Finally at Home

         Finally … Africa! After days of preparation work in the sheltered and beautiful Umhlanga area, on Tuesday we stepped out of our holiday in the sun, and into what I had been missing. There were people all over. There was laughter, goods sold on the street, chicken heads frying, chickens running around, a periodic goat, music too loud for the hour, and an epic soccer game going on in the center of it all.

            We commenced our fieldwork with field-testing in Inanda, a settlement outside of Durban. It felt like home from the moment we entered. Unlike Paraguay, however, I could not understand a word. Nevertheless, I loved it. People waved, the community had a beat, and suddenly the greater purpose behind our project became a reality. Suddenly I connected with a local community I was prepared to serve.

            But however at home I felt, the community was shocked to see me strolling in so casually. Many children screamed in Zulu, “Hi white!”, and unabashedly ran closer to check out my shoes before running away again. Only 20 minutes away from the widely white and well-off neighborhood we are living in, we found ourselves the only white people in sight.

And so, braced with our tablets loaded with surveys and partnered with a newly trained lead enumerator from the University of Kwazulu-Natal, we began going house to house, knocking with clicks in our mouths, and asking about cooking practices and Wonderbag use in the township.

            The purpose of field-testing is to ensure that the final survey asks the right questions in a way that gets the needed answers in a culturally sensitive and easily understood manner. It gives us time to work out the kinks in the survey, figure out the important data, and design and test-implementation of the best deployment methods once implementation begins.

            The first few days have gone well. People on average are very responsive and willing to take the survey. The enumerators are all very skilled, and a lot of fun to talk to between surveys. Two days in and we have learned a lot. The survey is well on its way to completion, and I cannot wait to explore other areas that better represent the reality of South Africa. The beach is nice, but each day I am reminded that I am happier visiting the houses of the people that make up this great place!

All the Berkeley girls!

Berkeley and Enumerators

Work-a-day World

June 19th, 2013

           On the 16th I left Johannesburg for Durban, and happened to be next to my friend Maanaa on the plane! We landed after a brief 45 minute flight to be met by Kamila and Adam and taken to our guest house. 

           South Africa, or at least the area where we are staying, is nothing like I expected. Even with prior expectations of similarities to Brazil, it is clean, warm, and fancy. The beaches are blue, the highways are newly paved, and wherever you go there is a delightful mix of white, African, Indian, Muslim, Christian, and Zulu. And in the North Durban/Umhlanga Rocks area where we are staying, there are great restaurants, beachfront walkways, and fancy malls. We spent our first two days gathering our wits, exploring the area, and trying to secure longer term housing. Then, yesterday, we finally met our Wonderbag counterparts, including a tour of a township where Wonderbags are used, and a delightful business lunch on the ocean.

      

     The Wonderbag office is a delightful place. It is not large, nor ful of people, but the passion is evident throughout the place. Wonderbags in bright local fabrics can be found in every corner, with one by the stove in the office cooking area for in-office use. We learned of the different costs, qualities, and distribution methods. 

     

    The largest distributions within this area of South Africa have been through supermarket promotions in partnership with Unilever. Representatives stood at the entrance to the store, and at the display, demonstrating the Wonderbag use, advertising the deal (Buy 3 boxes of Raja curry powder and get a free Wonderbag-- the total cost actually only cost the same as buying 3 boxes of the curry powder, meaning the promotion provided a free Wonderbag!), and collecting data from the purchasers, including their home fuel type and township of residence.

   

    At the office, we read through the data gathered during the process, and got a sense of business and hiring practices for our enumerators. We also met Nomo, who would take us to her township and introduce us to her neighbors who use the Wonderbag! 

     We then headed out across town to see what a local Wonderbag household looks like. Although shocked by our group size, our initial host eventually embraced all 6 of us, showing us the "pop" (A local food resembling a thick white polenta), and posing with her Wonderbag. She reported almost daily usage, especially for beans and longer cook-time foods. Her house was lovely, with several people and few rooms, but it was brick, painted inside, well kept, well furnished, and very comfortable. The family also spoke English fluently as well as Zulu, demonstrating their proximity to Durban city.

   
   After a few home visits, we visited a Shop Right, a store where the promotions were held in 2012 and as far back as 2009. We finally understood what they meant by a box of curry powder, and familiarized ourselves with the shopping demographic in the area.  The stores were quite nice, and air conditioned, but according to our host, quite expensive. We have made plans to go with her on a Saturday to shop at the local market, where hot water bottles are 23R (2$) versus 39R (4$) at the grocery store.

   At around 1pm we drove through city center, seeing the beautiful colonial buildings, and noticing the nervousness of our Wonderbag host. Doors locked and windows up we stayed in the center lane and kept our eyes peeled for suspicious activity. Its a shame the city center, with such gorgeous plazas and architecture feels unaccessible to a large part of the population due to fear and insecurity.

 
      Finally, we arrived at the Durban Center beach. Gorgeous water, clear beaches, lines of palms. Unfortunately it was quite windy. We ate lunch looking over the water, enjoying once again a delicious familiar meal with our new Wonderbag associates, before heading back to the office for afternoon meetings. All in all a great first day on the job.

     
   Today and tomorrow will be spent interviewing enumerators while myself, Kamila and Maanaa familiarize ourselves with the survey technology and seek access to national census data. Now off to email local professors!

Exploration and Animals

June 15^th, 2013

A week ago today I left for South Africa. Excited to see what it was like, anxious about not speaking any local language, and ready to explore Johannesburg and the South African national park, Kruger, before beginning my summer work.

I arrived exhausted, after a 27-hour journey, and was immediately swept away by a tour of Johannesburg. It is a city far beyond what I would have imagined. Sweeping across all perceivable areas with a tremendous diversity in wealth and style. The tour began in Soweto, a slum area that has experienced tremendous improvements, and who’s previous resident, Nelson Mandela, contributed to its fame. The guide was amazing. He grew up in Saweto, showed us the various economic zones that now exist within the limits of the township, and then even brought us to his home. It is a beautiful community, with a lot of history and its residents played an important role during the fight to end apartheid. Tomorrow, the 16th of June, is national youth day, marking the day where on a corner in Soweto, the apartheid government shot and killed schoolchildren protesting the removal of local languages from the educational system. Knowing this brings home the importance of tomorrow for the South Africans I have come to know in only a week.

After Soweto, I headed to the apartheid museum. It is a well-done and beautifully crafted the museum that tells the story of the all too recent end to a terrible law and shares the voices of those who contributed to the fight. At the entrance there is a quote saying that "apartheid is now where it belongs, in a museum." I am happy to have had the history before many nights by the fire on safari where the hosts spoke of the changes they have seen only in the past 15 years. My first day in South Africa ended with a trip to the “top of Africa,” a rather odd yet delightful attraction taking you from a mall floor to 50 floors above the city for a panoramic view. Tired and overwhelmed by city life, I arrived at my hostel at 8pm, only to fall asleep shortly after.

The next day I began my safari. The experience was wonderful, and over too soon. The people who work for the company were friendly, fun, and extremely knowledgeable.  As a solo traveler coming on an odd day, I had a private safari for much of the trip. I spent one night on the Bulule game reserve in Tremisana, and was greeted at the entrance by four giraffes who did not want us to pass. The next day I went walking through the bush with two armed guards, tracking animals, and eating breakfast 10 feet from hippos sleeping in the water. That afternoon I  headed to Marc’s Treehouse Lodge, which I must admit was my favorite place I have stayed. With a view of the river and a lodge of bamboo, I spent 4 more days exploring the African bush, taking way too many photos, and nights around fires with cider and great company. Back in Joberg to prepare for my flight tomm, I can say I already miss where I was only 5 short hours ago!

What follows are photos from my various safaris. I had wonderful luck at both Kruger national park and Bulule, seeing 4 wild cheetahs out of only 300 left in the world! Other tourists began complaining at the spotting of yet another elephant, but I never got there. These animals are incredible, and even more so in their natural habitat. Each and every animal had me in awe. I took way too many photos, and often sat there watching, taking it all in. The majority of the photos are from parks, but the one with tables over water is where we ate breakfast at the lodge, and the one of me petting a cheetah is at a center to promote education about the animals, to keep local farmers from killing endangered species, such as the cheetah. These are only the photos from my smaller camera, and already looking at them, I know they do not do the experience justice. But they are a small piece of the beauty I have seen in the last week. Enjoy some of the photos, and I will post again soon!