Rampant Idealism

Last night we went to Maria's Greek restaurant and feasted for nearly 3 hours.  The dinner speaker was Janet Johnson, a most idealistic young women.  An historian, an activist, and a manager of social dynamics for an organization called Cape Town Embrace.  She told us of her idea for get white Cape Town mothers to commit to meet and support black mothers who had a child in the first 1000 days of their lives (from conception to 2 years old).  The idea is to encourage and support the mothers so they can be stronger better mothers which will help their children more than anything else.  For brain development that encourages thriving children need love, safety, stimulation and good nutrition.  The quote for the day was that "90% of white South Africans have never been to Khayelisha township."  She plans to use faith communities which are very strong here in S. Africa to recruit mothers and that way there can be support for the white mothers.  The commitment is to meet together every two weeks for 1 hour for a period of 6 months.  It is Janet's hope that connecting about babies can allow the women to breach the giant gap of race and class.  I wish her well with her project.

Today we met 30 children from Aba house in Khayelisha at the Cape Town Planetarium.  It was a big outing for them and we shared a star show, the first hour being a pretty boring lecture by the senior guy and then a 1/2 hour program in Xhosa with animated planets and a flying dragon.  We had a picnic in the park and the children played and ran around enjoying the green grass and wide open spaces.  The view of Table Mountain with the fog (they call it the tablecloth) flowing over it was stunning.  I had a lovely conversation with Evelyn who is the founder of this care facility.  She was recruited by the government to take AIDS orphans and abused children and then the government changed their laws, leaving her not properly licensed.  So she gets no help or aid from the government even though they keep placing children with her (4 were added last night).  Clearly an area needing help is to help her move through the bureaucracy for get licensed etc.  I bonded with her, heart to heart, though I found myself standing and watching the kids, not interacting like the other folks.  I keep my eyes of my heart and mind open.   Tonight is our fancy dress up dinner.