I just took some photos of the staff at my volunteer job. (Unfortunately, the program asked us not to use any people from our placements in our blogs, so I won't be able to post them here.) They don't get photographed very often. One guy wanted me to take a hundred pictures of him. The rest of the staff made jokes. He replied by saying "don't hate me because I am a super model." It was so funny. I love the little things like this. It makes me remember that we are all God's children.
Whether you live in a poor township or in the rich city, we are all the same. Whether you are a black American or a white American, we are all the same. Whether you are a white South African, colored South African, or black South African, you are all the same. We wake up to the same sunrise. We breath the same fresh air. We all want to provide for our families. We all want our kids to have a better life than we did. We all go to sleep at night under the same moon. God has opened my eyes on this trip. It has been a wonderful experience.
This is my last week in Cape Town, and I am planning on talking to some of the other volunteers to make sure they take home with them the right things. This program is more than about volunteering in a township for 4 hours a day. It is more than partying at a Cape Town club each night. For me, it is about how similar we all are. Even though I am on the other side of the world, it is still the same world. I only hope that the other volunteers have learned the same thing while they were here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Shark Diving!!!
Okay. I think I am an official adventure junkie!!! Here are some of the pics from yesterday's shark dive. At first, I thought the water might be too cold - it was 57 degrees. Then I thought they might not have a big enough wet suit for me. But the trip guide said "stop your worrying, we gonna get you next to the sharks no matter what!" After that, it was like "let's do this!"
I was in the water for about 45 minutes and I think a shark hit the cage a couple times a minute. After the first 5 minutes, you relax and the rest of the dive is pretty great. Would definitely do it again!
I was in the water for about 45 minutes and I think a shark hit the cage a couple times a minute. After the first 5 minutes, you relax and the rest of the dive is pretty great. Would definitely do it again!
Monday, August 11, 2008
My weekend in Cape Town...
What a weekend... Friday night, we went to a Rugby game. It was my first indepth look at the game. It's actually pretty cool. We saw the Cape Town team play Durbin. The stadium holds about 70,000 people and was 2/3 full. I've never heard ~50,000 people cheer that loud. The game is a mix between football and soccer - a try (think touchdown) is 5 points, with a conversion being 2 points. A drop kick (think field goal) is worth 3 points. The fans are just as crazy as those at a Raiders game. After the game, we go to a local brewery for some drinks, then to a club called Oblivion. It kinda reminded me of a few of the spots I've been to on Sunset Blvd. Afterwards, we go to the local Steer (think Burger King - no, there's no Waffle House!) to grab a value meal and then head back to the house. I can't believe how similar the "after club" traditions are!
On Saturday, we get up early to drive to the Cape of Good Hope (the southwestern most point of Africa, about a 90 minute drive from Cape Town) and to Cape Pointe. On the way, we stop at Hout Bay and do a little shopping. In the parking lot, there is a guy that has made a seal his pet, so we get to play with the seal, feed him and take some pictures with him. Next, we stop at the World of Birds. This place is soooo amazing. It has hundreds of birds in their own cages, some of which you can enter and walk right up to the birds. We stay there a couple hours and see every type of bird imaginable, as well as monkeys and tortoises. After that, we continue our journey by stopping at another little village to view camels. Yes, I actually rode a camel!!! The people in the group with me said I looked like a kid in a candy store when I was on top of the camel. I must admit, it was one of the coolest things I've done.
Afterwards, we continue our journey to Cape Point, to hae dinner at a beach restaurant - I had the Kingclip fish with a garlic butter and a peri peri sauce - wooo, that stuff is spicey! Then, we climb the hill to the lighthouse. I had to stop 3 or 4 times on the way to the top, but I finally made it! Wow, I am so out of breath that I just lean against the light house for a few minutes catching my breath and looking at the view. This is amazing. You can see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The Atlantic is cold water, and the Indian is much warmer, so you can actually see a line in the sea where the two oceans meet.
Then, we head over to the Cape of Good Hope and walk across the rocks to the southwestern most tip of Africa. I can't believe I'm actually here.
Now, we get back into the van and drive along the Indian Ocean back to Cape Town. On the way, we see a group of baboons crossing the road, so we stop to take photos. It's the most amazing sight - the mom carrying the baby baboon on her back. As cars get closer to the pair, we see the father baboon walk out of the brush and poke out his chest to protect his family. It's so amazing to see up close and personal. Now, we continue back home, but stop at another beach that is covered with penguins. I can't believe how many there are. There must be a few hundred of them running all over the beach and in the lot where we parked.
After getting back home, I throw some clothes in a bag and take a taxi to Khayelitsha township. This is where Vicki's Bed & Breakfast is, the local place four of us are spending the night. The trip to Cape Point lasted longer than expected, so the other 3 are already at the B&B and I'm on my own with the taxi driver to find it. We get lost, so we park in a service station a few blocks away and call Vicki. She sends 3 guys to meet us at the station. We thought they were gonna be in a car, but they actually ran from Vicki's to the station. We see the three guys running towards the taxi and begin to panic. It's funny - a white cab driver and an American parked in the middle of a black township without knowing where you are going! They yell Vicki, Vicki, Vicki, and we finally understand it's them, so we begin to relax and start laughing. They direct us to Vicki's - the roads are so narrow and people form the township are all over the streets. It seemed like we would never make it to Vicki's. We finally do, so I go inside and meet my other 3 American friends. Vicki has prepared a lovely South African dinner for us. After dinner, we walk down the street to a "mini-market." It seems like half the neighborhood is walking with us. I see the three guys that navigated me to Vicki's so I offer to buy them a beer - let's just say bad move. By the time we walk back to Vicki's they've told the entire township that I bought them beer. As we stand on vicki's front porch, random folk are coming up to us asking us to buy them beer, or give them money. My roommate Paul actually gives a couple guys money. I can hear what the locals are saying now, "we have Americans in the village, let's get their money!" We go inside, but there is stall a small crowd in front of Vicki's, waiting to see if we are brave/ stupid enough to come outside again.
Vicki and her husband have 5 kids (4 girls and a boy). The kids are all over us. I haven't had so much fun playing with kids in forever. It is amazing how smart these kids are. When you think of them living in one of the poorest areas of the city, it is amazing how bright they are and how much hope and positivity they have.
The next morning, Vicki cooks us breakfast and gives us a walking tour of the township. The way the local 'officials' run the township is amazing. It's a Sunday morning, and we see people walking to church. We see others tearing down old tin houses, making way for the City to come in and build more modern cinder block houses. We see folks sorting building materials - stuff they use to repair each others' houses, or make art out of to sell at the markets, or seel for scrap wood/ metals. It's amazing how resourceful these people are. Every one is busy doing somethig, trying to make their community better. http://www.nomvuyos-tours.co.za/vickys.shtml
After getting back to the home base, I eat lunch, shower, and go with a group to Green Point market. Wow, I can't believe all the stuff I am buying. I'm definitely gonna have to ship a huge box of stuff back to the states before I leave Cape Town on the safari. After the market, we walk to the V&A waterfront to exchange money, use the ATM's and get more phone cards before heading back to the homebase. After getting back to the homebase, I get a call from another group of friends, so I meet them near Univ of Cape Town to shoot some pool. They have been here for 12 weeks so have met quite a few locals. We leave the pool hall and go to the apartment of some of their friends, before heading back to the homebase for the night.
This was a full weekend and I'm about to fall out at this point. But I don't want to miss a thing - I can relax once I get back to the states.
Today, I'm at my volunteer placement recalling my wonderful weekend. I am so tired, but after work today, three of us are going on a tour of the president's mansion. One of my fellow volunteers has a friend from college that lives here in Cape Town. He's a pretty wealthy guy and knows the curator of the president's museum. So she agreed to give us a tour of the museum and grounds. This is gonna be so amazing - imaging having a backstage pass to the WhiteHouse!!!
Okay, I know that was long, but as you can see, a pretty eventful weekend!
On Saturday, we get up early to drive to the Cape of Good Hope (the southwestern most point of Africa, about a 90 minute drive from Cape Town) and to Cape Pointe. On the way, we stop at Hout Bay and do a little shopping. In the parking lot, there is a guy that has made a seal his pet, so we get to play with the seal, feed him and take some pictures with him. Next, we stop at the World of Birds. This place is soooo amazing. It has hundreds of birds in their own cages, some of which you can enter and walk right up to the birds. We stay there a couple hours and see every type of bird imaginable, as well as monkeys and tortoises. After that, we continue our journey by stopping at another little village to view camels. Yes, I actually rode a camel!!! The people in the group with me said I looked like a kid in a candy store when I was on top of the camel. I must admit, it was one of the coolest things I've done.
Afterwards, we continue our journey to Cape Point, to hae dinner at a beach restaurant - I had the Kingclip fish with a garlic butter and a peri peri sauce - wooo, that stuff is spicey! Then, we climb the hill to the lighthouse. I had to stop 3 or 4 times on the way to the top, but I finally made it! Wow, I am so out of breath that I just lean against the light house for a few minutes catching my breath and looking at the view. This is amazing. You can see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The Atlantic is cold water, and the Indian is much warmer, so you can actually see a line in the sea where the two oceans meet.
Then, we head over to the Cape of Good Hope and walk across the rocks to the southwestern most tip of Africa. I can't believe I'm actually here.
Now, we get back into the van and drive along the Indian Ocean back to Cape Town. On the way, we see a group of baboons crossing the road, so we stop to take photos. It's the most amazing sight - the mom carrying the baby baboon on her back. As cars get closer to the pair, we see the father baboon walk out of the brush and poke out his chest to protect his family. It's so amazing to see up close and personal. Now, we continue back home, but stop at another beach that is covered with penguins. I can't believe how many there are. There must be a few hundred of them running all over the beach and in the lot where we parked.
After getting back home, I throw some clothes in a bag and take a taxi to Khayelitsha township. This is where Vicki's Bed & Breakfast is, the local place four of us are spending the night. The trip to Cape Point lasted longer than expected, so the other 3 are already at the B&B and I'm on my own with the taxi driver to find it. We get lost, so we park in a service station a few blocks away and call Vicki. She sends 3 guys to meet us at the station. We thought they were gonna be in a car, but they actually ran from Vicki's to the station. We see the three guys running towards the taxi and begin to panic. It's funny - a white cab driver and an American parked in the middle of a black township without knowing where you are going! They yell Vicki, Vicki, Vicki, and we finally understand it's them, so we begin to relax and start laughing. They direct us to Vicki's - the roads are so narrow and people form the township are all over the streets. It seemed like we would never make it to Vicki's. We finally do, so I go inside and meet my other 3 American friends. Vicki has prepared a lovely South African dinner for us. After dinner, we walk down the street to a "mini-market." It seems like half the neighborhood is walking with us. I see the three guys that navigated me to Vicki's so I offer to buy them a beer - let's just say bad move. By the time we walk back to Vicki's they've told the entire township that I bought them beer. As we stand on vicki's front porch, random folk are coming up to us asking us to buy them beer, or give them money. My roommate Paul actually gives a couple guys money. I can hear what the locals are saying now, "we have Americans in the village, let's get their money!" We go inside, but there is stall a small crowd in front of Vicki's, waiting to see if we are brave/ stupid enough to come outside again.
Vicki and her husband have 5 kids (4 girls and a boy). The kids are all over us. I haven't had so much fun playing with kids in forever. It is amazing how smart these kids are. When you think of them living in one of the poorest areas of the city, it is amazing how bright they are and how much hope and positivity they have.
The next morning, Vicki cooks us breakfast and gives us a walking tour of the township. The way the local 'officials' run the township is amazing. It's a Sunday morning, and we see people walking to church. We see others tearing down old tin houses, making way for the City to come in and build more modern cinder block houses. We see folks sorting building materials - stuff they use to repair each others' houses, or make art out of to sell at the markets, or seel for scrap wood/ metals. It's amazing how resourceful these people are. Every one is busy doing somethig, trying to make their community better. http://www.nomvuyos-tours.co.za/vickys.shtml
After getting back to the home base, I eat lunch, shower, and go with a group to Green Point market. Wow, I can't believe all the stuff I am buying. I'm definitely gonna have to ship a huge box of stuff back to the states before I leave Cape Town on the safari. After the market, we walk to the V&A waterfront to exchange money, use the ATM's and get more phone cards before heading back to the homebase. After getting back to the homebase, I get a call from another group of friends, so I meet them near Univ of Cape Town to shoot some pool. They have been here for 12 weeks so have met quite a few locals. We leave the pool hall and go to the apartment of some of their friends, before heading back to the homebase for the night.
This was a full weekend and I'm about to fall out at this point. But I don't want to miss a thing - I can relax once I get back to the states.
Today, I'm at my volunteer placement recalling my wonderful weekend. I am so tired, but after work today, three of us are going on a tour of the president's mansion. One of my fellow volunteers has a friend from college that lives here in Cape Town. He's a pretty wealthy guy and knows the curator of the president's museum. So she agreed to give us a tour of the museum and grounds. This is gonna be so amazing - imaging having a backstage pass to the WhiteHouse!!!
Okay, I know that was long, but as you can see, a pretty eventful weekend!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Volunteer Placement Begins
I left the city center on Saturday morning to head to the volunteer homebase. Most of the volunteers were flying in on Saturday afternoon, so was able to get to the homebase and settle in before the crowd arrived. We have two homebases, which are a couple miles apart. The main homebase has 30 volunteers there, mostly under the age of 25. The second homebase has 20 volunteers, and most of us are over 30. The 2nd homebase has the better arrangements - we sleep 2 per room and have a private bath in each room, while the first homebase is 6 per room and shared bathrooms.
Saturday night, some of us go downtown to Long Street to a bar caled the Dubliner. It has a pretty cool band, but it plays mostly American music. Curfew is 12:30am on the weekends, and we are running late. So I call the security guard at the house to let him know that we will not be back until one. We are 15 miles from downtown, so the taxi ride is about 80 Rand (10 bucks).
Sunday, we have orientation at homebase 1 beginning at 9:30am. So the drivers pick us up from homebase 2 to take us to the other house. We spend most of the day reviewing the policies/ rules and the do's/ don'ts of the program. Curfew during the week is at 11pm and 12:30am on the weekends, unless you are with a group and you call in advance. The homebases seem safe, but we are asked to not walk outside the bases after dark, and in pairs during the day. After orientation, we get into the vans and do a quick tour of the city. I'm pretty much familiar with most of the city now.
Sun night, a small group of us go to Mitchell's Brew Pub in V&A Waterfront to hang out. Upstairs, in the pub, was a group of like 40 guys singing songs to one girl. It was like a glee club from the movies! Anyway, we call it the night early, as we have day two of orientation in the morning.
Today, we have more onboarding. We learn more info about our placements - mine is attached below. Then, we learn about the history of Cape Town. This turns out to be a very emotional event, as we talk about the history of apartheid and the state of blacks and coloreds in the country. (I'll save that for a separate post).
Afterwards, we tour a couple townships (more on that later, as well).
Zenzele Training and Development Center
Description of volunteer work:
Saturday night, some of us go downtown to Long Street to a bar caled the Dubliner. It has a pretty cool band, but it plays mostly American music. Curfew is 12:30am on the weekends, and we are running late. So I call the security guard at the house to let him know that we will not be back until one. We are 15 miles from downtown, so the taxi ride is about 80 Rand (10 bucks).
Sunday, we have orientation at homebase 1 beginning at 9:30am. So the drivers pick us up from homebase 2 to take us to the other house. We spend most of the day reviewing the policies/ rules and the do's/ don'ts of the program. Curfew during the week is at 11pm and 12:30am on the weekends, unless you are with a group and you call in advance. The homebases seem safe, but we are asked to not walk outside the bases after dark, and in pairs during the day. After orientation, we get into the vans and do a quick tour of the city. I'm pretty much familiar with most of the city now.
Sun night, a small group of us go to Mitchell's Brew Pub in V&A Waterfront to hang out. Upstairs, in the pub, was a group of like 40 guys singing songs to one girl. It was like a glee club from the movies! Anyway, we call it the night early, as we have day two of orientation in the morning.
Today, we have more onboarding. We learn more info about our placements - mine is attached below. Then, we learn about the history of Cape Town. This turns out to be a very emotional event, as we talk about the history of apartheid and the state of blacks and coloreds in the country. (I'll save that for a separate post).
Afterwards, we tour a couple townships (more on that later, as well).
Zenzele Training and Development Center
Zenezele strives to unlock and develop the God given potential of all South Africans, especially residents of disadvantaged communities, through economic empowerment program of skills training for better employment and self employment opportunities.
The name Zenzele means DO IT FOR YOURSELF in Xhosa was established in 1988 and offers innovative training program. The training has brought hope and self-esteem to many previously unskilled and unemployed people.
Zenzele provides vocational and business skills training and entrepreneurial development for historically disadvantaged people.
Every year they train several hundred people in sewing, woodwork, welding and other skills such as waste recycling.
Zenzele’s aim is economic empowerment. Our primary measure of achievement is how many of our ex trainees become economically active.
WHAT ZENZELE OFFERS:
Basic technical and business management, sewing, welding and waste recycling skills
Provides trainees with opportunities and support for entrepreneurial projects.
Recruitment advice and opportunities
Assistance in starting small businesses
Offers a business resource centre
Offers production skills training, initiate or coordinate production of goods
Mentorship program for small business
Needs:
Conduct all publicity needs, advertising and presentations
Conduct skill surveys to determine the industry needs
Track student activity in the market after graduation
Assist with bookkeeping and record keeping systems
Painting of building
Assist with training in sewing, carpentry and welding
Assist with fundraising both locally or internationally
Description of volunteer work:
Varied:
Assist with fundraising activities
Setting up systems, collate information
Editing at business plans
Source funding
Possible business mentoring around small business skills
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
More Pics
Made it back to the hotel. It only sprinkled this afternoon after I left the web cafe. So luckily, my 99cent umbrella was not put to the test again.
Here are some more pics for the past day.
Yes, I had the kudu, ostrich, crocodile, springbok, and game sausage platter. Don't ask me what it all was, but it was good.
The band was awesome!!!
Is this jet lag...
I think today is Wednesday...right? Well, it finally set in. That, and the combination of me staying up til 3am the past two mornings.
I stayed up late Sat night packing, then was on a plane fo 17 hours on Sun/ Monday. Plus the 6 hour time change. Then went out Mon night when I got here, then got up early Tue moning and did sightseeing all day. Last night I went to Moma Africa restaurant for dinner. It's the most amazing place! I'll have to put some pics in my next post, as I did not bring my camera cable with me today. After that, I went to Baghdad Cafe to grab a beer. I did not stay long b/c I was the only person in there not smoking, if you know what I mean.
So I went to Marvel again, and was greeted like a star. Apparently, the door man has a great memory, but I don't! Didn't remember him from the night before, but he bought me a beer anyway. The dj is crazy - spins a better set than 90% of the dj's in the ATL.
So, today it is raining, so I slept extremely well. Went to bed last night at about 3am, and did not wake up this afternoon until about 12:30, when the maid came knocking on my door. So I got up, showered, and got dressed so I could get out of here way. Then I walked down to the internet cafe. The rain wasn't bad, but the wind blew my umbrella backwards twice. I guess that's what I get for buying an umbrella at the 99cent store the day before I left!
I stayed up late Sat night packing, then was on a plane fo 17 hours on Sun/ Monday. Plus the 6 hour time change. Then went out Mon night when I got here, then got up early Tue moning and did sightseeing all day. Last night I went to Moma Africa restaurant for dinner. It's the most amazing place! I'll have to put some pics in my next post, as I did not bring my camera cable with me today. After that, I went to Baghdad Cafe to grab a beer. I did not stay long b/c I was the only person in there not smoking, if you know what I mean.
So I went to Marvel again, and was greeted like a star. Apparently, the door man has a great memory, but I don't! Didn't remember him from the night before, but he bought me a beer anyway. The dj is crazy - spins a better set than 90% of the dj's in the ATL.
So, today it is raining, so I slept extremely well. Went to bed last night at about 3am, and did not wake up this afternoon until about 12:30, when the maid came knocking on my door. So I got up, showered, and got dressed so I could get out of here way. Then I walked down to the internet cafe. The rain wasn't bad, but the wind blew my umbrella backwards twice. I guess that's what I get for buying an umbrella at the 99cent store the day before I left!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Cape Town Via Big Red Bus
Today, I toured Cape on a double decker open top bus. This is something I normally do whenever I go to a city for the first time. The entire loop takes about 2 hours, if you don't get off the bus. However, I made a day of it by getting off at the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Camps Bay Beach. The Waterfront is amazing. There are restaurants, hotels, shops, and attractions. I'm meeting one of the ladies from the volunteer program there on Thursday, so I didn't spend much time there - just enough th get the lay of the land. Orientation for our volunteer work starts on Saturday, so I will have a few more days to sight see before then.
Then, I went to the base of Table Mountain. The cable car is out of service until August 4th. It's early spring here, so now is a good time for them to do maintenance before the huge summer crowd shows up. Thank God I will be in Cape until Aug 24th. Otherwise I would be pretty mad about not getting to take the ride to the top. Even without the ride, the views are amazing. Check out the pictures below.
Next, I stopped at the beach. The high temp todat was 68 degrees, but it felt warm, considering it was about 45 degrees when I left the hotel this morning. So I took my shoes and socks off and walked across the sand. Wow, the sand was cold! Next, I stuck my big toe in the water - too cold to do anything else!
After that, Erin, a Canadian girl that I met at the kiosk where I bought the pass for the bus, convinced me to walk out on the break wall to take some pictures. The rock was slippery, and the waves were crashing onto the wall, so we darted out there on our tippy toes, took a couple shots, and darted right back before we got to wet from the waves.
Well, it's about 6pm, so I'm going to head back to the hotel and chill for a minute before going to dinner.
Then, I went to the base of Table Mountain. The cable car is out of service until August 4th. It's early spring here, so now is a good time for them to do maintenance before the huge summer crowd shows up. Thank God I will be in Cape until Aug 24th. Otherwise I would be pretty mad about not getting to take the ride to the top. Even without the ride, the views are amazing. Check out the pictures below.
Next, I stopped at the beach. The high temp todat was 68 degrees, but it felt warm, considering it was about 45 degrees when I left the hotel this morning. So I took my shoes and socks off and walked across the sand. Wow, the sand was cold! Next, I stuck my big toe in the water - too cold to do anything else!
After that, Erin, a Canadian girl that I met at the kiosk where I bought the pass for the bus, convinced me to walk out on the break wall to take some pictures. The rock was slippery, and the waves were crashing onto the wall, so we darted out there on our tippy toes, took a couple shots, and darted right back before we got to wet from the waves.
Well, it's about 6pm, so I'm going to head back to the hotel and chill for a minute before going to dinner.
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