River Days and Nights

Kayaking the Orange River in Namibia is a fantastic way to explore the scorching desert while staying cool. Before embarking on this four day water adventure, you, and your group will be paired with experienced local river guides. As you float down the river you will find you are surrounded by an ancient geological landscape. Kayaking skills will be put to the test paddling through challenging, but exciting rapids. After a long day on the river you are welcomed by an African night with the Milky Way hanging above your head and a warm meal cooked by your river guides. This kayaking adventure is recommended for anyone who is capable of vigorous physical activity and who possess the eagerness to explore the Orange River!
-- Text by Izzi, Junior, Kansas and photos by Tate, Junior, NY (click on the photo to view the Namibian night sky in its full glory!)

My Traitor’s Heart Reading Response

In this section, Malan delves into the BC-UDF (Black Consciousness-United Democratic Front) aspect of black on black violence in the mid-80’s. He tries to understand the opposing sides of Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela supporters by interviewing some of them and hearing stories. There are many tales of horrific murder and casualties taken on both sides of the struggle. Then he goes into the more metaphorical realm of wishing to be blind to all the violence occurring at the time.

In the beginning of this book, Malan talked about a paradox, his struggle within it and how blacks didn’t work together. I remember pondering and writing about this question of unity. Why, if they wanted essentially the same thing couldn’t they work together to achieve it? This section brought things together. It explains the differences in the BC and UDF movements. It also answered other questions. Early on in history class, when we were just first beginning to learn about South Africa’s struggles, I grappled with the idea of good and bad. Malan sums it up by asking, “Who were the good guys? (pg. 270)” That is the exact question I struggled with and heard many others ponder as well. I believe it is deeply rooted in human nature (whether by cultural upbringing or part of our wiring I don’t know) to seek out clear distinctions between good and bad. A question frequently asked is, “Is that good or bad? Was he good or bad?” We seem to have this need to categorize by moral standing and thus orient ourselves to whatever is of question. However human nature is also such that there is hardly, if ever, an answer as simple as good vs. evil. The South African struggle epitomizes this concept fully. Originally the ANC affiliated UDF seems to be the good guys in the black war (or at least the only one a white would side with without condemning themselves). The ANC seems the logical to side with regarding the entire struggle. Their beliefs are the ones that fit closest to mine. Yet, in this section, Malan describes atrocious crimes committed by members of the UDF, committed even by Nelson Mandela’s wife. Suddenly my easy understanding of good vs. bad, right vs. wrong is shattered. It was never actually that simple, I was aware of some of the complexities involved in the whole situation, but the barrage of violent images and stories Malan showed me reiterated how complex it all is. Malan says, “In this war, as in all wars, there were no innocent parties and no innocent bystanders (pg. 260).” No one was innocent; no one was entirely “good.” There was violence on both sides, and in fact there are more than two sides. Malan talks about the paradox of being a sympathetic white during this time. “If you believe in neither [side], the paradox fractured your skull and burned its poisonous claws in your brain (pg. 276).” I can now begin to understand how Malan felt. There are no easy answers. As a learner of history I want to take sides, but there are no sides to which I feel I could belong to. As a participant during the time I can only imagine how intensified this feeling would be. It would be so much easier to just shove it to the back of the brain, to turn a blind eye. And yet just as there are no innocent bystanders in a war, there are no innocent learners of history. I believe it is my obligation to not turn a blind eye on the atrocities of the past. I must learn from them and utilize that knowledge. Only if we recognize the past, and our mistakes in it, will we be able to move forward to a better future. And there will never be easy answers, single sided stories or a clear, good and bad, but as a member of this earth; I must try the best I can. That’s all I can ask of anyone, including Rian Malan.

--Nell, Sophomore, WA

More Class Updates

Travel Journalism

These past few weeks in Global Studies we focused on educating girls in the developing world. Using the book Half the Sky as a lens, we learned that educating young women is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty in the developing world. Girls face many issues. In some countries, families choose to educate boys over girls, believing it is more economically viable to marry off teenage daughters than to keep them in school. In other parts of the world, girls are so devalued that they are aborted or killed as infants. Some young women sent away to earn money for the family often become entangled in the dark world of sex trafficking. The authors of Half the Sky call the unnecessary death and disappearance of thousands of girls across the world each year “gendercide”. They demonstrate through stories and statistics the benefits of keeping girls alive and educated. By questioning the ways aid is implemented in the developing world, the authors investigate various methods of keeping girls in school. The students connected deeply to this topic. They expressed their frustration with the world's general underestimation of girls' potential, and the epidemic devaluing of women worldwide. We began to discuss the idea of aid and how to best affect change and growth in places struggling with human rights issues.

--Caroline

Math Concepts

For the past couple of weeks the math concepts class has focused on the "Game of Life". Characters encountered life twists such as marriage, medical expenses, and job loss/gain. These issues showed the students the importance of saving and planning for the financial responsibilities of adulthood. Students managed checkbooks and credit card registers deepening their understanding of life skills. As the Game of Life concludes the class will move into creating resumes and general understanding of economics.

--Aunge and Brenna

Travel Journalism
When we arrived in Cape Town the girls truly became journalists. I saddled the girls with a "Record and Ask" assignment. The task was to have them write about three of the five activities they did in Cape Town. They were required to ask questions of the tour guide, document the pluses and minuses of the tour or academic activity and record what types of people would enjoy such an activity. The TJ girls were charged with writing in a Lonely Planet style, providing other tourists with pertinent information to help them make decisions during their travels about what to do and see. Look for an update on the blog from the girls and our travels in Cape Town.

--Brenna

On Table Mountain and Other Adventures

Table Mountain looms over Cape Town as one of the first things you see upon arrival and the last thing to disappear as you wave goodbye to the city. It is often covered by a table cloth of ominous clouds that drape over the vast, flat summit. However, when TTS18 set off for the top last weekend, the weather shined down on us with hot sunshine and clear skies all around. The girls chose whether to hike to the top or enjoy a mellower ride up the scenic cable car. No matter the transport method, all girls had a fantastic day. The hikers were a bit weary after a three hour hike, but they played games and cheered one another up the steep sections. It was a true sign of teamwork and sisterhood. Their other half greeted them eagerly at the top and all spent time recording their surroundings in their science journals. The group joyfully drifted back down to the city below via the cable car, taking pictures and ogling over the ocean views the whole way down. This was a great adventure to gain perspective of the city's layout, the surrounding Cape Flats, and the waterline. The girls had a bird's eye view of Robben Island from the top of the mountain – a great precursor to the following day’s adventure out to the infamous prison which held Nelson Mandela for over 20 years.

--Aunge

More Academic Activities in Cape Town
Thursday was a day filled with cultural and academic opportunities. We started by visiting a class at the the University of the Western Cape (UWC). It was a class for prospective teachers in South Africa, where the Freshman students discussed the educational difficulties facing the area. At the college we also had a chance to view the university's Robben Island Museum and Mayibuye Archives from Apartheid times. These archives included photographs never viewed by the public as well as letters written to political prisoners at Robben Island. After our tour back in time, we headed to a secondary school in a colored township with our guide, University professor and longtime TTS friend, Toni Sylvestor. The girls were met by enthusiastic faces eager to learn about us and we them. The day ended with a tour of a black township. Here the girls saw firsthand how the living conditions vary from township to township and the continued poverty and extremes in living conditions in the Cape Town metropolitan area. Though it was a full day the girls were able to obtain insight into different ways of life in South Africa and the history it has yet to overcome.

--Brenna

Science class on Table Mountain

Most recently, we traveled to the top of Table Mountain. A group of students hiked to the top, traveling slowly through the two main rock types that make up Table Mountain (mudstone and sandstone – quartzite). Another group sped over the beautiful geologic formation while riding up on the tram car. The entire group met at the top, enjoying the spectacular view of the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic Ocean. Students completed an extensive field journal entry on the landscape of Table Mountain and the specific rock types observed. This case study of the geology of Table Mountain will be carried over into the next few weeks as we officially begin our Geology Unit. The students will continue to look at the landscape and analyze, how did these features come to be? What forces are working on this landscape today? What will this look like in the future?

- Leah

Algebra 2 Class Update

To wrap up the first half of the semester, the students completed their Chapter 3 studies with a comprehensive test. In Chapter 3 students learned to solve systems of linear equations and linear inequalities. We explored three dimensional coordinate systems in terms of graphing points and solving linear systems with three variables. Starting this week, we will move into Chapter 4, studying Matrices. Students have also diligently completed weekly budgets, tracking their individual spending money. They will continue with these as we cross the border and transition to working with the Namibian Dollar.

- Leah

Meeting Denis Goldberg, Freedom Fighter

On Friday the group had lunch with Denis Goldberg. Goldberg was tried alongside Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trial in 1964, the only white man to be convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Raised by Communist parents in a working class suburb of Johannesburg, Goldberg recognized the gross inequalities in South Africa at a young age and joined the struggle against the Apartheid government in his twenties. Because of his background in engineering, he was recruited by Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC, to assist in its mission of sabotage. He built bombs, planned missions, and trained recruits. Eventually caught, Goldberg spent 22 years incarcerated, separated from his family and his comrades. Goldberg was sent alone to a prison for whites in Pretoria, while his black comrades went together to Robben Island. The men on Robben Island built a community of dissidents within the prison; companionship was crucial to the survival of their bodies, minds, and spirits. Alienated and alone in Pretoria, Goldberg did not have this support system. The white warders who worked at the prison harbored a deep hatred for Goldberg because they saw his support of the black struggle as a betrayal of his race. Consequently, he was not allowed to see his wife and had limited contact with his children. Despite these hardships and enormous sacrifices, Goldberg continued to fight for the ANC after his release from prison in 1985. In exile in London, he became a spokesperson for the struggle abroad while attempting a private reconciliation with a wife and children he had not seen for decades. Goldberg eventually returned to South Africa to work in the new government. Today, he is an activist, a writer, a lecturer and an advocate. He founded H.E.A.R.T, a non-profit whose mission is to better the living conditions of black children in South Africa. He also raises money for a variety of organizations that promote racial equality. One such organization is a music academy that gives disadvantaged children opportunities through music. A talented young singer from this academy entertained us during lunch. Goldberg is a gifted orator - his words were, for lack of a better word, inspirational. He spoke with equanimity about the struggles of the current ANC leadership, explained why he believes that an armed struggle against Apartheid was necessary in South Africa, and urged the students to see the apartheid not as a racial issue, but as an issue of human rights. He said (and I paraphrase): "I was not struggling for black rights in South Africa, but for HUMAN rights." Many of the girls were able to purchase Goldberg's memoir, The Mission: A Life for Freedom in South Africa, but everyone was not able to get the book before they left South Africa: http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2010/07/12/denis-goldbergs-memoir-the-mission-launched-at-the-book-lounge-plus-videos/.

Caroline