May 26th -
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the long delay-- the internet access has been very spotty and very slow. Joy and I are currently at the Johannesburg Airport heading to Botswana.They have high speed internet here and we have 2 hours to kill.
After we left Cape Town (no car accidents....), we flew to Zimbabwe for 3 days.
It was a great visit. We are learning so much about Southern Africa and the issue that challenge these people. Zimbabwe is racked with run away inflation.
It goes up daily and they have taken to AM/ PM pricing for many stores. Back in 2000-- one Zim dollar was approximately equal to one US dollar. Now, the exchange rate when we arrives was 37,000 zim dollars equaled---one US dollars.
When we left (3 days later) it was 42,000 Zim dollars to ONE US dollar. We lost $30 in the exchange rate over 3 days...... We calculted that it would cost 2 BILLION Zim dollars/ year to attend Williams or Amherst.
The educational advisor at the embassy in Zimbabwe is terrific--- she made our stay incredibly interesting. We visited a rural boarding school--- we saw 250 student who could not have been better behaved and incredibly attentive. This trip has really hit home what a precious commodity information and knowledge truly is. Although we have not done the typical "African" activities, we really feel very lucky to have met so many different people and have gotten some real insight into all these different cultures. The Zimbabwe education advisor runs a program for talented, low-income students (US Achievers
Program--USAP) We had a great meeting with 50 students from schools around Zimbabwe and then a meeting with 7-8 high school advisors. We can't get these numbers in the US!
The economy is on everyone's mind there--- a student we met (and who is headinig to Amherst next year) is worried about buying her plane ticket--- she can make a reservation now, but they don't let you pay until the day you leave--- who knows where the price will be at that point. joy is looking into having Amherst buy the ticket--- all the little things you learn. Also things like having web pages that do not down load any pictures (just text) for kids in the developing world. I tried to check email at the consulate (some of the best internet connections in the country. I have 30 mins before the session
started-- the Williams Web page never finished down loading in the 30 mins....so no email. Anyway-- more on Zimbabwe when we get back.
We just spent 3 days in Durban, South Africa. A much needed change of pace-- we had a car (we are now competent at driving on the left side) and more flexibility. The place we stayed was terrific, we had a chance to take a few runs along the beach and make some in roads in the schools in the area. We also took a 100 kilometer trip to a boarding school out in the more rural area.
We are headed this afternoon to Botswana for 3 days and then Swaziland for 3 days before returning home on May 31st (arrive June 1st). I doubt we will have internet access after today (maybe), but we are looking forward to our last week. We hope to do a day trip to a "game park" in Botswana and get a chance to take our first full day off with out travel.
We hope all is well at home. Miss you all
Sean and Joy
May 19thHi
Sorry for the long delay—it has been a very interesting, but tiring trip so far. We are just starting to get on the correct time zone (lots of awake time between 1-4 am so far).
We spent the first 5 days in Johannesburg—very modern city with extreme wealth and poverty. We visited a wide variety of school with the education advisor from the American Embassy (our first time in an embassy). The extremes are visible in everyday life--lots of private security firms in all the upper class neighborhoods--- lots of very high walls (sometimes razor wire) around house and our hotel as well. We felt like we were in a “compound”—full time visible security force with a manned gate to get in and out. We visited a few of the Andover/ Exeter type schools, as well as, spending a day at school in Soweto. Soweto was like the worst places in the South Bronx, but increase the numbers to 5 million people. They have very limited daily amenities (looks like out side phone booths on most corners—very few phones in houses. The schools are falling apart—no internet access, few have even small libraries. Joy and I spoke at a few of the best schools--- very basic talks about liberal arts, financial aid, applying, etc—very much like talks in the inner city US. We made some very good connections with a few local programs that are helping the low income students (or “learners” as they call them here) apply to universities in SA and around the world—obviously fic aid is the driving factors. Two programs in particular seem very promising if we ever want to get a steady stream of qualified applications from Black or Colored African students.
We flew to Cape Town on Thursday and are now navigating the street on our own (they drive on the opposite side of the road here--- yikes). So far so good—the non-driver is continually saying “left side”, etc. We visited a science-math magnet for low income students yesterday. Today we spent time with a woman that coordinates a “Saturday School” for 11th grade students from shanty towns around the Cape Town area. Fascinating and incredibly sad to see the conditions many of these people live in from day to day--- makes you feel a bit embarrassed when you think that people associate the US with Paris Hilton……
It has been an incredibly interesting trip so far--- tiring but inspiring as well.
We head to Zimbabwe tomorrow--- no more driving for a while--- at least until we return to SA to go to Durbin. We spend all of our time with the US educational advisor in Zimbabwe.
Hope all is well there—talk to you in a few days (or as long as internet connections hold.
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