Bridges of Peace Journal

This Wednesday evening the BRIDGES OF PEACE project is helping present the magnificent South African  Zulu group Thula Sizwe in concert at Danbury High School in Danbury, CT. The concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. The high school is on Clapboard Ridge Rd. I will be singing a few songs with Thula Sizwe and some local students from Bridges of Peace classrooms at Stadley Rough School, Reid Intermediate School and the Academy of international Studies Magnet School. Students from each of these schools are writing to, and collaborating with, students from other countries including South Africa, Namibia, Ukraine and Hungary. I will ask students to join us on some songs but most of the concert wil be Thula Sizwe doing traditional Zulu song and dance. It is an incredible opportunity to see and hear these men.

Admission is free but we are asking for donations to support Thula Sizwe and projects in their home communities in South Africa. They are accomplished singers and recording artists in the style of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They sang at Nelson Mandela's innauguration, and performed with Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In spite of great talent and immense spirit, living conditions are such in South Africa that only one of the eleven members in the group have running water in their homes. I just returned from two weeks in southern Africa including a stay in a township and I got to see the need for myself. If you can attend this concert and help us help Thula Sizwe you will be making a difference in many lives.

I hope you can make it. Call me at 845-216-1939 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Upon arriving back at JFK airport I took the Air Train to the subway and then the subway to Penn Station and then walked over to Grand Central to take the train to Wassaic, where Ann Marie would meet me. It added a few extra hours to the trip but it was much less expensive than leaving a car at JFK and easier than having someone pick me up. Also the travel time home (19 hrs of flying and about 5 hrs of airport and 4 hrs of subway and train) was shorter than the trip there. I was able to finish The Last Town on Earth, a novel set in Washington state, about the influenza epidemic at the end of WWI. I don't get such concentrated chances to read so that was relaxing too. It's a fascinating historical novel about events I was ignorant about. In 1917-18 (?) 100 million people worldwide died as a result of the flu, five times as many Americans died of flu as were killed in the war. Having just seen some of the results of the AIDS epidemic in Africa it made for interesting reading to ponder how people respond to such massive and intrusive events. I met many people in S Africa who have responded completely to the crisis there.

What a sensory bombardment it was walkin the streets of NY and then being in Times Square on a glorious autumn day. Just a few days ago I was traveling down a 20km dirt road in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and had to maneuver the car around cows in the road several times to arrive in the coastal village of Hamburg. Lots of maneuvering but no cows in Times Square, not even the Naked Cowboy was there.

The stunning contrast seemed a fitting final stage to a trip filled with contrasts. In spite of all the differences I observed in people, places and things I return home more convinced than ever that we are "all in this together," and that people everywhere are more alike than they are different. The movement of the business men and women and the tourists going through Grand Central Station was strangely similar to the movement of the throngs through the Khayelitsha Township on a Saturday morning. Masses of people going about in seemingly random directions, appearing like human ant colonies guided by uncertainty rather than choice, yet subtly underneath the semi-chaotic movements there is a definite display of community. Hordes of people changing pace and direction ever so slightly to avoid collisions and to allow others space to be a part of this dance we call humanity. I felt nearly as anonymous back in NYC as I did in the bush in Africa but I also felt very much connected to the dancers. It's nice to be home.

Below is the first verse of a work in progress. It is the beginning of attempt to express musically and lyrically some of what I've been feeling. The word, as of today are

We are all one people on this earth
We are all one people on this earth
We come from lots of places
We are called by many names
On the outside we look different
On the inside we're the same
We are all one people here on earth

Below of some of the faces that constitute the Southern Africa portion of the "All One People" we are.

Left Clowes home in Hermanus early Saturday morning. I've been awakening around 5 am each day anyway and this morning the skies looked clear at 6 as it began to brighten. I went down to the bay again to watch whales for about half an hour. It was quite calm and clear and there were several whales about 150 yards offshore. They were spouting and seemed to be playing. I climbed own onto the rocks to get as close as I could and was surprised at one point. I had my back turned to the ocean to look at the coastline and was startled by how loud the sound of a whale was as it emerged from the water and blew air. It seemed timed to surprise me and caused me to jump a little and laugh at the same time.

I met Theo at a Shell Petrol Station along the N2 highway and he and a friend led me to and through township to Theo's home and studio. I spent a couple of hours there talking with Theo and meeting some of his family and friends. He has added a garage-like building to his home to use as his pottery studio. We discussed possible designs for a Bridges of Peace bowl or cup. He is going to work with local children to play with design ideas and he will email me pictures of what they come up with. His work is lovely and I'm bringing home samples to show others. I also videotaped our conversation as he talked about how he works, get ideas, and finds enough business to keep going. His small home was attractively furnished and decorated, and at about 36' long by 12-15' wide much bigger than most township homes. Theo works hard at his art and wants to try to help children. He has three daughters from 21 yrs old to 6, I think. I met two of his daughters.

Leaving the township on my own I drove through the narrow, people filled streets feeling far more comfortable than I did a week ago before I met Theo and spent time in Swellendam. The people I met welcomed me with waves, smiles and a measure of curiousity of their own.

After leaving Khayelitsha I went to the airport and tried to change my flight home to a day earlier because I feel like I have reached my sensory maximum for this length of time. Each day has been filled from rising in the morning till falling asleep at night. I've taken over 200 photos, 4 + hours of video, driven almost 2000 miles, sang at more than 15 schools with over 6000 kids and I'm very eager to be home with Ann Marie, Patrick and Colleen. I miss them alot.

I couldn't change the flight unless I paid a substantial penalty and was willing to fly stand-by, in which case I might get stranded for a day at Heathrow anyway. So I drove down the penninsula below Cape Town and went swimming in the Atlantic. The coastline and beaches remind me of the little I have seen of the Mediterranean with blueish green waters, rocky shorelines and some lovely beaches. After driving back to Cape Town I had just enough time to climb Table Mt, a 1.5 hour hike up a fairly steep but manageable gorge called Platteklip Gorge. The view from the top is awesome and I enjoyed it as I did in 2005 but I took the cable car down before sunset because I was tired and ready for some rest and preparing to leave. Heading home tomorrow with stories and memories to last a lifetime. Thanks for reading this journal and for helping me.