Shilpi's South African Diary - Part 3

Welcome to Africa?
December 15, 2009

We are now in Musina, Limpopo District. Just to describe the sudden shift: Johannesburg is a big thriving metropolis – I believe the largest in South Africa. We met at coffee shops that perfectly substitute Starbucks with free wi-fi; we went into malls to purchase sim cards for cell phones; drank at bars where I guess “hipster” types frequented.

Limpopo, on the other hand, has a bit less of the Western motif than Johannesburg. Yesterday, we visited a friend of Tyler’s who lived along a long dirt road – (if you drove to fast, you would bust a tire or worse!) Tyler took a break as I chased the sunset and jumped into a pool at the bottom of a waterfall. We ate at a wonderful family’s house who cooked us, among other things, Bop (pronounced like the Korean bop as in rice.) I’m not 100% sure what it is, but for Indians out there – it was like a big huge solid idli. For East Africans, it was similar to standard fare I had often eaten in Tanzania. And then we proceeded—far exceeding the speed limit—to Musina, a border town teeming with locals, truckers passing through, and “migrants” from Zimbabwe.

This morning bright and early we watched children gather on the red clay colored field. It seems any clear patch of dirt becomes a soccer field for children. And as pre-teens and teens played soccer with a real ball, mostly barefoot or in sandals, two-year-old to four-year-olds kicked a deflated ball around emulating their older siblings. Unfortunately, it began to rain so we had to cut it short – but when it cleared we drove around in a car with a loud speaker calling kids back to the field tomorrow. It was amazing – kids chasing our car down the street, people coming out of the woodwork – it was definitely a trip.

I realized that rural Africa enjoys an outdoor culture. Whether it's hanging out in the streets, playing a sport in the fields…the locals are not trapped inside their homes on Facebook or watching TV.

While being Musina/Limpopo has been a vast change from our first days in Johannesburg, this past week can definitely show the range of landscape and economy in South Africa.

So far, this has been an amazing trip. I've spent my days with people I hope to keep in touch with for a long time to come.

Team Up!

Shilpi

Shilpi's South African Diary - Part 2

Teaming Up with Man Up
Sat December 12, 2009

Fortuitously, Jimmie Briggs and Karen of the Man Up campaign happened to overlap in Johannesburg with us. We met at this adorable little bed & breakfast in the Melville area of Johannesburg for a fabulous dinner party (Celia Duggar and Barry Bearak, among others, were notable guests… also the best lasagna I’ve ever had! Go figure….) But we talked shop the whole time.

Man Up is a campaign against gender violence (www.manupcampaign.org). They are launching at World Cup as we’re culminating at World Cup – and of course, gender violence and HIV/AIDS are sister causes… so we’re discussing teaming up and discussing different forms that may take … but regardless, what a great partner to have! Speaking with Jimmie and Karen reminded us of all the co-causes that feed together. It was inspiring and empowering … so wonderful to be engaged and collaborating with important projects that go hand-in-hand.

Team Up!

Shilpi

Shilpi's South African Diary - Part 1

Hello from South Africa! or as they say here, "Howzit?!"
To update you at the start of this, our film blog, Tyler (the founder of the DC program) and I have traveled out here to South Africa to start pre-production on the film -- essentially to lay down groundwork, finalize the site, meet with production contacts and shoot for a pilot reel.

We have started with GRS/Nike-run Holiday Camps in Soweto, an intriguing township of Johannesburg. Soweto was a hot-bed of political activity during Apartheid. GRS was running a condensed version of their program with middle-school aged children from the township. The kids were amazing. So enthusiastic and engrossed in the activities. What's really cool -- they separated the children into different groups and held a "world cup" tournament. They all represented different countries. And... USA killed it! They beat everyone so we have footage of South African children chanting and singing African songs about USA being #1. And no, we didn't rig that! ;) We also luckily got a shot of South Africa playing the US (the kids!)... it couldn't have been more poignant! They are holding up flags from each country, and so enthusiastic... it's funny, watching the children sparked a debate among us and the coaches: why it is that children here and perhaps even adults are so much more inclined to show their spirit through dance and song -- physically -- than in the States? I think we boiled it down to television, or rather the lack there of out here. Might be too simplistic. ;)

In the meantime, I've also been meeting with many production people. The film industry here is fervent -- obviously, I'm also exposing myself to it -- but it seems to be in full throttle. In fact much of the promo work in America takes place here. So ... perhaps I'll move to Johannesburg from July through December to do the post on the film!...

Off to Musina in Limpopo Province. Musina is a border city with a large Zimbabwean refugee population - the NY Times had a really interesting profile on the town not too long ago (check it out!) Should be a big shift from Johannesburg and Pretoria... Stay tuned!

Team Up!

Shilpi

WELCOME TO THE NEW LOSE THE SHOES BLOG!

Dear friends,

Welcome to our new blog - where we will post production updates, thoughts and developments. 

Team Up!

The Lose The Shoes Team