Infuriated!

I am at work its midday, I read my normal dose of South Africa news on mail and guardian, then I come across disturbing news: Free State University Racist video. I am livid, I can’t even think – how could such elderly women be disrespected like this by a bunch of out-of-puberty dick-heads?

After taking 5 deep breaths…let me tell you what happened.

On Tuesday a video was distributed showing five black cleaners at a traditionally white men’s residence on the campus being “initiated”. Amid loud laughter, they are shown taking part in races, downing beers and drinking a mixture in which a student had secretly urinated.

The narration on the video begins: “Once upon a time the ‘boere’ lived peacefully here on Reitz Island, until one day when the less-advantaged discovered the word ‘integration’ in the dictionary.”
The cleaners take part in a “boat race” (a beer-downing competition), a dance, a sprint race, a mock rugby practice and finally, they’re given a mixture to drink.
The video shows garlic being put into a dish full of what looks like dog food.
“We know they’re less privileged so we’re adding a bit of meat,” says the narrator.
Another student puts the bowl on the toilet and urinates into the mixture.
The brew is then distributed in plastic glasses to the cleaners.
All five of them spit out the first mouthful, but try to finish it amid loud encouragement from the students.
The video ends with the words: “That, at the end of the day, is what we think of integration.”
This is followed by one of the students asking a cleaner: “What does ’sefebe’ mean in Afrikaans?”
“A black whore,” she replies.


For the video go to click here

ps: i need a shot of vodka,pity i am at work!

Being Informed

….yes….I reluctantly follow US elections, if you missed the recent market slum that affected stock markets all over the world (rather big economies) or did not know that the US is the biggest Official Donor of Aid, then maybe you should follow….as sad as it is when the US sneezes , we all catch a cold!
Now I added this video, shared by Luca, because I was impressed on how informed this guy was about the politics and candidates’ policies for the upcoming elections. I was sitting and wondering weather I would have pulled it off if I was interviewed about South African politics, and even more wondered if youngsters back home realize that the next elections are in 2009 when we have to make informed decisions about our country’s future. We have voted on emotions for the last 3 elections, which was fitting for the last 3 occasions, but now its time to vote on policies and implementation.

Morals, values and democracy

Nice combination, hey…. past weeks I have come across articles from different countries on brothels, prostitution and rights! And I thought I’d say something on the issue as well…the constitution does provide for freedom of expression, although every right has a limitation…. gosh I miss my law classes.

The first article I read talked about a Russian guy meeting his wife at a brothel, how deeply saddened he was to see her there and that this has affected their marriage, apparently she worked there so she could earn some extra-money to support the financially burdened family and he clearly did not see it that way. The moral question is what was he doing there in the first place, why was he so heavily upset that he wanted a divorce…shouldn’t she be as well?

The second article this morning (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=331504&area=/insight/insight__international/) was about how sex workers protested against the Nicaragua government (second-poorest country in the Americas after Haiti) who shutdown brothels in the area of a city, they were protesting in what they said was a violation of rights. Prostitution for them is a ticket out of poverty and what the government was doing is shutting down their livelihood. The girl who was interviewed talked about how her first boyfriend and some of the men from her hometown recognised her while visiting the brothel/ bar and how ashamed she felt…. It is funny how our society’s perception is that the girl has done something wrong yet the guys coming to purchase her services are immune from guilt…. Just picture the negotiation of the verbal contract when monetary value was placed for the service that was going to be provided to the guy’s needs, must have been on an equal footing yet the human value of that woman is seen to be lesser than that of a guy e.g. if he were to beat her up – she would probably land in jail, he would walk free and the pimp will have his/her commission anyway, isn’t that just regressive! But I must say it has become so progressive that the most taboo topic of society, which I may add has been practised way before any of our time, has become open…well atleast open enough to write about it.

The last article (http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/pierredevos/2008/02/05/real-transformation-requires-protection-of-sex-workers/) writes about how a sex worker challenged the fairness of her dismissal by her employer, who would have thought this would land at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, but the case got thrown out as sex work is still criminalized in South Africa.

…. Law in this day and age has been influenced by society trends/changes, where social dialogues take place to accommodate the best solution to our lives, yet sex workers are being punished because of the moral prejudices of the majority of our society, especially countries that have still criminalized it. The question that still keeps on popping to my mind is why is there prejudice against the practitioners and not the clients.

I think gender equality has a long way to go in society still and prostitution is a fraction of it.

1month and 2 weeks Anniversary.

Snow sleighing experience

I went around playing in the snow the other day with some of my team mates, it was actually fun except my feet were freezing afterwards, I had to put them on the heater in the train so that I could feel them again.

It was funny when we arrived and headed straight for the restaurant and realized that I was the only black person there – told Luca that black people need to get out more, it became uncomfortable when people started to stare at us, I kinda felt like an animal in a zoo on display (…and I hate zoos).

But all in all it was awesome, thanks to Luca and Simone.

Diplomacy (sensitive readers should not read this piece!!)

When working for the UN – diplomacy is one great skill you have to possess and if you were not born with it, then you should acquire it fast.

UNFPA deals with reproductive health and rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as adolescent reproductive health. This is a controversial mandate because you go around and tell people to use condoms before sex (…more like tell governments to tell their people), lobby for free access of anti-retroviral drugs for people infected or living with HIV\AIDS, and advice on family planning before jumping into the sac …just to highlight some of the things we do.

In one of our staff meetings I learned about one of the issues that is being tackled – Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), I call it circumcision, but apparently FGM or circumcision are rather insensitive terms and a rather politically correct term is Female Genital Cutting….i mean really – it’s the same difference, but apparently it is culturally insensitive to countries practicing this if you call it in a wrong manner, so despite what you may think about it there is no room for your opinion but an understanding as you are representing nations united.

Hmmm, on that note I think we should have a session that focuses on certain cultural practices such as this one; it would be very interesting to get opinions because usually we evaluate other people according to our own values and practices without ever trying to understand where they are coming from, hence the religious war between the middle east and the west.

Bling…bling… money aint’ a thing!!

I still cannot get over the fact of how expensive this country is, on Wednesday I went to find out how much does it cost to have a hair cut, I’m kinda used to going to a guy who sits under a tree next to the fourways mall and charges me R12 (about 2 CHF), when I got to the train station (…and I am talking about OR Tambo International – domestic section look a like, not downtown parkstation), I asked some west Africans (I have this paranoia that only an African can cut African hair – with exception of north africans) how much it costed and they succeeded in sending me to a shock kingdom by claiming 35 CHF (about R210), all I wanted was a15min shave of all the hair on my head not trim me and make me look like a model!!

I have never cut my hair for more that R20 (about 3, 50 CHF) and I am not about to start now, so I told them I will come back later – never did! So I let Luca shave my head today and he’s a white European… the experiment came out fine actuallyJ

Tolerance

I told you that interaction here is at a highly low level right, and well I’ve even learned to be an obedient visitor and do in Rome what Romans do i.e. get into a train/tram/bus and sit 2m across someone, do not greet (if you do, you’ll probably not get a response), read a book or look outside the window till you reach your destination.

The other day I was in a train from Bern to Geneva, when we left the station the train stopped a bit (technical problem), but after a few minutes we proceeded with our trip and when we got to Palezieux (about 45 minutes from Bern) the train stopped, the driver was talking in French and German and people were leaving the train, I assumed that is where they are all supposed to get off - it looked a bit strange actually that I was the only one left in the compartment and that they lights were suddenly turned off, but I still sat there. When I looked outside the window people were staring at me and some other guy (later found out he’s English) and one old woman signaled to me to get out of the train and come to the other side of the platform, then it clicked that we were supposed to catch an oncoming train from the other platform.

I was upset, that an old woman from another platform had to signal to me to get out of the train, and the people I was sitting with just left and did not even say a word, one could claim they thought I had understood what was being said – but that could have been apparent that I did not especially when you’re the only person left in the compartment with lights off and everyone staring at you.

…..i am really trying to tolerate the culture of ‘mind your own business’ here but you know I would think that the rule needs to be broken if someone is in need of help even though you don’t know them, it wont kill.

Multiple Entries

26.12.2007

I actually spent Xmas alone, yes I know…how sad, but it was not that bad. I watched movies online (I am legend, blow, sex and the city– don’t ask, I think depression!) and that occupied my day plus calling home. Today I was back at work only to receive an email that I should come back on the 6th Jan 08 – don’t ask!!

23.12.2007

I went to Geneva today, I was not going to work as usual but rather meeting someone for drinks, imagine I traveled 1h46min just to have a drink, anyway on my way back I decided to be polite and have a conversation with the guy I was sitting next to in the train, which is very unusual here because people don’t even greet each other, individualism a friend of mine calls it. Anyway by accent I immediately knew he was from north America, I did not want to assume that he was from the US because Canadians hate being mistaken as coming from the US.

We talked about business (he’s an engineer for aircraft engines – don’t remember the exact position), compared cultures with the guy (he’s mixed race) and evaluated the Swiss culture – funny how most foreigners I’ve met have a one liner i.e. ‘people here are so hostile if you can’t speak\understand the language’, I guess I should get an English – French and English – German dictionary, I am not giving up that easily, part of this experience is cultural understanding.

Have I mentioned that pedestrians rule the roads here (you just waltz into the pedestrian crossing and a car will stop and wait), try that in downtown Johannesburg – you will be minced meat! and that old people are so active – too active actually! My goodness some snail around town like there is no tomorrow and don’t forget when you cross the road here you look out for the tram, bus, bicycle, car and people, now imagine an old lady crossing the road with all those objects in mind, even I get confused because they drive on the other side of the road. In the evening when I got off the tram going to my flat, there was an old woman (she had a walking stick and looked fragile, so I would guess she is well over 70 years) who just crossed the road when pedestrians were supposed to stop – a tram and a car were actually hooting at her, I was paralyzed with fear and some people I was standing with were calling her to come back, weather she could not hear anymore or just plainly ignored us only she knows.

16.12.07

I love this country’s transport system, I can move around with ease because of the ‘on time’ trains, buses, and trams. On Thursday I took, with ease, a 1h30 train to Winterthur for team building which was something useful, learned more about the people I work with than 2 weeks ago when I landed and also got to know the people in the Winterthur local committee where it was interesting and a necessity to question the evolution of an organization and the people’s capacity to handle the change and still be able to deliver on the relevance. It was deep!!

When you are a visitor or on contract in a certain country, you want to find out about the culture, land-scape, the history and the people, you make sure that all your weekends are booked! Today we i.e. me, Ivo (Chairperson of AIESEC in Switzerland [AiS]) and Jeroen (Organizing Committee President of Career Days) went on a trip to Grindelwald (1034 m high) – a beautiful place where tourists and locals go to ski. There is also a mountain called Jungfraujoch (UNESCO world heritage site) which is called the top of Europe because it is 3454 m / 11333 Ft high above sea level, I gotta tell you the place is AMAZING, steep in price when I converted to Rands but certainly worth it - I can’t explain it you have to experience it for yourself.

05.12.07

My first offical day on the job today – wooo hooooo!

…. My flight from Jozi to Athens was not so entertaining, since I forgot all my novels in the car that brought me to the airport; I thought the movies in the flight would be ok, then sadly for 9 hrs I was made to watch some ancient movie of witches with no sound (apparently the flight had a sound problem)! I needed the alcohol to help me sleep but then my doctor's voice was banging at the back of my mind – so I lip-read the movie to the end. Then I took a 3hrs flight from Athens to Geneva, thinking how tasty a meal I would be for the Mediterranean sharks if the aircraft were to crash because I can't even swim to save myself.

Today is my first day on the job; I took a 1h46 train from Bern to Geneva, and then found ourselves in the wrong UN building (I should have asked for a Swiss tour guide and not Slovak – who hesitated to ask for directions even though he is clearly lost!), I am well dressed but clearly a rapid change from summer to winter is a bit too much coz my mouth was starting to freeze and I had difficulty in pronouncing words, so I kept quiet until we finally found the right building after an hour and my guide `gaan-ìng aan` about how this is not so cold.

Suisse

You know how cliché is ‘the world is your play-ground’, well I guess those clichés sometimes do come back to our lives and make impact as they were initially intended.

I’m off again to Switzerland for a 7 month internship with the United Nations food and population agency in Geneva (wasn’t sure on how my Mother was going to react since I was stuck in Egypt not so long ago and had to ask her to bring me home). For some reason I was excited that I made it out of the 7 candidates I was competing with from Nigeria, Canada, Cameroon and Mexico but then the financial aspect of my trip brought me back to mother earth, but I’m happy anyway that I’m returning back to the neutral country.

I will be living in Bern, the capital city, taking a train for about an hour every day to work in Geneva, so I’ll have a bit of 2 cultures i.e. living in the swiss-german part and working in the swiss-french part.

To all my friends, readers of my blog, acquaintances and colleagues thanks for the support given – especially those that came through for me and my team during AfroxLDS’07 (If you’re an aiesecer you’ll know what that means), to my colleagues for my cushioned entrance at PWC due to their friendliness.

Well keep on reading this blog as it will get more interesting as I update you about my day-to-day life with the Swiss.

As we say in Sesotho (for those of you I’m temporarily leaving behind):

Khotso, Pula, Nala – Peace, Rain and Prosperity.

Ps: Yes I will have a Swiss bank account, so if you want to put your money in it – I’ll be more than happy to hold it for you with only the following 3 conditions:

· Should be more than a million $ (not Zimbabwean dollars…okay!)
· Leave it in my bank account for atleast 6 months (so that I can earn interest on it)
· Should have been legally obtained (pick-pocketing is illegal)

If you don’t fall in this category it means you’re broke like myself and I therefore don’t see any business sense, just joking – I have my price and willing to negotiate.

In conclusion, I do charge a commission – I am in the capital of capitalism after-all :)

‘I am because we are, since we are, therefore I am’ – John Mbiti

I’m reading the book ‘country of my skull’ by Antjie Krog (been looking for the book since 2004 and finally have my hands on it). A great book – has won many wards nationally and internationally.

…Came across very sensitive, insightful and informative issues, the book is about our South Africa history – Apartheid, how the core of South Africa’s being, race (black and white), was what provoked actions in the past, has formed our present identity and has shaped our perspective of the future.

Two prominent figures in the country, Thabo Mbeki (current President of the country) and Bishop Desmond Tutu (noble prize winner) dissect the words reconciliation and forgiveness. Tutu says ‘reconciliation is the beggining of a transformative process (one must be able to transcend one’s selfish inclinations before one can transform oneself and one’ society) for Mbeki it is a step that can follow only after total transformation has taken place’.

South Africans have a notion that we live in/ are building a rainbow nation, and I battle with that as we still don’t understand each other. Things still look the same for me, everything is still divided by race, from the food we eat, neighbourhood we live in, shops we do our grocery in and cars we drive, there is still a huge gap that can only be bridged by cultural understanding. It seems we tolerate each other because we need to coexist for our survival and that’s it! Weather this coexistence is reconciled and transformed still remains a debate.
A black friend of mine said that white people will never understand nor appreciate how black people bend their backs to accommodate them till and how they (whites) cannot do the same – this reminds me of Nozipho January-Bardill’s statement when she said ‘reconciliation will only take place the day whites also feel offended by racism, instead of feeling sorry for blacks’.

In a sense I understand her comment but do we need to go that route so to make a point or make another person realize where you are in terms of thought? I didn’t realize the complexity of the words truth, reconciliation, and transformation especially in the South African context until I read this book.

I’m due to represent the country yet again abroad, but for a longer period of time – this time, I wonder though how I am supposed to represent the country and my culture. There is no harmony between the individual and the community, I cannot be as we are not, and since we are not, therefore I am not.

…what is this rainbow nation we are talking about and trying to build, has it begun, has it worked, will it work and how do I represent my country’s identity?

Anybody out there….