The
Oprah South African Leadership Project provides cross-cultural
immersion and international exposure through travel
and study in South Africa for Morehouse College students.
In the future, it will involve an exchange of students
between Morehouse and South Africa, and will encompass
ethical leadership training and community service
in both Atlanta and South Africa.
May
25, 2005
 When
students from Morehouse and Butler University were
asked what they have enjoyed most about the trip to
South Africa so far, their answer wasn’t the
museums, the shopping or even the lectures. It was
the conversations.
Unscripted
lines between the activities of a busy itinerary are
the spaces, many students say, where learning has
taken place: Chats about South African politics while
waiting in line for food. A few words exchanged to
learn “good morning” in Xhosa, Zulu or
one of the many languages spoken here. Talking with
a group of school children on a field trip. Solemnly
listening while someone describes his life before
and after apartheid. Unpacking their perspectives
on the day’s activities.
And
so it was today at CIDA City Campus—a Johannesburg
college for South African stellar students who otherwise
would not have been able to afford school—that
the American students arrived to engage in a dialogue
with their South African peers.
“Education
is the most powerful weapon you can use to change
the world,” Nelson Mandela once said.
It’s
a quote the students and administrators at CIDA have
taken to heart. Most of the school’s students
come from the townships or rural areas, which means
they are black, Indian, Asian or biracial. Without
CIDA, these students would most likely be among the
millions of unemployed South Africans.
In
a country where the majority is black and the government
is led by the African National Congress (ANC), disparities
between white and black, rich and poor, still remain.
 “The
ANC government has a lot of challenges: poverty, high
levels of unemployment,” said Dr. G. Brown,
the U.S. Embassy political counselor to South Africa,
during a visit to the embassy in Pretoria last week.
“The government is run by blacks, but the people
who own it are still white.”
The
seeping divide between the races bleeds into every
vein of the country, from politics and economics to
culture and faith. It even affects how South Africans
regard other Africans, said one CIDA student.
“South
Africans believe that if a black person from other
parts of Africa come to South Africa, that person
will engage in illegal activities,” said Stoan,
a CIDA student. “But if a white person comes,
South Africans believe that person will bring new
ideas and business.”
The
United States also has its challenges with how it
regards some of its immigrants, said Justin Moed,
a Butler University senior majoring in political science
from Carmel, Ind. “In our country, we have a
lot of problems with immigrants from Mexico and there
is a lot of racism. Americans think they’re
taking our jobs.”
The
Morehouse-Butler contingent will engage in five student
dialogues before leaving South Africa, but many of
the students said they want the conversations to somehow
continue.
 “I
want to stay in contact with CIDA for the continuation
of dialogue because I want to be as knowledgeable
about their culture as they are about mine,”
said Clint Fluker ’08, a political science,
international relations and Spanish major from Atlanta.
“It seems that [other] nations always know more
about our culture than we know about theirs, and it’s
dangerous.”
Jamison
Collier ’06, a business administration major
concentrating in accounting from Decatur, Ga., explained
that he wants to work on expanding the traditional
relationship between parents, children and the clergy—something
he was made aware of after talking to CIDA students.
“Church
leadership can play a role …by facilitating
the [difficult] conversations between parents and
children,” said Collier. “Pulpit leadership
is important in any community, and I think we saw
that at CIDA through conversations. Most young people
feel that leaders of the church who address the issues
of social justice—since they hold positions
that are highly regarded and respected—hold
great influence in the community. “
—With
reporting by Rheba Knox
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