The trip of a lifetime! - UW’s South African Music and Culture Trip, May, 2012

 “this trip absolutely changed my life, hands down!”
“It really was the trip of a lifetime!”

on UW’s South African Music and Culture Trip, May, 2012

by Professor Carol Ann Weaver, June 7, 2012

On May 7, 2012 a group of 12 Canadians eagerly ventured to Durban, South Africa for the fourth “Music and Culture” study trip, one of several travel courses from Conrad Grebel University College.   Led by Conrad Grebel/UW music professor/composer/pianist Carol Ann Weaver and assisted by Canadian vocalist Rebecca Campbell, the group of 10 students (eight from UW, one from WLU, and one post-grad) from music, peace and conflict studies, engineering. social development studies and other areas, travelled to South Africa for three weeks to learn, first-hand, about the people, their music, culture, and their lives.  The unique trip brought students into direct contact with South Africans from varied ethnic groups and walks of life.  The Canadians were invited into Zulu, Muslem, East Indian and “European” settings. 

Their visit to a rural Zulu school where hundreds of children swarmed around to interact with Canadians for the first time provided a great kick-start for this vivid African adventure and educational experience.  The group visited the Juma Mosque (largest in Southern Hemisphere), the Gandhi house where he formed his pacifist theories, AIDS clinics and artists’ workshops and galleries.  They shopped at traditional markets in colourful African downtown areas, mainly shying away from ‘tourist’ sites.  Members of the group attended a three-hour Zulu township Seventh Day Adventist service, drove through townships, attended the all-night Zulu Isicathamiya Ladysmith-style male choral competition, attended all Zulu poetry readings and concerts ranging from traditional African music to jazz to gospel,  danced with the Zulu in a maskanda performance, saw Johnny Clegg play for one of the largest Durban crowds ever, trekked through Tala Game Reserve with hippos, wildebeest, giraffe, and rhino, spent time in a traditional Zulu village, visited a lion park, cheered for the Sharks at a rugby game beside the FIFA stadium, swam in the Indian Ocean, ate bunny chow and pap, weathered a taxi strike in which at least five people were killed in Durban, attended a KwaZulu Philharmonic Orchestra concert, performed jazz at the famed Jazz Centre, and became a Durban presence as they fearlessly walked the city, vibrantly, curiously, eagerly.      

             The group affiliated with University of KwaZulu Natal from which they received lectures and performances from leading maskanda/township/South African jazz musicians, Zulu history/culture experts,  South African English professor/writer, traditional music experts, and many more.  Anti-apartheid activists Richard Steele and Anita Kromberg discussed their ground-breaking work helping to dismantle the apartheid system.   And Zulu sangoma Joyce Mazibuko explained traditional healing while depositing intuitive wisdom directly to the group!  The final week’s  performance of Carol’s recent Paraguay Primeval at the famed Durban Jazz Centre brought together performers Carol and Rebecca, Canadian student Meaghan McCracken, and leading African musicians Ildo Nandja and Paki Peloeole to create a dynamically cross-cultural musical event, followed by a dinner at an East Indian restaurant! 

             But beyond these heady adventures, these students had many life-changing moments as they befriended Africans whose joy and resilience in the face of crime, grinding poverty and the staggering AIDS situation is awe-inspiring.  New visions and goals are causing many of the Canadians to want to return to Africa, to raise funds for various African causes, and to invest their love, effort and energy. 

             If one life can be changed by such a trip, then it is worthwhile.  But if many lives are changed –  Canadians’ and possibly Africans’ –  then a trip like this becomes an invaluable, new way to relate to the larger world, in peace, love, and with new understandings.   The impact of this trip is well summarized by various students’ comments, used by permission. 

             – Carol Ann Weaver, June 7, 2012

             – Susan McCurdy (UW Liberal Studies Major)

             – Meaghan McCracken (UW Music Major)