Depart Thurs 5:30 pm 7:00 am Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Breakfast 6:00 Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep Sleep 8:00 am Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer 9:00 am Breakfast Prep for daily Prep for daily Prep for daily Workshop: 3 Prep for daily Prep for daily 8:50 Flight to Peace & Justice activity Visit 10:00 am Prayer Mass Lesedi Mass Cradle of Soweto Market Air Travel Orientation Khayelitsha Cultural Humankind 11:00 am Tour Survey Workshop Arrival: 11:00 Village Box 12:00 Noon out - Soweto out 1:00 pm Workshop: 2 Cultures of SA St. Anthony s 2:00 pm / Visit Hector Education Drive to Group building Khayelitsha Robben Pieterson Centre and 3:00 pm Guided lodging Exercise Island Museum St. Francis Presentations/ Tour of Apartheid Care Center Closing 4:00 pm Arrival 4:25 pm Cape Town Museum Ceremony (Table Mtn) 5:00 pm Workshop: 1 Departure for Pastoral Circle 6:00 pm Cape Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner: 5:50 Prayer Prayer Prayer Dinner out Prayer Prayer Prayer Prayer Braii (BBQ) 7:00 pm Reflection Reflection Reflection In Cape Town Reflection Reflection Workshop: 4 Reflection Visit with Arrival in Cape Reconciliation Youth Group 8:00 pm Town 7:50 pm Prayer Reflection Reflection 9:00 pm /groups /groups /group /group /Group Light Dinner Game Ride Pilanesburg National Park 10:00 pm Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Lights Out Dinner at Sun City Prayer Depart for Airport Departure: 6:50 Travel Workshops Meals Reflection Cultural Activity Community Engagement Prayer/Mass Lights out Prep for Days Activities
Scheduling 1. Morning Prayer/Prep for Days : Morning Prayer will be led by FMS staff or a local person. After prayer, the group leaders (re: FMS staff/missioner) will brief the group on the day s. This will include an explanation of where we will be going, what we will be doing, what to bring/not to bring, as well as the objectives for this day s. 2. Evening Prayer: Students will form three or four groups which will be referred to as Learning Circles. Each group will be responsible for leading Evening Prayer one or two times during the mission experience. Preparation for this will be done before departure as well as in South Africa. 3. Reflections, debriefs, social analysis: Either before or after evening prayer, a deliberate time of reflection and debrief will be led by FMS staff. This provides the opportunity for all participants (students and chaperones) to reflect on their experiences, give their observations, and discuss what they have learned during the day. Reflection time is one of the most important parts of each day. Both large and small group ( Learning Circles ) will be used. 4. Workshops: Students will be given four (5) educational workshops on various topics which will help contextualize and form purposeful reflective judgment in the following areas: A welcoming workshop on culture and etiquette designed to orient students to appropriate behavior while traveling throughout the country. A second workshop on the Pastoral Circle which will be used as the structure for daily reflections. A workshop highlighting the 7 main cultures of South Africa with a brief overview of the history of colonialism. A fourth workshop on peace and justice issues in South Africa including: the after effects of Apartheid, the AIDS pandemic, racial inequalities. A final workshop on peace building and reconciliation. 5. Cultural Activities: Students will be exposed to the natural and cultural wonders that South Africa has to offer by making visits to the Table Mountain in Cape Town, Lesedi Cultural Village, Pilanesburg National Game Park, where they will go on a day safari, and the Cradle of Human Kind World Heritage Site. While in South Africa, students will visit Robben Island, The Apartheid Museum, The Hector Pieterson Museum to learn about South Africa s troubled past with the Apartheid Government. Students will also have opportunities to meet and spend time with local youth and families in the community engagement. 6. Student Learning Component: Daily guided reflection. Students will be given free time daily to rest and meet in their groups to prepare for prayer and other they will be leading. The trip will conclude with closing and mass. In the closing students will have time to create a collage expressing significant aspects of their visit to South Africa. They will then share their collages with the group in a final sharing session followed by mass and a special parting ceremony. Logistics 1. Room and Board: Students and chaperones will stay in a Catholic Youth Hostel in Cape Town, a retreat house run by Franciscan Friars outside, and a retreat house for the SMA Fathers in North West Province. Students will stay in private or double rooms complete with private bathrooms and hot running showers. We will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at our places of lodging where the food and water is prepared taking into consideration particular Western needs. There will be some lunches and dinners out in Cape Town, Soweto, and Sun City in the Northwest Province. 2. Transportation: Students and their chaperones will be transported by air-conditioned motor coach while in Cape Town,, and on excursions outside the cities. 3. Health and Safety: We will address health and safety concerns before traveling and while on the trip. Local resources persons will accompany students on community engagement excursions and will be available during the evening hours as safety guides and evening chaperones.
Community Engagement 1. Khayelitsha Township (Cape Town): Khayelitsha (meaning new home ) is one of Cape Town s largest townships, and is situated some 15 miles from Cape Town. It consists of both formal accommodation (houses of bricks and mortar) and informal settlements (makeshift shacks). Students will visit a feeding program in this township and help distribute daily meal supplies women and children. 2. Soweto Tour: South West Township, popularly known as Soweto is the largest formal settlement where black South Africans were forced to live during the Apartheid regime. Students will take a tour of the area and visit Vilakazi Street where they will see the homes of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, and Desmond Tutu. The tour continues with a visit to Regina Mundi, the largest Catholic Church in Soweto and a landmark in the local resistance movement during the Apartheid era. The visit to Soweto will bring students in contact with and have a chance to talk to local people who have lived through the struggle for freedom. will be taken at a local restaurant made famous by the many world figures that have come to visit Soweto. 3. St. Anthony s Education Centre: During the Apartheid era, education of black South Africans was both substandard and limited. In response to this phenomenon, The Franciscan Friars opened up an alternative education center to meet the needs of people in informal settlements outside. The primary mission of the school, which started in 1974, is to provide educational opportunities to adults who were deprived of access to education because of the political, economic or social conditions in their early years. The program lays much emphasis on human rights, human dignity and mutual respect. Students will be given a tour of the facility and have a chance to meet with students and see how this ministry has help to make a difference in their lives. They will also be given an opportunity to present a cultural exchange activity (see below). 4. St. Francis Care Centre: It has been estimated that as many 30 percent of the population of South Africa is living with HIV/AIDS. In response to this health crisis, the Franciscan Friars have been operating a hospice for persons dying of AIDS since the mid-1980 s. Students will get a tour of the facility and have a discussion with some of the staff about their work in caring for people with AIDS. Students may also have an opportunity to accompany a field worker to visit patients in their homes. 5. Sunrise Park Youth Group: Students will meet and spend time with members of a youth group for Catholic boys and girls from the townships surrounding. Students will have a chance to discuss what life is like for their peers in South Africa and to learn about their involvement in Church. The youth group will host a traditional South African Braai (BBQ) for students and join in the closing ceremony and Mass. 6. Cultural Exchange Activity: Students will be responsible for planning and executing a cultural exchange activity to be presented at the St. Anthony Care Centre and the Sunrise Park Youth Group as well as on their visit with the children at the feeding program in Cape Town. This activity can be of their choosing; either a song or dance, or some kind of game that would foster interaction with the groups they will encounter. Development and practice of this activity would be done in the Unites States. 7. Market Analysis (Rustenburg): This is a guided socio-economic tour of a typical food market in South Africa to be completed in small groups. Students will conduct a similar exercise in their local supermarket at home choosing common staples that their family consumes in a week, and will then conduct a similar exercise in a local market in the city of Rustenburg. Students will be guided through a market basket analysis to understand the real cost of food in South Africa. This activity helps dispel the myth that everything here is so cheap in South Africa and help address questions about poverty. Students will be accompanied by their chaperones and a local guide who will assist them in purchasing items from local vendors. As a participant on the FMS Mission and Global Awareness Trip to South Africa, the following guiding principles and goals will shape the program: Guiding Principles 1. "Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes for the place we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves treading on [people s] dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was here before our arrival. (John V. Taylor: The Primal Vision). This quote sums up the stance we will take as missioners seeking to learn about the cultures and faith of the people we encounter in South Africa. We are committed to "treading lightly" in our host country and to approach the people we meet with respect as listeners and learners, as opposed to seeing the negative aspects of the realities we encounter and reacting to those realities by attempting to fix or make them better. 2. We value and seek a deeper understanding of the perspectives of people working at the grassroots level for social change, and those who shape the local church and society in South Africa. We recognize that these individuals and their realities are not often visited on other travel programs nor are their voices heard from in the wider media. We endeavor to provide them with a means to make their lives and work known and to share their stories with our friends and family at home.
Goals 3. Our approach and philosophy is based on the popular education model and the "Pastoral Circle": See/Judge/Act, both of which emphasize group learning and reflection. Through regularly scheduled group sessions, participants will be given an opportunity to share their observations, reactions, and analysis of these observations and reactions with other participants on the trip. 1. Development of Social and Cultural Awareness/Service: To nurture an appreciation the different cultures and customs of South Africa and be exposed to the economic and social realities faced by the average South African by experiencing daily life as it is lived by people from various socio-economic levels. Students will be given four (4) educational workshops on various topics which will help contextualize and form purposeful reflective judgment in the following areas: the pastoral circle, the major cultures of South Africa, peace and justice issues, truth and reconciliation after Apartheid. Students will take a tour of Cape Town and trace the origins of this historic city from a trading post to the colonial seat. Student will get the opportunity to meet with people from different ethnic groups and learn about their cultures and how they get along with the other ethnic groups. Visit historic Robben Island Prison where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners spent decades in prison under the Apartheid government. Tour the Apartheid Museum in and learn how the Apartheid regime has shaped and influenced modern South African society. Hear how human rights advocates and representatives have worked to bring about social change. This includes a workshop on peace building and reconciliation. Visit two townships in Cape Town and and experience the realities of life for many poor black and colored people. Visit Lesedi Cultural Village and learn about traditional African Cultures. Tour the Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site, and gain an appreciation of the history of human evolution over more than 3-million years. Stay in retreat centers in Cape Town, outside, and at a guest house in the Northwest Province in safety and comfort. Conduct a market survey to learn what foods most South African s eat regularly and how much of their income goes into feeding their families. Students will conduct the same survey at home with their families so as to make a comparison between their family food choices and consumption and those of the average South African. 2. Grow in faith with a particular understanding of Franciscan charism: To engage students in a faith-based mission of service and learning so as to advance their spiritual growth and gain a better understanding of the Church s fundamental option for the poor. Students will learn about the role of the Church in promoting social change and development as it is carried out by Franciscan friars, sisters, and other Catholic organizations. Students will lead and participate in daily prayer and reflection to help deepen their prayer life and expose them to various forms of prayers. Students will also be introduced to the Pastoral Circle to help develop their critical thinking skills so as to better appreciate God s work in their lives and the lives of those they meet, and to better discern their responsibility as Christians in building the kingdom of God on earth. Students will acquire an understanding of the value of serving others through good works and through sharing themselves and their lives with the people they meet. Particular emphasis will be placed on the value of being with the people as opposed to doing for the people (aka the ministry of presence), and students will learn why this is a vital and important component of any ministry. 3. Mission Advocacy: Prepare students to effectively share about their mission experiences in their own communities upon returning to the U.S. Students will meet at regular intervals throughout the trip with their peers in learning groups for opportunities to discuss, debrief, and process what they are learning. Students will make a final presentation to the entire group before departure for home as a way to practice telling their stories and the stories of the people they meet. 4. Commitment to Service: Students will deepen their commitment to service and be inspired to respond to the needs of all of God s people. Students will be educated on how to use the faith, knowledge, advocacy skills, and mission awareness acquired while visiting South Africa to deepen their commitment to ministry and service.
Pre-Trip Preparation 1) Information Night: A member of the FMS staff will hold an Information Night for interested parents and their students at Stone Ridge School. The information night will include an overview of the trip and summary of the learning objectives. This evening will include: detailed overview of the trip, what parents can do to prepare their daughters, including a list of what to bring, addressing health and safety concerns, deadlines for payment, etc 2) Pre-Departure Meeting: A second meeting with students will outline the projects the y will need to begin working on before the trip. Outline will include a thorough explanation of how to conduct the market survey, preparation for evening prayer and preparations for the culture exchange. In this meeting we will also give students lectures on mission in the Catholic Church and ministry, including an explanation of the difference between ministry of service and the ministry of presence. 3) Pre-Departure Materials: FMS will compile a list of educational resources for students to access before they go away including: relevant movies, documentaries, books and periodicals with the aim of educating them on their host country and help them gain an awareness of the issues they will encounter in their reality visits. FMS may also provide lesson plan helpers for theology teachers to incorporate into their lesson to further help prepare students for the trip. Post-Trip Debrief 1) FMS will conduct a post trip debriefing shortly after returning to help students process their visit and help students to determine how they can apply this experience to deepen their commitment to ministry and service.