On Monday, I embarked on starting my third
Ingram Scholarship Project. Because this is my third project, it is a little
different than those I conducted in Uganda. The major difference is that I am
not working for an organization but rather collaborating with many through the
faculty fellowship program. Thus, to understand my project, it is essential to
explain the players. .
Professor
Sharon Shields is a member of the Human and
Organizational Development department. She also happens to be my advisor and serve
as an advisor to the Humphrey Fellowship Program, a State Department program that “brings
accomplished mid-career leaders from developing nations and emerging
democracies to the United States for an academic year to study, gain
professional experience and foster cultural exchange.” This year Cathy Arendse from South Africa came to
Vanderbilt to study the inclusion of people with disabilities. Professor
Shields was her faculty mentor. Together, they began brainstorming about how to
make connections between Vanderbilt resources and South African partners
working on disability. In the
spring, they brought the inspiring Nicky
Abdinor to campus. . Nicky was born with shortened legs and no arms. This
has not stopped her. Not only is she accomplished in her fields, but she also
drives! Thus, she has started an organization called Nicky’s Drive to increase
accessibility to devices that assist with mobility for people with disabilities
in SA.
In February or March, I met Nicky and Cathy on
a Saturday at a dinner hosted by my good friend, Ben Scott. I learned about
Cathy’s relationship with Professor Shields. I thought to myself, “This would
make a great Faculty Fellowship summer project, but I will never be able to put
it together in time.” Then, on Monday, I ran into Professor Shields getting
lunch at the Commons Center. Two hours later, I was in her office planning, and
now I am here.
My role in this project is to assist Nicky,
Cathy, and Professor Shields by researching public policy toward people with
disabilities. More specifically, I am examining higher education for and employment
of people with disabilities. In
addition, I will work on program development with both Nicky and Cathy.
For the first three weeks, I am strictly conducting
research independently. This is challenging but also exciting because I am
responsible for planning my time and finding people to interview. This week has
illustrated to me the power of knowing people that love and understand a
community. I have received contacts through numerous sources. I gave myself
three goals for the week. First, I would gather contacts and schedule meetings
for next week. Second, I would review public policy toward people with
disabilities in SA. Third, I would do what I could to get acquainted with the
culture of the city and SA.
In this post, I am going to focus on a speaker
I heard on that helped me understand a bit more about the job market in Cape
Town and South Africa in general. I will discuss the rest of my week in
relation to my project in a post later today or tomorrow.
On Tuesday, I had the privilege of joining a group of Vanderbilt graduate
students to hear two speakers at University of Cape Town. I found the first
speaker particularly helpful and insightful.
He discussed the differences between formal
and informal business and how that plays out in Cape Town. Formal business is
regulated while informal is de-regulated (As I write this, I realize I should
have asked the speaker what Wall Street would be considered … Just kidding).
Formal business would be a grocery store like Kroger or in Cape Town – Pick n
Pay, Shoprite, or Woolsworths. Informal business would be a spaza shop, a
convenient store usually in someone’s home with limited items. These are likely
to be found in townships. The argument of the speaker was that informal
business is a major player in the South African economy, but that the
government focuses strictly on formal business when it comes to policy. The one
way that governement interferes is by occasionally shutting down informal,
especially “shabeens,” which are unlicensed liquor distributors (Fetal alcohol
syndrome is a major issue in South Africa, especially in the Western Cape. This
of course relates to disability.).
He also showed how areas of poverty and more upper class
areas are organized differently. People living in poorer areas with more
informal businesses have access to less transportation, which means that
businesses need to be in closer proximity. Thus, shops pop up in homes. In a sense this relates to the
problem of food access in poor areas in the United States, which is exasperated
by people not having proper transportation. The speaker also discussed the
reality of foreign nationals taking a grasp of informal business. This is a
topic for another blog post as it relates to one of the issues potentially facing
Uganda as well.
This lecture caused me to think about my task
in a new way. I will now considered
how living with a disability that effects mobility would mean different challenges
depending on where someone lives. Even more, I have a better understanding of how people that
do not have jobs in the formal economy find ways of making money. The issue of
mobility and employment is deeply related, and I look forward to exploring this
relationship. My computer is about to die so I must stop here.
Feel free to send me questions for clarification! Expect a new post soon.
- Feldman
