ABOUT FULBRIGHT

My Fulbright Life

Transcript For: Jerry Dickinson, Fulbrighter to South Africa, 2009.

Jerry Dickinson, Fulbrighter to South Africa, 2009, talks to Lee Rivers about his Fulbright experience.

Jerry Dickinson – South Africa

Lee: Hello and welcome to My Fulbright Life.  I am your host Lee Rives and I just want to thank you for listening.  Today I am joined by Jerry Dickinson, and he is a current Fulbrighter in South Africa, and so he is going to share a little bit about his experience today.  Thanks for joining us Jerry.

Jerry:  Thank you, Lee, I appreciate it very much.  I am excited to be on talking to you.  Thank You.

Lee: Fantastic! So, Jerry, just kick things off a talk about where in South Africa you are right now.

Jerry: Currently, I am in Johannesburg, South Africa.  I am at the University of Witwatersand at the center for Applied Legal Studies.  I have been here, let’s see now, it must be seven months that I came in October of 2009, when I started my research.

Lee:  Fantastic, so talk a little bit about what you are doing in the country, and how you learned about the Fulbright program initially?

Jerry: Well, initially I learned about the Fulbright program from my Graduate studies fellowship advisor back at the College of Holy Cross, and he had known about my interest and research in housing policy back in the States, during undergraduate school.   He thought the Fulbright would be a great opportunity for me to kind of advance that research, so he pushed me into it.  As I looked more into it I did find a lot of interesting places to go, to actually advance this kind of research but one in particular was South Africa.  One of the biggest policy issues in this country is housing policy, and a lot of the remnants of that are from the history of Apartheid.  So, this was a perfect place for me to come to utilize my knowledge in housing and also learn about the crisis here in South Africa.  So, hand in hand it was a good relationship. 

Lee: Great, Jerry.  So tell me a little more about what you are doing on a day-to-day basis, with your project?

Jerry:  OK well on a day-to day basis, as I said I came in October.  I work as a paralegal and a researcher at the center for Phi-Legal (spelling) studies here at this university.  So what I am doing is I am assisting the litigation units here at CAL on unlawful eviction.  So, my research therefore is about how housing policy, and specifically housing policy in the United States called Section 8, how that can help facilitate evicted occupants to find affordable rent in the Johannesburg area.  So, on a day-to-day basis I come to the office and I look through the litigation units, we consult with clients, we go down into the inner-city, we talk to landlords, and many times we try and resolve disputes between landlords and their tenants.  So, on a practical basis I am really getting the experience of litigating and consulting and really getting an all-around legal background in housing here in South Africa.

Lee:  That is really interesting.  So with that have there been any major challenges that you have faced?  How have you worked through those?

Jerry: I guess there is a bit of a story that I have.  Actually it was on the fourth day that I came here to work at the center, the fourth day back in October, we had an issue where 150 of our clients, of our occupants, had been evicted from a building, at the Latvace (spelling) building down in the Johannesburg CBD.  This was at 9:30 at night that I received a phone call from the head of litigation here, and so me and the litigation unit had to rush down to court, this is 9:30 at night in Johannesburg,  and get a court order and go to the building to find 150 people, families, mothers, daughters, children, and their belongings scattered along the street of Jeffey (spelling) Street.  It was there that we had to try and persuade the landlord that he had done an unlawful eviction and that we were the attorneys for the clients investigating and they needed to go back into the building.  So, for me, that was certainly a challenge because that was very intense.  It was a situation where we had to think on our feet, and quickly move to get our clients back into the building.  At the same time, also, I learned the diversity within South Africa.  Many of these clients that we dealt with, in that issue, many of them were foreigners from Northern Africa.  So, there is a language barrier then that we had to deal with.  All in all, in culmination, it really was something to behold, my experience here in South Africa.

Lee: Wow! I mean talk about learning under fire there.

Jerry: Yea, absolutely.  You don’t learn that one in the books. 

Lee: Unbelievable.  So kind of switching gears a little bit here Jerry.  We were talking earlier about the World Cup coming to South Africa and all the excitement and energy surrounding that.  I am just going to put this out there because I think our listeners are already thinking about it: You are in a very unique situation right now with the World Cup coming here in the next month, kind of talk about how the energy and excitement that maybe that has conjured up?

Jerry: Oh wow.  This has been something to behold for me as well.  You know, here in South Africa, the World Cup is going to be here in a month or so.  The excitement is on every level, from here at the university, to the students having celebrations here on campus in anticipation of the teams coming in.  As I mentioned before the South African national team is actually playing here, training here at this university, along with the Dutch national team.  So it is starting to pick up, in fact, I think the educational system here, they are actually taking that month off that the World Cup is here, so that everyone can truly enjoy it.  This is going to be spectacular.  For a country that, you know, you do have to look at the reality of it, 16 years out of Apartheid, South Africa is holding probably the biggest sporting event in the world.  So, that is certainly evident that this country is taking steps forward from its stark history.  This is certainly something that is going to be very emotional, I think, for many, and for many foreigners coming in too, it is going to be exciting.

Lee: What a great experience

Jerry: It would be, yes.  I have been looking forward to it.  I have tickets to the U.S. / Slovenia game here at Ellis (spelling) Park in Johannesburg so I will certainly be looking forward to that.

Lee: OK now you have gone from people being excited for you to people being jealous of you.

Jerry: Yea I know.  Well, you know it is funny, just the whole Fulbright process, it is just not you the applicant, it is your advisor and it is other people around you that kind of help facilitate that process.  So, kind of as a notion as a thank you, I actually invited my Fulbright adviser that I had back in the States to come visit, and actually see the U.S. / Slovenia game with me.  So, he is coming, it is all connected and relative. 

Lee: That is awesome.  Ok Jerry talk a little about what you do in you down time, outside of the work that you are doing, how do you spend your time?

Jerry: When I get the chance, when I get out of the office, like I said it is 40-45 a week here at the law center, but when I find time I play soccer, I played back in the States at the university.  I play pick-up soccer with friends, some of whom are Americans, many of them are South Africans.  So that is also a very unique cultural experience for me to be able to play soccer on a different level, and with different people here in South Africa.  Then, traveling as well, I have been to Lempopo (spelling), Capetown, and other countries around South Africa, such as, Mozambique and Swaziland.  So, I have utilized my time, certainly not just to get the experience of South Africa, but also to experience Southern Africa as much as I can.

Lee: Jerry, one of the main reasons that we do these interviews is to allow the Fulbrighters to be able to share their experiences, and that way people that are looking at applying can get an idea of what life is like in the country, as well as maybe hear some advice and some things that would be beneficial for them as they are going through the application process.  So, what advice can you offer to candidates that are looking at applying this upcoming October?

Jerry:  I would say keep an open mind, right, keep an open mind about the country that you do want to do research in.  For me, in keeping that open mind, it is also being aware and making sure that you apply for something that you are passionate about.  Apply for something that you know that you can take what you are doing here, if you do end up getting the Fulbright, take that experience and then advance it to wherever else you go.  If you come back to the States for graduate school, if you come back to the states to work or you go somewhere else in the world, it is taking that experience, that passion that you have and broadening it and expanding on it.  So that is what I would say for those who are looking into the Fulbright program, and also if it is a situation where someone is looking to take a year off and do some research, I think it is very important because this year has allowed me, and many other Fulbright scholars that I know to grow intellectually and grow personally.  You learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about the world around you, and sometimes I think that we are boxed up a bit in the United States.  So, when you are able to go beyond the borders, and mutually engage with other people and learn from them, I think you come out of it as a very broad minded person.  I think you can then use that to advance yourself, and advance other projects around the world, or in the United States.  That is what my advice would be.

Lee:  I could not agree more.  This is all the time that we have for this episode of My Fulbright Life.  So, Jerry thank you once again for taking time out of your evening to chat with us.

Jerry: Thank you, Lee, I appreciate it.