Community and Social Development : 2015

Week 11

One of our missions is to help the Legos daycare with their website. I had no clue how I could help with that since I have no experience but a friend shared with me this link http://www.codecademy.com/skills/make-a-website. They teach you how to create a websites and its free. I think it would be great for all of us to develop this skill in order to effectively help the daycare's website.

Also one of our goals is to create an atmosphere in the daycare where the staff can know each other more. I found 40 Icebreakers that don't need a lot of preparations or materials and work great with a small group and group building Ice breakers. http://insight.typepad.co.uk/40_icebreakers_for_small_groups.pdf

Service Learning Project

During the Study Abroad program I will be working in the Legos Day Care in Wynberg, Cape Town and will be doing a Service Learning Project in the childcare center. Some background on the childcare program in the governmental website is described as "Early Childhood development, for the purposes of this Act, means the process of emotional, cognitive, sensory, spiritual, moral, physical, social and communication development of children from birth to school-going age."

https://www.westerncape.gov.za/facility/legos-day-care

I want to share a website that I found with information about the logistics of early childhood centers in South Africa. http://wp.wpi.edu/capetown/projects/p2013/early-childhood-development-connection/knowledge-worth-sharing/registering-requirements/ this information can be helpful and useful for my team because it talks about the staffing requirements. A main part of our project will be working with the staff and doing workshops for them. This can be helpful in order for us to know more about the staff's role in the daycare.

I was able to find the Facebook for the Legos Daycare group, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004548017923&fref=ts

Module 8

1. Power and Privilege Definitions that Josh provided.

2. Apartheid Timeline- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/endgame/timeline.html

3. History of Apartheid in South Africa video- http://youtu.be/JqCKIUogn6E

4. Culture of South Africa- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_South_Africa

5. Race differences in educational attainment of youth ages 7-18 in post-apartheid South Africa-
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21528586.2014.887917

6. Cape Town: Gangs, Race and poverty 20 years after Apartheid-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoMl_G6rL9k

7. South Africa's Post Apartheid Generation-https://youtu.be/elrWczhTZBk

8. South Africa's tradition of domestic work continues post-apartheid-
http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-16/south-africas-tradition-domestic-work-continues-post-apartheid

9. Here's how South African students talk about race and gender-
http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-16/heres-how-south-african-students-talk-about-race-and-gender

10. The bucket-list trip in South Africa
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/03/18/ultimate-bucket-list-trip-south-africa/2/

Module 7

I reviewed the youtube video "Cape Town: Gangs, Race and poverty 20 years after Apartheid" that Denice posted about in her blog. I gained new knowledge of the living situations that the poor people in Cape Town face. One main topic that I found interesting was the organization that helps women and children. I think that such organizations are helpful to the communities because it encourages children to stay away from violence and gangs.

I reviewed the Apartheid timeline that Josh provided. It provided useful information to know about the history of Apartheid, as well as knowing about events that did and did not reinforced the movement.

The article "Factbox: South Africa since apartheid" that Faith posted, was about the changes that South Africa made 18 years after Apartheid, they give statistics of improvements that there has been.

Week 6

https://vimeo.com/26538549

I watched a movie called Dear Mandela. They showed the housing conditions and the evictions that occurred in Durban's shantytowns. The movies displays the movement of 3 young adults as they take the role of activist and leaders. They fight to see the provision of housing, which is what the African National Congress promised. We see the role that the new generation plays in the process and how they handle the threats of mass eviction in their community. From this movie I was able to learn about the struggle and see how South Africa's government needs to work harder to provide housing for the poor.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/opinion/south-africas-land-inequity.html?_r=0

I read an opinion article talking about the land in South Africa. They talk about some history of the land of SA, black economic development, and the unfair compensation they give black siblings for their parent's land. Their opinion on what South Africa needs to do to help political stability in the country is an interesting perspective that I had not thought.

http://www.seri-sa.org/

I found an organization that helps out and advocates with housing and evictions, access to basic services, and political space. The organization's website has more details and reports of the cases they have helped with.

Week 5

Apartheid was established by the National Party governments from 1948-1994. In the Unites States, the civil rights movement period was between 1955 to 1968. Both countries experienced a battle for justice with the government. Nelson Mandela was a key character to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa as was Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States.
After watching Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom I was able to understand better the racial segregation in South Africa, Apartheid. The movie shows the main events that happen in Mandela's life. We see that he joins the African National Congress as the peaceful protest have no effect on the unjust laws of the government. They plotted guerrilla war tactics and dangerous acts to sabotage and end Apartheid. Mandela and the others got arrested and were sentenced to life in prison. In 1990 the president of South Africa released Mandela from prison to help change South Africa.
In the movie Selma we see similarities to The Long Walk to Freedom, we see that MLK lead peaceful protest to bring attention and change to the injustices that African Americans faced. Mandela at the beginning had peaceful protest but went to prison for the violent acts the ANC committed. In the movie we see that MLK was a wise man who knew how to lead the people. We can see this characteristic when he kneels down to pray, gets up and does not continue the march. Similarly, Mandela had to make a decision to divorce his wife because he was taking the role of president.
I learned about the struggle that Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and others faced as they tried to make a change by standing against injustices. Watching the films was heartbreaking because I often forget about the fight and difficulties they endured, where many lost their life. However, it was also empowering and inspiring because people can and are able to make a difference. Knowing the struggle and background information of South Africa definitely prepares us for the program. We will be able to see the impact that Nelson Mandela and other activist had in SA.

Week 4

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." -Martin Luther King Jr.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” -Nelson Mandela

Martin Luther King (1929- 1968) and Nelson Mandela (1918- 2013) were civil right activist. They both fought for justice in different countries, the United States and South Africa.They were leaders for civil rights movements and were winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. (One similarity that I find interesting is how they were both renamed.) One reason they were well know is because both took risk and sacrificed their life and time to create change. Their families and own lives were also threatened and in danger. MLK was in prison for a short period of time compared to Mandela who was in prison for 27 years. Both were able to fulfill the start of their goal of equal opportunity and justice. Their fight was able to give voting rights for the minority groups. However, more progress had to be made after them and is still being made, for an equal government.

They both wanted to live in a place where discrimination and racism did not exist, they wanted to see all races unite and be able to live together in peace and equality. They thought others that its is possible and right to love one another no matter what the color of their skin or background is. They left a legacy for the world to share and live by.

Week 3

A bit about South Africa's history

The South African union of 1910 established that the white population was the only population to vote, and only 13 percent of the land in South Africa was declared reservations for blacks. They were not allowed to buy land in the remaining 87 per cent. This reminds me of American history with the Native Americans. South Africa took their lands away from the natives and is now a very diverse place with different cultural background and origins. Its cruel to know that the apartheid regime emphasized the differences among the various ethnic groups, such as the Zulus and Xhosas who they turn them against each other rather than against the government.
However, the country's strengths is the new democratization that is happening, especially after it had global recognition for overcoming racism. The challenges that are still there is how is South Africa going to continue to have more equal opportunities for the African people that live in poverty. As I was reading the housing conditions, how there is land for everyone to buy and have a home, I thought of the wealthy owners of the land and how they should give housing opportunity to the poor living in townships around them. I suppose it may be more complicated than what it seems.

Current Event
The current event that was of strongest interest to me was the African Union summit where african leaders met for the 24th african union summit in Ethiopia. They discussed about women and children, emphasizing on the empowerment and development of women and an end to child marriages. They talked about giving girls the choice of having an education rather than marring them. In some cultures in Africa marrying at a young age might be the norm but I think that education is the important and main foundation to see girls and women help change the world.

"This is part of Africa rising. Africa will not rise as long as its daughters are bleeding and Africa will never be prosperous or at peace with itself if the whole generation is losing opportunities."

Question
My question for Mr.Glimour: If you had a service learning project in the township what would be the ideal service project that you would like do to help townships? Explain

Week 2

“Who am I”

It was very interesting to learn that when asked in a classroom exercise to complete the sentence "I am _____" many don't mention their color, gender, religion and sexuality if it was a dominant social characteristic. This is accurate for me because when I am introducing myself to others I mention being originally from Mexico but I don't mention for example being heterosexual. I learned that it can be a pattern in us because we take dominant characteristics for granted most of the time. I learned from the author that when I may feel impatient with others for not recognizing their privilege, I need to rather reflect on my own daily advantages and privileges that I have in this society.

“Unpacking the Knapsack of Privilege”

I was surprised as I read the article, it open my eyes to the idea of how some men do not believe themselves as being privileged or are not willing to accept that fact, but yet they do grant that women are disadvantaged. Also how men talk about such issues but they do not take any actions to solve them. Men's privileges is one example of the how unjust someone can be without noticing it, and how they can put others are at a disadvantage. The major example that we see in the article is the privilege that white people have. Most don't grow up thinking that they are at an advantage, don't know how to recognize it, and are often unconscious about it. We must try to really reflect on our privileges when it comes to age advantage, ethnic advantage, physical ability, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, etc. My goal is to be aware of all of the "unearned entitlements" that I have and the question that I hope we could think about daily is the same that she asks herself, "What can I do to lessen or end it?"

“Is Race Real”
Colorblindness will not end racism. Pretending race doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice, to combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies that advantage some groups at the expense of others.
Before coming to college I would identify as a person who thought colorblindness was the best solution to solving racial problems. I wanted to avoid discussions that I was not prepared to have or know how to respond and be in an uncomfortable situations. Now I believe that embracing ones ethnicity and culture is important, all cultures are important and bring something to the table. I think that being part of a latino fellowship that is part of big umbrella with different ethnic chapters on campus and taking classes like this one has help me come together with others to have discussion, bring awareness and hope to see change in the social policies.

Who am I?

Hi Everyone, my name is Marisela Salinas. I am originally from Mexico. I lived in Mexico for almost 8 years and after that I moved to Austin. I'm a junior and my major is Human Development and Family Sciences . My project interest is in children's development.