June 2011 - Mind of Malaka

Blue Ball Safari

Posted on June 30, 2011
by Malaka
with 1 Comment

Driving through the township of Kurland, I noticed a number of signs: ‘Elephant Sanctuary’, ‘Snake Sanctuary’, ‘Wolf Sanctuary’, etc. I was a bit skeptical at first, because I wondered how feasible it was to have any sort of animal sanctuary within walking distance of a…

The South African Series

Forgive My Attitude, Lord!

Posted on June 29, 2011
by Malaka
with 2 Comments

This Sunday we went back to the broke down Church spot for Sunday service. We didn’t go last week, and our absence was apparently felt. Several people had asked if we were coming this week, so we made every effort to comply. I had mixed…

The South African Series

I’m Sorry…You Want to Be WHAT?

Posted on June 28, 2011
by Malaka
with 2 Comments

Last night I was watching Malcolm X with Marshall, and there was a portion of the movie that I had never recalled seeing. Little Malcolm was sitting in the classroom of his foster home being admonished by one of his teachers. “Now Malcolm, you’ve written…

The South African Series

She Always ™ Misses Out on the Fun

Posted on June 27, 2011
by Malaka
with 6 Comments

Last week one of my girls walked up to me and told me that she was not coming to the SCAB program anymore. My heart dropped. “Why not?” I asked furtively. “Did I do something?” “Oh no, Ms. Malaka.” “Then why?” I pressed. “I’ll tell…

Motherhood

Stone, the Mutt Whisperer

Posted on June 23, 2011
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Move over Cesar Millan! There’s a new canine charmer in town, and his name is Stone Grant. There is only one thing my son loves more than the outdoors, and that’s putting the outdoors in his mouth. Previously I would merely grimace when he…

The South African Series

Here it is folks! The classroom of the future.

Posted on June 22, 2011
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Because it darn well ain’t the classroom of the present, that’s for sure. See this shack? This is an appendage to the YMCA/Church/theater. This is where the kids are supposed to be having lessons, once it’s ‘cleaned up’. Nuh uh. This room doesn’t need cleaning…

The South African Series

Pee-pee…The Plot Thickens!

Posted on June 21, 2011
by Malaka
with 3 Comments

Eii A-Fri-Ca! Just when I thought South Africa possessed more sophistication than the rest of the continent, The natives have gone and proved me wrong! Now that I have earned the confidence of the women’s inner circle, they give me snippets of what’s really going…

The South African Series

Meet My 'SCAB' Kids!

Posted on June 20, 2011
by Malaka
with 7 Comments

It would be a stretch for me to say that I ‘love’ anyone of my South African kids, in the sense that we understand love in the West; but it would certainly be fair however to say that they have arrested my heart. I’d heard the term…

The South African Series

Too-known American Savior Complex

Posted on June 17, 2011
by Malaka
with 2 Comments

American Reader: You know how it is, don’t you? Our country has this innate ‘can do’ spirit that is so formidable that it sometimes comes across as obnoxious. For whatever reason, we largely believe that we can solve the world’s problems…even though we’re hardly able…

The South African Series

I saw the face of apartheid today

Posted on June 16, 2011
by Malaka
with 5 Comments

I would never insult your intelligence, Reader, by assuming that you are unfamiliar with South Africa’s apartheid past, so suffice it to say that it was brutal to say the least. Apartheid was a wicked, insidious regime that made portions of America’s civil rights struggle…