Before I delve into the subject of this post, I need to mention my issues with this particular format of blogging. I don’t keep a diary or a journal, all my reflective processes generally involve another person to speak to or my phone’s voice recorder. After doing the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator as part of SAWIP before we left for DC, I found that, that behaviour is consistent with my “type”. I’ve always known that about me, like I mention in one of my previous posts, different individuals function in different ways and systems are being adapted to be all inclusive. In my own education programmes, I encourage a vocal reflection as an alternative to the hand-written expression as I know not all learners identify with that. None the less I have no choice but to subscribe to the system until such time that start uploading vlogs through youtube.

Alright, now that the rant is over: American Politeness – which in itself is also a rant, so I feel as though Im being consistent. From the moment we got here, I’ve been having difficulty holding my tongue. In South Africa we speak about everything, publically, privately, with friends or strangers. This is not the case in the US of A. The land of Freedom of Speech is very particular about how free you are to say exactly what you mean. Perhaps it’s because our society has always spoken about these issues because they’re so ingrained in the social landscape of our country. Coming from such a melting pot of cultures we’ve gotten to a point where we embrace stereotypes, use them in humour and laugh together. I am sure there are arguments for how this makes us a society in denial or something but to be honest, it works for us. The thing is, we have gotten really good at discerning when someone is being malicious by making a cultural, religious, racial or gender based comment in a conversation. If that happens, we are VERY quick to hold people accountable but for the most part we talk about things honestly and freely.

In our first official session on this side of the Atlantic, we were informed about the necessity for Political correctness and cultural sensitivity. It was funny for me to hear about how some of the team had already received death stares from strangers on the metro system for talking to eachother in loud audible voices about the first impressions on the differences in perceptions about race here compared to home. I also keep grabbing my mouth the moment I say something, forgetting I’m not at home, quickly turn to whoever’s with me and ask if what I said is “PC” while casting my eye across the room to see if I’ve offended any unsuspecting eavesdropper.

It’s a very strange thing within a country that also implements Affirmative Action. The Supreme Court just sat with a case that dealt with these laws and didn’t make a definitive decision. In my mind, the interpretation of laws adapt to the will and opinion of the populous. When everyone refuses to talk about things that influence these laws, how can decisions be informed?

The basis of our programme is debate and discussion. We meet myriad experts in various fields, they talk to us and that generally acts as an impetus for discussion. The last Friday session was entirely discussion with our group. It’s incredibly stimulating and by far one of my favourite aspects of this programme.

There is, however, a problem. We all tend to agree with one another. We all agree on what issues need to be addressed and tend to agree with what people’s suggestions are to alleviate ills. It is wonderful that we all have a unified vision and we’ll most likely work with the same general goals in mind in our different fields. South Africa needs collaborative partnerships to reach unified goals. I am at least grateful that the SAWIP team is on track with that in mind. What I mean though is that we may not argue enough.

I believe in the title of this blog post. I don’t mean violent conflict (whether I agree with it or not, it has been used in the past to push progress), but the conflict of minds. When we interrogate concepts and call individuals out on their statements we’re able to re-evaluate our ideas. Different voices give different perspectives, the only eyes you have are your own, until you allow others to see too. We need to have enough respect for each other to be honest in discussions. I’m not saying we’re a team of yes (wo)men but we as a team could do more to voice suggestions for improvement, give a bit more of a rebuttle in debate because that is how change is encouraged.

One of the greatest aspects of the experience of living in DC for these 6 weeks is where we stay. The host families who open their homes to us and invite us into their families for our time here are incredibly amazing people. They don't really know what sort of people we'll be before they meet us, they have our bios and email us once or twice before we walk into their homes when we land. Besides knowing our areas of interest and the fact that some of us have annoying dietary requirements (I mean who doesn't eat meat, right?), there are a host of unforeseen issues that may arise. Yet, here I am, writing this blog on the couch with my host mom and my host brother sitting across from me.

Patti, Jon and Sam are my family while I'm here. I keep telling everyone who will listen, how lucky I've been with my placement. This house is full of warmth and love. It feels like real people live here. That may sound strange but I've been to homes where people are sitting next to each other and it feels like the room is empty, where people are so preoccupied with their professions they can't be mentally/ emotionally present with their family.

Patti and Jon have made me feel so comfortable and at home in their home, that I've been forgetting to call my own parents. This feels so much like my own home right now. Sam is about 18 months old now, he is one of the most active one year olds I've ever seen. It took me about four hours from when I first met him, to get him to give me a high five and things have been fantastic since then. I play with him while Jon and Patti may be busy or if they're in need of a break. when I say he's active, it's an understatement, he's so active and resourceful, someone needs to be vigilant at all times. As Jon so proudly said yesterday, "he's all muscle," this little baby has about 1%baby fat, is SURPRISINGLY strong and has an impressive pitching arm.

Patti and Jon are of the youngest host parents we have on SAWIP, they are so easy to talk to, we laugh and enjoy our time together. Some other team members have a different dynamic with their host families, I'm sure that works for them but there's no one else I'd rather be living with than here.

We live in Silver Spring and although everyone else who lives in Montgomery County is relatively close by car, they're all on the opposite end of the red metro line. I soon noticed that when I'd make an announcement in the team about weekend maintenance work having an effect on this end of the metro line, it didn't mean anything to anyone but me. My living environment would be COMPLETELY different had been placed here with another SAWIPer and I'm really grateful I wasn't.

We're so busy all the time so I cherish the time I get to spend at home. Thank you Jon and Patti Pace for welcoming me into your family and also just for your general awesomeness. See when I get home tonight.

Here's a picture of the family at the baseball game this weekend.

SAWIP is an incredible programme, I realise that more and more from the people we interact with on a daily basis while we're here in DC.

Two days in, we sat down with Glen Ackerman. Glen runs Ackerman & Brown, the largest LGBT law firm in the United States, he also happens to be neighbours with SAWIP on the 2nd floor of our building on Connecticut Ave. The intention was to have Glen talk to us for about 8 minutes on the legal dos and don'ts of life in DC. This session ended up lasting 2 hours.

Glen gave us an opportunity to just talk, something we as a team grabbed with both hands. The conversation started with the legal consequences of getting on the wrong side of the law while we're in DC and went on to discuss everything from the Affirmative Action laws in front of the Supreme Court right now, the rights and laws related to Native Americans, LGBT rights and gay marriage to the US's ability to minimise the discrepancies in access to quality education according to household income, just to name a few.

Glen has been one of the greatest non-SAWIP support we as a team have had while we've been here. He's made it abundantly clear that we call his cell if we have any issues at whatever time of the day (which we of course hope we'll never need to do). He has met with many of us individually and given us access to his extensive network. He's invited members of the team to gala events where their area of interest is the focus, to courtroom proceedings should there be cases that are of particular interest to us, and put us into contact with people in our disciplines. In fact, yesterday I heard that he’s been instrumental in getting our new University of Pretoria students work placements for the short time that they’re here too. He does all of this because he believes so completely in the programme and in us.

In that session, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, having just landed in this "brave new land" He brought us down to earth. We asked him how he'd achieved what he had in his life. His answer was simple and I'll remember it for the rest of my life. He said, "Take your seat." He explained how people may develop a victimized complex because they may become marginalised through the "boy's world" or corporate America. This taking your career into your own hands had been the key to him succeeding.

Each of us have a reason we’re in DC. We also know exactly what we each want to achieve while we’re here. I spoke to a couple of my team members and I think the older members of the team who are closer to leaving student life have a clearer understanding of what they want to accomplish with this opportunity. I think many of us were a little less sure of how to accomplish that in the big bad idea of what corporate America was. Glen’s talk gave many of us the “chutzpah” to brazenly do what we came to do. I truly appreciate it, especially so early in the trip. It encouraged me to be very vocal in times where I may have felt I’m not qualified to make a statement. It’s also made me a lot more direct in my networking and has, in just a week, gifted me lunch meetings and coffees with various people which will I am sure will be invaluable relationships to cultivate.

I guess this post, is just a small thank you to Glen. He probably may never read this but whoever does, should know what effect this one man’s words have had on a group of 15 South African leaders.

Although as an honours student I don’t write exams, some may think that exempts me from the stress the undergraduate students on the team face in the pre-departure rush. In retrospect, I would have welcomed the joys of exams – whoever said doing theatre was an easy way out has never done the honours course at UCT.

One of the things filling my plate in our last few weeks in Cape Town was the culmination of this semester’s service learning component of the degree. Through the year we’re required to work in various schools around Cape Town that don’t offer drama as a subject. We either teach weekly drama classes (known as process drama) or, as was the case for me this term, implement a programme for learners addressing a curricular or extra-curricular area relevant to the year group using drama (known as “Theatre in Education”). Bianca and Néna, two of my classmates, and myself focused our attentions of a grade 7 class. After a site visit and meetings with the educator we determined, to my delight, to focus our 3 week programme on leadership. As the senior class of the primary school it’s not difficult to understand why this was determined as the area of focus.

Through our rehearsal process we explored leadership scenarios each of us had either encountered or demonstrated that were successful examples of various leadership styles as well as the more unsuccessful ones. The interesting thing to arise out of this reflective process was how often the shortcomings or failures we experienced that lead to growth were not unique to each of us. We fictionalised some of these situations for the purpose of the workshop and adjusted them to achieve our desired outcomes for each of our sessions. I designed a workbook to accompany the practical aspects of the lessons (the two pages seen here are from that book). The workshop was thoroughly enjoyable for all and through a verbal evaluation we were able to identify a drastic improvement in knowledge of leadership skills and techniques thanks to our experiential drama teaching techniques.

Although I adore self-promotion, you may wonder why that story was relevant. Apart from the fact that I’m pretty sure my team don’t really understand what I do and I’m debating the necessity and relevance of “drama education” a little too often at times, I recently had an interesting conversation with some of my team members during the “walk-time” between programme events. The topic this time was “learning disabilities” a term I absolutely detest. I’ll explain why:

It’s perfectly understandable that human beings process information differently. Some people are logical, some more irrational in getting information organised. Some of us, as Kevin Sullivan said a few days ago, are “married to Mrs Spock” and find everything systematically and categorically processed devoid of emotion at times. As the Myers-Brigg indicators tell us, some of us process through writing reflectively, some delay, some talk through what they need to understand. These are individually determined; everything doesn’t work with everybody. Similarly, it is understood that not everyone ingests information in the linear fashion prescribed by education systems for the last 50 years. To state that a learner who may absorb information better through lateral processes or the type of experiential processes I’ve been working with for the last 3 years, has a “learning disability” is an egregious error of judgement.

If truth be told in I have found, through informal experiments I have done working with young Capetonians, that information is better absorbed, remembered and later better recalled when the information has been conveyed through experiential teaching methods. These are, of course, not as easy as traditional teaching methods and do in themselves require some lateral, out-the-box thinking, I truly believe that no person is incapable of learning. I believe each person just needs to be exposed to a variety of processes to determine which is the best method of learning for them.

After watching this video, I was reminded that while living with a few North Americans and Europeans at boarding school in Italy, I was interrogated about a fair number of “African” stereotypes. Though, honestly the most obtuse assessment came from a grocer in a supermarket in Italy who refused to accept that I was from “the dark continent” as she called it, because I was a light mulatto, like her. There were more of those comments than I’d like to admit during my time in that country. Nonetheless, I took these and countless others as an opportunity to educate, to broaden perspectives and to explain that hyenas are not common pets in my neighbourhood (again, I am not joking).

I encountered the TED talk above in a research seminar in the Drama Department a couple of weeks ago. The root of what we do in theatre is telling stories so I feel this idea of “the single story” is something that needs to occupy our minds when we create work so we don’t fall into the trap. This clip was also my first encounter with the extraordinary Chimamanda Adichie.

I was reminded of this talk a number of times since seeing it the first time, particularly while reading Mario’s blog post and coming back from the Graham and Rhona Beck Skills Centre in Robertson on Saturday. As part of SAWIP 2013 we will be working with the skills centre to implement a self sustaining community intervention programme in one of the sectors of the community where the skills centre is philanthropically involved. We were overwhelmed by the warm welcome we received from the staff at the centre. Throughout the day we were presented with the various programmes the skill centre is involved in, either directly or through the development division of the winefarm, or through their assisting the principal at Langeberg High School. To name a few of the areas of concern: we were made aware of the apathy within the community and how that is also reflected in the lack of community driven support structures, and the problem of alcoholism and substance abuse among the youth as well as their parents.

One or two of the issues discussed reminded me of the reasons my friends and I began working in Bridgetown, an area along the N2 not unfamiliar with drugs or gangs. I began to wonder if this is the stock image we have for the representation of coloured communities in this area of the country. I know, it isn’t but I have no right deciding what other people may believe. I am not disputing the fact that there are negative social issues affecting these communities but I know there is hope in the same streets. I know there is a mother baking bread for a neighbour, or older siblings helping the young ones read, teenagers are singing in backyards or groups of children playing sport. Some of the talks spoke about the wine farm’s involvement in these areas but I think one of the ways forward will be identifying those activities in the Langeberg school community. I would have loved to engage with the learners in the community, to talk to them and understand their situation from their mouths. We will no doubt go back to do a more “on the ground” assessment later.

For any work we do to having any lasting impact it is imperative that we not look at the community through the lense of the data we know or only the general issues. This is People Centred Development; the way forward is finding solutions with individuals who make up the whole: they live there, they have the tools.

Mario’s blog post: http://www.sawip.org/sawip-team/team-blog/entry/everyone-has-a-story-the-power-of-authentically-shared-and-meaningfully-listened-to-stories

The Graham & Rhona Beck Skills Centre: www.skillscentre.co.za