On Sunday, July 4th, I arrived back in Durban from my epic trip across South Africa (WOW!), and went to Stu’s for a braai; the closest I will get in South Africa to an American event.
The next week was one that really threw everything I knew up in the air and I stood in the middle watching things find new places as they fell.
On Thursday, I got a call from my supervisor saying that he had a COMPLETELY NEW dissertation topic for me, should I want it: something about street kids and theatre for development. It was worth a try, so I made a variety of meetings on Friday and learned more about the project.
The project was an extension of some work that a couple of Masters students from the School of Social Work at UKZN had been doing for the past three years. They had been working on the streets of Durban with groups of youth, and from that engagement, one of the youth had said that he wanted to make a play about his life. Enter the need for a collaboration with the Drama Department. Social Work walked down the hill to talk to Drama, and my name was lifted as one who could do the project.
Part of me was glad that I was thought of, the other part of me was slightly cynical and says, “So, you thought my project was not good enough/would not happen, huh?” Either way, after three back-to-back meetings that Friday, I chose to take up the project.
The project was to make a play (which turned into a movie) that explored life on the streets through a participative theatre process with a group of self-selected teenage youth who live on the streets. (People often ask me, “Where do these kids sleep? In a shelter, right?” And I have to answer by pointing to the nearest road. These youth sleep on the pavement in an alleyway by a busy road.)
On Monday, I went with Chris and Ingrid, the Social Work masters’ students, to the streets and met the youth. When I say “the youth” I mean an ever-fluctuating group of young people who stay at that specific location. They are members of a gang, the 26s (a notorious prison gang in South Africa, along with the 27s and 28s), which comprises of many boys living on the streets, but only some stay at this location. So, I met some of the gang, one of those boys from the first day ended up completing the project with us (YES, you heard right, COMPLETED), but many I may never have seen again.
That Monday, July 12th, was the beginning of seemingly hundreds of trips to the streets; but it would be more accurate to say roughly 30 days plus a 7-day trip to Cape Town, but again, I am getting ahead of myself. I started going to the street sporadically, once a week or so, but once August hit, it was a few times a week, and by September, every single day.
In the midst of all these visits to the street and the surrounding work, my Ultimate team kept on training (and we secured new fancy fields to play on, instead of the, literal, dust bowl that we used to call home), the boyfriend and I kept going strong (we just had our sixth-month-aversary, can you believe it!), my roommate moved out but I found a new one, I went to Mozambique for an Ultimate tournament, and Aurelia came to visit!
I’ll pause the laundry list here to elaborate a bit on certain point, so as not to exhaust myself with run-on sentences.
Mozambique! On the first full weekend of August, Ultimate players from all over Southern Africa came together in Maputo for a mixed-hat tournament on the beaches of Mozambique. How lovely!
I really do love Ultimate tournaments, not only for the Ultimate, but also for the reunions they become. Every tournament marks the making of new friends, and the reuniting with old friends. The Ultimate community really is a community. Its like a Rotary network for Ultimate players. I like it.
On Saturday, we played five games, on the beach and on grass, and Sunday marked the elimination round. What was so lovely was that any of the teams could have won if luck had been different. My team’s luck was particularly bad, as we came in last, but we still had such a delightful.
In true Ultimate fashion, there were streakers and a naked pool party (although I went home before that one started, fortunately).
When it was all over, Stu and I stayed an extra day in Maputo together, enjoying the beaches and wonderful conversations.
I could wax on about how great tournaments are, but there is another one coming up this weekend: Rocktober. And it actually marks my one-year anniversary with the Prawn Bunnies (can you believe it!). It really has been a wonderful and life-changing year. Seriously. I’m not being dramatic. This has been a year dedicated to fitness like I have not had since the days of soccer (ten years ago). This has been a year of incredible Ultimate friendships and relationships (go Stu go!). This has been a year when things have gotten done, big projects have been started (and some finished!), and a real impact has been made in our community (I’ll get to that too!). I’ve organized big events, traveled all over the country, and felt really positive about it all. A+ for Ultimate!
Also in August, Aurelia came to visit! She came to South Africa as a part of a sort-of educational tour, which ended up being not nearly as wonderful as hoped, unfortunately. Durban was the last leg of her trip, and she stayed with me for a week. During that time, I was starting the real drama work with the kids on the street (up until that point my work had mostly been relationship and trust-building work, but now we would be moving to a classroom on campus to really focus on drama). In that way, the timing worked out so well; because it was a new chapter in the work, introducing a new person was not a crisis (often the kids see new people with a variety of skepticism), so Aurelia was able to join us in our work on campus. Aurelia was a HUGE asset to me! We were able to spend time talking about lesson plans and past experiences, as well as reflecting in a really meaningful way. Aurelia also helped me boost my confidence and remember that I really can do this work.
Other than being on the street, Aurelia and I toured Durban, played some Frisbee, toured the Midlands Meander, and ate a few too many rotis.
When Aurelia left, I hit the streets even harder, moving further and further into the work. I lifted my head from the books every now and then to play Ultimate or to spend the weekend with Stu, both wonderful and welcomed breaks.
By this time, we were pummeling into September. The need to make a plan for next year was starting to hit hard, so I freshened up my CV and delivered it to a variety of local primary and high schools. The difficulty in this job search (on top of the normal difficulty of job searches) is that I am not a South African. To secure a work visa, the potential employer has to go through a rigorous process of proving that I am the only person who can do the job, and that other South Africans cannot. And without a work visa, I cannot legally work for more than 20 hours a week. And in working less than 20 hours a week, it is very unlikely that I will be able to support myself. SO! It is a bit of a conundrum.
Also, at the beginning of September was a performance art event that I was supposed to be performing in. It was an event around the theme “the body politic,” something that I am very interested in. I devised a piece about de-sexualizing the naked body, but because I could not find performers, I was going to have to do it. This would have involved standing naked in an art gallery and asking audience members to paint me. Literally, paint me like a canvas. In the end, although I was fully behind the statement and ideology of the piece, I just physically, mentally, emotionally could not do it, and so I backed out of the project. I am glad I did, for so many reasons. And I am sure you, oh internet reader (specifically family members), are also glad I did not let strangers touch my naked body in an art gallery.
In the beginning of September, we started production on our street movie (September was a busy time!). Ingrid—my social work co-worker/collaborator—and I had been working with the boys on creating characters and images of life on the streets for a few weeks, and now it was time to put those ideas on film. Basically, the boys did a character creation exercise where we imagined a boy who lives on the streets. From what they told us of him and his life, I was able to isolate key scenes and moments that we would later act out for the camera.
The boys chose our location for filming—an old burned out house, and we got to work. I would suggest a scene to film that day, the boys would agree or not, and then we would do it.
The filming process was really special: it was TOTAL improvisation by everyone. The boys would begin improvising the scene, and I would follow along, as best I could, with the camera. Often I knew where they would physically start, but that was it. I never knew where the scene would end, what would happen, etc. I had to be ready for anything, and responding honestly, as did the boys.
Most everything we did was a wrap on the first take.
The boys know this life so well that they needn’t be coached in anything. They just act out real life through their character’s eyes. It was quite spectacular and difficult to watch. A scene that began by sharing a meal together, ended with one of the boys fighting and murdering the other two: from sharing bread to murder, in one continuous 5-minute improvisation. In this moment, the boys were acting out their fears; the fear that at any moment they could be next, that life and death exist so much in tandem that they often overlap meaninglessly.
Needless to say, this work with the street youth is HEAVY. It is difficult. It is depressing. But at the same time, it is wonderful, and uplifting, and inspirational.
In two and a half weeks, we had finished filming our 30-minute movie and we had completed writing all the subtitles for the film. The boys spoke in IsiZulu, and as such, we needed to translate their words into English, seeing as many of our audiences would be English-speaking. The subtitling process was one where the boys would crowd around my laptop, watch clips of the movie, and then translate, sentence by sentence what was being said. It was a tedious process, but lovely, because the boys got to be in charge of the things being said in the film.
There was a huge push to get the film wrapped as soon as possible because Ingrid and I would be taking our four boys to Cape Town for a Social Work and Education conference at the end of September, where we would be premiering the film. Yikes! Not only would we be showing the film, but the BOYS would also be speaking about it in a presentation. In addition to editing the film, we had to prepare the presentation, buy the BUS tickets, buy clothes for the boys, and otherwise prepare for the big trip.
While all this was going on, I was embarking on my own street child mission: I was organizing an Ultimate Frisbee tournament at Street-wise for around 150 people from age 7 to 70. (For the full write-up, go to http://durbanultimate.co.za/blog/tri-generational-ultimate-tournament. Also on this site are other accounts of my work with the youth at Street-wise, check it out by clicking on “blog” in the top toolbar!)
Briefly, this mini tournament brought together the street boys from Street-wise, teenagers from Westville Girls and Westville Boys High Schools, young professionals from Durban Ultimate, as well as Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Westville and their families. It was an incredible day where boundaries of age, race, gender, and socio-economic status were bridged by a sport, Ultimate, that fosters teamwork, friendships, and fair play.
Finally, it was September 24th and time for Cape Town. Ingrid, Chris (the other social work student) and I boarded the bus with only three of our intended four boys, one had made the choice to—or simply had—missed the bus.
The six of us embarked on a rocky trip to Cape Town. The boys would later rave about the trip to their friends and families, but the trip itself was difficult, full of tempers, seasickness, hyper energy, and early mornings. I gripe, I know, but it was an incredible trip. We received fantastic feedback from our audience at the conference (full of high-ups from the Departments of Education and Social Development), and the boys were received as productive members of society instead of as criminals, like they are used to. It was a really special time.
Now, we are back from Cape Town, and Ingrid and the boys have entered into the process of getting the boys off the streets. This is a decision that the boys made themselves, and Ingrid is simply facilitating the process. This week, the boys are working on getting accommodation sorted, identity documents arranged, and otherwise making plans to leave the streets. It is a huge process, and Ingrid and I are hopeful that the boys will seize this opportunity and make the changes in their lives that they so often preach about. Here is their opportunity, let us hope that they can capitalize on it.
So where does that leave me?
I’m still here, working through all my data from the research with the kids (yeah, there was also research happening while we were making the movie!) and getting my proposal together… (yeah yeah, I know, you are supposed to do the proposal BEFORE the research happens. My process is just special like that.) I am in a really good position to start cranking out chapters for this dissertation. The proposal is all there, just needs to be put together, and from that, the dissertation! If I work really really REALLY hard, I could have a first draft by the end of the year. But I’ve always been optimistic, haven’t I?
Friday, it is off to Johannesburg for the Rocktober tournament, which should be so much fun. Then, its back to the books for me; I’ve got a lot to get done in October on this thesis thing BEFORE I GO HOME TO NORTH CAROLINA FOR TWO WEEKS IN NOVEMBER!!!
Yes indeed! I will be home from November 16th until December 1st, and I am so so happy about it. What a lovely Thanksgiving to have with family! And it means that I will have a South African Christmas—also my first Christmas away from Mom and Dad, which will be difficult. But Thanksgiving will be lovely, and I am so looking forward to being home, petting my dog, and reconnecting with loved ones with American accents.
Yee—freaking—haw!
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