The Amy Biehl Foundation

It’s 8 o’clock on Thursday night. I’m eating an Oreo McFlurry that was personally delivered to our apartment, and I’m working on assignments from the Global L.E.A.D. workbook. Tonight’s sunset was just as beautiful as yesterday’s, and the Internet is up and running again. There couldn’t be a more perfect end to this incredible day.

This morning’s class time was devoted to Kevin Chaplin, an esteemed South African banker who left his venerated career and fixed salary to become the director of the Amy Beihl Foundation. There’s no way my writing will serve justice to his speaking, but I’ll try my best.

Mr. Chaplin spoke to us about ubuntu, which is a universal concept that Archbishop Desmond Tutu once called “the essence of humanity.” Ubuntu deals with reconciliation, restorative justice, respect, recognition, reliability, responsibility, and relationships. In Chaplin’s words, it is the idea that “I am a person because of other people.” Imagine life without your family, friends, neighbors, business partners, mentors, teachers, coaches, classmates, and teammates. Who would you be? Where would you be? We are all connected in some way, and the influence we have on each other’s character is vital.

Dr. Wolf, our professor, likes to give us 2-3 minutes for free writing exercises. Today’s prompt was to identify someone we think expresses ubuntu and to discuss how he/she does so. This was my response:

Kevin Scott is the first person to come to my mind. He has a heart for service and a head for business, and he is the prime example of making the world a better place. I admire Kevin because he has a God-given talent for turning positive thoughts into significant actions.

Amy Biehl also expressed ubuntu. After graduating from Stanford, she received a Fulbright grant to assist the people of Cape Town as the South African government transitioned into democracy. She worked in the townships and fought for the political rights of the black people who lived there. On August 25, 1993, she was stoned and stabbed by four black males in a gas station parking lot. They assumed she was pro-apartheid because of her white skin and killed her, two days before she was scheduled to return to her home in Sante Fe, New Mexico.

Amy's memorial in Guguletu

        Four years after the four men were sentenced to eighteen years in jail, they were called to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which Archbishop Tutu and President Mandela created to allow offenders the opportunity to express remorse. The driving force of the TRC is the hope that true emotions will be addressed whenever a victim comes face-to-face with his/her offender. Mr. and Mrs. Biehl felt that the only way to fill “the void” was through forgiveness. Shockingly, they forgave the men who killed Amy. According to Mrs. Biehl, "they didn't murder [her] daughter, apartheid did." In their eyes, the stoning and stabbing wasn't murder. It was a political movement.

A wise man (Kevin Paul Scott) once told me that “it’s not about politics, it’s about people.” I wish he would have been able to hear Chaplin’s ubuntu message today. Chaplin also explained the Amy Biehl Foundation, an organization designed to keep youth off the streets and away from drugs and violence. It is an after school program that taps into the right side of the brain (the emotional side) via music, drama, dance, and sports. It was founded by the Biehls and Tobako, one of Amy’s perpetrators, in 1998. Can you imagine hiring and working with people who had killed your child? That’s forgiveness, my friends.

When Mrs. Biehl asked Chaplin to take on a crucial leadership position after the first director, Solomon, died from stress-related diabetes, he agreed with no hesitations. Talk about stepping up to the plate. As the director of an organization in a country where the average non-profit life span is only three years, Chaplin is on a mission for both national and international support. He and his colleagues are currently selling beaded bracelets, Amy bread, and Amy wine around the community to promote their cause. The Foundation received financial support from the United States government until 2005 when President Bush had to cut the international budget due to the war in Iraq. It is aided and equipped with volunteers from all over the world, but American college students are the most popular Amy Biehl fans. They gained 101 more today.

We went into the townships of Guguletu and Crossroads to see some of the Amy Beihl centers this afternoon. The 6-year-olds sang The Lord’s Prayer, the 14-year-olds performed a skit about HIV/AIDS, the 8-year-olds played the trombones (Mom, you would have LOVED this place!), and various age groups from seven different centers showcased choreographed dances for us. They put my Tiger Tiger moves to shame.

Our program director, Courtney Doran, challenged us to leave our cameras on the bus while we interacted with the kids today. She wanted us to experience township life from our own eyes rather than our Nikon, Canon, and Kodak lenses. I’m so grateful for her leadership because I was honestly moved today. I’m sorry I don’t have more pictures to show you, but this is something you need to experience firsthand.

I had a striking realization as I watched the kids dance this afternoon. As a performer, I always look for glitches (which are really just random and inevitable mishaps) between scenes. In this case, I simply watched the different groups transition and take turns owning the “open stage” they had created in the sand between buildings. The performance costumes—Amy Biehl Foundation t-shirts—had to be shared amongst 50+ dancers (ages 5-18). T-shirts. Not enough for everyone. What?

Here we are, 101 college students from various universities with enough t-shirts in our suitcases to clothe at least one class of Amy Beihl students…each. Here I am, complaining about leaving my cute coats at home and instead having to wear sweatshirts to keep me warm in this chilly South African fall weather. Goodness gracious, I am so ridiculously blessed. When you go to bed tonight, please pray for the people of Guguletu and Crossroads. They need it much more than I do right now.

It's 11 o'clock on Thursday night. I’ve finished my McFlurry, and I can hear the waves crashing from our kitchen table. I’m talking to friends from home on Skype, and I’m trying desperately to upload pictures of my new friends to Facebook. Life is good, y’all. Life is really good.

“Real leaders need to be able to open up. They need to be emotionally intelligent.” – Kevin Chaplin