Week 11: Legos Daycare Empowerment

I definitely thought I published this post a week or so ago, but come to find out I only saved it as a draft. :/

Anyways! As far as our service learning project at Legos, my team and I are expected to strengthen the cohesion with the facility's staff. Because we are strangers to them from a completely different country with a completely different accent, the awkwardness is bound to be thick. However with the help of some great icebreakers at the beginning of our training sessions, I am positive that the elephant in the room or the social differences will disappear on their own.

One icebreaker in particular that I recently participated in at a meeting was the beach ball game. On a beach ball was an assortment of questions or scenarios. The ball is tossed from one person to another, whoever catches must read and answer out loud the question their left thumb lands on. The questions are so bizarre and funny and really loosens the group atmosphere. For instance, "if you could have a celebrity BFF who would it be and why?"

I'm excited to implement these activities I found as well as the ones found by my fellow group members! It should be fun and I'm sure it would ignite many opportunities and growth!

Week 10: Service Learning Project Related Article

During my time in Cape Town, six other girls and I will be completing a service learning project at Legos Daycare. I am excited about this portion of the program, because I will be able to apply my passion in the field of education. I also am in love with babies and toddlers and cannot wait to work with them! One of the key things we will need to accomplish at the daycare is building cohesion within the staff. I believe icebreaker activities will be a great starting point to address differences and get to know people. Below is the link to an article about ice breaker questions that are fun and funny and allows participants to know a different side about everyone else in the group.

http://humanresources.about.com/od/icebreakers/a/funny-ice-breakers.htm

Week 9: "Top 10 List" Impact and Utility Paragraph

This top 10 list is such a great composition of information that will be so useful for my trip to South Africa. My last study abroad experience, I travelled alone and didn't do any research. That in itself probably caused my anxiety and discomfort with my journey. Though this uncertainty fueled my drive to explore, I am grateful this Maymester is different and I already know what to expect. I'm excited to see these lists in person once I arrive. For instance, I want to see the post-apartheid effects on privilege and power, the progression of women's and LBGT rights, as well as actually crossing things off the bucket list! I'm excited for what's in store and I now feel prepared to grow, learn, and explore!

Week 8: Top 10 Must View List!

Over the past two weeks, my peers and I have each accumulated a few links that are interesting and beneficial to learning more about South Africa. In this post, I compiled a list of my top ten links from everyone in my class. 

In no particular order:

1.I enjoyed this YouTube video detailing the struggles and success of being gay in South Africa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-iw5tmKIPI (Ignacio)

2.In this article published late last year in the Huffington Post (Ignacio)

3.http://www.voanews.com/content/us-anti-apartheid-movement-helps-bring-change-to-south-africa/1900704.html- U. S Involvement in the Anti Apartheid movement. (Bianca)

4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/endgame/timeline.html The timeline broke down the events that strengthened and weakened government. (Josh)

5. Education in South Africa http://www.freedomtolearn.co.za/education-today (Denise)

6. Gangs, Race and Poverty - link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoMl_G6rL9k (Denise)

7. South African Women Power - link: http://www.fletcherforum.org/2013/06/10/tunney/ (Denise)

8. South African Women's Issues http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?id=4668&t=Women (Courtney)

9. South African Women's Issues http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?id=4667 (Courtney)

10. South African Women's Issues http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=65-259-C (Courtney)

Week 7: Peer Reflection

I viewed posts and articles or documentaries from several of my peers, but Denice's post is the one I enjoyed the most because the three issues she touched on are issues that I care significantly about even here in the US: education, gangs, and women.

From the videos and articles on her post I learned the dynamic changed from people fearing the government to people fearing the gangsters in their communities. I also discovered the lost generation: the population of those who were denied education legally and financially were still not taken care even during post-apartheid. Lastly, women's rights and equality for women looks like the next form of civil rights movement that needs more attention. This issue alone reminds me of the strength of Winnie Mandela and how governments all across the globe need to start adapting to changing gender roles.

Week 6: My Independent Research

Week 6's assignment was quite confusing to me since the instructions weren't very clear, thus explaining why I waited so long to post. Luckily, I viewed my peer's blogs and was able to figure out what I needed to do. I found research on the the perspectives on apartheid or its aftermath of both white and non-white South Africans. I also discovered stats on the improvements of daily lives of South Africans since the abolishment of apartheid. All this information was very insightful and I look forward to finding out more from what my peers found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/apartheid/7208.shtml 
That link explains what do non-white South Africans think about apartheid? Black, Coloured and Asian South Africans are interviewed in this eye-opening documentary about their views on apartheid. Included with the many dissenting views on apartheid are opinions on why different racial groups should live separately. Film footage that often shows the shocking racial exploitation allowed by apartheid accompanies the interviews. It's naive to assume that integration is what everyone wanted, but after reading this article I found out why that is not the case. Who wants to share communities and cross paths wit the person who oppressed them? No one. 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-24/news/sns-rt-us-safrica-anc-factbre85n067-20120624_1_blacks-south-africans-african-national-congres
This link displays interesting and a few alarming stats of improvements and failures from the government since apartheid. For instance, the ANC promised to ensure all South Africans with fresh and clean water by 2010 and fell short of this with 14% of its population still not having access to basic water supplies in their homes.

http://www.academia.edu/211213/Becoming_African_Debating_Post-Apartheid_White_South_African_Identities
The link above provides access to a journal that discusses how white South Africans had to reinvent their identities when it came to post apartheid. They insisted that they were Africans as well, but it is clear why many disagreed with them

Week 5: Selma vs. Long Walk to Freedom

Last week, I compared the lives of Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This week, I tackle their movements seen through the popular films "Long Walk to Freedom" and "Selma" and compare the injustices of both countries. I really loved "Selma" because it was a great depiction of the grassroots movement and all MLK and others did to progress. I liked how "Long Walk to Freedom" wasn't afraid to show the negative sides of influential figures of South Africa at that time. In the US, I can still see the legacy of the civil rights movement in the 60's. I am blessed to live this legacy and I am free to attend an institution with so many different races and learn from them. Though people of color are still experiencing issues of discrimination, I hope that with time and more knowledge on these race issues, things will improve.

It is so shocking that South Africa is still new to this social system of equality. To know that apartheid was abolished the same year I was born puts the timeline in great perspective. I'm grateful that I will be visiting the country this summer and will be able to meet people who lived through that system. I am excited to hear the stories and actually see firsthand the lasting impact of apartheid on their lives psychologically, socially, and economically. This is great because in a way I will get a glimpse of what the US was dealing with 30 years ago, then just reading about it in textbooks.

Week 4: MLK vs. Nelson Mandela

The lives of the influential Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are very comparable in the following ways: They both lived their lives to fight for the civil rights for people of color in their country; they were both incapacitated for their cause to end such injustice (although Mandela served a much, much longer term than MLK); They both believed in a peaceful protest as their key strategy (although, Mandela eventually gave this up towards the , causing his imprisonment). Mandela fate led him to become president of the South African democracy, while I truly believe that MLK could've had the same fate had he not been assassinated.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-Nelson Mandela
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”-MLK
These quotes stick out to me for two reasons: I am an education major who is interested in uplifting youth from underprivileged backgrounds; and because it expresses how these two men were similar: they know the true value and importance of education.

Week 3: South African History and Demographic

Reading about the population of South Africa, I was surprised to see that blacks were the majority and whites were the minority. Yet, the concerns and well being of the majority were considered inadequate and minor. It makes me question why the system of apartheid lasted as long as it did. Why didn't the group with more people "win" by default or revolt sooner and demolish the system that held them down? My confusion probably stems from my instant comparison of South Africa and the United States because I often tend to think they are similar. It also makes me question the demographics of my own country. Is the black population really the American minority or are we vast in number like our sisters and brothers in South Africa.

The history of South Africa was interesting to learn about. I had no idea that the city we will spend most of our time was considered the "Mother City"due to it being the first South African city of European settlement. The rest of South Africa's history was marked with extreme injustices against people of color, but it is interesting to see how the government will use issues of the past to better the future. One must first make mistakes before they can learn from them and succeed.

The current event that struck out to me the most is the story about the Lagos church victims being repatriated South Africa. It is interesting to me because my ethnicity is Nigerian. This is also intriguing, since in a way I will be like those victims. But to travel to another country alive and come back to my home country dead is very heartbreaking. I pray for the entire continent of Africa and I hope the mourning families gain closure.

With that being said, my question for Mr. Gilmour would be: where do you see South Africa, in terms of race relations and social welfare (employment, education, living, etc), in the next five years?

Week 2: “Unpacking the Knapsack of Privilege” and “Who am I” Reactions

I chose to not mention race or ethnicity in my first blog post, because I guess I did not fully understand the prompt. I don't think I discussed any traits. However, if I did, my Nigerian ethnic background is something I would've mentioned because with that description, explains so much of who I am, my morals, my culture, my lifestyle, etc. I consider my race to be amongst the non-dominant group in the country I am from, thus coming with many disadvantages and challenges.

 My reaction to “Unpacking the Knapsack of Privilege” was that I agreed with everything the author wrote about white privilege and how it is similar to male privilege. I never realized, however, that white students growing up weren't explicitly taught to be the oppressor; but in some ways it was already known to them based on external societal roles.

“Who am I” relate to dealing with the pressures of matching the dominant culture. I was a victim of skin bleaching back in early high school. But in my case, I wasn't bleaching to become white, I was bleaching because I understood that being of a lighter skin tone put you at an advantage in many aspects of life.

One fact that stood out was "Race is a modern idea: ancient societies did not divide people according to physical differences, but according to religion, status, class, and even language." I found this interesting because I've always known race to be an important ideal and divider that I jus always assumed that that's how it has been since the beginning of time. So it was refreshing to discover that that wasn't the case.

Week 1: Who Am I?

My name is Faith Izuegbu and I am a 3rd year Youth and Community Studies major in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin! Hook 'Em Horns! Because I hold a string passion for educating youth, my project of interest during this maymester program will be education. I am so excited and anxious to see how South Africa's school system differs from the US, and how I will be of any assistance to improve it.