My parents spent most of this week with us and quickly became involved in our daily activities. Pap even got a chance to "coach" Jack's cricket with me. Being a couple of Americans, we received a number of stares and head shakes from the 1st and 2nd grade cricketers, as I continued to fumble my way through teaching the fine techniques of a game I barely know. Coaching cricket is sort of like coming in on a joke half way through the punch line. "…and then the doctor said, 'hey the frog's too big!'" Ha Ha Ha Ha! "Yeah, hey, what was that? What frog? Oh, um, yeah, hehe, that was really good." Everyone stares at you and shakes their head. Pap and I did our best to make the practice fun as Jack previously told me cricket was boring because all we did was play a match during practice and had no time for any fun stuff. So this time we added some batting and bowling skills, relay races, fielding skills, and even a good ol' American game of "hot potato" (to work on those catching skills). "Hey Jack, how did you like this week's practice?" "B-O-R-I-N-G" "Boring? Boring?! What do you mean, 'boring'? We had a lot of different games and races and stuff." "Yeah, but I like playing the matches the best." I continue to move forward in my challenge to be a good father. We all went over to the de Jager's to celebrate with Andre on his birthday. It was great to be able to share the Afrikaans culture with my folks. Unfortunately, their time here seemed so short. Before we knew it, we were putting them back on the airplane and sending them off to the winter wonderland back home. It was good having them here as it boosted everyone's spirits.

Kara again excelled in her 3,000-meter track race. We finally figured out the system: She had won the city district meet, the city finals, and now competed in 1 of 9 Eastern Province regions. So this meet was like a state regional meet. The first place finisher in each event moves forward to the Eastern Province finals meet (which is like a state finals meet). So Kara once again won her event, which then made us assume she was moving on to the finals meet. Well, no. Kara has been competing in the "under 16" age group classification (even though she is only 14), as there is no "under 15" age group for the girls 3,000-meter race. She's been kicking butt at this level. It appears that at the Province finals, there is no "under 16" group for girls anymore, but rather only "under 17" and "under 19" groups for the 3,000 meter. The boys have an "under 15" group for the 3,000, but not the girls. To make a long story short, her finishing (and WINNING) time for her group was moved up to the "under 17" group where a girl in that age group bettered her time. Doesn't seem quite fair, but hey, she did great, especially considering we had no idea week-to-week what was going on. All we knew was that Kara kept winning. Made sense to us that as long as you win, you keep moving forward. In the end, Kara was pleased with her success and is starting to look forward to cross country, which starts in a couple of weeks. What an animal.

This week also saw the arrival of a few Americans who came as presenters for the 2nd South African National Wellness Conference, organized by Andre and his colleagues and held at UPE. Being involved heavily in the health promotion movement here at UPE and in South Africa, I was tied in tightly with all the conference activities and events, which included helping host 5 Americans who came to the conference. This is probably a good time to sort of fill you in on what I am doing here. I keep getting messages from people, especially my mother and mother-in-law, asking what the heck I am doing here. The general consensus is that it has something to do with working with AIDS. Okay, so here's my attempt at explaining what this trip is all about. I received a U.S government Fulbright grant to work with Andre at the University of Port Elizabeth in operationalizing health promotion and wellness within the university, and, subsequently, the country. At present, there are no academic programs that prepare people to work with worksites and communities in relation to developing systems and environments to promote health through primary prevention activities outside those found in the medical fields (such as immunizations). A lot of people are dying here of AIDS and other health problems and a lot of focus is spent on controlling diseases and medicine, but very little is being done that is designed to educate the public and help them in changing behaviors that prevent these diseases from occurring in the first place. Small pockets are doing their best, but because no one has formal training in how to intervene with individuals and mobilize communities to support those behavior changes, the efforts are minimally effective. What I do back in the U.S. (for those of you who keep wondering what I do) is train students to be leaders in communities, schools, and worksites who are able to help people in changing behavior and creating community-wide support systems to help in maintaining those healthy behaviors. The behaviors in the U.S. that cause us a lot of problems are smoking, over eating, lack of exercise, unprotected sex, etc. Behaviors here are similar. It is the culture that is drastically different and the challenge in which to establish these systems. So, to make another long story short, I am helping Andre and UPE realize how this can be done within the UPE university setting with staff and students, and I am assisting UPE in becoming established as the leader in the country in preparing students (through the creation of new academic programs) to become the first health promotion specialists in the country. Andre started a movement here that may end up as a professional discipline for South Africa. This means a lot of meetings, a lot of brown nosing, a lot of networking, and a lot of brainstorming. It is a welcomed escape from some of the mundane issues I confront on a daily basis back home. How's that for an exciting and "edge-of-the-seat rendering" of how I am spending your hard earned tax dollars? And you thought your money was going only to ostrich braais, trips to Addo, Land Rovers, and the like. Still confused? Don't worry, so am I most of the time. That's why I'm a cricket coach.

So these American speakers arrived, only one of which (Andy Jenkins, a university health education professor from Washington) I have met before. The rest included a counseling director (Jon Hageseth) from a university in Wisconsin, a human resource expert from Vermont (Judd Allen), a women who works with high-risk youth from Atlanta (Jennie Trotter), and the former director of health promotion at Union Pacific Railroad (Joe Leutzinger). The reason I am identifying who they are is because Kathy and I (and to some degree the kids) spent a considerable amount of time with them over the 2 weeks they were here. You're bound to see pictures and hear more about them in the next two weekly updates. Okay, enough of the juicy work life here. It's time to get on to some more important matters. By the way (this is for my mother and mother-in-law), if the above makes little sense, then go back to telling people I'm doing AIDS stuff. Okay, off to more exciting adventures. We began the pre-conference kickoff with a guided tour of the city, with a special focus on the townships. We loaded into a couple of white Kombies and headed off for an overview of the townships. Kathy and I went with the Americans and Andre and Marina. I am always amazed when I see these townships. Although I have spoken of them in the past, they are a sight to behold every time I see them. It makes me feel ignorant that I never really considered people actually live this way in many parts of the world. It is still difficult to understand how some can have so much and many have practically nothing in this society. I continue to struggle on what is my role in helping to balance this system, especially being an outsider from a country who is currently being considered as a bit too "pushy" on the global level. Andre and I have had many talks about the evolution of the culture here. Being naïve, I am soaking in as much as I can without trying to pass any judgment toward any of the cultures that exists in this environment. I have a lot to learn and it is a complex and long history that I must first understand before I can toss in my two cents. I can see how it would be very easy to draw immediate conclusions if visiting for the first time. Two months living here has taught me that is a very foolish approach. One of the joys on the tour was a stop at the Missionvale Center in the Missionvale Township. This is a small center run by an extraordinary women by the name of Sister Ethel. She set up shop over 20 years ago under a tree serving the sick and injured who had no where to turn. Her dedication has grown into a center smack dab in the middle of this township. They have a small pubic health clinic, a soup kitchen, primary and pre-primary schools, a community center, and a recently built church. I had the chance to meet Sister Ethel on a previous occasion and learn about her history and efforts. It appears that Mother Teresa and Queen Elizabeth of England came to visit her. UPE granted her with an honorary doctorate. She is regarded as the Mother Teresa of South Africa. A wonderful, small, Gaelic nun, with a heart of gold. Kathy and I intend on volunteering whatever we can to help their cause, including time, money, whatever we have. Andy had a great idea of outfitting the schools with some soccer balls, cricket equipment, and the like. We decided to throw in a basketball hoop and ball to top it off. We think the basketball hoop will be a great addition to the side of one of the metal shipping containers they currently use for school classrooms. Our tour concluded with a lunch at a township tavern, right in the heart of the township business area, which consists of pens of sheep and goats for sacrificial purposes, food stalls, and flea market type goods. When the day was done, I felt blessed to have what I have, but still confused as to how what I continue to see can exist.