South Africa - Day 1

First we need to tell you about Ken and Marty Kurica, a Life Long Learner couple on the trip with us.  Their daughter was on Semester at Sea in 2009 and she found out about a rescue center for children that had been sold by their mothers into slavery in Ghana.  The couple running the rescue center find young boys and girls who have been sold for working and other abuse, mainly to fishermen.  Anyhow, we were invited to go to the rescue center to see the set up.  Ken Kurica announced this trip which he had planned for a small van and it was to include feeding some 600 children in the neighborhood of the rescue center.  The center can accommodate some 15 or so children living in the center but the center mainly finds the mothers and gives the children back to them and then the center helps the mothers find work so that they may have the ability to support their child.  Ken Kurica got calls from some 30 students and a couple of Life Long Learners who wanted to go.  So Kurica had to hire a large bus and driver.  After all was said and done the trip didn't leave until 3:00 AM and returned the next night arriving back at 3:00 AM.  So, Grace and I decided not to go as we were just back from our water village tour and we were some beat.  The group that went raised enough money to feed 1,200 children and we were one of the sponsors.  Anyhow, after we were back on the ship the group that made the trip gave a report in the Union (the big auditorium) two nights after we left Ghana. 



The group that went to the Rescue Center - That's Marty and Ken Kurica on the far right



With Extended Family Daughter, Megan, who went on the Rescue Center Mission

We arrived at Cape Town on October 3.  The first day we did the city orientation as we generally do to get the lay of the land.

Suzanne and Paul Lagomarcino with Table Mountain background

Early Morning Arrival in Cape Town

Our first stop was at the Castle of Good Hope which was built by the Dutch in 1666.  It is built as a pentagon and is really a fort, with all that entails - military barracks, a prison, ammo storage and in addition a great place where the Dutch lived including the William Fehr collection.  The collection is a museum of very fine furniture and paintings.  We were impressed with the extremely wide floor boards.  Our pictures really don't do it justice so only the entrance is shown.


Castle of Good Hope (A Fort)

St George's Cathedral is where Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached for years.  He retired the other day (October 7th on his 79th birthday).  He has spoken to the entire shipboard community several times and he is inspiring to say the least.  He has great faith in the idealism of the students and encourages them to stay idealistic to help improve the world.  There is not a lot that he says that we disagree with.  Yesterday was gay/lesbian pride day on the ship and those in favor were asked to wear some sign they were in concert with the gay and lesbian community.  It was a day of silence and the "Arch" kept his silence well considering that he really loves to speak. 

St George's Cathedral



Plaque on St George's Cathedral

Below a statue to Cecil Rhodes who was a remarkable man and funded the Rhodes scholarships.  He was one of 11 children in a poor family and amassed a fortune in South Africa.  Go to Wikipedia to read about him.  A fantastic success story.


Cecil Rhodes Statue



We went to a museum which was fantastic and a couple of pictures below give the flavor of some of the South African art. 

Fish Art



Cave Art

That afternoon we were surprised that Jim and Corinne Law, LLLs, and new friends, decided they did not want to go to the Jazz Safari that night and so they gave us their tickets.  Ken really didn't want to go but Grace convinced him.  What a wonderful evening we had.  It was the best experience of the trip.  Anyhow, we went to a house where the front room has been converted to a entertainment and eating area.  The hostess had a license to sell alcohol and there was a female singer with a guitar man and a drummer.  Everyone had a great time.  We all danced with the owner and all the other members of the clientele of the "tavern".

Grace and Ken at the First Stop on Safari Night

Our Hostess at the First Stop

Dancing with the crowd



Ken Getting Down

We left the first venue and went on to what was sort of a garage for the 2nd part of Safari Night.  The group was a band that mainly taught younger musicians and other entertainers how to play, dance, etc.  The group was made up of a drummer (the leader of the band), a trumpet player, an electronic key board player and a dancer.  The music was good and the personalities better.  This all took place in a Township.  A Township is an area in the suburbs of Cape Town where the non-whites live.  There is poverty and squalor all around.  There is running water but the toilet facilities leave a lot to be desired.  We think they mainly have septic tanks, if that.  By the way, the trumpet player also sang like Satchmo.

The Band

Dancer

Then 3 of our students joined the band.  One played the trumpet, one a guitar and the other was a singer.  The student trumpet player was a young girl named Alyssa Rizzo; the student guitarist is one of our extended family, Chris Hanemann-Rawlings and the singer who sang beebop I don't know her name.  All the students were excellent.  However, the highlight of the night was Alyssa Rizzo.  Not only could she play extremely well but when the night was over we were in for a special treat.  Alyssa and the band's trumpet player were comparing their instruments.  The trumpet player was showing Alyssa that his trumpet had about a 2 inch crack where the mouth piece fit and another hole in the back of his trumpet. He referred to his trumpet as his "old soldier". At that point Alyssa decided to give her trumpet to this man.  You can see he is about 6' 6" and Alyssa is rather small in comparison.  The man was overcome with gratitude and starting crying.  He exclaimed he would never be angry again and would only do good things.  Then everyone was crying.  You just can't top this.  Alyssa is our hero.  We wish we had a picture of this moment but we don't.

Alyssa Rizzo and the Band's Trumpet Player

Chris Hanemann-Rawlings

Below is a 9 second video from this extraordinary night. Sorry we didn't take a longer video.

You may have noticed that some of the pictures show 10/4/2010.  Ken's camera has the wrong date, which may last for several more entries until it is corrected.  We will work on days two and three in Cape Town and then the Kariega Game Reserve safari.  It takes a long time to upload pictures from the ship's configuration.