The first meeting of the SAWIP, WIP and NSL classes of 2012 on the Washington DC National Mall

Today a few of the SAWIP class of 2012 and I had the pleasure of attending the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in the Cape Town City Hall. This years lecture was given by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and member of The Elders.

The purpose of this blog is not to write about what Robinson lectured on (I will have to attempt to cover her outstanding message in a subsequent post), but I should note that I was impressed by her willingness to address some serious issues head on in this honorable forum.

I was sitting next to Kwadwo when Robinson took the stand. The moment she started her lecture, and we heard her accent, I could tell that both of us were filled with nostalgia and "verlange" (I tried to find an English word, but there doesn't seem to be one that says it quite right) for our friends from the Washington Ireland Program team.

I have often been surprised to find how many people, even people who know SAWIP intimately, are unaware of our two sister programs from Ireland and the Middle East.

The Washington Ireland Program (WIP) was the first of the three programs, and was established 17 years ago to support the peace and reconciliation efforts in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The second is New Story Leadership (NSL), a program which seeks to inspire a new story of possibility for the Middle East by bringing outstanding Israeli and Palestinian students to Washington DC.

We first met the students of the WIP and NSL teams about a week into our stay in DC. On a scorching Saturday morning (thinking back, I suspect this was the morning after one of our first "free nights") we met on the Washington mall for a "sports day" of which I was, admittedly, a bit skeptic at first. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, however, the Irish (being their usual jolly self) had everyone involved in an array of crazy games ranging form "Irish Baseball" (I can't remember the name - but by the looks of the bat it seems a lot more violent than the US version) to Charades (which the Irish are upsettingly good at).

This morning marked the start of what I have come to appreciate as one of the most valuable elements of our entire stay in Washington. Over the 5 weeks that followed we had several "formal" encounters with the WIP and NSL teams, all of which I enjoyed. It was in "happy hours", lunches, late nights out and the discussions on the Middle Eastern conflict at Lior's house, however, that I got to know some of the best and most valued friends I have ever had the privileged meeting.

In spending time with these new friends from Ireland, Israel and Palestine, I not only gained a new appreciation for how special our own country is - but also a sincere appreciation for the unique stories of the Irish and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, attempts at reconciliation, friendships and ongoing troubles. I truly believe that our three stories compliment each other in ways too numerous for us (SAWIP) not too make a more conscious effort of formally (and informally) engaging with the students from these two programs.

There has been speak of having more organized events between the three programs while in DC, but I would also like to see our relationships post-DC realize into more than just Facebook friendships. I we could find a way to continue dialogue between our groups, and ideally, find ways to host each other in our own countries - that would be a truly fantastic (and, in my mind, meaningful) endeavor.

All of our programs have the future of our respective countries (or regions) at heart. At least in the case of South Africa I feel that the time for looking inward for solutions to our domestic problems has come and gone. In the WIP and NSL programs I see an opportunity to build meaningful relationships further and wider - relationships that reflect a shared future in an increasingly global arena.

More pressingly, however, I just really miss deciding to skip the last 12am train for the sake of talking for a bit longer (and having another drink) with my friends from NSL and WIP.

This is a picture of Kwadwo (SAWIP) and I having lunch on The Hill with Sarah Mulcahy and Lewis Mooney of the Washington Ireland Team. Sarah and Lewis both work in Congress, and Kwadwo and I work close enough that we can meet up for a little lunchtime adventure every now and then

I post this picture because, to an extent, I perceive it as symbolizing something of the intern culture in Washington. One of the more obvious things about life as an intern in DC is that there are many other interns. In almost every office in Washington there is some young (usually bright - although, not always) student or young-professional who is new to the city and over-eager to make friends (and "contacts"). Very few of them get paid, and the few that do earn next to nothing. This mix of young semi-broke yet bright students from all over the world gives the city a unique vibrancy - if you are willing to look for it.

On the other hand, though, I am curious about the effect that this seemingly unlimited supply of free, over-eager labour has on the inner-working of the legislative capitol of the world. I am paraphrasing here from a conversation we had over one of these adventurous lunches, but it seems as if a lot of these interns are doing very menial tasks for most of their workday. I am still deciding whether this represents a gross under-utilization of talent and resources, or whether it reflects on the importance of experience - and related, the uselessness of inexperienced interns.

*I'll do an update on this post once I've given it some more thought and spoken to a few more interns about this.

This week I have very little time to write, as I start my exams on Monday and this first week will be my toughest. I would, however, like to share a quick thought.

This past semester I have had the privilege to take a course in Developmental Economics under Professor Servaas van der Berg. Prof. Van der Berg truly is one of those (numerous) unsung heroes of the New South Africa. He is regarded as one of South Africa's leading experts (if not the-) in the field of social development, and particularly education. Rumor has it that Trevor Manuel once introduced him as "Comrade Researcher" in the light of his contributions to shaping South African's social assistance programs.

One thing that I feel quite strongly about, coming out of this course, is that there are some serious misconceptions 'out there' regarding the role that the South African government has played in poverty alleviation. I recently finished an essay for Prof. Van der Berg's course that I would like to share with you. I must note that it has not been graded yet, so, as with any written work, there may be errors and you should not take everything for the absolute truth.

I will share the introduction and conclusion here, and provide a link to the entire essay for if you feel prompted to read. It's broken up into easily navigable sections, so you should be able to easily skip over the bits that bore you.

Introduction

The Constitution of the Republic of South African states the following in its bill of rights:

“Everyone has the right to have access to... social security, including, if theyare unable to

support themselves and their dependants, appropriate socialassistance”.

This right to access has been central to the South African governments’ social policy since the transition to democracy. Chu and Hemming (1991) classify social security as spendingon "the public provision of health, education, housing, and other social services". In all theseareas the South African government has excelled in shifting fiscal and even real resource tothe poor. Great strides have been made in alleviating extreme poverty and improving the living standards of the poor, yet many challenges remain. This essay provides a brief overview of social spending in South Africa since the transition to democracy, and tries tofocus on the impact that this has had on the poor.

For the rest of the essay, find it here: http://carelkleynhans.com/South_African_social_spending.pdf

Conclusion

Social security is a constitutional right in South Africa, and since the transition todemocracy government has shown their commitment to fulfil their duty to uphold this right. South Africa has one of the largest social spending programs among developing countries,and well-targeted social grants have substantially reduced money metric poverty for itsresidents. Increased social spending has, however, not been mirrored by equal improvements in social outcomes. Inefficiency and mismanagement continue to hamper governments’ ability to translate spending into service delivery. While it is true that social spending may cause unfavourable demographic trends and present opportunity costs, South Africa has not yet reached a level of development where these effects are significant. In the light of current international phenomena, however, there seems to be increased need for perceptive long term social policy planning. In its most recent budget, government seems to acknowledge that capacity to further increase social spending is limited, and an emphasis shift from transfers to investment can be seen in its planning. The combination of smart investment and a continued commitment to improving efficiency in social spending is what is needed to provide all South Africans with their constitutional rights. Only then will the poor be in aposition to climb onto the self-improvement ladder and access their rights to not only social security, but also opportunity.

Exams beckon :)

C

Hi, I'm Carel.

I'm part of the SAWIP 2012 team, and this is my first blog post.

When I first heard about SAWIP the idea of a program of its nature really appealed to me. I have been looking for a platform from which I could contribute more significantly to the country that I love and believe in, and SAWIP seemed to fit the bill perfectly. (And yes, there was of course the added allure of spending 6 weeks in Washington DC).

I sit here, however, amazed at how little I knew about what I was getting myself into when I was filling in my application form (all 8000 words of it). The application process, interview, selection camp, that fantastic phone call from Kim, the orientation camp and our first curriculum event at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation in Cape Town last night have all far exceeded my wildest expectations.

Firstly I would like to commend the SAWIP team and Alumni for their effort and excellence throughout the selection process. One could really sense the attention to detail and care that was taken to choose the right team. And I must say, I feel privileged to be a part of this team. I've known them less than 5 days in aggregate, and already they have had a major impact on the way I perceive myself, my country and my place in this country. And then there is the surprise of the curriculum that Kim and Brian matter of factly presented to us at the orientation camp. I do not mean to imply that I was not expecting a challenging program - that's one of the reasons I signed up - but I think it is safe to say that the whole team was slightly shell shocked to see just how busy we wore going to be in the next 8 weeks leading up to Washington. From what I can make out from the program we have received, however, there is only reason for us to be very, Very excited.

As I mentioned, we had our first curriculum event last night. As I understand it was the first of many SAWIP dialogue sessions to be held in Cape Town, with the theme of this one being Active Citizenship. I won't say much about the contents of the discussion, as I suspect the topic will be covered in detail by other team members writing about it very soon (watch this space). I will rather leave you with the following quote that I feel touches on some of the stories and sentiments shared last night:

"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline." - Kofi Annan

To that I say, "let's go".