Reed Dance

A Great Day!  September 11^th 2010

One sentence dump of the day’s events… 50,000 bare breasted virgins dancing before the Zulu king, elephant parading across the road, family style meal with all the sit students and staff, real coffee, animal impressions, plunge into a frigid pool,  5 girls in a tub, pavilion dance party, long bonding talks in to the wee hours of the morning

At 7 in the morning we all piled into van and headed to the Reed Dance, a yearly Zulu tradition where virgins from all over Zulu regions gather at the Zulu Kings Palace to dace before the King and his princes.  They dance in hopes that they will be chosen to be the next Zulu king or princess.  Going into this even I was slightly angered at the promotion of a “topless beauty contest” that objectified women’s bodies for royalties and men’s delight but my opinion has changed since experiencing the event.

For the Zulu Virgins the morning started at two as they were splashed with water to wake them up, then each girl is subjected to a virginity test performed by a female elder, or mama. The mamas are trained to open the girl and see if the hilum has been broken.  This is a very invasive practice, the mamas switch rubber gloves to prevent the spread of STI and HIV, but with so many girls I have to question the gentility of the test as well as the complete sanitation, in tents. It is true that many of the virgins were most defiantly virgins, but I had a conversation with multiple neighbors and sisters who told of the bribery that when on to receive the virgin certificate

Body image boost!  It was amazing to see how girls of all shapes and sizes were so happy and proud of their bodies.  All of them looked beautiful and it was an inspiration.  All the girls were probably on adrenalin high of their lives, they were so lively and excited with their dances and songs. This event would be the equivalent of a national Girl Scout troops gathering mixed with beauty pageants of queen Ester.

Along with the 50 thousand virgins thousands of family members were attending the event, the zulu kings land turned into a 48 hour fair ground, all paid for by the government.  We watched for a 5 hours as a constant stream of girls walked up the hill towards the Zulu king’s palace carrying their 20+foot high reeds.  They passed into the gates of the palace and dropped their reeds, and were presented before the king.  (if the tops of the reeds were to break off while walking to the king, it was a symbol the girl was not a virgin, silly notion because they had all been tested but it was bad luck)

Test of the system. HIV education and prevention was lacking at Reed dance. The department of health was at the Reed dance with the mission to promote VTC (volunteer testing and counseling) but they were not out champing in force. My friend Julia and I were talking to these health providers about VTC and she asked if we had been tested. Wow hypocrisy check… over the past month I have been encouraging others to be tested and know their HIV status, but I didn’t know what these test entailed.  Julia asked if she could be tested, and I decided I would use this opportunity to understand and test the system.  Before the test we were asked if we knew what HIV was, and how it was spread, we replied very basically, having unprotected sex.  I was expecting the councilor to elaborate but she told us to us condoms and made us sign consent that we had been counseled about HIV prevention.  Then she took out an HIV instant blood test (she actually had to go get one from another provider, the department of health didn’t have any available even tho they had clinics set up around the reed dance)  The test itself was new and we watched her take the needle and blood test out of the plastic, but she did not have gloves and if we had been infected she would have come into contact with our blood. There were no biohazard containers for the needles, used test, or cotton swabs.  Good thing I officially test negative. Ha ha, anyways it was an experience.

We drove through a game park on our way home, and our first 30 seconds in the park an elephant walked across the road.  Then we turned the corner and there were two rhinos, zebras, and buffalo.  We stayed the night at St. Lucia at a lovely backpackers. Dance party, tree climbing, family style dinner, 5 girls in a tub.  Hippos in the morning, great picknick.

The past few days we were dispersed in small around the Durban area and placed in Schools, NGO’s and Hospitals.

Background to the Reed dance/ Zulu lesson

Some background about the Reed dance It is a rare occasion, many South Africans have never seen the Reed dance, it’s not every year the Zulu king chooses a new wife.


The Zulu Reed dance is an educational experience and opportunity for young maidens to learn how to behave in front of the King. This is done while delivering reed sticks and dancing. Maidens learn and understand the songs while the young princesses lead the virgins. The maidens wear 'izigege' and 'izinculuba' that show their bottoms. Traditional attire includes beadwork to symbolise African beauty at it's best. At this stage the maidens are taught by senior females how to behave themselves and be proud of their virginity and naked bodies. That allows maidens to expect respect from their suitors who intend approaching them during the ceremony.

The second phase is educating the young maidens 'amatshitshi' by their older sisters 'amaqhikiza' on how to behave in married life. Young maidens are encouraged not to argue or respond immediately but to wish the suitor well on his journey back. After protracted discussions the older sisters then approach the mother of the impressed maiden about the impending love relationship. If the father accepts the suitor the two families meet and gifts are exchanged as a sign of a cordial relationship.

After this the young maiden 'itshitshi' takes the next step of being 'iqhikiza' a lady in charge of the young maidens. By then they are experienced chief maidens who act as advisors to the younger maidens – and are ready for married life. The Zulu Reed Dance plays a significant part of Zulu heritage in reflecting diverse African customs. Thisceremony is still close to the heart of many traditional leaders and citizens. It portrays and instils a sense of pride, belonging and identity among the youth.



Some of my dialogue for Zulu this is a very short basic conversation, but this is what I do for a few hours every day!



N:Sawubona Ophra

O:Yebo Sawubona Sisi, ungubani igama lakho.

N:Ngingu Namo. Ghithanda ukubuka iTV show wakho nomdeni wami. ngiyajabula ukuwazi

O:Ngiyabonga, nami ngiyajabula ukuwazi. Uphumaphi?

N:Ngiphuma eGoli, kodwa manje ghihlala e Cato Manor

O: Ngizosebenza eCato Manor ngesanto eli zayo

N:Usebenza wako ubalulekile, kodwa uthanda ukwenzani ngempelesanto eMilika?

O:Ngitanda ukusiza abantwana, nokufund ibhuku, nokuthenga. Wena uthanda ukwensani eThewini

N:Ngithanda ukurelaza ekhaya, nodemi wami, nokupeka, nokuthenga.

O:Kumnandi, uyathanda ukuhamba name ngiyothenga?

N:Yebo! Ghitanda ukuthanga ePavilion

O: Kulungile masihambisane ngolwesihlanu ngo 4

N:Sobonana ngo 4

Hamba kahle sisi!

coffee and ISP

There is a serious lack of coffee in this country. I found one place in the mall, where I was able to purchase small 8oz cup of filtered coffee, and until then I have been surviving on instant coffee. With large quantities of milk and sugar you can disguise and bare the taste. South Africa does drink a lot of tea, it is a social event, I have tea in the morning and every night with my mama.

I have been researching an independent learning project topic and I am starting to become excited! In South Africa there is a major lack of qualified comprehensive health care providers, 70% of the black population visit some sort of Traditional Healer (where there is around a 500:1 radio), so there has been laws created, (in the national health reform even) to try and start a collaborative effort to use traditional healers to subsididse the lack of health care providers. Efforts have been made to teach TH about the spread of HIV/ and other communicative disease and preventative measures and when to refer patients to biomedical health care providers. So I am looking into making arrangements to live in Impendle for my ISP a rural community in the province of Kwazulu-Natal where I will have access to a few traditional healers as well as a community health clinic to do shadow, assist and interview. I would like to participate in a practicum based and social analysis of the reform laws dealing with the cooperation efforts between the two different methods of health care. I’m so excited to start working on this project. Sorry this was a vomit of words on the page but I hope it makes sense.

Free weekend in Durban

Free weekend in Durban


Jamba! Body politics. The most amazing, inspiring, political contemporary dance performance I have ever attended.

This weekend I went with my apartment mates (Julia, Hilary, and Telise) to the local University Theater and watched/ participated in “Lime Lights on Rights.” It was this incredible show that exposed African funeral policies which the media has exploited people’s emotions by marketing and publicity schemes. In Africa Funerals are ridiculously expensive, and people are convinced they need large amounts of ceremonial and expensive frufru . On TV there are advertisements for funeral policies/ insurance, (which would be similar to a life insurance policy) this dance highlighted this exploitation and the audience members experienced some of the same emotions of being ripped off, misinformed, and confused. The audience was invited to walk outside and up a set of stairs were a the stage was set in the middle of a clearing in the woods. There were a about 20 chairs set out for an audience of 100 and half of them had ‘reserved’ signs on them (just as a African funeral would reserve seats for the family.) Other chairs were strewn around the stage as well as in the bushes, no directions were given and the audience confusion started to grow. There were three dancers( I will try to explain their actions coherently to the best of my ability): an older gentleman who represented the left behind relative of the disseats, a younger man who played a character to symbolize the emotions created by the exploitation and death of a family member, confusion, anger, numbness, and then in the end the physiological breakdown after the proceedings of the funeral did nothing to deal with the other emotions and pain. And last but not least the coroner, who used a chicken to represent the preparation of the body (he eventually snapped running around into the forest. Eventually though out the show the audience was given chairs and had their chairs taken away from them, the audience was scammed in the fact they had paid for their tickets and didn’t even get a seat for the entire show. The show was very powerful and I wish I could have explained it better.

The second act of the show was the most amazing dancing I have ever seen. It was a the first piece Cedric Saidou a French/creole chorographer ever created and it was beautiful. Didier Boutianaa and Shay Arzeux preformed a duet which incorporated fantastic dramatic lighting and perfectly controlled sculpted bodies to portray fear of being confined, misunderstood, need to be faithful to ones roots and culture and then being able to leave that culture. The dance was a combination of break dancing, hip-hop, yoga, and contemporary dance, all at an insane whirling pace. Their body control inspired me to one take care of my body and better eating and exercise habits, but also start dancing to express my emotions. This was one of best artistic events I have ever been to, and defiantly the best night I have experienced in Durban.

Quotes for today

“I always get sun burnt, and I don’t really care because it will turn tan…and it makes me warm” Telisis justification of sunburn

“Today, in front of you, I confess, today I want to rise from dreams and dance reality”

Night at Cool Joes, having a blast with 5 hours of amazing dance music 20 some girls, and ‘sex on the beach’

This weekend we gave our home stay families a break and took a break ourselves by having a free weekend in Durban. We are staying at Windimer flats, beautiful apartment style housing on the beach. Frisbee on the beach, morning runs the beach, body surfing, battling the sea with our massive sand castle constructions, a night out at cool Joes, the best picnic lunch ever, avocados, cheese and hot fresh bread!

Great conversations over dinner (lovely vegies and chicken over pasta), I got to know Julia, Telise, and Hilary so much better. Start of some really great friendships.

Cato Manor/ Chestervill

Our main means of transportation in the Stu and Thula MobileBeach front in Durban!

Neighbor hood kid, tough guy impression!