David on a journey in which the learning continues

Last weekend, we participated in a human rights training retreat through Africa Unite, and were able to spend the entire weekend working and learning with students from across South Africa and the continent. Far away from the city at a picturesque rural olive farm, we made connections, learned collectively about the principles of human rights, and put ourselves to the test in a variety of challenges and group activities. I had a fantastic time this weekend, and enjoyed making connections and finding commonalities with students that come from very different backgrounds from mine    

On Friday afternoon, we left Cape Town and headed north to Malmesbury, through rolling hills and cultivated fields. I was seated next to Adrie in the bus, a South African woman from the Overberg, and we talked for over an hour about our respective experiences and areas of interest. From the beginning of the trip I resolved to take full advantage of the opportunity to meet and connect with the other students from Africa Unite, and I began this in my conversation with Adrie. 

It struck me that this weekend marked our first time leaving the city of Cape Town and its immediate environs. The landscape was serenely beautiful and spare, and in the evening clouds swirled low overhead. We traveled to Goedgedact, an expansive olive farm nestled between rolling plains and a rocky ridge. We almost immediately were treated to a delicious dinner, and a brief introductory evening. My roommate for the experience was Abdul, a young man from Bishop Lavis, a community near Table Bay. We had a good hour-long conversation before dinner where we got to know each other’s basic details and reasons for wanting to participate in the training. Abdul was the first of several people to assume that I was significantly older and more established than I am. I wondered why it is that people get this impression, and what that means

David working with his group

We really got into the training on Saturday, and learned that much of our time would be spent preparing for and engaging in a sort of mock United Nations-esque activity, where we took on the role of nations within the continent and engaged in a variety of activities. My group was well mixed between UConn students and African students, including Abdul. We chose to focus on Congo and gave a fine presentation on Sunday. Between those two points, there were plenty of opportunities to work on activities with the other students, and converse at mealtime. It was then, and later on Saturday night after the day’s work was finished, that I feel like I had the most substantive and rewarding interactions

David & Maria  discussing Human Rights

I particularly enjoyed the evening and the spirited conversation I was able to have with another young activist from Cape Town, with whom I was able to discuss queer politics and identity in specifically South African context. I was really glad I was able to have that and many other interactions. I also went swimming in the dam later that night with a few people, and found myself floating on my back in the pitch dark night, seeing only vague outlines around me and a sky studded with stars. I’m in Africa, I kept repeating to myself.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was almost literally impregnated with feta cheese and jolly as hell. We finished our activities in the morning and said our goodbyes, exchanging information and promising to meet up again. Only a week has passed, and already I have made good on that promise.

David receiving his Africa Unite Human Rights Training Certificate at the conclusion of the weekend

The weather turned cloudy and rain began to fall on the way home. I was in a pensive mood; on that occasion I listened to Act III of RichardWagner’s Parsifal and found myself visualizing the music within the rolling hills and plains we drove through. Late in Act III ofParsifal, the wearied and lost protagonists find redemption and promise through a blessed series of events, occurring conspicuously on Good Friday. In a daze, the eponymous protagonist gazes at the landscape around him and suddenly realizes its beauty, as if nature itself has been transformed and redeemed. The music accompanying this realization, the Good Friday Spell, speaks to that transformation and the beauty of nature, and yet reflects the echoing pain and regret that frames the protagonists’ perception of this occurring miracle.

As I gazed at the rolling hills and golden fields, I internalized these emotions (as only music can do) found connections with my experience in Cape Town, and my perceptions of South African life and history on the whole. I was glad to have this experience, and glad even to feel the rain on my skin when we returned to the city. The learning continues.