Over 21's Retreat

This past weekend seven of us from the church headed down to Gordon's Bay for the weekend to enjoy a weekend away from it all at a retreat centre just outside town. Despite pretty crumby weather, spirits were high and I think the weekend went really well. We spent the weekend meditating on the theme of friendship, studying the stories of Ruth and Naomi as well as David and Jonathan. And the retreat there were three girls and three guys, and then Mirjam led the proceedings. It worked out nicely, as the girls were able to lead the discussion on Ruth and Naomi, while the guys led the discussion about David and Jonathan, and through that we had some great discussion.



But there was more to the weekend to Bible studies and discussion. We went down to the beach on Saturday (when it wasn't raining) and played in the sand and took a walk on the beach. Then at night we were entertained by spontaneous power outages and challenging each other with nonsensical, unsolvable riddles (ie. 'I have no arms and no legs, what am I? Answer: an apple). The other major thing about the weekend was that we had WAY too much FOOD. Every time we opened the fridge it seemed that it became more full. We ended up buying containers to take the leftovers home in, there was so much!

A good weekend all in all. I'll have to talk to the official photographer for the weekend and see if I can't get some photos up here from the event.

Mental Health Hospital

I was down at the mental health hospital today, a place called 'Valkenberg.' I was helping to take home a woman from our church who has been admitted there, but goes home on weekends. From her reports it was difficult to get an accurate assessment of the facilities there, but it's safe to say they are not exactly ideal. I was reluctant to take pictures, it didn't seem quite like the proper thing to do. The place is set in a nice location, but because of budget restrictions the whole health system in South Africa is feeling the crunch, especially public hospitals such as Valkenberg, so the quality of care suffers. Yet for people such as the woman from our church, it is the only help available.

Yet even in ideal circumstances with state of the art treatment, mental illness is a very difficult thing to live with. I suppose that's not such a profound or new thing to say, but having been exposed to the difficulties that some deal with in terms of the mental well-being, I am reminded of the gift that good health is.

September 13th 1989 - September 13th 2009

On September 13th 1989 religious and political leaders in Cape Town organized a peace march to protest the 'white only' elections that had been held the previous week. The march marked a significant transition point towards the end of apartheid and the beginnings of mass democracy in South Africa. Here's the link to the wikipedia article that gives a good summation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town_peace_march

Yesterday there was a service held at St George's Cathedral to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the march as well as to remember the 23 people who were killed during the march. Although I didn't go to the memorial service (I really wish I had) I did make it out to the vespers service in the evening and talked to a friend who had attended the memorial service, but was also there 20 years ago for the march. One interesting thing she said was that at the commemoration service it was mostly 'old people' which was indicative of a trend in South Africa where the youth have a difficult time understanding the significance of the change between pre-apartheid and post-apartheid. While it would be easy to be appalled at the ignorance of these generalized 'youth', one could also say that it is important to move on and not be forever living in and lamenting the past, being unable to move on. There is still a need for change in South Africa, but it is not the same change that was needed in 1989. Yet to forget our past and where we came from would also be foolish.

It is complicated issues like this that the future leaders of South Africa face in the years to come.

New Pictures?

Well, it has been a while since I've added to my Flickr site, but I have posted some pictures I took at The Arch yesterday. Follow the link on the right here that says 'Peter's Africa Pictures' and then note the group that says 'the Arch'.

Enjoy!

The Arch - St. George's Cathedral

Every Wednesday from 9am to 2pm I volunteer at 'the Arch' a social ministry program run out of St George's Cathedral in downtown Cape Town. It's a really neat program and I enjoy my time there. The program's intent is to provide food and a place of peace and rest for those who need it, as well as to provide them with practical training sessions for anything from basic reading and writing to craft making. The thing with the practical skills is that they have no one to teach them at the moment, so the current ministry is simply food and a place to rest. Food and rest are important things, but from the perspective of us serving the food, it's a little disheartening to be giving to the same people from week to week without being able to offer them any help of perhaps improving their situation.

Regardless, it's a program I'm happy to be a part of, whether my motives are selfless or not, I enjoy being able to help people out in circumstances such as the ones I am faced with at The Arch, and I'm able to meet some really neat people while I'm there. Mary who is more or less the administrator of the program is a wonderful person, full of compassion and warmth. And Damien who is more or less the floor supervisor is an exemplary story of some one who made it off the streets from the lifestyle of a 'gangster' to some one who helps those who are currently in that position.

As I continue to explore places like the Arch at St George's I continue to get a feel for the conditions the homeless face in Cape Town. With these issues of poverty and social justice it seems that the more you learn the more you realize how complex it all is. All told I don't have that many Wednesdays left at The Arch, but with those days I do left I look forward to continuing to develop relationships and learn more about the circumstances that allow and necessitate it's existence.

21st Birthday Celebration

(The Picture is, From Left to Right: Ester, Phakamile and Arnaud)


On Sunday a few of us from the over 21's group at our church had a small birthday party for one of our own, Phakamile, who is turning 21. Phakamile (I call her Pax) is from the Eastern Cape and is Zulu in her background. In her culture (and a wide variety of others in South Africa) the 21st birthday is a very important event, marked by a very big, and often very expensive birthday party. For some of the more extravagant birthday parties (I am told) the whole family from all of the country is invited, a banquet hall will be rented, the women will all get fancy/expensive dresses, etc. The whole process really seems more similar to a wedding than to how I would be familiar with celebrating a birthday party.

As for our group, we simply had a nice lunch at a local restaurant, and afterward we headed to the church where some one had made up a table for a lovely dessert party. And from there we headed to the local mall to watch a movie ("the Proposal" - I can't say I'd recommend it...). A nice day all in all, but in terms of extravagance and style - it didn't even come CLOSE to the party her family threw for her.

Women's Breakfast

This morning the women of our church held a breakfast with the intent of celebrating the benefits of their sex, learning what it means to be Christians who also happen to be women. Now, you would think that I would be inherently disqualified from this gathering, left to ponder the mysteries of that fair sex - but they needed somebody to mind the younger ones, so thus I was able to attend, albeit in a more detached and practical role, that of 'creche keeper'.

By the end of it, all agreed that the morning was an outright success. The speaker was excellent (or so they told me - that was one part I missed), the food was exquisite (I was sure not to miss that part) and the company was edifying. I can only hope that at some point those of similar sex to me will celebrate a similar day, but alas, as of yet such a day goes unplanned.

Unfortunately once again I failed to remember to bring along my camera so as to capture the events of the day in photographs. It seems that always having a camera in my pocket is a habit I have yet to acquire, something hope to remedy before too long.

Renee Fleming and Co

Well, last night was the big performance, something I've been anticipating for a while. Renee Fleming came to perform at the Cape Town City Hall. The show sold out in the first two days that the tickets were on sale, there was such demand that they accidentally sold the seats where the choir was to be seated! So the place was PACKED, not an empty seat to be found. The performance itself was phenomenal, imagine some one singing all of your favorite pieces, absolutely perfectly, I'm not much of a critic, but I was blown away (except at the spots where she forgot the words, but it was in Italian, so not many people noticed). The program itself went like this:

1. Rossini - Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Overture
2. Handel - "Danke Sei Dir Herr"
3. Handel - Rodelinda "Ritorna, o Caro e Dolce mio Tesoro"
4. Handel - Semele "Endless Pleasure"
5. Verdi - I Limbardi "Gerusalem, Gerusalem"
6. Verdi - La Forza Del Destino: Overture
7. Verdi - Otello: Ave Maria
8. Verdi - I Vespri Siciliani: Merce, Dilette Amiche

INTERVAL

9. Bizet - Carmen: Suite No. 1
10. Massenet - Cleopatre: "J'ai verse le poison dans cette coupe d'or"
11. Gounod - Faust: "Jewel Song"
12. Saint-Saens - Samson et Dalila: Bacchanale
13. Puccini - Gianni Schicci : "O Mio Babbino Caro"
14. Puccini - Tosca: "Vissi D'Arte"

ENCORES:

1. Zandonai - Conchita: "Ler Dalla Fabbrica"
2. Gershwin - Porgy and Bess: "Summertime"
3. Loewe - My Fair Lady: "I Could Have Danced All Night"
4. Verdi - La Triviata: Brindisi

Quite the program! I said yesterday that I'd try to post some pictures, well, believe it or not it's pretty difficult to take pictures while performing, and the press managed not to have any pictures of the actual performance posted as of yet, so sorry, you're in the dark for now, but I will see what I can do.

All in all it was a fantastic night, one of those concerts I'll remember as long as I'm remembering concerts.

Concerning September

So, after doing some research and viewing some of my colleagues blogs, I have decided to change my format here a bit. Rather than updating things bi-weekly, I am going to start adding updates as events happen, making a more regular effort of things. I think it will be a bit more effort on my part, but I also think it will be worth it. So this post is simply to whet your appetite for things to come, and hopefully pictures will be on their way as well!

Tonight Renee Fleming is performing with our choir here in the city, so I will update you on that tomorrow, and hopefully there will be pictures as well!

Also please note the relevant links I have posted to the right here, they are all related to my work and ministry here, and I encourage you to take a look!