Sawubona!
Greetings from the students of the Pedagogy of Empowerment Program and our mentor Dr. Nesha Haniff. We are writing you from the beautiful campus of the University of Zululand (UniZul), where we are in the kind and able hands of Gugu Gule, Coordinator of the International Linkages Office, and Dr. Zethu Mkhize, Assistant Director of the HIV/AIDS program at the university.
The bulk of our work here has consisted of conducting focus groups with students at the University. Our conversations have centered around the implications of gender and tradition in the spread of HIV and the effectiveness of the module, the oral methodology developed by Dr. Haniff and used by this program. In my group, which is co-facilitated by my peer Zakiyah Sayyed, I have found our discussions on the role poverty plays in women's empowerment and, in turn, the continuing problem of the pandemic to be particularly illuminating. These conversations have allowed us to connect with our peers on a level that a typical study-abroad program would probably never enable.
For me, personally, South Africa has been a place of great beauty and an unparalleled space for personal reflection. The drive from Durban to UniZul alone showed me some of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. The students and faculty at UniZul have been unabatedly giving, compassionate, and open with us. I can see why my focus group partner Zakiyah considers this place to be a kind of second home for her; the people have welcomed us as if we are students at their own university and, in the case of Mama Gugu, members of her own family.
As a musician, I have been given many unique opportunities here. In Durban, Professor Haniff, my peer Ashley Issa, and I attended a concert given by the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, which was excellent. I am actually hoping that I will be able to perform with them as a substitute violinist on their May 22 concert. The performance we attended was an opportunity for me to not only hear some beautiful music but also, upon noticing the entirely white make-up of the ensemble and its audience, reflect on the pervading problems of race in this country and our own. Since coming to UniZul, I have been warmly welcomed by the Centre for Arts and Cultures, where I was recently able to witness a truly stunning performance of percussion, poetry, dance, and song. Rarely have I been so touched and stimulated by show of this kind. In studying musicology at the University of Michigan I have been able to witness traditional forms of African song and dance from a distance, dealing with both the practice of studying traditional and world music and the dangers of researching other cultures in a way that exoticizes them. Here, however, I was able to see a performance of modern African culture by African students that rendered their grounding in the rich culture of South Africa with their country's experiences with colonization, industrialization, and globalization. To just sit, however, and realize that I was in Zululand watching a performance being given by my peers in the study of the arts was stunning, unto itself.
I think that is all for now; the only thing I know I have left out is our experiences with each other in the nightly meetings in which we all gather with Professor Haniff and the time we have spent together outside of our work. In the meetings, we have been dealing with issues regarding our research and our own lives that have enabled us to get to know each other extremely thoroughly and rapidly. Outside of the meetings, we have been able to enjoy each other's company, discuss our lives back home and our time here, and laugh very, very hard about ourselves, our experiences, and just about anything else.
Wishing you all the best from South Africa. Sala kahle!
