Introducing the Seed Blog!

Time to insert a little bit of PR into my personal blog. Today it is my pleasure to introduce the new official Seed Southern Africa Blog!

https://southernafricaseed.wordpress.com/

Don't worry, I'm not abandoning this blog. You can still come back here for (occasional) personal reflections and stories as always. The Seed Blog however is a wonderful platform to learn more about the Seed Program as it unfolds in Southern Africa for the first time. As we get going over the next couple of months the participants will begin posting their own stories and reflections. Seed is not only about Agriculture, it is about learning, growing, reflecting, and sharing. This blog will be THE place to keep in touch with the fantastic changes happening in the region. In 4 short weeks the program will begin with MCC general orientation in Colombia. From there we'll have an extensive month long regional orientation in South Africa and Zimbabwe. We have 8 participants: 1 from Zambia, 1 from Mozambique, 1 from Swaziland, 2 from Lesotho, 1 from South Africa, and 2 from the U.S. Please keep them in your prayers as they apply for visas and make final travel preparations.

Why I am excited about Seed

We’ve been busy conducting interviews for the Southern Africa Seed program and are now done the selection process. Eight young people from Southern Africa and North America are getting ready to join MCC and serve with our partner organizations for two years. During the interviews, one young woman asked us a question “what makes you (the facilitators) excited about Seed?” It is a question I never get tired of answering.

The Seed program started in Colombia several years ago as two year volunteer program for young adults with an emphasis on Serving, Learning, Reflecting, and Peace/Advocacy. Now there are 4 active Seed programs in Colombia, Bolivia, DRC, and Southern Africa. Here in Southern Africa, food security is a key priority for many of our partners so the participants will be placed with organizations involved in conservation agriculture activities.  

So what makes me excited about Seed? 

Seed is about getting young people involved in something bigger than themselves. It is a chance to learn about a new culture, to travel to new countries, to meet new people, and to learn a new language. Seed is an opportunity to serve and give of yourself, and in doing so you will most certainly receive more than you can imagine.

Seed is about getting young people involved in agriculture. Agriculture is life. It carries a responsibility we too often neglect; to be good stewards of the land God has given us. Agricultural practices can damage and destroy the land or they can redeem and restore the land. The tools for healthy and sustainable living have been given to us if we open our eyes to learn from the examples of nature around us.

Seed is about connection. Taking a group of young people with a common interest in agriculture and development and putting them together to dig down to the root causes of food insecurity and injustice in their communities. Young people motivating and challenging each other to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and change agents.

Seed is about young people having a say in the development of their communities. If young people are involved in agriculture, and if agriculture is life, then young people can shape the development of their communities in a move towards sustainability, food sovereignty, and shalom.

What is shalom? What are the root causes of food insecurity and conflict in our communities? What is the link between agriculture, food sovereignty, justice, and peace? How do those four areas work together to bring about communities where people know shalom, where people are in right relationship with themselves, with their neighbours, with God, and with creation?

The Seed program is a seed- a seed of transformation planted in the participants, in the communities where they work and live, in our partners, and in MCC herself. It is a goal that at times seems lofty beyond our means, but that is the power of relationship and working together. To see young people motivated and inspired to lead their communities towards food sovereignty and shalom. To see farmers, communities, and partners with the capacity to do the same. To see MCC set priorities where the needs are most strongly felt and to use to the greatest advantage the strengths, abilities, and passions of young leaders from Southern Africa. That is where we are headed over the next two years, and that is what makes me incredibly excited. 

Part of our job in these early months is going around and visiting MCC's partners in Southern Africa who are doing Conservation Agriculture. The Brethren in Christ Church in Zambia has been training farmers in rural communities how to apply CA in their fields.

Guba isn't a partner of MCC's but the organization in Swaziland is doing some fantastic stuff when it comes to permaculture, community outreach, and addressing the issue of small land owner's access to market for cash crops. This is a section of a woman's kitchen garden- notice the variety of crops, the mulch, the small composting pile in the centre. And did I mention she is doing all of this on a mountain side? Wow!

I might have made a friend in Swaziland.Too bad I couldn't take her with me.  Smuggling past two borders and airport security seemed a bit much.

On the way to visit one of MCC's partners in Zimbabwe (Binga district) we stopped by the road to see the hot springs. Who knew?

Also in Zimbabwe. This lovely picture of elephants doesn't have much to do directly with Seed it is true, but it has everything to do with being a part of the awesome MCC Zimbabwe team, who happened to go on a team meeting together to Hwange National Park last month. What an amazing time of laughter, community, and seeing the beauty of nature up close. Did I mention I saw a good 30 different species of birds in the morning without standing up from my seat overlooking the watering hole?

I am a feminist

I had started writing this post over a month ago, meaning to post it on International Women’s Day. However, I kept re-writing parts and delaying, worrying it sounded too angry or reactive. After being harassed on the way to church today by a man who tried to convince me that I wanted to have sex with him (once you are black you never go back, and have I ever tried dark chocolate??) angry is exactly how I felt. It is time to stop re-wording things and post it as it is. If a little emotion peeps through, so be it. 

What does it mean for me to be a woman and a feminist in Southern Africa? I present to you my own thoughts, stories, and experiences of what it means to me, respectfully acknowledging that other women, and men, might come at this from a very different set of experiences or perspectives.

The term “feminist” has some extreme references that are not necessary reflected in this blog, however, I choose this word because nothing else quite fits. I choose it in order that I might begin exploring what feminism means to me at this time.  

There’s more to the story I told last month, the one about the taxi driver wanting to marry me for 20 cows. First of all, we forgot to pay him for the ride and he forgot to ask, which is kind of hilarious. But that’s not the part I want to tell. It is this; the next day we were with some colleagues of Keke’s and she was telling them the funny story from the day before. Her male friend exclaimed, “Only 20 cows!? Next time you take a taxi bring me along and we’ll get a better deal.” Later that day he started joking that I was his girlfriend, and that didn’t stop even when someone pointed out that his fiancé might not be too pleased.

Here is my dilemma. This type of joking conversation seems very normal here. Even not-so-joking declarations of love and requests for my hand in marriage are every-day occurrences in my life. It gets so that I can’t develop a professional relationship with young men because before the day is out they are asking to marry me.  So, just because it is normal, or just because they are “joking”, does that make it right? I can think of plenty of examples from my own Canadian culture of norms that are oppressive, discriminatory, or demeaning towards women.

Just because it is normal doesn’t mean it is right.

I had a whole speech ready to hand it to this guy, ready to challenge him as a young leader in his country to set an example of respect towards women, challenge him to re-think the implications of such social norms. What does it say about his views towards women when his whole demeanor suggested I should be happy to “pretend” date him because he thought it was a good idea, not because he asked me. As if I couldn’t do better than an arrogant prick like him! I had the opportunity to say all these things, but I choked. I felt too alone, too aware I’d just be brushed off as an uptight girl who can’t take a joke, and what business did I have commenting on Lesotho culture anyway?

What does it mean for me to be a feminist in Southern Africa? This is a question I often ask myself, and there is no easy answer. It is easy to be a feminist in New Brunswick. Other people can write the provoking blog posts and I can nod in agreement and go on with life. But now it is my turn to write.

I am a feminist.

Sometimes being a feminist means refusing to let random teenage guys take my picture when I am at the beach in Mozambique. I ask them if it is respectful to try and take someone’s picture without even greeting them first, in a culture where greeting is very important. They look embarrassed and leave me alone after that.  

Sometimes being a feminist means stiffening my shoulders and focusing my eyes in the distance as drunken men hiss and call after me on the street.

I am a strong woman.

Sometimes being new to a country I would do anything just to fit in. I find myself carrying my male colleague’s bags that he handed to me as we walk out of the store together. At first I feel happy that I belong, happy that he is treating me, a foreigner, like any other woman. Wait a second. What am I doing?? I don’t want to carry his bags for him! I am too embarrassed to give them back. Am I a strong woman?

Sometimes people ask me if I think it is better to be a man or a woman. Sometimes people laugh at my idealism when I make a point about woman’s rights or equal opportunity. But at least if they join in the discussion the first step has been won.

Sometimes the divide in the debate is generational, not gender based. Are teenage girls who wear short skirts somehow to blame when they experience sexual violence? The room is split and it is not men versus women.  There is hope.

When I moved to Machanga in Mozambique last year I had the chance to pick out the motorcycle I wanted. In a place where few women know how to drive, having wheels gave me freedom and independence. I knew exactly what I wanted: a cute little scooter with the tank under the seat and electric starter. Totally impractical for the rural roads I was driving, but very important for me for three reasons. The tank under the seat instead of between the knees meant I could wear a skirt while riding. The electric starter meant no kick-starting, which requires sturdy shoes (not heels) and more weight than I’ve got. The small scooter size meant I could easily push it up a wooden plank and into my house every night for safekeeping. I am perfectly capable of riding a big Honda XL 125CC bike much more suited to rural sandy roads, but I didn’t just want freedom to get around. I wanted freedom to get around while rocking heels and a pencil skirt. People are always well dressed in Mozambique and it is important to look nice and wear smart shoes. Quite seriously the second thing I bought for my new apartment was a clothes iron (the first being a toaster). My scooter let me dress how I want and still have the freedom to get around. The definition of independence shouldn’t mean to be like a man.

I am an independent woman.  

Here, when you meet a new person, instead of asking what you do, people ask if you are married. An elderly man, when he heard I was single at 26 said to me, “Don’t worry, God will provide someone for you.” I asked him if God is not providing for me now when I am single.

I am a strong woman.

I see other women who are strong, courageous, loving, independent, strong-willed, compassionate, caring, genuine, and generous, and I am inspired.

I am a strong woman. Sometimes I feel it, and sometimes I don’t. Sometime I laugh, sometimes I cry. Sometimes I feel intimidated and am angry at myself for it, because I am strong, right? Sometimes I am vulnerable. Sometimes I am victorious.

I am all these things. I am a woman. I live with hope, not bitterness.  I live in this world but I try to live so that tomorrow, even in the smallest of ways, it might be a better one.