Hello all!
I’m at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal again today using the free internet! Yay free things! I’ve been paying .50 rand a minute since I arrived, which is pretty cheap, but anything that costs money still sucks. However, it has a ban on accessing facebook which is going to be complicated :P

Today we had my favourite lecture so far about HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities and also the opportunistic infections which latch onto people with AIDS, such as tuberculosis. I wouldn’t say it is the most interesting topic we’ve studied, but the lecturer was very engaging and was able to give us stories of her personal experiences working with people with disabilities who suffer from HIV/AIDS. South Africa is one of the worst countries in the world for gender violence (rivaled only by the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and this is my area of interest, which intersects closely with people with AIDS. She told stories about how complex it is for women who have suffered from gender violence to receive assistance for their problems because the health care system is sorely lacking (especially in terms of counseling) and the police system here is pretty corrupt, so if a woman reports rape then the file will often be “lost” because the police have been bribed. This is clearly a huge problem. She was very real, even though the stories she told were very hard to hear. It was inspiring to meet someone who is pioneering a new area of research and seeing tangible differences in how they implement their policy. South Africa has a strategy for dealing with AIDS called the National Strategic Plan (NSP) and she will be the person who writes about what the next version of the NSP will need to do in covering people with disabilities when considering AIDS, which will be hugely influential for people here.

Yesterday we got to sleep in and then had a lecture at Hippo Hide on the history of South Africa, done by Professor Klausen (the professor supervising us who came from Carleton). It was mostly stuff I already knew from my previous history classes, so I don’t feel like I learned a ton. It’s interesting here how all the buildings and highways are named after historical figures (just like anywhere in the world) but these people are closely linked to the history of apartheid. For example, Shepstone is the name of one of the buildings at the university and he was one of the people instrumental in creating the ideas of ‘separate development’ in the 1800s which would shape the policies of the National Party under apartheid. He was incredibly racist, and yet this school is mostly populated by black students and I feel that it is a very strange situation. Weird.

On a totally non-academic note, I have done more shopping here than I ever have at home. I guess it’s because that’s mostly what the other girls are interested in. But we went to a mall yesterday which would completely shatter anyone’s stereotypes about Africa as a completely impoverished continent. It was MASSIVE! I’m looking forward to doing more interesting stuff though J Alana and I booked our plane tickets to Cape Town this weekend which will be totally different and unbelievable.

Today I find out what is going on with my placement. I may end up going and living in a safe (I stress this word because I know mom is freaking out when she reads this!) township for 3 weeks and working within the community at a grassroots NGO which deals with access to services like electricity and water, while also helping out in the community garden and doing whatever they need. It sounds WAY more hands-on than the research paper, so hopefully I get it! I am going to have my interview for it in 20 minutes and then I will know J

Well, that’s all for now.

Love Heather