Sarah Luke's Weblog

Apparently is also popular among the eThekwini municipality. That song played over and over again at the International Translator's Day Celebration at City Hall. One of my co-workers and I served as delegates from the HRC, and we attended the day-long event together. The program included various traditional and contemporary dance performances, short skits, speeches, and musical numbers. Each performance highlighted an official language, and the keynote speaker stressed the importance of linguistic pluralism in eThekwini (the city of Durban).

Friday evening, Amanda and I had dinner on "trendy" Florida Road, and stopped off at the youth hostel she had stayed in when first ariving in South Africa. The hostel reminded me of a cheesy movie set: bright colors, empty bottles, a random pool table sitting outside, and 15 "30-somethings" from all over Europe and Africa bopping to the strangest mix of techno and reggae I had ever heard. The bartender sang along... it was hillarious.

Saturday included a trip to Essenwood market, where we perused countless arts and crafts and marveled at the different street performers. The weather was perfect, and I ended the day with some grocery shopping at Woolies and a nice evening beside the pool at the B&B.

Sunday marked the centennial commemoration of the founding of 'Satyagraha,' Gandhi's philosophy for nonviolent resistance. I attended a celebration at the cricket stadium where I recieved a commemorative T-shirt and cap :) Again, there was lots of Zulu dancing, as well as bharata natyum and some western performances. Many youths attended the celebration with Indian and South African flags attached to their caps. The Indian Prime Minister attended as well.

Following the ceremony, I looked through the market in the CBD (central business district). The weather was perfect, and there was quite a variety of merchandise: Levis jeans, fake Prada and Gucci, traditional arts and crafts. Something for everyone! :)

I'm back at work now, researching for two different files so our provincial manager can decide whether the HRC should represent the complainants. I'm learning a lot about research as well as strategy. I'm sure it will prove an interesting week.

Cheers.

Just a few of the interesting activities I've engaged in this week at the HRC.

My HRC office hosts a biweekly radio program on Durban Youth Radio station. This week, I attended the program and spoke about the s.29 Right to Basic Education. I helped explain the right and answer questions regarding the realization of the right in KZN. The radio station is run by university students, and the atmosphere was friendly and eclectic. It almost felt like Ann Arbor.

My friend Arthi and I also had the opportunity to present our report from the Roundtable Discussion on School Based Violence to delegates from the European Union. The EU sponsors the Civil Society Advocacy Program, of which one officer is based in our HRC office. The EU is threatening to pull funding from the program, so the delegate's visit was of primary importance. Arthi and I were honored to make the presentation.

We also took the delegate to an elementary school in Umgababa, a rural community just outside Durban. The HRC had secured a settlement on behalf of a learner at the school who had fallen into a pit latrine. The HRC is pressuring the Department of Education to replace such latrines at all elementary schools with toilet facilities more suitable for small children. The little girl who fell into the latrine was only 5 years old, and she could have drown. We saw the latrines, the classrooms, and kitchen facilities. The children had mostly left already. There were cows wandering around. The kids did not have a playground. I was amazed with the contrast between the Umgababa school and the schools in Durban.

Tonight Arthi is taking me to a festival at her temple. It should be fun. I'll be sure to take pictures. Once my computer is fixed I'll post them. :)

Cheers

Biscuits are cookies... and chips are french fries... potato chips are crisps... slowly I'm learning :) I've been in South Africa for one month! Can hardly believe it. :) The time is flying by...

I attempted making biscuits last week... but forgot about that whole "metric system" that they use here. ;) I had to guess on the measurements because I didn't have a measuring cup... and I had to guess on the temperature as well. The cookies ended up... interesting ;) This weekend I went to Mr. Price and bought some measuring cups. I also converted the oven temps in my recipe. I'll try again ;)

Last weekend I attended a temple festival with my friend Arthi. It was really nice. The music was really nice, and the temple was beautiful. People were dancing and singing, and Arthi taught me how to offer a lamp. :) I took pictures, which I will post when I get my computer back from the shop.

I also purchased some local music. A genre called "kwaito" which is like South African hip hop. Most of the songs are in local vernacular, but some of them also have english intermixed. One of the artists, Tuks, incorporates songs from the musical "Rent" in one of his tracks. It's really funny :) I'll probably go and get a few more CDs. I like listening to the music here.

This week I've been working to prepare for a workshop we are conducting in Richard's Bay on the 23 and 24 of October. We are training social workers on human rights issues, so I am researching all the pertinent statutes and constitutional provisions and coming up with exercises and fact patterns for them to discuss. It will should be fun :)

Durban is hosting its beachfront Diwali festival this weekend, and I look forward to the festivities. I've heard that it is really fun and there's lots to see, so I will definitely be bringing my camera :) They also have retailors from India in the exhibition center. I've purchased two sarees already... and will probably go back for more!

Next week Arthi and I are attending the University of Natal Law School's Moot Court competition. We are really looking forward to it. She told me she will show me the campus and introduce me to some of her profs. The students are arguing constitutional issues, which will be particularly interesting... hopefully some of them involve human rights. ;) The keynote speaker at the event will be Jody Kollapen, the chairperson of the HRC. It should be a great event!

Well, I think that that's all for now. :) I'll write again soon, and hopefully my computer will be fixed soon... and then I can post those pics :)

Cheers.

My coworker asked me... I guess they are getting to know me pretty well here. I don't even go into the kitchen that often... My hair ends up in the wierdest places. I'm surprised I have any left. ;)

This past weekend they had a staff appreciation braii at the B&B. Thus, after work on Friday, my friend Themba accompanied me to the Durban exhibition center to purchase Panjabi outfits as gifts for the girls who work at the B&B. He's a boy, so I'm not really sure why he wanted to shop for sarees (hee hee)... I think he was just trying to be nice so I wouldn't have to go alone...

Indian vendors were holding an expo at the exhibition center, so we had to haggle for a good deal on the outfits. After purchasing the outfits, my friend Eugene came with me to the braii. The girls really liked the outfits, and were excited to have them in time for Diwali (this coming Saturday). One of them told me how excited she was to have an Indian outfit for "Indian Christmas." I thought that was so cute :) I guess Diwali is Indian Christmas, in a way ;)

My B&B hosts, Peter and Jean, are getting married this coming saturday as well, so the girls will have nice new outfits to wear at the wedding. I volunteered to be the wedding photographer, so hopefully I'll get some nice pictures for Jean and Peter :) It should be really nice.

On Saturday Prof. Govender and his daughter took me to the Durban Diwali festival at the beachfront. His wife is a professional classical dancer and we got to see her perform at the festival. It was a very nice performance. The festival was so crowded that it was hard to walk around. I think my professor wanted me to buy a statute... but I wasn't sure I'd be able to take it back to the US in one piece. It was a nice evening. I ate too much :)

Sunday was 82 degrees and sunny. After church I spent a few hours sunbathing. One of the girls at the B&B, Patience, thought that I was crazy. She was asking me why I was laying out in the sun when it was so hot outside. She asked me if I knew how to work the air conditioner in my room. She thought I was nuts! It was really funny... I take it Zulu people don't really sunbathe. ;)

Today one of the professors from Michigan is coming to check in on Amanda and I. We are going out for lunch this afternoon. It should be nice.

Tomorrow Arthi and I are attending the moot court competition at University of Natal Howard College of Law. Jody Kollapen, the Chairman of the SAHRC, is the keynote speaker at the event. They will be debating a constitutional issue. It should be fun. :)

I think that's all for now. Until later, cheers!

Last weekend I worked as "official photographer" of my B&B hosts', Peter and Jean's, wedding. :) The ceremony took place at the B&B conference center, and afterwards everyone went swimming. They invited close friends and family. It was very nice :) I felt honored that they included me in their special day, and it was a joy to take photos for them.

Following the wedding, I went to my friend Eugene's flat to watch soccer with him and his friends... I know you are wondering when I developed an interest in soccer, but I'll have you know that I played fulback during 4th and 5th grade with the Grand Rapids Rec. Dept.'s "Rocket Soccer" program. :) It was fun. His flat is sort of like a dormitory/ residence hall: All University of KZN students. I felt like I was hanging out in Couzens with friend at Michigan... it's funny how some things are so universal :)

That evening, I went to my friend Arthi's house to celebrate Diwali with her family. It was so nice of them to include me. :) Arthi and her mom had worked from morning till night each day that week preparing dinner and "sweet meats." The food was delicious, and it was really nice to meet her cousing and aunts and uncles. It's funny how spending time with her family made it a little easier to be so far away from mine. :) We watched fireworks, laughed, talked, and had a great time. I'm blessed to have such a great friend!

Amanda and I visited UShaka Marine World where we marvelled at the fish, sharks, and other sea creatures in the aquarium. The aquarium at the resort is an old restored ship. It was really neat. I took pictures... Will post soon :)

After Ushaka, we went to North Beach, the beach that I usually run at. Although this time, instead of jogging, we went sunbathing and swimming. The water is warm, because it's the Indian Ocean. There were artists along the piers who made the most amazing sand sculptures. We had ice cream cones... I got sunburned. It was so fun!

The following week at work I went with my supervisor, Tanuja, to Richard's Bay where we facilitated a workshop regarding human rights issues facing people in social services professions. I had worked very hard preparing a power point presentation and countless activities and exercises. We covered the Bill of Rights, the Equality Act, Equality and HIV/AIDS issues, Socio economic rights, children's rights, older persons rights, and Access to Information. I also had to opportunity to explore a bit of Richard's Bay. It's a beautiful area... kind of sleepy... lots of Africaaners...very different from Durban.

When I returned to Durban on Wednesday, I began work on a prescribed question from the plenary meeting in Jo'Burg. The question was basically a law school exam :P It involved the right to assembly and the right to freedom of expression. The problem questioned limitations of those rights by both the national legislature and a University's governing body. I stayed late in the office the rest of the week buried under treatises... the Equality Act... Section 36 (the limitations clause)... we ordered pizza and pontificated until all hours of the evening. It was fun, in a nerdy law school type of way. I felt like a "real lawyer." :) I'm working on revisions right now, but my boss liked the analysis I gave her. I think we're doing a good job :)

Last weekend Amanda and I went on SAFARI!! We knocked off early on friday and headed out to Kruger National Park for countless game drives... We saw four of the "Big Five:" Elephant, Buffallo, Lion, Rhino :) Interestingly, the Big Five are not the biggest animals... they are the most dangerous animals. Sometimes it was a bit freaky... we saw the lions and the buffalo having a face off... The buffalo put the lions in their place, and the lions went on to attack the impala. Ah, the circle of life... :) It really did look like the Lion King movie. I even saw Zazu.

There were no game drives during the day, so sometimes we took naps, or Amanda went swimming. I climbed a tree and ate the monkey oranges :) It was so fun. The guides laughed at me, but I was getting bored... so what else was I supposed to do? :) Don't worry, I took pictures!

On that note... MY COMPUTER IS FIXED! Thanks to Gary, my friend from Jo'Burg ;) He said that he would bring it with him to Capetown, so I should have my computer by this weekend. I am so excited! Be prepared for more pics... I have taken over 100 :) Just need to upload them.

One final update: Character and Fitness... yeah. So, a normal person would have taken note that character and fitness applications are due on November 1 for the February bar... and would have completed the application in Michigan. I, on the other hand, apparently like to do things the hardest way possible... so I have been working on my application in Durban. Just got fingerprinted today, in fact! What a chore... now for the cashier's checks. Needless to say, mine will be a late application... but with all this work, I hope they appreciate the expedited airmail from the sunny SA. :) I'll be so glad to have it done. Special thanks to Captain Farris from church for sending me the Michigan fingerprint cards... and also to all my friends at the HRC for helping me get things notarized, get fingerprinted, and basically navigate Durban throughout this process...

Speaking of the HRC... I'm still at work and my lunch break is almost over... so I'd better go :)

Cheers!

I come on my knees to lay down before You
Bringing all that I am longing only to know You
Seeking Your face, and not only Your hand
I find You embracing me
Just as I am

So what could I bring to honor Your majesty?
What song could I sing that would move the heart of royalty?
And all that I have is the life that you’ve given me
So Lord let me live for you: my song with humility
And Lord as the love song of my life is played
I have one desire: To bring glory to Your name

To my audience of one: You are Father, and You are Son.
As Your spirit flows free, let it find within me a heart that beats to praise You.
And now just to know You more has become my great reward:
To see Your kingdom come and Your will be done
I only desire to be Yours, Lord.

-- Big Daddy Weave, One and Only