Hella Solutions blog: "Document. Share. Inspire."

In my final hours in South Africa I figured it would be time to give my 2 cents on the places I stayed. Staying with friends is always great and I must thank Dorothy and her family for the wonderful time, the chance to cook my first South African braai and for all the good vibes. I stayed in three other places as well – the Protea Witbank hotel, the Bonni Bella guest house (bed & breakfast) and the Ackee guest house (b&b).

The Bonni Bella was the first place we stayed at and one we went back for one more night (actually, we would have stayed another night but the service wasn’t appealing). This place is clean, has a good meeting room, decent food and some cool nooks to sit and read. The draw backs are that there is no wireless Internet, not being able to get your own key to the front gate in the evening limits your evening plans and the tap water runs brown at times. The biggest turn off was that we felt that the owner was nickel-and-diming us. We were initially quoted a certain price and that changed and then we were informed that the cost of breakfast would be additional. Therefore, the cost per night was very close to the Protea hotel and surpassed the Ackee guest house (both of which offer far more amenities). I would recommend getting a quote in writing if you plan on staying here and make sure food is included. It’s a decent enough place but the owner, mainly, needs to work on her customer service a bit.

The Protea Witbank is one of the older hotels in the Protea family (a very large chain in SA and Africa). This is a basic hotel but it does have a decent bar, a good buffet, and wireless Internet (R$90./2 hours). If you don’t mind the older hotel look and feel I would recommend this place over the Bonni Bella. However, there are plenty of other guests houses for those, like myself, that really don’t like hotels (but I can’t comment on any of those).

The final and BEST place (cost, services and space) I stayed was the Ackee guest house in Victory Park, Johannesburg. Folami, the owner, has created a very warm, calm and relaxing place to stay. The front yard has a large parking area with garage space as well. There are lots of plants and trees and a flowing fountain as you walk to the front of her house. The backyard has a clean pool, bathroom/changing room, lots of grass to lounge on, an organic garden surrounds the yard, and a covered outside bar area is perfect for early evening drinks. Oh, did I mention there is free wireless access? Yup, there is! There is an 8 person dinning area, a large sun room (solarium?) and a comfortable living room with a stereo, flat panel telelvision, DVD/VHS player and a wood burning stove for the colder months. There are four bedrooms that can hold 6 people. The master bedroom has lots of beautiful natural light pouring in during the day and the bathroom is very clean and modern. The other bedrooms are also very comfortable but just a bit smaller and share and bathroom (however, it is split into two rooms – one for the loo and one for the shower. There is also a study/office connected to the bedroom area. This is all on the upstairs floor as the owner lives downstairs. Another touch that makes this place so appealing is that owner Folami has placed beautiful art work and African nick-nacks in well-placed yet random places all around the house and grounds. Also placed around the house are enlightening affirmations. I highly recommend the Ackee guest house! To get more information you can contact Folami by email at: ackee@telkomsa.net.

Here are a few photos from Ackee:

hotels

Unfortunately, one thing you will hear about Johannesburg is the issue of crime. Yes, the crime rate here, and all across South Africa, is very high and in my discussions with people here, it seems to be somewhat unique in that it is often on the more vicious side. But I can’t just leave it at that so let me shift this a bit.

In Jo’burg shopping malls are EVERYWHERE and they are not small! Seriously, the malls here are ridiculously large (I believe the largest malls in the world are here). Billboards plaster the roadways, BMW and other high-end car dealerships are in abundance, and the trend is only growing. So, should it be a surprise that those that “have not” still possess the same commercially trained desires “to have”? And if you have a growing culture based on product consumption and little opportunity for the masses (“have nots”) to participate then what can one expect? Crime. This is not an excuse but a statement that the situation will not change unless, 1) the culture of consumption changes; 2) economic justice is extended to the majority. However, with President Mbeki, a neo-liberals wet dream, this western-bread consumer culture is to be the norm and I believe SA is in for some serious trouble. To me, it seems that the only way to contain this level of crime, under the current commercial paradigm, would be to create a whole new type of Apartheid based on class – this fits in to what many refer to as the global apartheid that is being developed by corporate globalization.

Keeping in mind that whites have only recently conceded their program of Apartheid there is some hope. Although, it won’t come easy. The fragileness of rebuilding South Africa opens the gates to opportunist neo-liberal agendas and the money that is brought in by these forces is hard to resist (even by the most conscientious person). So, the answers are not easy, nor are the struggles. But I believe it is groups like SisterLove that are working in the right direction.

On another note, you are probably more likely to be a party to a car accident than a crime. Check some recent headlines (from http://www.iol.co.za/index.php):

JOHANNESBURG

Tue, 26 Dec 2006

5400 caught speeding on Christmas

Taxi crashes into ambulance

Tue, 26 Dec 2006

A pregnant paramedic was injured on Monday morning when a minibus taxi drove into the front of an ambulance she was parking, ER 24 said…

Fatal bus crash driver caught drunk

Mon, 25 Dec 2006

The driver of a bus in which 12 people died — among them three children — and 34 were injured in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday was caught seven times over the legal alcohol limit last year, it has emerged…

JOHANNESBURG

Sat, 23 Dec 2006

Festive season death toll down

Fatalities on SA roads have decreased but it remains up to road users to ensure that the trend continues, the Department of Transport said on Friday… The death toll stands at 907, down from last years 1024 for the same period…

And then there are stories with a sense of justice in them:

JOHANNESBURG

Sun, 24 Dec 2006

Fleeing mugger hit by car

A handcuffed man was hit by a car and killed while running from security guards after allegedly snatching a bag in Germiston on Saturday, Ekurhuleni metro police said…

While the numbers are high that is no reason to stay away from South Africa. The South African people on a whole are extremely warm and friendly so, just watch yourself, be aware of your surroundings and don’t travel alone. This should be true where ever you travel.

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Yesterday (12/24/06) I went to the Christmas Eve service of the Rock of Ages Church in Witbank. I met earlier in the week with the Pastor of the church and got permission to bring in some mics and record his service. Unfortunately, I forgot the cable to transfer audio from my MZ-M100 or I’d post some clips. Anyway, the church is located in an old building that looks like it might have been a car garage. It is one large space that holds around 250 seated and about 50 standing comfortably. There is a stage to one side of the space where the pastor, choir and band are. The congregation is seated in three large groups on the front and two sides of the stage. The floor is a black, hard rubber/plastic substance of some sort. The church sits along a dirt road with a few houses around it and all are next to a fairly large township mainly that is made up largely of shanty houses and a few small sections of average, small, brick houses.

I placed a Sony MB-M100 Mini-Disc recorder connected to a PZM mic at the back of the room near the churches sound board. I didn’t have any time to test out locations for setting this mic up so my hope was to try and get the best overall sound from the service.

I had with me my Sony MZ-M100 connected with the Sennheiser “shotgun” mic with pistol style grip. I walked around the church and recorded from about every angle possible. The main problem I ran into was that it was sooo loud that I couldn’t tell what I was getting. The only time I could tell was if I stepped outside and stood a few feet from the entrance. I ran on hope for most of this job – hope that I’d get something usable between the two recorders.

After waking up around noon, I got to listening to the discs and found that I got some very usable audio. I think the strongest sections are of the songs that were performed, some sections of the Pastor preaching (in a truly Southern Baptist style and with great shout outs from the congregation). The Pastor only mentions HIV/AIDS briefly during one section where he is telling people that to stay strong no matter what ails you (something like that…I have only listened briefly for quality not content). So, I’m trying to figure out how I can mix this audio into the project. Spirituality, g-d and the church are not major players in this piece although they are brought up so I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to incorporate. It’s just that, well…this is a strongly “g-d” church service and everything is about g-d and my project isn’t necessarily taking the angle of a “g-d” paradigm. Spirituality does have a role; anyway I didn’t expect anything different and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to record there and the audio will be used in some shape or form. One idea I am thinking about is to insert some of the preaching and songs and then bleed into a mix of them with some beats and use them to connect sections of the project (I’ll have to get the help from the legendary KGB – a local DJ friend – for assistance on doing this).

I give many thanks to Pastor Zulu and his congregation for giving me the opportunity to record the service. It was an honor!

audio equipment, concert recording

As I’ve briefly written about in previous posts, SisterLove is in the final stages of purchasing a functioning farm (dairy, chickens, growing land, housing, etc.). SisterLove has been the lead facilitator in forming a trust between 3 different local organizations who will run the farm. The profits of the farm will be distributed to other South African groups and jobs on the farm will serve those in the community. It is part of a project of empowerment, community development and sustainability for grassroots groups in South Africa. Upon the success of this program they are working on duplicating it in other regions of South Africa and the African continent at large. It’s a really beautiful project and one that is going to take serious work! And it’s one that is sure to succeed with a group of such talented people.

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My interviewing has gone very well so far and that has been rewarding. For example, I am scheduled to go to a church service this Sunday with one of the SisterLove staff (and this should be some great audio!). I may be able to connect with some folks there who would be interested in getting interviewed for my project but that will be seen when I’m there.

Another great audio opportunity is, SisterLove has formed a trust with 3 partner organizations here and purchased a fully working farm. They are using this as a development model to help create sustainability for SisterLove and many other organizations here. Today we are taking a tour of the farm! This should be some really fun audio and I’m hoping for some good discussions on the potential impact of such a positive endeavor. So, I have been very fortunate with my interview schedule and other audio recording but I’ve more recently been worrying about one aspect of my work. Am I addressing the issue of “globalization,” “neo-liberalism,” the ‘local’ and the ‘global’ and other related things adequately enough in my work here?

I left California knowing that my project overall addresses the issue of globalization on a more subtle level (this is partly my intention) but that I can’t let that subtlety let the issue get drowned out. So, how do I maintain that balance? What types of techniques do I use to keep this balance? What types of audio do I get to keep the issue of global and local organizing and globalization present throughout the piece?

I know that I have, and will get more, direct interviews with Dazon (SisterLove’s founder and President) addressing all of these points but is that enough? I’m likely to interview a board member or two and anticipate getting more direct analysis around these issues, but is that enough? What other types of sounds can I get that will keep this idea going? Constructive comments/ideas/discussions can be left on the blog using the ‘Comments’ link. You can use the Email link (the letter icon) but it’s easier for me if you post to the blog directly). Cheers!

globalization

Before leaving for South Africa I was really worried about developing adequate questions and even more so developing a strong set of questions that I could use with the diverse number of people I intend on interviewing – each interviewee having a unique position and therefore the exact same set of questions wouldn’t cover all of them. I’m sharing this only because I know I’m not alone with this challenge. If the section in the book store on interviewing is any indication, apparently one can actually make money selling techniques specifically on handling this task. Well, I’m no professional interviewer but I hope some of my ideas might be helpful to someone finding themselves in similar positions.

In my preparation I started by identifying perspectives, scenes and ideas that I felt I needed in my finished project. The headings I initially started with were such things as:

“Personal” – getting individuals to describe more personal life stories; childhood stories; key experiences that brought them to where they are today.

“Environment” – because this project is audio and I do not plan on any narration I will need, for example, to develop ways of having interviewees describe their surroundings, work environments, etc.

“Overall Goals” – what are my goals for each interview? What types of things am I trying to describe with the interviews I am compiling? Themes? Issue areas?

“General Ideas” – specific ideas I come up with for interviews, interviewees, recording techniques.

“Dates and Meanings” – what this section was for is pertinent dates, times and vocabulary definitions relevant to my project and interviewees.

My next step was, I then took several blank pieces of paper and marked each with their own heading from above. I then began to flush out each with specific content. For example, on the “Dates and Meanings” I wrote down,

Aug. 31, 2002

-Landless peoples’ march

-Route > Alexandra (poor township/Traditional ANC stronghold) to Sandton (“Wealthiest square mile in Africa”).

-to occur during World Summit…

Under “Overall Goals” I wrote such things as:

-detail is critical but not every fact.

-articulate resistance.

-envisioning increased flows of resistance.

This has given me a place to write things down, in a more structured way, as I think of them. But what has really paid off is I have been able to use each section to develop my more specific questions for each interview while staying on the same page with each. I drop some topics and use others as I see appropriate for each interview. I also use the outlines to give me an idea of locations for each (which I use to answer one of my professors encouragements to keep things “scene-based”).

I have done interviews on the street in front of the SisterLove office, in the office with some light keyboard typing going on in the background, groups in meeting rooms, interviews in a car and the more easy to edit, one-on-one interview in a very quiet space. Each has a different emphasis. For example, I don’t address any really difficult issues and topics while interviewing in a car. I have mainly used these times as a way to describe neighborhoods, showing motion as we move from one place to another. The more academic questions are done in the quieter settings (as these will most likely be more heavily edited than, like in the case of showing movement from one place to the next, excerpted). I will be accompanying SisterLove staff on their visit to the farmland that they and their partners have purchased. I see this audio being excerpted and interspersed with more formal and academic interviews with Dazon and Themba regarding land reform and community sustainability.

That is what’s on my mind here at 4 a.m. Yup, I still haven’t been able to sleep through a full night quite yet. It hasn’t been too bad but I’m also popping caffeinated mints pretty regularly during the day (thanks thinkgeek.com!). If you haven’t tried these things they are pretty awesome!

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sitting out the window of the B&B.

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The SisterLove South Africa staff Themba, Jola, Isaac and Dazon.

Today I plan on meeting with Themba, the SisterLove (SA) Program Director, to work on setting up interviews with him and the other staff. He also volunteered his services in driving me around to the different partner organizations they have and to any other areas where I might want go and record. He has been extremely kind with his time and open to my work.

One of the plans I will be working on is interviewing Jola. What I want to do is paint a clear and personal picture of the death that SisterLove deals with on an almost daily basis. I want to speak to her about a recent case (not yet determined) of one of their clients/friends who has died of HIV/AIDS – the last few days of their life, the business of burying them, the ceremony, etc. I then want to take a walk with her to the cemetery where this person is buried and have her continue telling the story as we go to their grave site. I spoke with Jola on Thursday about my ideas and she was willing and open to doing this and seemed to have a person she was close with in mind. During our conversation she brought up going to church and I asked if I could also go with her on one or both of the Sundays that I am here. She said, “Absolutely.” I don’t know what her church services are like but this could be a very powerful segment! If not for my project, at least for me…

The excitement I feel about this development reminds me of a conversation I was having with Dazon last night about the power of relationships. She was saying that her experience is that it isn’t about how much money you have but the relationships you build that will bring you success. Where you lack in funds you can more than make up in nurtured and strong relationships but the reverse does not work as well. So, this morning I was thinking about what role all of the relationships I have developed over the years have played in placing me in this exact place. Dazon, you are absolutely right!

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The landing was delayed about 15 minutes so we circled the airport and the eternal wait for luggage was only too happy to be waiting for us on the ground. The passport check was too easy. I had my Sony T-mic clipped to the front of my shirt, headphones on, and all the wires going down the inside of my shirt into my front pocket where I kept my MD recorder. I think I got some good ambient sounds in the airport but I really was hoping to get some of the conversation or words with the check point person. Not a word and I don’t think she even looked me in my eyes or ask why I have a bunch of wires stuffed down my shirt and a mic clipped on. I’m tempted to do the same on the way back but I already know the rednecks at the US border will question me no matter what. What more do they have to do…terrorism isn’t likely to come knocking on their door so they have to get their kicks somehow.

I received a phone message from Dazon the previous day (12/12) when I was in the ATL airport saying she was at the airport in Jo’burg waiting for me and wasn’t sure what time I got in. I called and left a message that it wasn’t until the next day (12/13) that I would be arriving. We hadn’t connected at all after that and so I was concerned she might not be there when I actually did arrive. But she was there. No problems.

While getting some money exchanged we had a little encounter with a older, white South African man who tried to get ahead of us in line. Okay, there were two ways you could get to this teller window and it was separated by a large pillar. But when Dazon went to tell the guy we were first he kept going passed her and talking past her to the teller. Dazon kept telling him that we were standing where you are supposed to and we were there first…he kept looking and talking past her…as if she wasn’t there. The man finally gave in to Dazon. She told me this was typical treatment from many of white South Africans but she didn’t stand for it — she called the treatment “windowing.” I may have gotten this all on disc as I still had my set up recording at that time. I just haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet to see if it is worth anything and if I got any of the “exchange” between Dazon and the old codger. It is really inspiring to be in the presence of someone so fearless as Dazon. She is an amazing woman.

I did a lot of preparing before I landed so that I could hit the ground running in terms of audio work. My first idea was to do an interview with Dazon while we drove the hour from the airport to where we would be staying near the SisterLove office in Witbank. So, what do I do?! Yes, during an awesome interview with her I realize that the freaking pause button is still engaged. This is something I H-A-T-E about this MD recorder. The only signifier that the pause is on is that some of the display blinks; but the sound comes through the same and the sound meter is running. I think Sony needs to insert a beeping sound when the pause is engaged (especially because they do exactly that for when you are playing back. Who gives a f#ck if pause is on when you are simply playing back?!). Anyway, why this is so frustrating is this is the second time I have done this with Dazon (I did it during one our interviews in Atlanta over last summer). It’s kind of funny because I have never done this with anybody else.

Ultimately I have taken this as a good omen as now I am so paranoid that I’m going to do this again that I doubt I will. I’m going to do the interview over again on our drive back to Johannesburg tomorrow.

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