Month: February 2020

“Craft Market” sounds so quaint and rustic, where you pick up some farm-fresh produce or handmade goods. In South Africa, “Craft Market” means food – lots of it. We’ve been to several markets here, and the vast majority of the vendors are food vendors. These aren’t snacks; we’re talking full meals. Big steaks, burgers at ½ kilogram (1.1 lbs.!), what passes for a burrito as big as a football.

One favorite is Mac ‘n Cheese balls – one flavored with Truffled Mushroom! (There’s a bacon flavor too. We saw a sign that said the chemical element symbol for bacon is Mm.). Lastly, there’s the dish that can only be described as a giant pile of stuff cooked on a griddle, about half a basketball in volume, served on a sheet of cardboard.

The menu includes Cape Malay (Malaysians were imported as slaves in the very early days of Cape Town), Lebanese, Turkish, and something called Kooxs. There’s a made-to-order donut shop. Your donuts are cooked as you watch, then dressed with chocolate sauce, sprinkles, whatever, right then. There are 1 kilogram steaks and the ever-popular biltong (kudu? eland? springbock anyone?). Other cooks have propane powered griddles as big as five feet across, cooking rice, stews, and paella. Very carnivore friendly, for the most part.

If you’re thirsty, the market has beer, wine, and at one place, coconuts that were chopped open for you on the spot. We saw only one pastry shop, with cakes, breads, and a chocolate orange cheesecake slice that looked so heavy you’d need both hands to pick it up.

The other thing you notice at a market is that the clientele is overwhelmingly white, in a nation that’s 92% black (we’re in the Western Cape). This speaks to who has disposable income, who has a car, and who has leisure time for market meals. I’ll bet other people are hungry too.

Last week in the grocery store, the woman behind us has two 5-kilo bags of maize. That may have been all the meals for her family till the end of the month.

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.

When we left off, load shedding had just begun – and so had the service!

Rev. Rachel preached in Xhosa, with a scattering of English for the visitors (bless her!). She is really amazing, fluent in at least 3 languages. We need to work on that as we continue our work here.

After her sermon, Rev. Rachel calls up one of the visitors – Sindiwe Magona – to share her story. At 23, as a single mom with 3 kids, she decided that she didn’t want her daughters to be cleaning women nor her son to be a gardener. So, she got her teaching credentials and made sure her children got their education. She is a teacher, civil servant, novelist, poet, playwright, and women’s activist. She was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Bronze for her literary and humanitarian contributions and for using her pen as a weapon for women’s issues, the plight of children, and the fight against apartheid and racism. And at the tender age of 76, she is now studying for a doctorate. Wow.

As the offertory is sung, people get up and make their way to the front to put their offerings in a bowl held by one of the red-cassocked children and overseen by one of the purple-vested men. More singing ensues.

Now it’s time for Holy Communion. If you know the Anglican service, you know the general structure – The Great Thanksgiving, the blessing over the bread and wine, and calling forth the Holy Spirit. And there was the incense – lots of it (apparently the Holy Spirit descends in a very dense cloud!). At one point, the smoke was so thick clouds were rolling out the door and we could barely see the priests or the altar – and we were in the middle of the church! Ten-year old boys take their jobs very seriously.

After Communion (and more singing), it’s time to introduce more visitors – although it’s hard to top Ms. Magona! We are called forward (and the congregation broke into song) to share about our experiences about our visits to the Western Cape. Our carpool group came forward to present a check for R40,000 (about $2600) to the church building fund. They related how another church had helped them with a donation of R100,000 when they were rebuilding – the donors had encouraged them to pay it forward when they were able. In 2019, they gave Eluvukweni the first installment of R60,000. And then they encouraged Eluvukweni to pay it forward in the future. More singing ensued.

Then it was time for individuals to give their thanks for the week. Six people came forward to share their stories, in Xhosa, including one woman from the Mothers’ Union who grabbed Ms. Magona and brought her up front – it turns out that Ms. Magona had been her teacher in primary school – talk about a legacy! Each thankful one made a thank-offering to the church. And we sang.

Next the Church Warden (at least we think he was the Church Warden) came forward to announce the funds received in the collection and from the thank-offerings and to talk about upcoming meetings and services. And the lights come on – the 2-hour load shedding is over and we’re not done yet! And yes, there was more (and more) singing.

The recessional hymn is announced – it’s to the tune used for Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah (Cwm Rhondda for those who know hymn tunes) – now we know the notes that go with the Xhosa words! It was a fitting ending to our smoky experience.

And yes, we will be going back there in 2021! I might even learn a few words of Xhosa by then!

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.

It’s easier to sing in Xhosa than you might think. But I’m ahead of myself.

In 2016, we visited the Crossroads township with Rev. Rachel Mash. Rev. Rachel has been very involved in starting churches, preschools, and schools (those preschoolers have to attend school somewhere!) during her ministry. Among our stops was Eluvukweni Anglican Church (“Resurrection” in Xhosa, and “Xhosa” is pronounced ‘click’-Osa)  

This church is a one-story, rectangle about 40’ x 120’, with cement walls, and a sloped corrugated steel roof.  On special days (e.g., Easter, Christmas) they can have upwards of 600 worshippers, about 25% of them would fit in the building.

This year, Rev. Rachel invited us to a service there. I confess this was definitely out of my comfort zone, but we screwed up our courage and said yes.

At the carpool site, we waited for another group running a bit late, but no worries because “Church starts when the people get there.” Rev. Rachel handed us a hymnal, which we realized was in Xhosa. Her over-the-shoulder comment was “just read it as if it’s Spanish.”

We took our seats in the middle of the church and soon the congregational singing started (OMG! can they sing!). All acapella. In purposeful but random harmony (and lots of lovely bass). Accompanied by drumming on pews, bongo drums, and what can only be called an air pillow held in one hand and clapped with the other.

The Mothers Union, in black skirts, white blouses, purple jackets, and plush caps, sits in the left front. The Girls Brigade are scattered around, wearing (you guessed it) black skirts, white blouses, purple sailor-collar scarves and berets.  The Mizeki Men’s Guild – dressed in black suits, black shirts, black ties, and purple vests – are helping people find seats. For a township with corrugated steel shacks for homes, they truly wore their Sunday best.

The processional hymn is announced, everyone rises, a singer sings the first line of the hymn, then you join in – church has started. Young boys and girls in red cassocks are acolytes. There’s a 10-year old boy with censer (hmmm, a 10-year old swinging something flaming from a chain that puts out a lot of smoke – what could possibly go wrong?). And then there are a couple dozen other servers in various capacities. Good thing there are a lot of verses.

And Rev. Rachel was right – singing in Xhosa is a lot like singing in Spanish. Xhosa is printed phonetically, so you can pronounce the word even if you have no idea what it means. The words are stretched out across the notes so you actually have time to pronounce them (some you recognize like Yesu and Yerusaleme). As for the tune, with all the harmony going on, it’s hard to hit a wrong note! Plus, you don’t just sing – you sway, you dip, sometimes you clap – you get your whole body involved.

For some hymns, they broke out cowbells and drumsticks, and even whistles. Those songs were more enthusiastic (Greek: enthousiastikos, ‘possessed by a god’) and often meant getting up and moving around the church. After the verses are over, they just keep going, singing. . . . something. Eventually, there’s a signal – people sit, finish the verse, and quiet down. All this in a 40’ x 120’ space.

Of course, reading Xhosa for the Nicene Creed and the prayers was a whole other thing – by the time you pronounced “Hai in-ywe-ba yo-ma-me-la u-ku-vu-ma o-ko,” they were 2 lines ahead of you.

The Bible readings were in Xhosa; the Psalm was chanted in Xhosa (good luck with that!). But the Gospel (including incense! Rolling clouds of it!) was in English. Then, right on cue, the lights went out – it was the 10 AM load shedding!

End of Episode 1!

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.

Neither the Anglican nor Methodist churches we attend down here have hymnals with music in them. The words are there, but the no notes. For someone who sort-of reads music, this is a huge challenge for the worship experience. And for an alto who doesn’t like hovering on notes above D, it’s particularly stressful.

It’s not just the hymns. The Anglican service includes a number of sung responses – the Gloria, the Sanctus, and even the Lord’s Prayer in a form you’ve never heard before. Compared with figuring out these tunes, sorting through the rest of  the Book of Common Prayer during the service is a piece of cake!

There aren’t even hymn tune names – not that I would know these anyway. The organist plays an introduction, and occasionally a light will come on – “Oh, this is In Christ There Is No East or West” (St. Peter, not McKee!) – and then you can sing like you know what you are doing (and even make up harmony on the fly if you are lucky!).

Much of the time it’s literally “fake it till you make it.” Of course, the analogy is not lost on us. Much of life is about muddling through with words and no music – but with great sincerity. We’re reminded that the “Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26) – I’m sure we’re the source of many Spiritual sighs during the hymns!!

And singing “new” words to a familiar tune – or familiar words to a new tune – can really give your brain a workout. It can make you appreciate familiar texts in a different way – think of singing O Little Town of Bethlehem to Forest Green instead of the stodgy old St. Louis (it’s life-changing!).

Most of all, we’ve learned that the trick is not to let the details get in the way of the big picture – the important thing is to feel the light and sing, with or without music.

PS  It’s even more interesting in a foreign language like Xhosa, but more on that in a future post!

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.

Fire Season in this area of South Africa, it’s either the rainy season or it’s fire season. Fires take on a whole other meaning for the millions in the Western Cape who live cheek-by-jowl in in the “informal settlements.” These neighborhoods are sprawling areas of corrugated steel shacks (4 walls and a roof) on sandy ground with no running water or sewers — and sometimes, no electricity. Cooking is done over an open fire. The residents are jammed in so tight that if a fire gets out of hand, several shacks can be burned in a minute.

It’s also the windy season, fanning any flame. When we attended All Saints Church, they announced that such a fire had destroyed all the possessions of dozens of people, and a special collection was being made to help. The government might give the survivors “sheets” of corrugated steel to rebuild their shacks, leaving it up to the Anglicans and others to provide the other necessities of life. For example, in South Africa, if you don’t have a school uniform, you don’t attend school, so uniforms were part of the assistance. The Diocese of False Bay includes more than a million people living in these “informal settlements.” This country has the greatest inequality in the world. That’s a daily challenge.

Load Shedding – There’s an App for That

No, “Load Shedding” is not a new diet fad; it’s the electric grid shutting down for a couple hours at a time. The electric utility, Eskom, is unable to meet demand a lot of the time. Often, sometimes twice a day (!), the electricity goes off– in the most industrialized nation in all of Africa. It ought to be better than this.

Eskom helps with tweets and a load-shedding app to tell you that a blackout is coming. Mismanagement and corruption have led to low capacity and high utility debt, so repairs and new power-generation facilities are slow in coming. Consequently, schools and businesses have to close, refrigerators and other appliances are strained, and the economy suffers.

Saturday night, the power was out between 8 and 10:30 PM (!). We watched the parking attendant at the restaurant across the street take off his safety vest and head for home because the restaurant closed (no cooking). The wait staff didn’t get their pay and usual tips. And the parking attendant – working only for tips– got nothing. So load shedding means no money for a guy with no other job. Industrial production disruptions, unpaid workers, and a national debt closer to junk bond status, all because of unreliable electricity. Just one more thing to deal with in addition to all the other problems life throws at you. Of course, the poor have it hardest. At least in the informal settlements (shacks) they don’t turn of the electricity. The loss of streetlights would enable greater crime and violence than the severe levels they have already. Candlelight dinners are nice, but not this way.

What we’re actually doing in South Africa

This is a picture of a bit of Visual Basic code (It doesn’t look too basic for me!). This is a program written to assist the Diocesan Office track the leave requests of the priests and office staff. Previously, they circulated a sheet of paper to collect signatures, and Diocese staff tallied leave in a notebook by hand. We still have the leave request paper, but the data are now processed in an Excel Worksheet with the click of a button.

This and other pieces of code do the work of recording, adding and subtracting, and remembering. The newest version creates a new year (they start their year in February!), and cleans out last year’s entries. Additional priests and retirements are also handled by clicking a button on the screen.

Volunteering in church work can take on many forms depending on your gifts. We’re not building or teaching or preaching in our thick American accents or “working in the garden” (a phrase they use here that may mean something else). Instead, we provide office automation and a simplified form of management consulting for the Diocese and our Methodist colleagues. We can’t decide what actions they need to take, but for people trained in theology and psychology, we can teach them fundraising writing forms and a type of structured decision making that leads to better alternatives and, hopefully better outcomes. Besides, we didn’t bring any gardening clothes with us, and the sizes here are all in metric!

Traveling lets you experience different cultures, climates, geographies, and philosophies.  We’ve appreciated different kinds of art, food, and customs across the countries we’ve visited.

But we are also reminded of our commonalities.  It’s not just that we all want the best for our kids, or that we want to treat others as we would want to be treated.  Alas, it is the case that in the most unequal societies – and the US is included in that group – the lowest earners and least powerful have it harder.

Bishop Margaret Vertue in the Diocese of False Bay (east of Cape Town, South Africa), described to us the problems of gender-based violence, bullying, teen-age pregnancies, and substance abuse. And yes, we have those in the US too.  But then she continued to talk about families who are told in the morning that their home (literally, a shack) will be bulldozed today and they need to get all their belongings out before the equipment comes.

So children subject to bullying live in townships where a home may not be there when they return from school.  They have electricity (when there isn’t load shedding), but no running water, communal water taps that leak (and water is precious in still-in-drought South Africa), and port-a-johns that line the townships’ edges. Oh, and 11 official languages!  How do you do your homework under these conditions? As parents, how do you raise your children? 

But Bishop Margaret said the church is THERE to help house the homeless when the bulldozers come, giving them “sheets” (corrugated steel for walls and roofs).  The church is THERE to help growers and workers mediate a harvesting solution .  The church is THERE to help people who have lost everything to fires (it’s fire season in the Western Cape).  The church is THERE to advocate for victims of violence and abuse.

We in the US do this too.  We help people find jobs, pay bills, feed their families (thank you #MetMin in Chattanooga!).  It’s often a matter of scale and scope, but we’re in the same business.  We are loving our neighbors as ourselves. We need to keep doing this at the local, regional, state, national, and international levels as well. We need to be THERE.

Authors: Jeanne and Randy spend some of their time in South Africa helping the Anglican and Methodist churches with their work on ECD centers, youth programs, and other priority projects for church staff.