Until We Meet Again

When Holly, my coordinator, asked if I would write 100 words to describe my experience as a volunteer on the medical project, I didn't know if I'd ever get it down to a reasonable size and adequate explanation. By the time I left South Africa I knew exactly what I wanted to tell everyone but now that I've had a chance to separate myself physically, I've also had time to reflect on it and I'd like to elaborate on my experience.

I never thought I would be so lucky as to have an opportunity as great as my time in South Africa.

The first day I drove into Masiphumelele with Brian and Remi, I saw the impoverished conditions and was completely doubt stricken. What had I gotten myself into? It was entirely my own decision to leave the creature comforts of home and try something new but was it a case of 'too much, too soon'? Flash forward to two weeks later, poetically driving out of Masi with Brian and Remi for the last time and I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the thought of not getting to go back.

It may seem cliché to describe my experience as life changing, but when the shoe fits... I'll have to call it what it was, and that was nothing short of life changing. In Fish Hoek I lived with volunteers from around the world, and met many other volunteers in Gordon's Bay. All of the people I met were once called volunteers, or coordinators, or managers, or drivers, or housekeepers or whatever other labels there may have been, but now there is only one label that will need to be remembered. Having once very briefly considered them strangers, I can now proudly call these people my friends. We all started this journey at different times and all for our own reasons but now we have a shared experience that can never be taken away.

Although I was the only medical project volunteer at the time, and there had only been one previously, I got to help shape the program. I never expected for this to be the case when I started. Day after day Holly asked what GVI could do to improve the programming and I felt I could only offer minor changes. If anyone, Shirley, the principal at Masi, shaped that program more than I did. I'm so thankful to have met someone so eager to learn, and to share that knowledge. Having the chance to work with Shirley and have her guide the topics, taught me about their needs, just as much as I imagine we helped her. Yet knowing that the information is sustainable long after I'm gone is every bit as important to me as the time I actually got to spend with everyone.

Teaching children how to wash their hands is so invaluable.
Teaching children how to cough into their sleeve is so practical.
Teaching women why they should wash their fruit before eating it is so simple.
Teaching women enough to feel empowered is extraordinary.

But teaching myself that I have the confidence to try something new, so far beyond my comfort zone, and still be successful, changed me.

There will never be a day that goes by from now on where I don't think about the children and carers at Masi. I can still hear their accents as I recall the way they pronounced the colours they'd memorized in order on the colour chart. Rrrred, yellllow, bllue...

The country itself is something I will cherish, too. The sense of community in the townships and the beautiful landscapes are just as important to me as the people themselves. I've had many experiences I could never do at home, like seeing a severed sheep head before people ate them or going on a safari. Since seeing The Lion King for the first time, I knew going on a safari was something I needed to do in life. Getting to go on a safari with five new friends was just an added bonus. I probably could have done without the sheep heads, though.

Every time I learn a new language, one of the first things I try to remember is how to say thank you. Fittingly, the first word I learned in Xhosa was the translation of thank you, 'enkosi'. This word is endlessly powerful and will never be enough, but to GVI, to Masi and to the people of South Africa, I would like to say enkosi.

Ironically, I never learned the word for goodbye in Xhosa, so I'll just have to say, until we meet again.

Empowering a Community Towards Better Health

[The following summary is the post I was asked to write for GVI's community programs blog to reflect on the two weeks I spent at Masi.]

From studying global health and social medicine, I learned about social injustices relating to healthcare. I joined GVI to gain insight into the real-world applicability of those teachings in order to reverse their effects. The biggest injustice I would see at the Masiphumelele Educare was that these individuals would not have otherwise had the opportunity to learn about their health.

GVI provided a curriculum and the carers guided the lecture topics, choosing ones most valuable for the children they clearly love. At the end of one lesson, the principal, Shirley, offhandedly remarked that she couldn't wait for it to be her turn at her women's group. She wants to spread the newly acquired knowledge she painstakingly jotted down every day. When I started, the sense of bewilderment on this middle-aged woman's face when she learned there were actual hand-washing techniques was humbling.  In the end, the lessons learned by the children and carers went beyond what was taught about healthcare each day, it extended to an empowering confidence they gained in themselves.

In Xhosa "Masiphumelele" means "we will succeed." I have no doubt in my mind that the individuals with which I had the pleasure of meeting will succeed through healthier lives and go on to make the difference which is at the core of GVI's mission.

Emily Hogan – Healthcare Workshops Volunteer

Lions and Giraffes and Elephants, oh my!

My last full day with GVI was spent on a safari. The one thing I wanted to do most as a tourist on the African continent was to go on a safari. I am happy to have gone today and now I can leave on Sunday having fulfilled this dream.

Remi picked up Iris, Jodie and I from Kinrae at 9:30am. We drove for about an hour from Fish Hoek to Gordon's Bay to pick up Claire, Katrina and another girl we hadn't met before named Sarah. We then drove for two more hours to get to the safari. Remi took us on the scenic route over the mountains and occasionally we stopped to take pictures. Wild baboons were along the roads, hanging out in packs. At one point, not too far outside of Paarl, we stopped to take pictures of the most vivid rainbow I've ever seen.

The safari was at Fairy Glen in Werchester at a place called The Cape Big 5 Safari. They served us a huge buffet meal after we signed our lives away on the waiver forms. The safari started at 2:00pm and lasted for two and a half hours. We saw so many animals, not just the South African Big 5.

When we got in the jeep there were the six of us from GVI and a family of three. We passed through the gates and immediately on the right we were welcomed by water buffalo. They're nicknamed Black Death because of their incredible horns which are said to easily spear other animals. We drove out farther and saw rhinos and springbok. The guide told us a rather longwinded explanation about a tree and how it relates to giraffes hiding nests of food. The entire thing was a joke but we all kept our guards up for the rest of his stories. When we continued, we first had to wait for some giraffes to cross the road. Never thought I'd utter those words. We came up to a clearing and saw a bunch of zebras and a lone donkey in the mix. We headed over to a lion pen where three lions were being kept. There was a fence around these lions but the guide walked right up and put his hands through the fence and jingled the keys until the male lion came over to visit.

After we left that lion pen we drove through the wildebeests, zebras and donkey until we found where the giraffes were hanging out. The giraffes willingly came up pretty close to us. We drove towards a different lion pen and actually got to go right in. We didn't get too close, and the lions didn't come up like the other ones had, but it was still very neat to be in there.

When we left the second set of lions we headed back to lodge and passed by a group of ostriches on the way. Just before we got to the gate we had to stop and wait for a zebra and a bunch of antelopes to cross the road. We got out of the jeep back at the lodge and then walked over to the elephants. Because elephants like to eat absolutely everything in sight, they had to keep them in a different section. We got to walk right up to the elephants which was pretty cool.

The weather was rainy and surprisingly cold inland, even thought Remi had told us it's always warmer the farther you get away from Fish Hoek. Fortunately for us the animals were all out and being active since they weren't hiding from the heat.

The drive back to Fish Hoek took about three hours and we started right after we all had some tea at the lodge to warm up. Remi drove us back through a tunnel in the mountain rather than going over them again. It was pretty dark by the time we got back so it was nice to have done the scenic tour on our way out there in the daylight. By the time we got back to Fish Hoek, Shelly and Jane had already had their dinner so Jodie, Iris and I went to Valyland and got pizza instead of starting to cook so late. We all watched a movie together and I finished my packing.

With mixed emotions I leave tomorrow morning to fly to Germany to visit my cousin for a week before heading home. I will miss all the people here, both those at Masi and those with GVI. I will also miss the sense of purpose everyday and the beautiful scenery this country has to offer. However, I can leave knowing that the children learned many valuable lessons related to their health like exercising, how and when to wash their hands, and to cough into their sleeves. The carers have told me they feel empowered and have the confidence to teach others. So really, my job here is done.

Goodbye White Men

Holly had an administrative day so Brian went with me to project. Shirley and Mama Winnie were both away today so any communication was done was through Lulu using a lot of hand gestures. The language barrier between English and Xhosa was still too great.

The children got to have outdoor play time because the weather warmed up enough by 11:00am. I brought some sidewalk chalk with me this morning and some mini soccers balls. We put the chalk to good use when Brian and I each made a hopscotch for people to play on. No one at Masi had ever seen chalk before let alone knew what hopscotch was or how to play. I led the exercises and stretching in the middle of the yard and then we played some soccer and catch. We also played sharks (a game like tag) and then played a lot of Duck Duck Goose.

Since Shirley and Mama Winnie were both away I knew it was going to be difficult to do the lesson without our usual translators. When I asked Lulu after lunch if I could do the lesson then, Lulu and the other carers all agreed that they wanted to have their lunch first. Since it was a half day and the children weren't going to be taking their nap, one of the carers would have to supervise the children while I gave the lesson so we'd be down to two carers actually attending the lesson. Knowing that Shirley wasn't going to be at Masi today, I was planning a review for everyone but it ended up being more trouble than was maybe worth so we all decided together that we weren't going to do the review.

I made a Happy Mother's Day sign and brought it in to project to have the children hold up the sign to have their picture taken so I could send them home to my mom. Today was photo day so I was able to bring my camera and take pictures of what we've been doing at Masi for the past two weeks.

At the end of the day all the children were outside playing in the yard and all came running to the fence when it was time to leave for the last time. The children were speaking in Xhosa as they called to us when we were getting in the van. Remi was laughing at everyone and when we asked what they were saying he said they were calling to us saying, "bye white men".

After project we didn't have a meeting so I went with Jodie and Iris to the Internet cafe in Valyland. I went down to the post office as well to pick up stamps for the postcards I got at Boulder's Beach from our weekend trip in Cape Town.

At 7:00pm we all went over to Erica for the goodbye Braai in honour of Lindsey and I. Brian cooked the meat and Holly and Kim made a bunch of different types of salads. When dinner was finished, Lindsey and I went to Holly's room for our goodbye presentation. Hearing about how GVI felt thankful for our work was nice because I feel so blessed to have been able to do it. Having Holly deliver the presentation was especially genuine since we worked together on project nearly everyday. I didn't have a partner to work with on project like everyone else did at the sites in Westlake so Holly filled both roles of a coordinator and a partner to bounce ideas off of.

When our goodbye presentation was over all the volunteers and coordinators came in and we watched our goodbye slideshow. It was overwhelming to see evidence of how much we've actually accomplished in two short weeks.

After the braai and goodbye presentations we all went to Polana to celebrate our time together before Lindsey flies home tomorrow morning.

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika

Holly picked me up this morning and Remi drove us to project. We were a couple minutes later than yesterday so the children were singing the South African National Anthem when we got there. The song is actually pretty long, and very beautiful, but the children only sang the first two verses in Xhosa and Zulu.

The weather was colder today than it had been yesterday so we didn't get to go outside for outdoor play and exercises. You could tell that the children had a lot of energy from being in the same room for almost the entire day.

I gave the lesson to Shirley and Lulu after lunch, while the children were napping. Today I talked about ringworm and oral hygiene, which were both subjects Shirley had requested. Shirley had lots of questions about oral hygiene and she said one of the children at Masi had ringworm once before. A lot of the stray animals that wander around the township had ringworm and since it's zoonotic, people can catch it much quicker than they might think. Holly interjected and said that some of the previous volunteers had caught ringworm from the children and then from each other since we're all living together.

When I got back to Kinrae after project I was locked out because of a perpetual key shortage. I walked down to the internet cafe in Valyland to pass the time and later Holly came to get me when she was done at Erica and we were able to get in because everyone else had gotten back from Westlake.

Jodie and I were on dinner duty tonight. We heated up the chicken curry and made the salad for everyone. Tonight we're going out to the Vic for drinks with all the coordinators, volunteers and some of the local guys we've been hanging out with.

Holly has asked if I would write a blog post for GVI about my experience on the medical project. I'm not sure how to condense all of my thoughts into 100 words. And yet, truthfully, there are no words to describe what it feels like being here.

What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?

When Bolekwa arrived at Kinrae this morning she told us about the fire at Masi. Turns out the fire started down by the water and quickly spread to the shacks. Since all of the shacks are so close to one another the domino effect is extra quick. This is the largest fire in Masi history. Unfortunately Bolekwa's house was destroyed by the fire but luckily she and her son weren't home. It's heartbreaking to hear how someone who had so little to begin with just lost everything. She was away yesterday because she had to stand in line all day to get a new uniform for her son to wear to school.

Today on project, Brian came with me instead of Holly. The children and carers did their Morning Ring, then we practiced their AEIOUs and they each drew a picture of themselves. Luckily the weather was great so Brian and I led the children with stretches and exercises outside in the yard. We also taught the kids how to play What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf? Although they didn't really understand the game because we gave the instructions in English, it helped them practice their counting in English. I do my best to incorporate learning English as best as I can into each of the exercises. The game got in some running time which they loved because they got to be chased.

For the lesson with the carers I talked about impetigo and chicken pox and how you can distinguish between the two types of skin conditions. Holly and Will came by for a visit this afternoon. They sat in on our lesson with Brian. They were all sitting on a bench on one side of the room, looking rather intimidating, but before they left Holly said I'd gone a great job with the lesson.

Shirley said at the end of the lesson that she can't wait for it to be her turn at her women's group because she wants to teach each other women in their community about everything I've taught so far. She also wants to tell her friends about neighbours about the information because she feels empowered. It was heartwarming to hear how she feels abut the lesson and how much she feels she has learned. I asked Shirley what she wanted to learn tomorrow and she asked that I teach the carers about oral hygiene.

Lindsay and I went to the Internet cafe after project so that I could look up information about oral hygiene to teach tomorrow since it wasn't a topic we were originally going to cover. The weather, as usual, changed in a the drop of a hat... or drop of water... when we were walking back. Anytime you want it to stop raining or hailing, just wait five minutes and it'll turn around.

Tonight was social night since it was Wednesday. Iris was going to plan another games night with different types of games than what we had last week but most people were really tired so we ended up watching another movie instead.

Siyahamba

Today we were back on project after what feels like the first time in a very long time. Instead of having so few children, there were 28 when Holly and I arrived this morning. We had to leave Kinrae a little later than usual today because Bolekwa hadn't shown up by the time we were supposed to have left.

There was a big fire in Masiphumelele on Sunday night and over 1500 shacks are said to have been destroyed. Because Bolekwa didn't show up, she must had been affected by the fire. Shirley, the principal at Masi, didn't make it to the educare and neither did a bunch of the children. Shirley was at the library organizing supplies for people who have lost belongings in the fire. The sense of community around here is so heartwarming and palpable.

With all of the children and with the help of Shirley's stand-in, Mama Winnie, the educare and the structure of the day worked out really well. After lunch I gave my lecture on coughs, colds, and meningitis. Mama Winnie translated to the other carers from English to Xhosa. Mama Winnie told us a story about a child that had been at the educare once who had meningitis. It's been nice to give lessons based on subjects that are so relevant to them. It seems as though each of the children always has some sort of cold symptom here and they just keep spreading it among themselves.

There was one new girl who joined the educare today. She came in sporting two black eyes, shyly standing behind her new foster mom. The little girl just moved to Masi from a safety home in Langa, called Nomzamo Place of Safety (coincidently, the name of one of the sites in Gordon's Bay is also called Nomzamo). The girl was very quiet in the morning but was laughing and playing with another girl by the end of the day. 

The children sang the English words to Siyahamba today and I was so surprised. I traveled half way around the world and heard the children sing a familiar song... except it was just another day to them because it is actually a South African hymn.

Since Bolekwa wasn't at Kinrae today, I did the dishes from the weekend since I got back first from project and cleaned up after Brian made our lunches.  Tonight Jane made us dinner and later we went to karaoke night at the Brass Bell.

Safari Marathon

Today is another holiday in South Africa called Worker's Day. This morning we had to get up at 5:30am to leave our house by 6:00am. Remi picked us all up and drove us to a town in wine country called Wellington, South Africa. The reason we went to Wellington was to watch the coordinators from Gordon's Bay run in the Safari Half Marathon. When I was first told about something called the Safari Half Marathon I was really hoping to see lots of animals, but alas, I'll get my chance soon enough. We passed through Paarl and Stellenbosch on the way to Wellington and it was neat to see all the vineyards. In the car on the way over to Wellington we heard on the radio that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. This is another world event that it would have been nice to see the news coverage on since we have no internet at the house or access to TV or newspapers.

The coordinators finished the half marathon all around two hours and by 10am we were back in the van on the way to Fish Hoek. A trip through the scenic countryside and spending time with people from Gordon's Bay was a nice way to spend another public holiday.

Instead of going straight back to Fish Hoek, Remi dropped us off in Kalk Bay. We did a little shopping and then went for a lunch at a restaurant called the Wild Olive. When lunch was finished we walked from Kalk Bay back to Fish Hoek. The walk took about 30mins and it started to rain along the way but cleared up pretty quickly.

We hung out at the Kinrae house for the afternoon and I made a trip over to the internet cafe on Main Road with Iris and Shelly. It was supposed to be my roommate, Lindsey's night on dinner duty but because it was a holiday and Bolekwa had the day off, Jane and Shelly made dinner for us instead. We just watched a movie together after dinner.

Weekend in Cape Town

On Friday, Remi picked up Jodie and I from Kinrae around 3:00pm to leave for Cape Town. We arrived at the hostel around 4:00pm and checked into the Ashanti Lodge. The hostel was really nice, with really large palm trees outside the front doors and the inside had rich dark wood that reminded me of main hall in Trafalgar Castle.

Jodie and I were going to go out for a walk so we went into the reception room to talk to the receptionist for suggestions of where to go. While we were waiting to talk to the receptionist, Patrick -another GVI driver- came into the reception room with the three other GVI volunteers from Gordon's Bay, South Africa.  The three girls were staying in the same room so they dropped off their stuff and we all went for a walk along Long Street together.

We found a coffee shop on Long Street where we all sat down and had something to drink and got to know each other. Claire is from England, Katrina is from Ireland and Rosanna is from Sweden. After we left the cafe we walked down Long Street before it stopped being touristy and started looking like a bad idea. The street really looked like Bourbon Street in New Orleans based on the architecture of two story buildings with balconies lining the street. The five of us walked back to Ashanti and hung out there before it was from for our reservation at Mama Africa.

Mama Africa is a traditional South African restaurant, complete with dancing and traditional meals. Katrina and I shared crocodile as an appetizer. Katrina and Jodie both ordered springbok for their main course and Rosanna ordered a type of wild game called kudu. Clare and I both had fish and it was some of the best fish of my life. A band came out to play traditional music but they were soon playing and singing everything from opera to modern pop music. I never thought I'd go to South Africa and hear someone singing Justin Bieber. When we were finished with dinner we went to a bar called Space Bar and later one called Dubliners.

Saturday morning we all got up and went for breakfast around 8:30am in the restaurant at the hostel. The view of Table Mountain was incredible! We walked from the hostel through Company Gardens to get to Green Market Square. We each got a couple of things at the market and then we made our way over to the District 6 Museum. In the museum we learned about the apartheid, particularly in district 6 where the museum is located. From the museum we got on a Hop-on-Hop-off bus and went around Cape Town.

All of us got off the bus when it reached Table Mountain. Jodie and I were going to climb it with Iris but Iris was too sick to join us when we left on Friday afternoon. We decided we'd climb the mountain anyway but the other three GVI girls wanted to take the cable car up to the top instead. We parted ways at the base of the mountain. Jodie and I met a Canadian couple from Calgary who were hiking the same trail up, Platteklip Gorge. I recognized the fellow Canadians because of our matching attire from Mountain Equipment Co-Op. Somewhere along the route, Jodie and I took a different turn and ended up walking across the mountain a lot farther than we were walking up. After about an hour and a half we ran into an Australian couple who told us we'd only made it about 1/8th of the way to the top. We climbed up a little farther and then sat for a while to enjoy the view of Cape Town. We both agreed it wasn't worth it to retrace our steps for so long to continue to the top so after two hours on the mountain we started our descent. It was a shame we didn't make it all the way to the top but the views were still spectacular. At the bottom of the mountain we waited for the other girls and then all got back on the bus together.

The bus took us all around Cape Town and we got to see a side we otherwise wouldn't have gotten to see by foot. Part of this tour took us to Camp's Bay and Clifton Bay Beaches. Prince Harry is said to enjoy the cafe that over looks Camp's Bay. We also got to see Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. We had tried to get tickets for the tour of Robben Island on Friday for sometime during the weekend but all the tickets were booked up until Tuesday. It was nice to see Robben Island on the bus tour since we couldn't go otherwise. The tour made a pit-stop at the Two Oceans Aquarium since not far from Cape Town is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. The tour ended back near Green Market Square so we got off and walked back to Ashanti almost the same way we had headed, through Company Gardens, that morning.

Iris was at the hostel when we got back. All of us got ready to go out for dinner and then we went to Long Street to find a place for us to eat. We settled on a restaurant Holly likes in Kalk Bay called Cape to Cuba. We sat outside on the balcony, overlooking Long Street. Afterwards we went back to Dubliners to meet up with other volunteers from Gordon's Bay who'd come in to Cape Town for the night.

Sunday was my favourite day in South Africa so far and likely will include some of my best memories of this country. We were picked up from Ashanti by the tour bus company called Baz Bus. The bus made a couple stops at other hostels to pick up people for the trip. We drove along the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean until we made our first stop of the day at the ferry docks to go to Seal Island. There were tons of seals on the rocks, which really wasn't a true island, per se. I was surprised by how quiet the seals were because the ones at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco were always so noisy. When we were done at Seal Island we drove around the cove. The view of the little town was amazing and we got to stop for breakfast overlooking Seal Island and this small town. When everyone was finished we moved on and drove to Boulder's Beach in Simon's Town. South African penguins were everywhere at the beach.

After the beach we drove to Cape of Good Hope/ Cape Point, which is part of the national parks system. We were dropped off just off to the side of the main road and all got fitted for mountain bikes and helmets. We had a 4km bike ride along the Cape peninsula. The scenery was absolutely amazing and the bike ride was so fun. The end of the bike ride led us to to the park's visitors centre where we all stopped to have a picnic lunch.

When lunch was finished we got back on the bus and drove to Cape of Good Hope, the most south western paint of the African Continent. We climbed the Point and the views of the ocean and park were really nice. When we were done at the rocks we drove over to Cape Point Lighthouse. There were a bunch of baboons at the base of the lighthouse and we saw wild ostriches on the drive over. The views from the lighthouse were just as pretty as the views all day. After the lighthouse we drove back to Cape Town and were back to the hostel by 5:30pm. Remi picked up Jodie, Iris and I from Ashanti at 6:00pm and we were back in Fish Hoek by 7:00pm. I had such a good time in Cape Town and I didn't want it to end.

The weather is Cape Town was so beautiful and hot. Climbing Table Mountain on Saturday was made even hotter by the fact that there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. All day Sunday it was between 26-30C which felt so nice and what I had imagined weather in Africa would feel like.

Handwashing 101

There were more children at Masi today but still only 12 in total. If all the children are here next week Lulu says there should be a total of 38. Having so many children around will be a shock. There has been hardly any structure to the days this week, despite there being a schedule. Because of all the holidays, the children and carers seem very relaxed.

Shirley was away today but a lady named Winnie, and affectionately called Mama Winnie, came to help Lulu and the other carers. Thankfully Mama Winnie is fluent in English and Xhosa making it just as easy as having Shirley around. Mama Winnie originally owned the building and land the educare is on, using it as her family home, but she turned it into an educare for the children in Masiphumelele township to have a safe place to learn.

After Morning Ring today, Holly and I lead exercises with the children. We did basic moves like jumping jacks, arm circles and hopping on each foot to help them with their balance. The children had lots of fun getting out their energy since it was raining outside and we couldn't use other rooms than the office because of all the painting.  The carers did the exercises too and they all said their arms were hurting after the arm circles. Guess it means we did something right!

Holly and I read English books to the children and then we helped them practice recognizing colours. I traced all the childrens' hands and they loved it. Each one only coloured in the fingers first and then asked permission to colour in the palms of their hands. When colouring time was over they were going to have a snack so I showed them how to properly wash their hands. I saw some of them washing their hands after toilet time and they were doing it properly so hopefully it will stick. The children went to sleep after they had their lunchtime snack. When they went down for a nap I gave the lesson for the day.

Mama Winnie was my translator for our lesson which was about food poisoning and the benefits of exercise. Today's lesson was relatively short and there weren't too many questions.

Remi picked up Holly and I at 1:00pm since Friday's are half days for schools and businesses in South Africa. On the radio in the van they were talking about William and Kate being on their way to Buckingham Palace because their wedding ceremony had just ended. Holly is from Manchester and she said hearing about the Royal Wedding made her miss home. I agree that it feels like we just missed a major event but I may never be volunteering in a township in South Africa again so teaching children how to wash their hands properly instead of watching the Wedding was a good way to spend that time. A little perspective never hurts.

The Criminals Are Here!

Holly was thankfully well enough to join me on project today so Remi picked up Holly from Erica and came to get me by 8:30am. Remi drove a different way through Masi since we didn't have to stop at Patricia's house first. The trip through Masi had nicer houses that were stucco on the outside and a little larger than the shacks with corrugated metal or plastic.

There were about 6 or 7 children at the centre today and some of them were different than those who were present on Tuesday. When Holly and I first arrived there were a couple of children in the front room with the cribs so she and I went in the other room, the office, to go over our material. We ran through the schedule for the first and second workshops while we could hear the children were doing their Morning Ring.

When the Morning Ring was over the children came into the office to each a snack before going to the back classroom for activity time. Holly and I were still in the front room and some other white people (the first I'd seen in Masi) arrived at the centre. The lady introduced help saying she was a teacher nearby and her students had to pick a shortterm and longterm project to help make the area better. The people who had come today had chosen to paint the Masiphumelele Educare Centre.

Holly and I went to join the children and carers in the back classroom. The carer, Lulu, who was in charge while Shirley was at the library came into the room saying, "the criminals are here, the criminals are here". I think this scared both Holly and I but she went with Lulu to see what was going on. Turned out the woman who had come with her students had left her BMW outside the barbed wire fence, unlocked, and people had gone in and stolen some diapers. No one was hurt and nothing had been broken so they called the security guard, Rasca, to come. When Rasca arrived, he called the police. The children had no idea this had all happened since I had stayed with them in the back classroom and read them a story.

One of the children, Abulele, was acting out so Holly sent him to the naughty corner. He screamed and cried the whole five minutes he spent there. All the other children wanted to watch.

Today it was warm enough to take the children outside to play. A bunch of the children like to hang about the neighbourhood, outside the fence but don't go to the educare. Today they came inside the fence and used the playground at the same time and Shirley didn't seem to mind at all.

The children went inside for lunch before taking their nap. Because the painting was taking place inside the front room, they were all in the office for the remainder of the time we spent inside.

Shirley had come back from her meeting at the Masi Library during play time but she had to leave early so we did a lesson one-on-one while the children finished their snack. Today's lessons were about the food pyramid, basic nutrition, and handwashing techniques. Holly was sitting in the room as I spoke to Shirley and she even interjected at times to ask questions because she hadn't even known some of the information I was passing on. She was just as interested for her own knowledge.

Shirley had known to wash their hands and when to do it but she didn't realize there was an actual proper way to wash hands. When I explained the food pyramid Shirley asked a lot of questions and said she wanted to use it with her own family as well. Knowing she was so eager to share the information is so gratifying. Shirley explained to the other carers that we want to work on handwashing with the kids tomorrow.

Holly and I offered to help the painters but they already had enough hands so we waited until the kids were awake and then watched them eat their afternoon snacks. Afterwards we went outside and read books and sang songs with the children until Remi picked us up.

The debrief was quick and Holly told Will, our regional manager, that I'd given a great lesson. It was nice to get positive feedback so soon into my time here.

Jodie and I made a quick trip to Spar in Valyland and then it was our turn to be on dinner duty. We had to heat up the meal our cook/housekeeper, Bolekwa, had prepared earlier in the day. I made the salad while Jodie heated the spaghetti Bolognese. When the meal was finished, Jodie and I cleared the table and did all of the dishes.

Tonight has been a quiet night, with a presentation from Will's wife, Catalina, on optional side trips- shark diving, sky diving, wine tours. Everyone has been doing some lesson planning for tomorrow and reading for the remainder of the evening.

Freedom Day

Since today was Freedom Day, there was no school and therefore no project. On April 27th, Freedom Day is celebrated as a national holiday in South Africa. This year marked the 17th anniversary of the first post-apartheid elections across the country. 

Because we didn't have project today, Brian organized for five of us to go on a township town at one of South Africa's largest townships, called Langa. Langa is about 45 minutes from Fish Hoek and not too far from the airport in Cape Town. Some of the other girls said they could see Langa from their planes on the way into Cape Town. 

Remi drove us to Langa for a tour that was booked at 2:30pm. On the drive over, Remi gave us a talk about the history of South Africa. When we got to Langa there was a group of locals who were dancing and singing while wearing traditional clothing. They were celebrating Freedom Day before going inside the community centre for a lively prayer service for the upcoming federal elections.

Our tour guide, MC, met us outside the arena where we started the tour. Remi drove us through the township while MC spoke about the history and pointed out notable buildings and areas around the township. 

Our first stop on the tour was at a building where local people/artisans make and sell their arts and crafts. There is also a computer lab with internet that was donated by Microsoft. We went to see a person making pottery and another person who frames pictures and mirrors. After we left the centre we drove to MC's house.  He said his house is pretty big in comparison to most and it was 6x7meters. MC said when it was at its most full, there were 27 people living in it; 19 kids on the floor with only 17 blankets to go around. MC said the house was built in 1927 and they got electricity in 1938. Ironically, the shack-like house had a flat screen TV with a satellite dish. We were told that not everyone lives in a township because they can't afford to live elsewhere, but because it is part of their culture to live in the family home. MC's family was the original owner of their house and four generations of their family have lived and been born there.

After leaving MC's house, we walked down to a little market and a bunch of kids ran up to us to play and have their picture taken. They just ran up and started posing without even having our cameras out. 

MC led us through the hostel area, which is where migrant workers use to stay when they came to South Africa from other countries looking for work. Now these hostels have been turned into family housing. The rooms are nothing more than a cement slab coming out from the wall to be used as a bed and an entire family can be living in there.

We walked over to where they cook sheep heads-- a local delicacy. The heads, once cooked, are called Smilies because skin and muscles all pull back tightly to reveal a somewhat menacing grin, akin to a smile. The smoke from burning the meat was so strong. We were told we could eat the meat but no one offered it to us once we got there. I don't know if I could have actually stomached eating this but it would have been all part of the experience. 

After looking at the Smilies we walked to a Shebeen. A Shebeen is like a bar inside a really dirty looking shack. Shebeens were an alternative to a traditional bar during the apartheid because black men we unable to enter bars which were designated for white men only. The men we met all sat around and drank homemade beer out of a communal metal container. Each of the GVI voluneers tried the beer and it tasted to me like beer, milk and metal with a terribly strong aftertaste. 

When we left the Shebeen we got back in the van and drove through the richest part and then the poorest part of the township. We stopped to visit a traditional healer. This man was actually a witch doctor. The witch doctor put a racoon fur on his head while giving his talk about the different remedies he used. There were animal furs, flies and liquid potions all over the very small shack, creating a rather...unique...aroma. When we left the witch doctor, we drove around the township a little more and dropped MC off near the primary school by his home.

Remi drove us back to Kinrae via a different route we'd taken to Langa that morning but the same route Mary had taken Iris and I along to get to our house from the airport. There were fewer surfers at Muizenberg this time around but because it's nicknamed Surfer's Paradise, it's no wonder there were still some diehards out. 

When we got back to the house we ate dinner and had our first social night. We played a variety of games including pictionary, name that tune and a riddle competition. We were on teams and I played with Jane, Shelly and Kate on the winning team. Everyone celebrated with ice cream and we watched a movie to end a great and very busy day.

First Day on Project

Today was the first day on project. All of the volunteers in my house were picked up by Mary at Kinrae at 8:30am and Brian and I were dropped off at Erica to meet our driver, Remi. Holly was still too sick to join us so Brian got a final briefing from her and then we left for the township. The place where I'm working is called Masiphumelele, South Africa, but everyone calls it Masi.

Masi is not too far outside of Fish Hoek where we are staying but economically these places are miles apart. This is a genuine slum in a somewhat rural part of South Africa. It's like nothing I've ever seen before or ever could have imagined myself standing in. The houses are made of corrugated metal or plastic and stores are in old shipping/freight containers. There are stray dog and chickens everywhere and people walk around all day. If children or even toddlers don't have somewhere to go during the day then they just wander the streets.

Remi took Brian and I to the site that GVI has worked at before, Kiddies Corner. Here we met with Patricia, where she runs this educare out of her living room. Patricia came in the van with us to lead Remi to our site. Brian and I worked at the Masiphumelele Educare Centre which is in a really nice building compared to the rest of the township that I've seen so far. We met Shirley who is the principal and runs the centre. She also happens to be Patricia's neighbour. There were four female carers and only seven children because Monday and Wednesday are both holidays so most people stayed home on Tuesday as well. None of the people I've met so far in the township speak English other than Shirley. The children and other carers all speak in Xhosa. Shirley gave us a tour of Masi and showed us the outline for the day that they typically use for some structure while the children are attending the educare.

Each day the children arrive by 9am and then start what they call Morning Ring. For an hour every morning the carers that work at Masi lead the children through various songs. Some of the songs are in English and some of the songs are in Xhosa. After Morning Ring, at 10am the children have a snack. I was very impressed by how well the children eat, given that many of them have parents who are unemployed. Shirley tries to make sure that everyone who attends Masi gets adequate food while in her care.

At 10:30am the children are typically divided up by age and moved into different rooms to work on their education. Rather than calling it kindergarden, in South Africa the children start school in grade R. However, it is not uncommon for the schools to have admission into grade R based on the child already knowing their alphabet, numbers, colours and shapes in English. Families send their children to an educare like Masi in order for them to have a safe environment to learn and qualify for admission into grade R.

If the weather cooperates, at 11am, the children have the opportunity for outdoor play. If the weather isn't so kind, the children stay indoors and are read stories, play games, make puzzles or have some sort of alternative creative activity. At noon the children eat their lunches and go down for a two hour nap starting at 1pm. At 3pm, the children are all woken up and allowed to play, read books, etc. until someone comes to get them.

Today Brian and I helped lead their songs during Morning Ring. Then they ate their snack where I helped feed one girl who was eating spoiled milk, warmed up. It looked like cottage cheese and smelled horrific. A common meal for people where I work is called Masi (after the township) and it's a mixture of spoiled milk and bread crumbs.

After lunch Brian and I took turns reading books to the kids, played Duck Duck Goose, and then watched the children practice their colours, shapes and numbers in English. The librarian from the local township library came by before lunch and read the children a book in Xhosa. I think I was just as fascinated as they were by the story because I've never been so immersed in a foreign language like that before. The children then had their lunch and Brian and I ate ours outside when the children had finished and went down for a nap.

Brian and I started the first lesson which was given to the carers while the children slept. Shirley is the only person at the Educare who spoke English. Brian and I took turns leading the lesson and Shirley would translate to the other carers. Shirley seems so genuinely interested in learning, stopping us to ask a few questions, and took notes throughout the lesson. Today's lesson with the carers was about the basics of the immune system and germs.

The children started to wake up from their naps around 2:00pm and some parents, mostly other school-children around 8-10 years old, came to pick up the children. Although our day on project was supposed to last from 9:00am to 3:30pm, all of the kids and carers had left by 2:30pm so Brian called Remi to have him pick us up early. While waiting, Brian and I walked around the centre and visited the back garden. For safety reasons we are not allowed to walk around outside the barbed wire fence that separates the Educare from the rest of the township.

Once everyone else had returned back home from project, we had a debrief in the living room at Kinrae. Because everyone else works in a different township, called Westlake, it was great to hear how each of them had spent their day. In this meeting we elected Iris as the volunteer rep who will write a blog post and plan our weekly social night for next week.

We ate a really god vegetarian chili for dinner before going out to a bar called The Brass Bell in Kalk Bay. This bar is on a pier on the beach and the waves from the Atlantic Ocean crash right up against the windows. Unfortunately it has been on the rainy and cold side since we arrived and since the windows didn't reach the roof, water easily got inside. There was a fire pit inside the bar that we all gathered around while karaoke went on nearby. We met a bunch of Americans who were on exchange from a Christian University in California. Iris and I went home around 11:30pm and everyone else who'd gone out went to another bar nearby called Polana.

The Start of Something New

Friday night I left on a plane from Toronto to Frankfurt, Germany. I was sitting on the aisle in the second row of economy class. The man across the aisle was on a connection from Winnipeg and Air Canada had already managed to lose his family's dog!

I watched a couple movies and then we were served dinner around 11:30pm. Afterwards, it was late and I was tired enough to try to get some sleep. Sitting upright trying to fall asleep on a crowded plane was just as uncomfortable as anyone could imagine so I sat up again around 3:00am and went back to watching movies.

The plane landed in Frankfurt around 6:00am EST but 12:00pm local time. The airport seemed very large so I wanted to find my gate. Little did I know that I had to go through security again to get there so once I went through there, I couldn't go back to the busier part of the airport with all the shops. A flight left from the same gate I would eventually be at, leaving myself and a few employees as the only people in the area for the next couple hours.

I read the only English newspapers I could find which were USA Today and a British paper. After reading the papers I took a nap, using my backpack as a pillow. I slept for a while and then went for a walk around the gate area, looking in the duty free and taking a couple pictures as something to do to stay entertained. Out of complete boredom, around 5:00pm their time I took another nap for an hour. People started arriving for our flight by 7:00pm and after 10 hours of waiting alone, I boarded the plane  en route to Johannesburg.

The plane was a Lufthansa operated airbus 380-800 which is a huge double decker plane. My seat number was 90H so I thought I'd be stuck in the middle somewhere but it turned out that of the 550 seats onboard, there were only 220 passengers and I ended up surrounded by several empty seats. The whole back section of the bottom floor that I was sitting in was full of people from the Netherlands, save for me and one other Canadian. The four flight attendants assigned to our section were really fun and called the plane the party bus. Once the flight started, people all spread out and I ended up with three seats to myself.

We were first served dinner and the food on Lufthansa was nothing short of spectacular. Of all the flights I've been on, their foods is the best, bar none. After eating dinner while flying over Sarajevo, Bosnia, I got into my sleeping bag liner and made a bed with the pillows from each of the seats I occupied. I ended up with a pretty comfortable bed for the long haul. In the end, I got about seven hours of sleep, for which I was very grateful.

During the night I woke up once, looked out the window and saw nothing but darkness and stars so I checked the flight path tracker on the TV to see where in the world I was. Turns out, we were crossing the Nile River. When I woke up in the morning I checked again to see where we were and I ate my breakfast while flying over Harare, Zimbabwe.

The plane landed in Johannesburg around 9:00am. I had to pick up my boarding pass to get to Cape Town from a ticket counter. I had to go through customs since it was my first point of entry in the country. The customs officer didn't speak English to me, stamped my passport, asked no questions and let me go on through. A porter in an orange shirt, who I was told on the Lufthansa flight was "safe", harassed me to take my bags through the airport until he had both hands on it, pulling it away from me. He walked to the check-in counter and then demanded at least $20USD. I was angry to give him that much but relieved to get him away from me and the few belongings I'd brought for my trip. I was happy to get to my gate and board so soon thereafter because I didn't feel comfortable in the Johannesburg airport, even by the staff who were supposed to be there to help.

The afternoon flight to Cape Town was on South African Airways. I was sitting in the aisle of the last row beside an American girl who went to school in Germany and had been on the same Lufthansa flight.  The flight only took two hours which seemed particularly short after two long flights.

Upon arrival in Cape Town, I went on the bus from the tarmac to the terminal to pick up my backpack. I was supposed to meet a GVI driver but I was actually met by a coordinator, Jane from Ireland, and a fellow volunteer, Iris from Texas. The driver we had, Mary, is also from Ireland and took us from the airport to our new home in Fish Hoek, South Africa. The beach on the drive down looked so pretty and the mountains that surrounded this area are incredible. It was raining when I arrived in Cape Town but it had subsided by the time we arrived in Fish Hoek.

At the house on Kinrae Drive, Jane introduced us to the other volunteers and coordinator, Brian. Jane and Brian went over a risk assessment with Iris and I. Then, the coordinator, Holly, and volunteers from the other house in Fish Hoek on Erica Avenue came over and we all did introductions. For dinner we had salad, pasta and leftover meats from the braai they had the previous Friday night. Even though it was Easter, it certainly wasn't like any Easter I've ever experienced before. We all went for a walk down to a main road, which is literally one house away. We went to a grocery store, Spar, which seems small in comparison to ones at home but the store is comprehensive; you just get one version of each item rather than your choice of multiple brands. I noticed in the grocery store that they don't keep eggs in the fridge here; you can find them on the shelf in the same aisle as cereal. After dinner and the walk, we went to a bar called The Vic for our welcome drinks. I can't say I've been to a bar on Easter before. The walk there and back wasn't too far and the houses on the side of the mountain, when lit at night in the dark, look like houses in the Hollywood Hills. In the light of day, these houses look nothing alike.

At The Vic I ordered a Castle beer because I was told by Brian that it was the best beer around, and if I could find it again at home, I'd certainly have another one. We played a bunch of getting to know you type games and got back to the house around 11:30pm. Some housemates stayed up to watch a movie but after such a long day and having not seen a bed in a couple days, I was happy to sleep.

Today is a bank holiday here for Easter Monday so the volunteers didn't go to project. The weather has been raining on and off and it has been a little chilly but I've still been wearing shorts and flip flops. Iris, Jodie - the other new volunteer, from Wales - and I went to the Erica house with Brian to meet Holly for our orientation. Holly was really sick so Brian gave us the training then took us back to Kinrae for lunch and the rest of our training. We had some afternoon training with Jane and then project specific curriculum training with Kim, a teacher from New Hampshire. Kim actually lives in Paarl right now, tying up loose ends on a project that recently finished after meeting all their goals.

When the training was finished, we all went back to Erica for lesson planning, where I was supposed to work with Holly but because she was still sick, she briefed Brian and we walked back to Kinrae to go over the medical project and learn the ropes together. Brian ended up leaving to take Holly to the hospital so I worked and talked to Iris and Kate, a volunteer from England. Once all the other volunteers had returned to Kinrae, we made dinner together.

Tonight we had dinner late since it was supposed to be Brian's turn but he'd been gone with Holly and we made our own dinner for each other once we realized he'd be gone for a while. We are watching a movie after dinner and I'm anxiously awaiting my first day on project tomorrow.

Maybe I should explain...

I've decided to take off on a new adventure and it's not somewhere I think people ever imagined I might have gone first. Maybe it's the fact that this country has 11 official languages (only one of which I speak), or it's the fact that this country is on the other side of the world, but South Africa here I come!

Sometimes when opportunities knock, you just have to answer.

In the midst of looking for a new job, I went out on a whim one night and applied for a volunteer position with an organization I'd heard of through a former co-worker. I had been checking out Global Vision International's website for months before making this seemingly hasty decision so it wasn't truly as hasty as it sounds.

Being a biology major in university and taking courses in global health, I was interested in a new project that GVI had posted and I knew it was the one for me. This new project offered for me to become a volunteer working on health workshops in townships near Cape Town, South Africa. Instantly I thought I'd found my calling. I planned out what I wanted to include in my application and sent it off with a hope and a prayer. Little did I know that early the next morning I'd get a call from someone named Kate, calling from South Africa to follow up on my application.

Kate and I quickly introduced ourselves over the phone and talked about a 'small world' connection to schools in Boston. Kate asked me some basic questions about how I'd heard about GVI and what made me want to apply. She explained to me in greater deal about the project, where I'd be living and with whom I'd be working. I had the opportunity to ask a bunch of questions and 45 minutes after receiving a very long distance phone call to my cell phone, I was offered a chance to go on the trip of a lifetime.

Sitting in a lunch room on the 20th floor of an office tower on Bay St. in Toronto, I knew my life was about to change. I quickly googled the town Kate mentioned I'd be living in, Fish Hoek, and then called my mom to tell her I'd applied and just had a quasi-interview for this volunteer position.

With only a month left, I have a bunch of appointments with travel clinics for shots and travel agents for plane tickets, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." - Henry David Thoreau