Will it Be Done
'Now' or 'Now, Now'? (Article by Robin)
“There is
more to life than simply increasing its speed.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
When
Americans want things done we want them done right now and we don't
waste a lot of time doing it. Some might even say that we Americans
can be industrious and alacritous.
But that's not how most things are done in Africa. Things move at
their own pace here. Most things just get done
whenever they get done. There are many examples of African time
management all over the continent including everything from the way
that houses are built to the responsiveness of customer service. In
Africa, time is
not seen as linear
like the way it is in
the Western world. I'm not saying that this is a bad
thing, it's just different.
Houses in the process of being built are often built piecemeal and
then left to sit for years unfinished. In America, fast-food
restaurants are just that – 'fast food' but in Africa, that's not
always the case. Also, just because you are told that something will
be done by a certain date or certain time, it doesn't necessarily
mean that it will be done by then. You would think that things might
be different in the bigger cities, but in general they are not. It's
so ingrained in the culture that people often have to differentiate
between doing something 'now' meaning I'll do it in the next
day or two and 'now, now' meaning I'll do it immediately.
Americans are also workaholics. We are used to working all the time.
In my previous job working in the US at a non-profit organization, I
worked typically around 60 hours per week, some weeks working 6 days
a week, and received only about 2 weeks of paid annual holiday time
off. Yeah, we also get some national holidays off too. But not
necessarily. I once worked for an employer who never gave us New
Years day off. Here in South Africa, some people can have up to 12
weeks of vacation per year, which is great for the employee morale
but can often impact productivity taking two or three times longer to
get things accomplished. We have often started a project only to
find out that there is an industry strike, or an office will be
closed, or an important component will be out of commission for two
weeks – necessitating the rescheduling of the project. While this
may drive us Americans crazy, most people don't seem to mind here.
In some senses, African time is a good thing – people are more laid
back and less stressed out or worried about when things will get done
than most Americans are. For Woody and I, it just means that we have
to learn to adjust our concept of time. We have to get ourselves out
of our Western concept of time and learn to realize that although
things won't get done as quickly as we hoped, they will get done
eventually.
Here is a quote from Mother Teresa about time:
“In the West we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where
everything is measured according to the results and we get caught up
in being more and more active to generate results. In the East –
especially in India – I find that people are more
content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a
day chatting to each other. We Westerners would probably call that
wasting time. But there is value to it. Being with someone,
listening without a clock and without anticipation of results,
teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving – it is
not in the result of loving. ” ~Mother Teresa, A Simple Path
The Tooth-Fairy
is at it Again... (Article by Robin)
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| Distributing about 60 toothbrushes to Grade R |
Once again we received about 70 new children's toothbrushes from
guests of Ulusaba. So, this time I decided to do the same dental
hygiene demonstration that I did last November for the Grade R
(kindergarten) kids at our second primary school. The two Grade R
teachers helped me explain the need to brush twice a day and the
techniques of how to brush top and bottom teeth and inside and
outside. After giving a verbal demonstration of brushing, we
distributed about 60 toothbrushes after labeling them with each
child's name. Then with our toothbrushes in tow, we headed outside
to the water tap where we had a chance to brush our teeth and sing
'Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth' to the tune of 'Row, Row,
Row your Boat.'
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| Learner applying her back-handed excessive force technique |
While
observing the kids, I noticed that they all had several different
types of toothbrushing techniques including the “back-handed
holding technique,” the “applying excessive force technique,”
the “grin and bare your teeth technique,” the “messy toothpaste
everywhere technique,” and the “holding the toothbrush upside
down technique,” and more! One girl was mimicking me while I was
demonstrating how to brush only she didn't put the toothbrush inside
her mouth. Others were eating the toothpaste and then coming back
for more...
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| Getting ready to brush... |
After
the demonstration, one of teachers told me that she was happy that we
did this lesson because she had recently told her students the week
before that they needed to brush their teeth daily even if they
didn't have a toothbrush – instead they should use the 'traditional
brush.' Generally if people here don't have a toothbrush, they will
use a branch from the guarri tree to brush their teeth. So, now that
we have equipped all the Grade R kids with their very own
toothbrushes, no more guarri branches are needed!
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| Colouring a giant tooth |
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| Demonstrating the "messy toothpaste everywhere technique" |
Last Call:
Books for Africa Project
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| Outside the new library - just needs a roof! |
The progress on our new library at the high school is going well. The building is almost complete! Just need a roof, lighting and fans, electrical work, and a few coats of paint. Therefore, we wanted to take a few minutes to send you a friendly reminder about the Books for Africa Project we are working on. We are trying to finish fundraising by the end of March — less than a couple of weeks away.
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| View from inside the library - just needs electrical work and a coat of paint! |
The response we have received so far has been hugely positive, but a large gap remains between the money we have raised and our funding target. So far, our group of 10 PCVs have received donations totaling $5,195, about 32% of our total goal of USD $16,000. We're not even close to 50% of the way to hitting our goal. Clearly, we still have a lot of ground to cover and we won’t be able to do it without your support.
If you have already sent in your contribution, then please accept our sincere thank you! To you we would like to say 'ha khensa' meaning “we thank you.” If, however, you’ve been meaning to send in your donation and got sidetracked along the way, now is the time to do it.
By developing a love of reading our kids will be taking the first steps towards radically altering their life prospects. And these books won’t just help the children here and now — they will be used for years to come. It takes a village to raise donations for a library! So, be rest assured that any amount you send will be making a huge difference in the lives of our high school kids.
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| Yay!... We're getting a new library! |
1. Scroll down to the green “Donate Now” icon above the project description.
2. Fill out all the necessary information.
3. Under the “Additional Information” field on the donation form, please be sure to write the name of the US Peace Corps volunteer who you are sponsoring. For example please indicate: “Peace Corps Volunteer, Robin Alhaddad” as the name of the person who told you about Books for Africa.
4. Click “Next” and you’re done!
Method 2: Check
To pay by check:
1. Make out a check payable to: Books for Africa
2. Either add a post-it note or indicate on the memo section of the check that you are sponsoring “South Africa – We Succeed-SIPHUMELELA, volunteer Robin Alhaddad”
3. Mail the check to:
Books for Africa
253 East 4th St., Ste. 200
St. Paul, MN 55101 USA
Thank you so much for your contribution!