Carla Anderson

The great powers of the world may have done wonders in giving the world an industrial and military look, but the great gift still has to come from Africa- giving the world a more human face- Steve Biko.
[From selected readings: I write what I like.]

My first day in South Africa, someone asked me whether Detroit Michigan is the same as Johannesburg. As I stood there on the roof, I discovered that I did not have an answer. I had not walked all the streets of Johannesburg talking and living with its people. By the time we arrived at the University of Zululand in Kwa-Zulu Natal, I think I found my answer. Johannesburg and Detroit are not the same place. They share similar struggles but the façade of their struggles is different. What makes them similar is their struggle in the war for humanity and humanization and this is a struggle we should not forget.

My eyes were opened to this realization by the people of Johannesburg. Their ability for caring and kindness had the strength to help me in my own struggle to see that it was up to Africa to give the world a more human face. Their ability for caring and kindness and to share their time and space with us and to allow us to come and speak with them gave me the greatest gifts: Trust, Faith, and Love.

Our first teachings at Twilight and Drill Hall were emotional for all of us. Our second experience with people who would give us more than we gave them was at the University of Johannesburg on Saturday, May 16, 2009. The students of POA taught the module for two days, and on the second day we gave out certificates for students who learned and taught the module in their own language. Teaching was exciting at the University and I taught with Rocky and Za, two senior students of POA.

It was interesting to work with the students at the University of Johannesburg. They all learned the HIV module the first day and started working on translating the module into their own language working in groups with other students. Watching the students work together, speaking in their own language was a great experience, because it gave me the ability to see that the module really does create dialogue between people.

Sunday we returned to the University of Johannesburg. The students finished translating the module into their own languages and we also held a ceremony to acknowledge their achievements. During the ceremony, the students taught the module in 9 different languages, and they were all amazing.

On Monday, May 18, 2009 we took a bus tour of Soweto and we visited the Soweto Museum. At times you wonder how people can live in a nice area of a city and never see how the rest of the people of the city are living. The tour of Soweto is amazing because we saw things that we never would have seen staying at our hotel.

During our tour of Soweto, we went to the Soweto Museum, dedicated to the children who died during the uprising led by school children against the use of Afrikaans as the language of instruction. School children were hurt, killed, and punished because they rejected a language that was not their own, a language forced upon them. The pictures, the protest signs, and the accounts of the uprising were enough to make one throw up their hands and cry in anguish, as your heart feels tight and it feels the tiny pricks of a thousand needles pricking it slowly in the cruelest torment. It reminds you of the struggle for the humanity and humanization and it shows me that if the people of Africa are strong enough to survive the oppression that they suffered, and they still have the power to forgive, then they are the ones to help the world in our struggle for humanity, trying to give the world a more human face.

Carla Anderson (Zulu name Vuyo) – Teammate Pedagogy of Action 2009