Light Week

South Africa has a lot of national holidays, and this was a four day weekend due to Easter. Pretty sweet. Our volunteer group has taken full advantage of the time off and have been filling our days exploring the city. We ate at Africa Cafe, where we got traditional Xhosa face paint. We also did a day of wine touring and horse back riding on the beach. I got braids put in at the waterfront, and later we went on a sunset sailboat...which was something of a disaster because it was majorly windy and we got severely soaking wet and were pretty sure the boat was going to flip (it didn't).

My temporary placement for last week was a big winner. I'm really pleased with both of the places that Cross Cultural Solutions has put me with, Blossom Street Primary and Lawrence House. Lawrence House is a children's home run by the Catholic church. It houses about fifteen children ages 6-18 that come from refugee families. In some cases, the parents live outside of South Africa. Some parents live in Cape Town, but financially or otherwise cannot care for their children. And then some of the parents just choose not to have their children live with them, for whatever reason. The children are super cool and all very wise for their ages. They come from Angola, D.R.C., Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. I made friends with a 10 year old named Joel who speaks four languages - Four! English (perfectly), Afrikaans (which he has picked up in Cape Town), Portuguese, and Lingala (sp). The week was particularly fun because they were out of school and focused on relaxing and having fun. I took them on an outing to the waterfront, where the boys disappeared into a video game store to play Xbox the entire time. The girls and I wandered about and had a great time. Another afternoon was spent searching for a mouse we had seen sneak into the t.v. room and lounging on the porch and chatting. These kids are very strong and seem to hold each other up despite their circumstances. Not only are they away from their families, but South Africa unfortunately is known for having a fairly hostile attitude towards foreigners, especially when unemployment is high like it is now (38%). So they have the that stigma attached to them as well. They hope to be with their families again soon, but in the meantime, they have made a very loving family right where they are amongst eachother.

Photos from Last Post

The two best shots from the drive back from the pool...

T. I. A.

"T.I.A. : THIS IS AFRICA" is a saying heard when something does not go the way you'd planned or move in a timely manner. Such as: me blowing out my laptop charger on the super voltage electricity here, dropping it off at the repair shop Over A Week Ago!, and still not having it back (and still not knowing if it is even salvageable). Things move slowly here, and it's hard to get used to in some instances (see above), but also very nice in other ways.

So, it's been another fantastic week here in Cape Town. My "starfish" go on a week's holiday, and they had an end-of-term field trip to a swimming pool, where they got into the water at 9am and didn't get out until 2pm when it was time to leave. Amazing, considering you usually can't get one second of quiet because they're all over you. That left the teachers free to lie under the trees on our blankets and gossip - a popular South African pass time. I took photos of the kids who were so pooped they fell asleep on the bus on the way back - it created quite a stir amongst the awake one - they pointed out "teacher, teacher, there's another one! Photos coming soon...or whenever I get my blasted laptop charger back.

Since school is out, I will have a temporary volunteer placement this week working with abandoned refugee kids on holiday from school, mostly Zimbabwean. That's about all I know so far, so we'll see how it turns out.

Cheers!

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.