Sharp, Sharp and Sophiatown

...one of the other South African phrases that took a little while to get used to is "sharp" or "sharp, sharp". The former, I think, means, "okay, good", while the latter means "see you later"...

So, sharp--today I went to Sophiatown...before Apartheid, this was an area that was known for being very racially diverse--sometimes it's called the "Harlem of South Africa" because many artists and musicians lived here. In the late 50's, I think, around the time of the Group Areas Act, the Apartheid government decided that such an integrated community wasn't acceptable so they moved all of the black, coloured, and indian residents, basically all non-whites, and tore it down to create a white neighborhooed. But the church that I went to has been around since the 1930's--the pastor was a major ally of the ANC and the anti-apartheid movement. There are pictures of him all over the place...I went because my colleague at Themba, Tshepo, runs a weekly drama group with some youth there, and today I was the guest artist. We first watched a concert, which, interestingly enough, was a cultural exchange with the Sophiatown choir and a quarter from St. Petersburg, Russia. So there was a big African choir and then four Russian guys--both were very good, but what an interesting combination.

Then I worked with the youth--we created a short play about teen pregnancy...they have been working with Tshepo for a while now, and it shows--they had some good solid skills, and were just like teenagers in the US, just a different accent. Different, but the same.

This coming week is my last with Themba--the time is too short...I can't believe that I've been in Africa for four weeks already. But I think I've learned and accomplished a lot.