Song Dedication – Friends by The Carters
Traveling can be overwhelming, exhausting and exciting all at the same time. You can buy all the souvenirs and take pictures to capture the moments but the priceless experiences you have with the people you meet are the greatest gifts one can encounter. My study tour in South Africa learning about education in post-apartheid is enough to have a student immersed in cultural learning, understanding the unjust concepts of the systems and the similarities other communities have been faced with. Although this trip also meant the opportunity to explore my own personal identity and my family’s history of being descendants of slavery in America, I can not forget to mention that I had wonderful colleagues that eventually turned into friends and then family within two short weeks, without mentioning, I would be skipping a crucial component to this trip. I dedicate this blog post to all of the wonderful people that I had the chance to share this experience with. I am a believer that learning is lateral. We are life long students; spreading knowledge, experiences and perspectives! Without the following individuals, and many others who contributed to this experience, this trip would be impossible to its purpose and individual meaning to the learners, community and village at large.
Thank you to Dr. Ampaw and Dr. Hornak.
Without their guidance, humor and expertise, our trip would have been missing passion, empowerment and laughter. Thank You for planning, coordinating, and implementing such a transformational opportunity for our group. A special thank you to your families for allowing our CMU group to steal you away for a couple of weeks.
With many group trips, rather educational or not, the idea of a roommate is pretty typical. With any roommate story, the narrative has two options: The roommate that becomes a dear friend or the roommate that goes wrong.
I was fortunate enough to have the good outcome of the roommate tale. Jamie and I had not formally met before this trip, to say the least, we had an indirect crossing of paths a few months prior to our departure. To share a small space with a new person is a task, and for the average introvert this task takes a lot of work. Not only did Jamie become my friend, but during this trip Jamie also became my biggest confidant. We were able to share our stories of childhood, family, but most importantly our thoughts, perspectives and feelings regarding our own experiences during this trip. Many, if not all the days, Jamie and I would make our way back to our hotel room to debrief the jam-packed day we just had. What I appreciated most was our ability to have deep and sensitive conversations with much respect and regard to our commonalities and our differences. I owe Jamie the greatest Thank You for being an awesome person with a warm and passionate personality. From this trip, I have gained a sister and a friend!
For a Black American Woman; the struggles, the trials and the triumphs are real. I thank Montisa and Tiara, also known as T-T and T for taking this spiritual journey with me. Though our paths have never crossed, our vibes and spirits have met before! This trip got hard at times. Heavy with the rich history that is intertwined with parts of our own identity. God makes no mistakes, and to have gained you both as ‘sistas’ on this trip made the overwhelming yet rewarding experience worth it. We’ve cried together, laughed together, and shared many unspoken moments together. I admire the strength, beauty and determination, I am honored to call y’all family.
Educators don’t always stand at the front of the classroom. Educators pour joy, passion and knowledge into others. They do their best and most likely, they put everything on pause to ensure that their learners receive the best opportunities as possible. Roysten spent the entire trip with our group as our guide.
- Bestfriend and Brother first, Ro-Ro!
As a Native of South Africa, with grassroots from Cape Town, Roysten shared the rich history of his own personal accounts and the experiences of local towns, cities and South Africa’s beauty. We learned very quickly that we had more in common than we had apart. Our birth year for starters, sharing 1992. Being a few months apart in age opened doors to conversations where we had opportunities to share our love for music (Tupac Fans), struggles as young Black millennials in a greater society that is sometimes pinned against us and our similarities in family trials and triumphs. Through our conversations, we learned that our worlds collide in a way that both incorporates our hard work and dedication to being better individuals for ourselves, our families and our communities. Thank you Roysten for sharing your country with us, for understanding my own story as a young Black Woman and for sharing the thought that our work is never truly done until we are 6 feet under. I have gained a Bestfriend and I look forward to having our paths cross again in the future! Keep educating groups and sharing love of the Rainbow Nation.
We became colleagues on July 10th 2019. By the end of our journey on July 21st 2019, we have become friends & family. To the 2019 South Africa CMU Educational Leadership group, thank you for sharing the greatest moments in South Africa. Through our ups and downs, we have countered the idea of Global Citizenship. We come from varies experiences, aspirations and backgrounds but we showed up our best selves at the right moment. This remarkable experience is greatly due to this wonderful group of people.
To the communities and individuals I’ve met along the way in South Africa, Thank you for sharing your space and stories with our group.
I came to South Africa with an open heart and a clear mind. What was truly important and crucial to me was to connect with the country’s native people. I wanted to be as close to my South African brothers and sisters as I could, as I longed for the in-depth culture and heritage that I may have been missing as a Black American Woman. What I appreciated was the humbleness and the shared loved between myself and the people that I had the opportunity to meet. My heart is so full as I felt that I finally had the opportunity to spend time with family members during a long over due visit.
I am grateful to have met the family of the Madam Taitou establishment where we indulged in authentic Ethiopian food, the women of Soweto township that cooked a traditional dish as we shared rich stories of names and meanings in the Xhosa Language (I will forever carry my Xhosa name of Thuto which means knowledge and wisdom), Frank who bartended our group at Cape Town Lodge hotel many nights as he shared Cape Town original wines as we laughed sometimes into the late evenings of our days.
- Our waiter at the Madam Taitou establishment. We spent an evening dining over great food in an indoor treehouse.
It’s not always easy to share your space, family and lives with strangers. The greatest moments of this trip were the unstructured, true accounts that I got to share with the people who mattered most to me in that moment, the communities that placed themselves in vulnerable situations by allowing our American group to share time with them. I am a believer that everything happens for a reason in the right season.
My trip to South Africa could not have come any sooner or any later in my life. It was NOW, that my immersion means the most. I will cherish the conversation with a few youngin’s at the local mall that included Eminem, Detroit, and their take on calling Africa the ‘Motherland’. I will never forget, meeting and having the opportunity to hear from fellow Student Affairs professionals Qaqamba and Mkululi from Stellenbosch University.
I will hold near to my heart the love that was shared during many of the occasions. The memories will remain fresh as I continue to share my experiences with those closest to me, the students I encounter and through the work I’ve been called to do.
It is through this journey, the people I have been fortunate to meet and my personal interaction with South Africa that I will forever, and rightfully so, transformed into another layer of who I am. I have been able to embraced and acknowledge areas of myself that serve as confirmation to continue enriching myself into my long linage of self-freedom, self-love, and generational shifts.
My Life is forever changed and I owe a great deal to the people who I can now call family, near or far!
Courtney Morris is a 2nd year Doctoral Student in Educational Leadership, her research focuses on Integrating Hip Hop Culture and Urban Education, as well as storytelling and using current events as teaching methods in the realm of Education. Courtney has a sub interest in leadership development among urban education and students of color, community development and mental health amongst black communities. Courtney obtained her Associates of Arts from Schoolcraft College, Bachelors of Science in Health Administration (concentration in Social Work), Masters of Arts in Higher Education/Student Affairs and Graduate Certification in Academic Advising. Feel Free to connect with Courtney via email at Connect@BeMentallyRich.com or via instagram at @MsCourtneyBrieAnn
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