NMMU Orientation and Service Sites

This last week has been incredible, in many different ways...it has been full of many ups and downs. I've been completely exhausted one day and completely relaxed the next. I'm trying to keep things short, but I already know it's going to be a long post. I'll try to throw in a few pictures.

NMMU South Campus

      On Monday, we had our international student orientation at NMMU, which was alright, except for all of the logistical stuff we had to go through. Campus is about 3 kilometers (~2 miles) from Langerry. The logistical stuff included our housing information, security, where we shouldn't go in town, and information about the hospitals and police. When they spoke about the police I realized I did notice some different things when walking around PE, such as fences and walls around all personal property, barbed wire (or razor or electrical) fencing on those walls, and the large number of private security companies contracted by homeowners and especially businesses.They assured us that the police are indeed reliable.

          The hosptials and EMS (the state funded ones), however,  seemed less reliable. The state-run ambulance service arrival time may be up to two hours and in the hospital, if you aren't turned away, you most likely won't even see a medical doctor. South Africa suffers from 'brain drain,' which is the movement of the most educated or skilled people out of the country, since they can afford to do so. Because of this, there is a shortage of physicians (especially rurally). NMMU gave us the number for the private ambulance service and private hospitals which provide much greater pre-hospital care (2-4 minute response time) and even greater hospital care for patients.  Margaret, Dummer and I are interested in this health system and are now in the process of setting up physician shadowing at the private hospital, and when we feel comfortable later on, we'll try the state hospitals. We're hoping things will work out. I've also gotten a few responses about ride-along opportunities as an EMT with the local ambulance services in PE, which is very exciting.

       The NMMU Campus is awesome. Around you are palm trees, tropical plants, and umbrella trees that resemble miniature versions of the "Tree of Life" in The Lion King. If you have seen it, you can imagine exactly what I'm talking about. Before I had left for South Africa, I had been told many times that monkeys run around campus in an analogous manner to squirrels in Minnesota, except the monkeys are much more likely to steal food from your hands.

Vervet Monkey

           In a lecture given by our tour guide at our health center stop on campus,  one of her main topics was "what to do if you get bitten by a monkey." I never would have thought I would  hear that speech, so that was pretty funny. We did end up seeing five Vervet monkeys, running around the trees and digging in the trash for food. They are eerily human-like in the way they use their hands, play, and interact.

         I can't speak for the rest of South Africa's universities, but I can say for sure that the students at NMMU are very well dressed in comparison to the average dress at CSB or SJU. Not that it is very surprising, but I just never considered what students in Africa dress like I guess. Sports are huge on campus and when you look at the map of campus, you'll see sports facilities for soccer, cricket, and rugby. The rugby stadium is awesome, but I've heard the team isn't that great. We're still looking forward to grabbing a beer with the rest of the students at the next game. In fact, after the game on Monday we say all of the rugby groupies at Barney's, a local bar. They were all built like rugby players, but we're not convinced it was the team.

       One of the major reasons I chose to go to South Africa was because of the service learning component attached to the program. CSB-SJU has been sending students to NMMU and volunteering at the same service sites for over ten years now (with the exception of one service site). We have spent the last few days touring these sites and Port Elizabeth. There are three service sites:

Pendla Primary School

Pendla Primary courtyard.

          Pendla has just enough educators for grades R-7 (R is their form of Kindergarten) with anywhere from 20-30 learners per classroom. The classes are somewhat run down and old, but still functional. (Most of the school was built in 1941.) We were given a tour with the principal and several of the educators and we had a small meeting where we had a chance to ask questions about the role we would play as volunteers there. Many of the people on the trip are excited to help tutor in math and English and play cricket and other games with the kids throughout the day. The most exciting part of the tour was seeing the library there. On the library was a plaque:

The plaque that was presented at the completion of Umanyano Library.

If you can't read it, it says:

This library was made possible 

with the generous assistance 

and donations received from the

staff and students of the

College of St. Benedict 

and the

St. John's University,

Minnesota, U.S.A. 

Officially opened on

10 May 1999

        It was pretty incredible to see how long of a relationship our school has had with Pendla, Port Elizabeth, and the people of South Africa. I found myself wondering how this contribution changed the lives of the kids who have passed through over the last 10 years and how many more it will in the years to come.

House of Resurrection

Garden of Remembrance

        House is a location for orphans living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in any way shape or form. House has about =50 some residents ranging from birth to age 12, all housed in several buildings. It was opened as an HIV/AIDS haven in the mid-1990's and has continued to do amazing things for the children who have the disease or have lost their parents to it. The children there are very happy, and House has begun a project to house kids of varying age and genders together in a home with a guardian to simulate a family. It is still a work in progress to get the rest of the kids housed in buildings like these.
        Just outside the main building and courtyard is the Garden of Remembrance. For the orphans who have died at the House of Resurrection, their ashes were spread in this garden. It is beautiful and well maintained and does well for preserving the memory of the children who have passed away.





Missionvale Care Center

Warehouse at the Missionvale Care Center

Inside the  Missionvale Township

        Missionvale is a township in the very poor colored area of Port Elizabeth.  It is also the site I have found the most interest in, because of the opportunity to volunteer in the Care Center's clinic pharmacy and work with the Caregivers, the people who provide basic medical care out in the township. The woman who started the Missionvale Care Center has been there for over 25 years now. She has won numerous awards and has been visited by both Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and several other big names.
          To describe what Missionvale looks like in words would never do it justice. Many of us, including me, had a lot of trouble taking in what I was seeing. I'm not embarrassed to say that it was very difficult to hold back tears, as it was for many of the others. Three out of every five citizens of Missionvale are affected by HIV or AIDS. Right when we arrived we witnessed a food handout with hundreds of people waiting in line.  I have never seen so much poverty in my life. I don't like trying to describe what the township looks like by using a Hollywood film as an example, but Missionvale looks very similar to the slums in the "District 9," which actually is set in Johannesburg, South Africa and is an allegory of the Apartheid government that oppressed the non-whites. The movie makes perfect sense to me now after learning the history of Apartheid. On the more positive side, those of you familiar with Tom's shoes, you would probably like to know that Missionvale was a recent recipient of over 30,000 shoes. The shoes make an incredible difference (the shoes fill the blue labeled boxes in upper picture), and the people are very thankful for it. Besides all of that though, I'm really looking forward to taking on the big projects and trying to do what I can to improve the lives of these people in Missionvale.


        We took a tour of the city prior to touring our Missionvale Service site. We saw many of the old landmarks and learned a lot from our tour guide, Bradley. He was the one who spoke to us Bush Camp about the history of South Africa and other social issues. We took the bus into the townships and when we arrived, the NMMU Missionvale Campus, was immediately across the street. It's brand new, flashy, and very modern. 200 meters away was one of the poorest areas of Port Elizabeth, with shacks made from whatever scrap they could find. I looked to the distance over the roof tops of the shacks, and saw the beach, tall white buildings, and the street we lived on in the very far distance. I started thinking about how polarized everything is in South Africa. The haves, the have-nots. The wealthy, the poor. The whites, the non-whites.  Beach Road (where I live), and township slums 15 minutes away. I could keep going on and on. I can see this becoming very mentally and emotionally draining as we begin our time at our service sites this next week moving between two different worlds. Past students have told me that it really is. There were a few people who actually became edgy and sensitive in response to what others were complaining about later that day, no matter how small.

Missionvale Township in the foreground, Beach Road in Humewood
and west Port Elizabeth in the background.

        It lead to discussion between a few of us about where we draw a line about playing the 'starving or poor people in Africa card,' now that we have actually seen this in person. It is a God-given gift to be healthy and have everything that we do. But should we dwell on what we had just seen and let it penetrate into every facet of our normal day or routine? That would be too overwhelming. We never came up with any definite answers, but we have certainly been thinking about it.



Until next post,
Isaak