This past weekend was one of my favorite experiences in Cape Town thus far. At first I really didn’t want to go because leaving my familiar routine that I’ve become so accustomed to didn’t sound very appealing, especially not knowing what exactly it is I was getting myself into. For all I knew we were going to do manual labor the entire weekend, which explains why all I pretty much packed was a set of gym clothes and jeans. Turns out my packing choices weren’t the greatest because I ended up doing absolutely no labor. Clothes aside, the twenty of us went with eighteen people about the same age from the city to a weekend long human rights convention. I was assigned to live with a woman I had just met named, Jackie. I didn’t really know how I felt about living with a stranger; however, within the first few minutes of talking to each other everything changed. It felt so comfortable and natural talking and hanging with her. Here was someone I had literally just met and yet I felt an instance connection. That night we stayed up for an extra hour or two filling each other in our lives – our friendship only grew from there.
Fast forwarding to Saturday, we were all divided up into four groups and told to pick a country in Africa along with a president to represent ourselves for the future mock UN presentations we’ll be giving in hopes of winning the $500 UN check for our country. The group I was a part of picked Egypt – why I don’t think any of us really knew but we did. Ironically, however, we soon come to find out that Egypt currently is without a president until July of this year due to last year’s revolution. As a result, for our UN speech we decided to do a skit reenacting various protests and important dates. We all had so much fun acting and portraying the events that we didn’t even mind not winning the grant. I was proud of our group. All of this ended around ten thirty that night, which was way too early to end the night. So, a big group of us all decided to go night swimming at the nearby lake. The best part about it was the sky. I have never seen a night sky so unbelievably gorgeous. All the stars and constellations were so bright as they surrounded the most amazing Milky Way (especially since I had never seen the Milky Way before this). Even more so, the water reflected the sky making the illusion of us swimming amongst the stars. With being in such good company providing the cherry on top, this is one night that I will never forget.
The people I met this weekend are some that I will truly cherish. I can probably count on one hand the experiences that I can honestly say that about. A was able to spend a lot of time with one guy, in particular, who I can now call a good friend. We began comparing lives – his being that of Mozambique and Cape Town while mine is a small town in Northeastern United States. A couple weeks ago, his dog was poisoned to death by his neighbor because the neighbor simply didn’t like the dog – my dog is alive without any potential threat on her life. Two weeks ago, he woke up after a night out in the middle of the street with no shoes, pants, wallet, watch, and with a big bump on the back of his head. He had been jumped and robbed a block from where he lives - while I’ve never been scared of getting jumped as trees are the only thing within a couple acres of my house. As he put it, he also “learned to read through beatings.” “The teacher would write a sentence or two on the board and tell you to read. If you hesitated, messed up, or went too slow you were beat with a stick or ruler.” I grew in a school system where even the slightest touch (or even hug) too strong could be turned into a law suit. The worst punishment I ever remember receiving in school was getting a “talking to” or a scolding look. My friend and I have lived polar opposite lives and yet we both ended up forming a friendship on a random olive farm two hours outside of the city. Crazy to think about but it just goes to show that external circumstances are only limiting if you let them be.
Sunday rolls around, we receive certificates, exchange contact information, and return to our own lives, except with a whole new perspective of life centering on the dignity and respect of all humans. In other words, about forty new human rights activists were created out to defend those very rights for everyone we can. The nine or ten of us that formed Egypt are planning a workshop on the 25th of March. I’m so excited to get the chance to share the information I was able to learn to more people than just my friends and family.
This weekend will be one that I will remember forever. (Not to mention, I learned more about Egypt in two days than I have in my entire life.)
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