My Lil' Buddies

Cape Town as a city has a lot to offer, and I've certainly been making the most of my free time. This week, I've seen two plays, the District Six Museum, heard a lecture from the Healing of Memories Project, been to two beaches, had lunch in Guguletu (township), and I saw the penguins at Simon's Town. However, more fun than all the sightseeing and cultural learning activities is my time at Blossom Street Primary School.

I'm working with about seventy kids, and I think I know all their names now!! My first week was spent building rapport with them and getting to know the school and the teachers. For the past two weeks, I've taken them, eight at a time, to do art therapy and feelings group. They are fairly well behaved (if you know about my job at Ryther, then you know what I'm comparing to!!), but still squirmy, impulsive six year-olds. If your voice was a muscle, then would say mine is pulled right now. I think I spend 3/4 of the class on instruction and discipline, and 1/4 on art therapy and feelings...but at least it happens! The discipline in South Africa is very different. It is the norm for teachers to yell when a child is out of line, and more severe behavior earns them a "clap", which is a slap on the shoulder or bum. So, for me to get a response, I have to increase my volume, or they won't think I really mean it. So, I've been tired...

But, the kids are all gems. They can be stinkers occasionally, but they are all very loving and aim to please the teachers. I go out at recess and play with them, and if you ever want to feel like a rock star, you should try blowing bubbles on a Cape Town playground. I've taken to calling them my little starfish, and explaining to them that the nickname comes from the fact that they hang on me with every limb like they are attached with suckers.

The art therapy and feelings group is going well. We started with "happy" just to get the routine going. This week we did "angry", which got some interesting results. Many kids seemed to confuse it with sad, while other kids expressed their anger very well and helped me understand how hectic their lives really can be. Some themes were "angry because my brother hits", "angry because people robbed out house", "angry because a man shot my cousin and now he's dead". Next week we will explore sad, then scared.

Above are photos of the kids with their "ANGRY" faces on.

Table Mountain Ablaze and Awesome Allergy

Two nights ago, Table Mountain caught fire, most likely due to a cigarette. I was riding back from the only Irish pub in Cape Town on St. Patty's night and could very clearly see and smell the fire. Now, two days later, it's still going because it's been very windy here. The shot above shows one of the helicopters that dumps water on the fire---it's hard to see the fire in the day time, but you can make out some smoke behind the white house. The whole city is stinky, but the fire is isolated to the mountain and shouldn't be dangerous for anyone.

Today our group took a tour of the Cape Malay area. South Africa had slaves at nearly the same time as the U.S., but their slaves were all Malaysian, Indonesian, and Indian. There is still a large population in Cape Town, and we are lucky enough that our assistant director, Tahira, is Cape Malay, so she guided our tour today and shared great information about her culture. The above photo shows some of the traditional houses in the area - Rainbow Row, Charleston, anyone?? The next photo shows traditional wear for weddings. Our wise (or wise-ass) driver Wonga suggested that I take note for my upcoming wedding. The highlight of the Cape Malay tour was visiting the Slave Lodge, which is now a museum. In addition to information regarding South Africa's slave history, there was also a large exhibit on Steve Biko, on loan from the Apartheid Museum. Steve Biko was a revolutionary leader in the late 1970s and advocated for blacks to see themselves as whole and beautiful and not subscribe to the white man's standards. He was killed in police custody in 1977 at the age of 30.

In other news, I have a riddle - what's worse than having 200 bedbug bites all over your body?? Being allergic to them! The room I was originally in had "a bit of a bedbug issue" and I was the lucky victim. Bedbugs are sneaky and numb you before they bite, so you don't wake up. My bites were tiny until later in the day, when THIS appeared- Not having had experienced the joy of bedbugs before, I thought this was normal. However, when I arrived to school, I was promptly told that I should see a doctor immediately. I got to experience the South African health care system, which was actually much more pleasant than ours at home. Anti-histamine pills and hydro-cortozoned up, I'm now looking a bit more normal. The CCS staff has generally babied me in every way - our driver Wonga even held my hand to and from the doctor and pharmacy. I'm in a new, bug free room, and I've gained sole use of the bathroom with the tub, as I am soaking in tea tree oil twice a day. Cross your fingers for me that I'm not spotted on May 3rd!!


Blossom Street Primary is going splendidly. I'm working as a school social worker for the Grade Ones and we began this week doing art therapy for feelings group. What makes you happy, how do you feel when you're happy, etc. I brought in play-doh so they could form the things or ideas that make them happy. Each week will be a new feeling and a new medium, which gets the kids really jazzed b/c they mostly only have nubby crayons. They surprised me a bit with their answers - normal answers came up such as butterflies and cake, but also, many children made houses. Considering the living conditions they are currently in, this was pretty significant. My favorite boy Nino (I shouldn't have a favorite, should I!) made a microphone and did a stunning rendition of "I'm a Barbie Girl, In a Barbie World". Fantastic!

Garden Route, etc.

My experience with Cross Cultural Solutions as a program has been pretty good so far. The food is nice, and includes traditional African meals such as maize and lamb, as well as more Americanized stuff for us tourists, like mac and cheese and pizza. The program also provides language lessons: you can choose Afrikaans or isiXhosa. I am taking Xhosa and it is very tricky. There are three different clicks in the language, in place of the letters “X”, “Q”, and “C”. So, “Xhosa” is pronounced with a lateral click at the start of the word- the sound is something like a “here kitty” tsk sound.

I’ve been making the most of my free time to get out and explore the city. I went to one of the beaches, Clifton 4 last week and took in some sun and had dinner at a beachfront restaurant. We also went out to the waterfront another night, which was less fun because it was essentially a big mall, but I did get to eat an ostrich steak! Boy are things expensive here - look how much we spent on just five people!! (just kidding) For the weekend, our group took a tour of the Garden Route, which is about a five hour drive from Cape Town. We stayed at a really cute hostel and had jam packed days. Saturday was zip lining, bungee jumping (guess who sat out of that one), and the elephant sanctuary. The elephants were really fun - the sanctuary had six rescues. The three we met were from Botswana and had been on their way to China to be circus performers when there was a hold-up with the needed paperwork, and the elephants were neglected in the meantime. At the sanctuary, they have lots of room to run around and do their thing. They are trained to "hold your hand" and walk with you, and they really do grip tightly. However, elephant snot is something I'll be avoiding in the future:)

Sunday was spent at at an "animal sanctuary" that amazingly appeared exactly like a zoo. It was a disappointment for all of us, but they did have some cool animals, and one guy in our group went in to play with the baby tigers. After another adventurous meal of crocodile steak and ostrich liver pate, we were off for the long van ride back tot he home base. Bonus: I was almost able to finish "Kaffir Boy" this weekend - amazing book!

My Placement

This week has gone by really quickly and I have been so busy! I’ve worked five days now at Blossom Street Primary School and I will be beginning my project tomorrow. I have been assisting with a Grade One class of thirty-four students – which is a lot of munchkins at once! They are very sweet and funny, they love to give hugs, and they are absolutely fascinated with the rubber band attached to my Invisaligns.

They sang a song for me on my second day, which I really hope the principal will allow me to video and post on my blog. It’s about a “big fat mama” who does her washing down by the river in the jungle. There are many verses and dance motions for each part of the song; my favorite being when she does the “boogie, boogie, boogie” and the motion is basically the twist. They pronounce “boogie” with drawn out “o”s, as in “boo, I scared you”, making it even cuter.

Mostly I’ve been helping Teacher Addams with her lessons and helping the students who are having trouble. In Cape Town, most coloured children grow up speaking Afrikaans and English, so they do fairly well once they enter school, which is taught exclusively in English. However, there are about 25% African isiXhosa speaking children at Blossom Street, most of whom have no exposure to English before school. These kids are thrown in the deep end and must pick up English as they go along, there is no such thing as ESL and no special treatment for those who can’t understand. In addition, none of the teachers can speak isiXhosa, so it is often left to older students to translate any important information.

I’ll be something like the school social worker starting tomorrow. My first project will be art therapy for the Grade Ones. Most students have experienced some type of trauma, whether it is poverty, illness, death of loved ones, abuse, exposure to drugs and alcohol, or all of the above. With such little children, my goal is to help them identify feelings and then we will begin working on coping mechanisms.

First Days in Cape Town

I'm here!!! What a beautiful city, and Cross Cultural Solutions is proving to be a pretty cool program so far.

Day One was spent touring around the wealthy, touristy parts of Cape Town and seeing some of the sights. The photo above is of Table Mountain, the ever present landscape feature in the horizon. We drove high up on a hill where we could see the entire city and the ocean below, and I must say, I think it's the most beautiful place I've ever been. We also went down to the waterfront and went on a walking tour of the nearest neighborhood, Rosebank, where we can go for food or shopping.

Day Two was spent visiting the Townships, where African blacks and coloureds live, mostly in severe poverty. I have had to get used to the fact that "coloured" is not a derogatory term in South Africa as is is in the U.S., rather it refers to anyone of mixed race or any skin tone other than white or black. This tour was lead by Mama Ivy, a vibrant isiXhosa woman who knows the townships in and out. She brought us to the two largest black townships in Cape Town, and also to the coloured township where I will be working, Athlone. We walked around and snapped photos as dorky American tourists do, which surprisingly didn't seem to make anyone uncomfortable except us. We also went to a really great community center where they teach women how to make handicrafts and earn a living. The tour ended at Vicky's B&B, "South Africa's Smallest Hotel" where a local woman has invited visitors to spend time in the townships as they would any other tourist destination. She had an interesting time explaining this concept to her neighbors, who were skeptical of why strangers kept coming to her house. Now her business is thriving with the full support of her community and several other women have opened similar houses.

Tomorrow I start my volunteer work, which will be at Blossom Street Primary School. I will be a teacher's assistant for the first week or so, and then I will move into a social work role as yet to be fine tuned. I had my first run in with South African children today in the townships. I am told that they are very affectionate, playful, happy, and fascinated with white people's hair:)

I have daily e-mail access, so write to me! I will also be getting a South African cell phone soon, so let me know if you'd like the number.