Saturday, November 22, 2008

Life is full of little miracles



Siyabonga Caleb Moyo
born 15 November 2008 at 13:40 to the proud parents of Amanda and Sipho Moyo



Amanda, Sipho and I have become good friends in the last months. It has been exciting to be with them as they made all the preparations for their son. This photo was taken in the hospital about 5 hours after he came into the world :)Isn't he gorgeous! (p.s Siyabonga means thankful/thankyou in zulu)

Friday, November 21, 2008

Home Affairs

The last place I would wish for anyone to have to spend their day is waiting in a line at the immigration office. I have heard horror stories from these places. It is more like an amoeba than a line of people waiting to see the next available officer. In fact, the immigration and refugee office here has a daily sea of people that flow past the immediate grounds and into the park across the street. Being aware of this I have been working diligently (and nervously) to gather the stack of documents necessary to extend my visa. I wanted to be absolutely certain that I would only have to wait in the line once. Last week Thursday I even took a special trip down to the visa renewal office at the Home Affairs building to scope out the whole scene and gauge the amount of patience I was going to need to be prepared with.
Last night I felt this urgency within me informing me that I needed to go to Home Affairs today. I was a little anxious because I didn’t quite have all the documentation that could possibly be requested. Like most things, it is taking much longer than expected to obtain a South African health insurance plan that will cover me next year. I have attempted to meet with the representative on campus a half dozen times without success. But at the urging of something from within me, I gathered the completed but unprocessed application for South African medical insurance along with the copy of my current health insurance, and took the risk to get this done. I arrived at the office at 7:35AM, 15 minutes past the time I was recommended to pitch up (yet to be expected, as I am typically late wherever I go) To my great surprise and astonishment, there was only three people in the waiting area. Taking a seat on the bench to the right I prayed that I chose the right bench to sit on as there was no resemblance of a line. And the ambiguity of this ‘line’ only intensified as more people poured in behind me. By the time I left the office an hour and a half later, there was no place to sit and definitely no semblance of a line.
After an hour of waiting I was in a small, dank room talking with an officer. He picked through my application with a fine tooth comb. My anxiety rose with every question he asked anticipating rejection of my application… not the right forms, not enough forms, signature isn’t identical on every document- I sat waiting for him to tell me to come back another day and do this all over again. However, to my surprise and delight, he stapled it together and placed my application in the bin to be processed and then informed me to pick up my extended visa in two weeks. :) I wanted to kiss him on the cheek and dance all the way out the door. Things usually never work out like they are “supposed” to around here, you know, the way I think they should or in the time I want things to be done. My friend Matt refers to this a ‘mazanzi style’, and it continuously forces me to take a big chill pill and to rejoice in the little things.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

ready. set. write.

After a lot of doubt, a long struggle and even a few tears, I submitted the first stage of my research project- the proposal. and in turn this week has been filled with rejoicing. I have received approval from the higher degrees committee at UKZN! I can officially move forward on my dissertation research. My thesis will be entitled:
Is nutritional priority given to pregnant women? An exploration of intra-household food allocation: a qualitative study of poor rural pregnant women in the Inchanga area.
I have spent the last couple of weeks organizing notes and obtaining articles to read. I even organized all my files on my computer- Richard, you would be so proud ;) All that to say, I am feeling pretty good about the project and am ready to start writing. I will spend the remainder of this month in my study office at my school with the goal of writing the first three chapters before I return to California for Christmas holidays!!
Upon my return to Durban in January, I will begin my fieldwork interviewing pregnant women in the Inchanga area. Inchanga is a rural area about a 50 minute drive from Durban. I was introduced to the area through the work of Rotary. I am excited to learn about and utilize the qualitative research methods...and a bit nervous about using a translator. I'll keep you posted as the work progresses. In the mean time, thanks for celebrating this small victory with me!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

update

it is a gorgeous day here! the sun is shining and the wind is gently playing in the trees. we are supposed to be heading into summer however, as of late the weather has been mostly rainy and gray.
my absence from this blog is due to the fact that life has been both full and good. All of my coursework was completed about a month ago!! and as you expected, i did thoroughly enjoy the seminars and received good marks. my final two classes were Research Methods and Social Policy (social policy being one of my favorite courses in the whole program). since then I have been putting together my proposal for my research and will submit my proposal to the higher degrees committee next week! I have received positive feedback from my supervisor and other professors, so it is becoming exciting. I will spend the next two months reading and writing the first three chapters of my dissertation, then will be doing my fieldwork at a rural government clinic here in KZN in January. this will consist of interviewing pregnant women to obtain information on their needs/nutrition and whether they receive a priority within their household. I had a fascinating experience last week when I visited the antenatal clinic. while i was there 3 pregnant women came in for normal visit and I then I also watched two women have their stitches removed after c-section- my quesyness confirmed the very reason I am not a nurse, but rather am working toward a master's in development studies.

the big news is that I have decided to stay on in South Africa! As mentioned, I will do my field research in January after I return for a short visit over the Christmas holiday. In addition to writing my dissertation I will be working in the church. I have transferred my membership to the local congregation in morningside and have my local minister's license here. in addition to learning what it is to be a pastor (doing hospital visits, preaching, weddings, etc) I am also heading up the compassionate ministries/missions outreach arm of the church throughout the upcoming year. this will be a great experience and i'm excited!

Christmas holidays:
I will be in California for about a month- 10 December -7 January! (though still looking for a flight to return to SA) I am really exited to return home for a bit to have some good mexican food and visit family and friends! It has been a long while so it will be so goood to catch up! :)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

School of Development Studies

In case anyone is interested, here is the link to my study program. I even managed to get tagged in a photo on the home page.

http://sds.ukzn.ac.za

Its a fantastic program- rigorous and challenging in its demands, beautiful in its diversity and full of opportunity to explore the issues I am passionate about. It's been good for me.

Things I will do today:
-read, read, read
-speak to my research supervisor who will enable me to
-write, write, write
-trade back massages with Anna
-run with Mary

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Hluhluwe-Infolozi Game Park




































It was fun to hang out of the truck to get a photo with the elephant. He was a stubborn old man who wouldn't move out of the road to let us pass by on our morning game drive. It was incredible to wake at 4 am, while the stars were still glimmering in the sky, to have several moments to commune with nature. Our morning drive departed from base promptly at 6 am with the sun just beginning to come up over the horizon. As we made our way through the park, eyes fixated on the bush waiting for movement and ears attuned to the choir of birds, we saw three of South Africa's big five- elephant, rhino and buffalo, plus giraffes, zebra and lots of other fun things. One of the highlights was the Tuesday morning hike that we went on. We came across a rhino and her cub who gracefully glided through the brush about 50 yards from where we were walking. It was beautiful. I went with Anna's parents and had 3 wonderful days and two nights.
This trip was the final trip for my 'winter' travel. We returned to Durban on Wednesday July 30 only to commence courses on Thursday. After such a free and fantastic time of travel I am finding it a bit difficult to regather all the discipline I know that is within me to focus on coursework again. But it is a good process. I am so grateful for all these experiences. I have been refreshed and rejuvenated in ways I didn't know was possible. I know that the energy and peace gained over the last six weeks will better enable me to find that delicate balance between studies/the things that are required of me and the things that bring life.

Friday, July 25, 2008

a detailed entry: 4 July 2008



























Fourth of July I stumbled out of bed upon Anna’s insistence that I quickly go outside. I did not know what could be so important as to take me from my sweet dreams that were encouraged by the soothing sounds of waves crashing on the shore just meters from my bed. We were staying at Beach Haven Backpackers in Wilderness along the gorgeous Garden Route of South Africa’s coastline. After climbing the stairs up to the viewing deck my jaw dropped. The only reaction any of us had was Oh, wow! Shooting up out of the ocean were two full rainbows bursting with color and completing their arch by falling into the hills behind us. Birds were chirping their morning glory, whales were blowing water up into the sky and dolphins were dancing. Fireworks of the very best kind- completely natural, completely spectacular.

The entire day was spent oohing and aawing this beautiful land. From Wilderness we continued our drive up through the Klein Karoo. We took a tour of the Kango Caves and then continued on the steep dirt path of the Swartberg pass before arriving at the quaint town of Prince Albert. Here we celebrated the day with burgers and fries, but not the good ol American style- we had delicious Ostrich burgers with Pumpkin fritters. …mmm, yum. Highlights of Prince Albert included this dinner, the Saturday morning market, sipping tea in front of a cozy fireplace at a quaint cafĂ© and an early morning hike/run up and along the red rock ridge.