Jabulani Project

December 4th

Arrived in Durban today to start this exciting initiative. I am full of courage but also trepidation. I am met at the airport by some Zwelibanzi alumni: Emmanuel, Sthembiso and Vusi. We drive in to where I'll be staying for the next fortnight. The address is Laughing Dove, Morningside. I like the fun in the title and the Edinburgh connection. My friends stay a couple of days to "ensure my safety". They are so welcoming. I am sure it is also a welcome change from the Township.
Marie and Sathia are here, so Marie and I do some preparatory work for the forthcoming JGHS trip. I have retired and I know the SA Project I started in JGHS is no longer under my leadership but Marie and I want to aid the transition so we search for the elusive Freedom to confirm that buses will be available for February 10th. Transport, or the challenges of finding it, has been the Project's leitmotif since 2001!
I realise that Durban is closing down for Christmas so contacting people is going to be virtually impossible. South Africa seems to spend a lot of time also preparing for closing down!
I get to Zwelibanzi and Dloko and do a preliminary launch for the John Byrne Award SA. I will have to revisit in January.
I meet Nathi Mbele and Phumlani Nkontwana, two former Zwelibanzi students who are doing good work. Check out their websites:
http://www.AdNotes.co.za
http://phumlaninkontwanafoundation.org/
We go to Zwelibanzi for the Awards Ceremony Phumlani is funding. Here new and old SA meet. Zwelibanzi is unprepared. Nathi and Phumlani are so organised. Marie and I revert to old ways and mop floors and break in to the soup kitchen! The event is a success. I am so looking forward to working with these guys and organisations. The aims of their organisations are exactly in line with our own and both Nathi and Phumlani are full of energy and drive. They don't operate on "Bantu time" so they are easier to work with. Cross cultural communication can be a challenge.
I reconnected with Umthombo and set the scene for placements for the former students. I had excellent meetings with Tom and Mandi. Tom is taking 3 months out and Mandi has opened a Hairdressing/Surfing Centre.
I contacted the various Faculty Deans for appointments after the summer holidays in January.

December 17th

My family arrive for our Christmas Holiday time together. We spend time in Jo'burg We are staying in bohemian Melville and visit the phenomenal Apartheid Museum. This year I have visited this museum and Auchwitz. Are we inherently good... or evil? How can we carry out such atrocities?
Then on To Durban to show them the Project. Despite it being the school holidays, Dloko welcomes us with over a hundred wonderful singing and dancing students and 10 teachers. To Hluhluwe and St. Lucia for Christmas. Christmas Day was spent on the beach in St. Lucia with a pod of hippos.
We then returned to Durban for a Boxing Day party with our Zulu friends and the Chettys and Cathros. "Cubana" was rocking. So many mlungus at one time was awesome! we visit Lucky's appalling little tin shack..no electricity, no water, no toilet. We are humbled. We all commit to supporting him.  Parties in Umlazi and Pinetown, then on to Stellenbosch for a bit of wealthy white South African life... and of course, the odd glass of wine. Stellenbosch feels like old South Africa. The area is stunning but it is slightly surreal to be here after Umlazi.
Next stop Cape Town, the liberal capital of Africa. And so it seems. Robben Island is immensely moving but suffering from crass tourism. Slave Lodge is beyond words..so unbearably shocking.
We spend the last few days in Hout Bay, shark diving etc. and my family leave on the 7th.

January 7th

Gavin, ex Gillespie's student. flies in to Cape Town. We meet up with Zwelibanzi alumni, visit District 6 and spend the 100th Anniversary of the ANC in Mzolis in Gugulethu. An amazing experience. It feels further on in embracing 21st Century culture. Although there is the odd tourist there to earn their points for being in the township, the vibe is genuinely mixed, joyful and it feels like a blueprint for the future. Homosexuality is even out there. Try that in Max's in Umlazi.
I have an excellent meeting with Nathi about how I can work with and through Adnotes. He offers to do a SA poster for the John Byrne Competition.

January 10th

I head back home to Durban.
The schools and Universities open again, although the transition from open to closed is a long one. I go out to the schools to secure the John Byrne Award. I have to purchase paint and paper. Dloko has no Art teacher. Computer access is limited to Zwelibanzi who recently received some investment from Telecom.
I spend time helping Dloko boys register for UKZN. Dloko are so proud of them. Their Matric results are up from 46% in 2011 to 82%. Some of the success they attribute to the JGHS involvement. They say our visit last year really motivated them and, of course the soup kitchen has made an impact. They win the most improved school in KZN Award and I accompany the Principal, Bususiwe to the ceremony. Zwelibanzi recover from last year's blip and score 90%.
I have so many friends here and they are all so willing to help. I have found two brilliant Khumbi drivers for the Project and some wonderful cab drivers.
Things are going well but tragedy is not far away. Lucky, our wonderful young Zwelibanzi artist is homeless. His house has been demolished. Then he gets a tin hut with no electricity, water or toilet facilities. He lives there in one bed with his girlfriend, his child. little brother, his sister and her two little ones. Modern day imprisonment for the underprivileged black person.
Then my cab driver friend, Ntuthuko comes to me to tell me his girlfriend, Princess, has been shot dead. I comfort him as much as I can and help with the funeral. The juxtaposition of death and joy is awesome!