on this same vessel) not long before. As we drew further away from the mainland, I experienced an overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness. The political prisoners here were forced to be not only physically but psychologically displaced from all that they had known and worked for so passionately. Names became numbers, identity reduced to race, interactions between separated groups were discouraged if not punished by solitary confinement. And yet this place haunted by the ghosts of so much loss, suffering and oppression has come to symbolize hope and freedom. The human spirit transcended the physical barriers placed between the prisoners and the prisoners and the mainland. Ingenious methods of connection and communication were devised including notes in bibles transferred by priests, in tennis balls throw over fences.

We as group members and visitors to this place are also seeking connections- with each other and with our contacts here. I find myself reaching out where I can to drop my anchor amidst the uncertain seas of our experience. My draw to connect, I believe, is a protective measure, an effort at establishing trust and formation of a support network with which to weather the storm of our intense experiences to come. It is an antidote to isolation and gauge by which to monitor my own processes of change that will inevitably occur

June 19, 2007, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Timothy Gillespie & Amanda Blanchard

Merle McOmbring-Hodges, Coordinator of the Office of Internal Affairs at CPUT, warmly welcomed our outreach team to their institution. Students and professors openly hosted a luncheon during which we were able to exchange information and ideas regarding the institutions we represented. Flags of many nations were on display around the room in representing the home countries of current students at CPUT. Following the food and meet and greet we transitioned to their oval shaped conference room where presentations were offered on their innovative HIV/AIDS preventions programs. Both Mr. Ashraf Mohammed and Mr. Peter Leroux (each at different campuses) were obviously excited and compassionate about their cause. Multiple approaches are part of their strategic HIV/AIDS prevention program including community outreach, testing (pre and post test counseling), and care and support groups. The effectiveness of their programs is reflected in the example of a psychologist from CPUT who spearheads testing days that draw students in the hundreds. Part of the success of these programs has been fueled by the administrations willingness to be openly tested themselves.

On a personal level, we were impressed and inspired by a young Muslim woman who disclosed to us that she is HIV positive and has had the disease for the past thirteen years. Students at the university appear to be personally dedicated to affecting positive change within their university community. Some examples of this include a health educator who is available to students twenty-four hours a day if they desire support surrounding their feelings. We felt honored to be in the presence of individuals who are actively making history and are pioneers to the cause of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in what can be a tumultuous political and social environment. They remain enthusiastic in the face of many obstacles including denial, stigma, and personal risks to themselves.

June 27th Disaster Shakti Outreach in Johannesburg Days 1, 2, 3, and 4
Timothy Gillespie

Following our conference and time in Soweto, we had the opportunity to spend two days at Sithand’izingane Care Project, which provides services to the once segregated townships of Tsakane, Geluksdal and Langaville. The project provides many services to these communities including a drop-in center for HIV/AIDS infected children and mothers, orphan aftercare, a feeding scheme and sewing, beadwork and literacy classes for HIV/AIDS infected mothers and young adults. In previous conversations, Sister Mary, our contact, had requested that part of our cultural exchange include providing some training for the professionals and paraprofessionals working at the site. After meeting with the whole group (approx. 35 workers) our team divided to meet the discrete needs of the professionals and paraprofessionals. The Antioch team collaborated with members of the University of Florida contingent in working with the paraprofessionals. As an ice breaker, we offered a song we felt had some symbolism in the moment- “Lean on Me.” In admittedly dubious pitches we began only to be joined by nearly every person from the project. They, in turn, offered us a song (and dance) in exchange. Their song was sung in Zulu and carried the message that “we open the gates and welcome you in.” Our team was then invited and to some degree succeeded, to learn a part of their song. A second Zulu song, “I will never give up” was then sung by the whole group. This song would be repeated many times throughout our time at the project and became a salient theme.

Much laughter and rejoicing followed our singing, testifying to the rapport that had so quickly been established. Consistent with our culturally sensitive, outreach approach, our team then sought to learn more about the paraprofessionals’ experiences, perceptions and needs. What followed was story after story of paths of pain and suffering that had led these individuals to the sanctuary that was this place we were in. The evolution of this process lead to the description, many times over, of the space that we had collectively created as “holy ground.” The natural progression of our work led us to the topic of self-care and team members led psychoeducational/experiential exercises in diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. The wrap-up of our day included learning what the paraprofessionals would like from us for the next day, more singing and dancing as well as a hearty meal they provided for us to share with them.

Our second day with the paraprofessionals opened in a similar fashion to how we had ended with “I will never give up” spontaneously being sung. In response to the paraprofessional’s requests, our second day was focused on specific interventions that they could use with the children they work with. Our team provided a strength based series of experiential exercises focusing on bolstering feelings of self-worth, utilizing narratives to reframe and re-story trauma laden histories as a vehicle for fostering hope and possibility. Consistent with the previous day, our experience was a true exchange as the paraprofessionals engaged in the exercises offering their own sources of strength and stories. The day ended with a ritual closing in the form of a communal scarf dance and meal.

These two days at Sithand’izingane contained some of the most personally impacting moments for me since our arrival in South Africa. The warmth and strength exuded during our time there has truly transformed and heightened my appreciation for the human capacity for resilience and connection. For me this was a place of healing achieved through human relationship and I felt honored to have been invited to participate in this very thing on what I truly experienced as holy ground.

July 7th, 2007, Botswana Process
Timothy Gillespie

Soon after setting down on the dusty tarmac of sleepy Seretse Khama airport in Gabarone, the different pace of Botswana life became apparent. Time was fluid, and some time spent in one place did not necessarily appear to detract from time available to another. I experienced this phenomenon in many ways while in Botswana, but first and foremost during my time spent at a Junior middle school. Although logistics regarding my and Dr. Butler’s (of the Univ. of Central Florida) visit to the school had been arranged some time in advance by our University of Botswana contact, it became readily apparent that we had better hurry up and slow down once we arrived on campus. Our eagerness to engage with students and staff was met with vague and deferring responses. Time would need to be spent just being in each other’s company.

A slow stroll around the campus and unhurried conversation with the head of school left us little closer to knowing what they would allow/have us do on the following days. What we did gain was trust, connection and an appreciation for the Botswana way of doing things. In that initial period of time, part of our job, it became clear, was assuring our contacts that we hoped that our experience would be mutually beneficial through reciprocal exchanges of knowledge and ideas and deference to a culturally sensitive model of outreach. Though it took some time laying groundwork, the resulting experience was invaluable. Dr. Butler and I met with students in groups ranging in size from 2 to 175. The work and settings we were involved in included classroom observation, participating in student-run peer counseling, speaking about study skills in preparation for upcoming exams and interacting with various clubs (choir, traditional dance, etc.) In the end, the experience left me feeling that we could not have gotten to the place we did any faster- there was no short cut and the time early on was not spent, but invested.

In fact, the alternate understanding of time has operated throughout my experience of this trip in one sense or another. As our stay here winds to an end, I am struck by how quickly 3 weeks can pass and yet how full and life changing they can be. The trip, while discrete in its dates of beginning and end, seems of such personal impact to me that it begs the question of what ripple effects may occur across time.