South African Seminar Report: From Vaalwater, South Africa

Despite difficulties with transportation, illness, rescheduling, rerouting, and other general disruptions, the third and final seminar of this trip was successfully completed last week. This group was a bit different from the other two seminars for several reasons. First, the audience was, on average, the youngest we have had yet – most of the participants were around college age. Second, the seminar was in English, but it was a second language for most of the participants, who largely came from South African tribal groups, and their tribal language is their first language. Third, the seminar was remote—all participants stayed on site the entire week, so there were far fewer personal interruptions. It is remarkable how many fewer “emergencies” arise when you are unable to address the day-to-day details of your normal routine. Finally, it was the only seminar without Al and Velma (both were in Johannesburg due to Velma's illness—see my previous post for more information).

The seminar started with a preliminary session on Sunday that, unfortunately, was disrupted when we learned that about half our participants had not received the transportation we had arranged for them. As a result, we had to go pick them up, which caused substantial delays. Fortunately, this was easily managed, once we determined the problem. In addition, some of the students had difficulty with the vocabulary—not everyone had the same level of English ability or literacy. This is an issue that has arisen in more than one seminar, and one which we plan to address—we need to be able to communicate to all audiences, and mixing strong and weak scholastic backgrounds tends to leave those who are not as well-educated behind. Since we are trying to develop everyone, we are looking into ways to plan seminars according to more strict demographics. This may not be necessary in all cases, but for certain groups, I think it will benefit everyone involved. The rest of the seminar went smoothly, and the participants all indicated that the seminar was beneficial in helping them learn new ideas and think about their future.

We have now had three seminars, and three positive responses. Coming out of the past several weeks, there are a few items we have noted all the seminars had in common that we think we can improve, and some clear areas of strength that we should continue to develop. This information is very valuable as it allows us to refine and improve the seminars as we planned. I may address these at greater length in the future, if it doesn't create copyright or participant security issues.

To update, Velma Corson, one of our coordinators, is still in the hospital. Between the initial illness (cerebral malaria) and ensuing complications, it is likely she will have to remain in the hospital for at least seven weeks. Al (her husband) and I have found accommodations in the Johannesburg area for the duration of her stay, though I will probably need to head back to the U.S. before she gets out of the hospital. It is a mark of her dedication that she is already thinking of things we need to do with the seminar while we are in South Africa. There is a great opportunity for development here as well as Mozambique, so we expect that our long-term plans, while modified, remain consistent with our vision: bringing development to the lives of people in Africa and around the world.