Hello!
It’s been a few days since my last blog post. Unfortunately, I’ve been insanely busy writing project proposals and papers. I’m just finishing up my Community Health Seminar paper on the effectiveness of the implementation of the Department of Health’s leprosy control policy in South Africa. Woo that was a mouthful. I’ve submitted my project proposal for my ISP so that it can be reviewed by the ethics committee and I’m getting ready to embark on my independent research project! Like I’ve probably mention 1000 times before, I’ll be living in Durban with a few of my friends for the rest of the program. As of right now I’ll be staying at the Windermere beach front flats for the next 4 weeks. A lot of the other students are traveling to other locations: Pietermaritzburg, Impendle, Umthwalume, and even Manguzi (by the Mozambique boarder!). I’m totally content staying in Durban. Unlike the other students that are traveling out of the city, I’ll get to experience more of Durban than they will. I can’t wait to go to the botanical garden, UShaka Marine World, and the BAT centre. Maybe I’ll even get to go snorkeling! The possibilities really are endless! And the food here is amazing! My friends and I have been cooking for the most part, but we’ll probably try to go out to dinner once a week so we get to experience some of the amazing cusine here. The cool thing about Durban is that it’s a really rich cultural center with the largest Indian population in South Africa as well as multiple other cultural groups. The curries here are to die for! They’re often a blend of traditional South African, Indian, and Malay dishes. Plus, add in the abundant seafood and you get some of the best curries in the world. Good thing I can go running on the beach!
Enough of me gloating about how sweet my life is.
This Saturday I had one of the greatest experiences a young ethnographer could have. For those of you who don’t study social sciences, ethnographers do field research concerning cultural issues. Anyways, earlier this week I heard about a walk to raise awareness about cervical cancer. The walk started at Addington Hospital at South Beach and ended at City Hall. So being a good student, I decided it would be worth it to spend my Saturday doing research. I arrived around 10:30, which I figured was a good idea since the march was supposed to arrive at city hall around 10 and South African time generally means people will run late. Well I walked around city hall to see if I could find anyone walking with signs. First I found a group of about 10 young women holding pamphlets. I approached them and asked them if they knew anything about the cervical cancer walk. They all looked at me strangely. Turns out, they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. Oops. Later one tried to give me one of her books. I told her I’d take it and read it in exchange for an interview. She took the offer, which allowed me to at least get one interview just in case the picketers didn’t show up. After interviewing her, a nice Indian woman came over and talked to me for a little bit. She told me she overheard my accent and could tell I was American. She was so sweet and we talked for a few minutes about what I’m doing in South Africa and how much I love it here. While talking to her, I overheard the sound of chanting. Around the corner came a group of 25 women marching. They each carried signs in Zulu, but I recognized the word cancer on each of the posters. I followed the demonstrators to City Hall. After talking to the woman in charge about the purpose of my study, she gave me permission to interview the demonstrators. I got about 7 interviews done with a variety of women: old gogos, middle-aged mamas, and even some college students. One woman was a nurse and provided a good amount of info on current interventions available. The whole group was so welcoming towards me! When taking a group picture they had me join in. In fact, they had their photographer take pictures of me interviewing the women. I borrowed my roommate’s audio recorder, which I used in all the interviews. I felt like a legitimate anthropologist! I got so many hugs and words of encouragement. They were all so happy that an American was interested in their knowledge and opinions! When I had to leave, they all gave me huge hugs goodbye and wished me good luck on my project.
Such an amazing experience! 37 days until Cape Town and 45 days until I’m back in the US of A. Can’t believe it’s already ISP time. I keep saying that semester is flying by but it’s totally true!!! It’s weird, it feels like just yesterday like I hopped off the plane in Johannesburg and dipped my toes in the Indian Ocean for the first time. But I’m so comfortable here I feel like I’ve been here forever. Can’t wait to see you all!!!!
Love,
Leah
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