The children

Haai, ja? 

Or, hi, yes? In Afrikaans! 

since I have some catching up to do, let's jump right into it: 

The volunteers

I have met some awesome people from around the world! There are volunteers from Germany, the Netherlands, England, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Ireland, India, Canada (woo!), and most of all, the US. I cannot believe how many Americans are volunteering with DTR! One thing that is quite funny is that when most volunteers say where they are from, they say their home country. Americans introduce themselves by saying which state they are from, which in this pool of volunteers, is mainly California. 

Our roommates Amber, Kristin and Nini are all American, hailing from Tennessee, New York and California. 

Sadly, since we all have planned different lengths of trips, Amber left after our first week, Kristin after our second, and Nini leaves on Monday, before we head out to Robben Island. It will be only the three of us in our house for our last week of volunteering!

Something that is very popular with the volunteers is the Friday night market in Muizenberg. It is very much like Market Collective back in Calgary, although the Friday Market is mostly food. Ever since our first week here, volunteers have been raving about the beef wrap that is sold there, which, if I do say so myself, is really quite good! It has fresh roasted beef layered into tomatoes, avocados, some type of coleslaw mixture and (i think) mayo chipotle sauce. It's not a very African dish, but it is really good. 

Speaking of food, OH MY GOODNESS the food here is great! I have been eating quite a lot of what would be considered Indian food back home. It's hard to get tired of the intense taste of curry and stew, especially when it's eaten with warm rooti (called roti back home) and fennel seed rice. Here, this type of cuisine has its own African twist on it, and is called Malay food. It stems from the people who immigrated from the Middle East and South Asia to South Africa. Seriously, I love this food! 

We also went to a restaurant called Gold in Cape Town which offered African drum lessons, traditional African entertainment (dancing, singing, drumming, puppet) and African food from all over the continent. I can honestly say that I have never had such an incredible dining experience as that in my entire life.

Our favourite wifi spot and volunteer hangout:  (Slow Life)

Waterfront eats in Cape Town

Denise and Kristin

Amber and Nini

Trying Ethiopian

Fortunately, some of the volunteers are teachers and have alot of experience in the classroom. They understand how to discipline children (and boy, do they need discipline) while they teach them how to learn. I am so glad that I was paired with Nini to care for our class, since she is a special education teacher back in California. I also feel quite lucky to be working with Teacher Saeeda, who is a full time teacher at Sunrise. Some volunteers feel that the teacher that they are paired with either doesn't do enough or doesn't involve them in their classrooms, but Saeeda welcomed us with open arms and an open heart. I have learned so much about caring for children from these two people, especially since many of these children are hardened by their situations or have been neglected, so teaching them can be more of a challenge. 

The kids may also be acting out because of their poor health. Our class has kids that age around 5 years old, and already some of their teeth have rotted out of their heads. It's a physical representation of neglect, since these children obviously do not brush their teeth because they either do not have toothbrushes, or have not been taught to brush. Their financial situation doesn't help, since many people in the township cannot afford a doctor, let alone a dentist. 

I want to again thank my dentist's office for donating the dental supplies. I cannot believe the state of their dental health, and those supplies are very much needed. Healthy teeth aren't good for you just because they are healthy, but they affect your ability to get hired and stay in a positive mood, among other things. 

On Mandela day, (July 18th) there was a dental demonstration for the kids using the supplies that were donated. From the bottom of my heart, Thankyou! 

(there are no pictures of the demonstration as it was held at the library in the township, and bringing electronics was too dangerous)

Our class

Saeeda and I 

As well, many of the kids have HIV, and it has been a sad two weeks as one of the children's parents died from the disease. There is a lot of death and violence in the townships. I am so so so lucky to have grown up where I did, free from any of the violence and disease that I have witnessed here. 

but, something that is inescapable when working with children from any part of the world is the cold and flu. In the last two weeks, I have watched most of the volunteers slowly catch the cold, until it was my turn. Oh my lanta, I do not remember any sickness taking that much energy out of me as much as this cold did. But, it probably was worsened because my body is fighting off a rash that I caught from the kids! My doctor joked that people always come to Africa and end up taking something back; this rash should clear within 6 months to a year. Thankfully it's not serious, but it is not fun being itchy all of the time. Luckily I have adorable children and beautiful scenery to distract from the scratch! 

I will never forget the sound of the children calling for me and other volunteers by literally screaming TEAAACCHHHAAAAHHH across the play area. It is both the most adorable and alarming thing I have ever heard! They literally will not stop until you pay attention to them, and when there are 300 of them and a few of you, you can imagine that the screaming never ends... Unless you silence their screams with unified singing! The songs that we sing with the kids are so incredibly catchy that I find myself singing them after program. Some songs are native to Sunrise, and in turn have such a wonderful African feel to them.

That's all I have for now, until next time!

Jenn

Culture Shock

Molo!

It sure has been a while since I last posted! Our house did not have electricity (save for the lights, thank goodness) for a while, so it was terribly hard to write this blog! I have also been quite sick and internet is accessible only at cafes, so uploading has been giving me issues as well! Anyway: 

The flight

All of my life I have flown either west jet, air Canada, or, in the case of my last big trip to Europe, AirTransat. This time, we had the opportunity to fly with British Airways, and OH MY LANTA what an awesome experience that was! We were given free blankets, DELICIOUS meals, and, best of all: free toothpaste and toothbrushes. I am not sure if I have ever been so excited about a toothbrush! To top the cake, the seats had headrests that could be pulled down so that you wouldn't wake to find yourself snoozing on a stranger beside you. I mean, cuddling is nice, but not for 12 hours! 

As well, we were so lucky to meet our fellow Canadian traveller, Kara, at our gate in Calgary. Sadly, she could not secure a spot on our flight from heathrow to Cape Town, so we had to leave her on her own while we went to board :(

Picture of us at heathrow 

However, what I will remember the most is the darkness of the land below us on our second flight from heathrow to Capetown International; there were pockets of orange light, of which appeared to be on fire, and the stars, clouds and ground all melded into one. Occasionally we would pass over a thunderstorm; the closest thing I could relate it to would be a visual symphony. There was no sound except for the white noise of the jets, but beneath the belly of the plane, the firelight would swell through the clouds and keep beat while the lightning danced along. Like the northern lights,  there are some things that you need to see for yourself. 

I did not sleep as well as I had hoped on the plane, but it was so hard to close my eyes when there was such good food and a natural theater out of my window. Not to mention, I was so excited to arrive!

Travelling is by far one of the most impactful learning experiences anyone could undertake. One of the best things about travelling is immersing yourself in new situations and learning about your own nationality and culture through the differences between your nation and the host country. One thing I notice for sure in South Africa is that your belongings equate your safety. Although many of the volunteer houses are close together in Muizenburg and farther away from the nearby township, our house is very close to Capricorn (The township we are working in) and far away from the rest of the houses; thus we have to be even more careful about being home before dark and walking alone, and we are often inside before 6:00. If we stay out later, we make sure to take a cab to our gated residence. 

Something that struck me was the visual representation of the necessity for security in the home. For instance, homes in Calgary are fenced only in the backyards by wood, low stone cobbling and hedges, unless you live by the highway. If you have fenced in your front yard, it is usually low enough to the ground that you can see the front yard. People can leave garage doors open without the fear that their neighbors will ambush them for their possessions. Here, however, most houses are walled in and have spikes, broken glass, and/or electric fences bordering the top of the walls. You definitely cannot see into the front yard most of the time - unless you count the driveway as a yard - and entrance into the driveways are often granted by fobs or codes that open the high, spiked gate. Windows are usually barred and there are many locks on the properties ie doors, windows. The place we are staying in houses a local family on the main floor - of whom are some of the kindest people I've met - we live in a separate complex above them. We are the only house that has the opportunity to live above locals, and I am grateful for that for two reasons: 

1. Locals know best! They know the greatest places to visit, and even more important, the places to avoid.

2. If there was a break in, they would know first. They have never had any incidences, which is very comforting. 

Even though the volunteer houses are typically pretty safe, I feel like we are staying in the safest house available to us. Every house is different though, some homes have much lower security and I am grateful that we were placed in this house, even though it is quite close to Capricorn.

What is a township?

It is essentially a high density community of low-income government-funded housing, consisting mainly of shacks that house the people. There is a high risk of disease - given the density of people and inability to afford doctors - and the crime rate within these places are notable. Most of the personal safety risk comes from carrying sellable items on your person ie phones, cameras, jewelry, wallets. Poverty fuels crime.

During the day, from sunrise to dusk, walking alone in this neighborhood is quite safe. However, that does not mean that we can relax fully. South Africa is a culture of always checking your back, and if you flash your wealth ie phones, cameras, computers, at the wrong time and place, it is possible that you will get mugged. Thankfully, this has not happened to us or our room mates, but there were some incidences before we arrived where some volunteers had their phones out or had jewelry on that got stolen. All in all, being safe here requires that you blend in, leave expensive things hidden away at home, be aware of your backpack and look around to make sure that it is safe to take a picture. Consequently, I have not taken as many pictures as I originally thought that I would in this amount of time. Originally, I was anxious to walk alone in the day, let alone take pictures, so many of the first south african experiences are not documented photographically. 

Since we are working in an educare center within Capricorn, I have no photographs to post of the living conditions, as it is too risky to take pictures while walking around on foot. But, here are some pictures of the kids and Sunrise Educare Center!

So far, these are the only pictures I have taken of the kids, as I want to get to know them before I snap a bunch of photographs. I will write another post in the future about taking advantage of these children because of their situations. Sadly, it's something we have seen happen. But, more on that later. 

Sadly, many of the children we work with learn how to pickpocket at a young age; either they have been taught by their parents or they have seen it so many times that they know how to steal. It's a consequence of living in poverty, abusive situations and many being illiterate. If you do not know how to read, you cannot go to school, and if you cannot go to school, you will not make as much money. If you can't make money, you cant afford to pay for school. So, you can see that it can be difficult to get out of the townships and build a career, but even then, why would someone want to move out of their house when the government pays for it? 

Racism and Apartheid 

Coming from the inclusive melting pot of Canada, we (in general) do not experience segregation in the same way that south Africans do. Although South Africa is very multicultural, it is quite apparent that white people have an easier time living. For the next paragraph to make sense, look at this photo:

 Our neighborhood consists predominantly of well-off white people, and many of the nice houses are owned by whites. But, this is Africa, so the majority of the people are black; as of yet, I have not seen a single white person living in a township. On the contrary, most people living in townships across the country are non-white people. It is important to point out, however, that not all non-whites live in poverty. When driving from the airport to our volunteer house by car, our driver - Buks - pointed out specific areas where Malay people lived, where 'colored' people lived, and a township on the way. Some of the communities are quite nice, save for the township; although the government is building condo-like alternatives for the people of the townships to move into. 

Something that deeply saddens and confuses me is that some of the children in each class at Sunrise are being pulled from their rooms into a separate class because they are not "South African". These children, although born in South Africa, have parents who have immigrated from other regions of Africa ie Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania, ect. This policy has been put into effect by Sunrise's principle, although it is generally disliked by many of the teachers. Like them, I believe that the focus should be on each child's well being, education and growth rather than what backgrounds they have; the whole policy is madness, especially since it is quite difficult to decipher - just by looking - whose parents are from where. 

If this was practiced in Canada, I'm not sure if I would be friends with either Michelle or Denise. Michelle's mother is American and her father is Italian, while both of Denise's parents are from the Philippines (granted Denise was born in the Philippines and gained Canadian citizenship at age 4). My parents were both born in Canada, so I would be in a separate class than both of them. 

There are many problems that South Africa faces, but I am so grateful to be here to love the kids who need loving and to explore the new terrain around me. These past two weeks have been an insane learning experience, and now that I have finally gotten used to the culture (I think) I cannot wait for what comes next!

In my next post, I will write about my fellow volunteers, the touristy things that we have been doing, and what working at the educare center actually means (germs germs germs! Hahah). 

Until next time,

Jenn

Hello!

I can't believe it; I leave in one hour to the Calgary International Airport! Talk about last minute blog posting, right?

Anyway, I promised that I would talk about the insanity that this month has been. I find that if you are looking forward to something, time slows down to the velocity of molasses. However, this was not the case this month, for the reasons following:

Firstly, I have been experiencing much dental grief! After a week of a swollen face, no sleep, and popping extra strength advil like it was candy, I had to get a root canal. I do not want to get too in detail about this subject, but for some reason I have had to get about three root canals done this year... My hygenist says that my teeth and gums seem pretty healthy, so it's a complete mystery. Luckily this happened BEFORE we left for Africa, otherwise I do not know what I would do!
I used to fantasize living in Paris in 1885 so that I could meet van Gogh, but I never thought about what the state of medicine and dentistry was at that time until I ran into this trouble. Thank goodness for antibiotics and the strong perscription that I am taking with me to Africa!

Secondly, this month was full of family events and birthdays, which means that there was less time for planning and figuring out troubles like:

Thirdly, It is hard to be excited about a trip that may have not even happened because of visa requirements! We found out that we needed a Zimbabwean visa right around the time of my first blog post. It was a little stressful, considering we were leaving in a month, but very doable (the turnover time is about ten working days). However, a  couple of days later we were notified that, as of the end of May, the visa requirements for South Africa had changed for Canadian volunteers. However, if a Canadian is traveling to South Africa purely for tourism, they do not require a visa and can stay up to 90 days. This sent me into a panic, as my passport was halfway to the Zimbabwean Consulate in Toronto, while the South African Consulate is located in Ottawa; this would not have been too much of an issue had it not been for the fact that South Africa is very picky with their visas, and require many documents and invitation letters to retain one. At that moment, time was our enemy.
fortunately, through a lengthy investigation into express mail and many long phone conversations with Louise Frame - the IVHQ Africa Program Director - I discovered that the program that we will be working in is characterized as a volunteer/tourism program. This means that we had the option to claim ourselves as tourists, as there is no visa for volunteer/tourism.
THE TRIP WAS SAVED!
Now, I cannot say that I did this all on my own. I had our wonderful travel agent Jackie Dutka guide us through these issues... I do not know what we would do without her!

Speaking of Jackie, her colleagues and herself donated a WHOLE suitcase full of supplies for the children; ie pencil crayons, construction paper and such. This was so kind of her office to do, but the cherry on top was that they offered to pay for the baggage of the extra suitcase! It seriously warmed my heart and made my entire year so far.

Michelle (right), Jackie and myself in the office! I wish I had gotten a better picture of the suitcase, but you can see the handle!

Also, my dentist was so kind as to donate some dental supplies for the children as well!

Perhaps of I didn't have to get a root canal, I would not have received the dental supplies! There is a silver lining to everything. Life is about seeing the positive in the negatives and making the best of the situations that you face, and although this month was difficult, I am so glad that it confirmed the fact that if you stay positive and keep a level head, things will work out how they are supposed to.

I am out of time, it's time to leave for the airport!

Until next time,

Jenn 

Jambe!

MY GOODNESS, it has been a complete whirlwind ever since I last updated this blog! These past three weeks have been marked by visa complications, last minute passport photos, surprise birthday planning, family events, school finals and a good shock of dental nightmares. However, as much as I want to tell those stories, some things are better when left with suspense! For the time being, here is our trip itinerary:


July 4th (Day 1)
We -Michelle, Denise, myself and our respective families - arrive at YYC Calgary International Airport to board our flight to our layover at the London Heathrow Airport. We are so lucky to live in the age of technology and information; through Facebook, we have connected with many other volunteers from around the globe who we will  be participating in our program and will meet in person in Capetown! By some incredibly lucky chance, a fellow Canadian volunteer - named Kara -  is flying from her home in Winnipeg and is boarding the same flight as us from Calgary! I am so excited to meet everyone, how lucky are the four of us to get a head start!? As I said before, serendipity is a mysterious and beautiful force.  

Flight from Calgary to Heathrow; hopefully it stays on time!

I am very pleased that our travel agent Jackie Dutka booked us an overnight flight to London; I have seen the wreckage that is the disturbance of my father's circadian rhythm and it is not a pleasant sight.
The flight is approximately 9 hours long, just enough to squeeze in some sleep while we flee from the sun.

July 5 (Day 2...kindof)
Because flying is an expensive form of time travel, we will arrive in London at around 2 pm their time, while only travelling the aforementioned 8 hours. We have a five hour layover in the airport - not nearly enough time to sneak away to Buckingham, sadly - but that gives us just enough time to grab a bite to eat and wake up for our next flight.... Of which is 12 hours long! I have never been on a plane for that long, so I will definitely be packing a good book, cards and art supplies.

We are essentially flying from pole to pole

Even though she tried to switch her flight, Kara will not be joining us on our flight to Capetown. She will arrive a few hours later than ourselves, but looking at the big picture, we have the whole 30 days to experience and get to know all of the volunteers, locals, and of course, the kids!


July 6th (Day 3)
We arrive in Capetown at 8 am their time, having travelled this time one hour into the future. GREAT SCOT! Hopefully all goes well while we are filtered through customs, and we are able to find the driver that IVHQ hired to take us to our residence!
Total travel time: 26 hours

July 7th (Day 4)- Volunteering begins!
All volunteers will have arrived by this time, and we will spend the whole day in orientation with the Dreams To Reality staff, of whom we will be working for (they are partnered with IVHQ). We will get a crash course in everything South African!
The wonderful thing about IVHQ is that they allow you choose the amount of time that you want to volunteer in any given location. You could volunteer for only a week, or for as long as six months. That means that many of the people that we meet will either be coming or going, and we will be overlapping with other volunteer's arrivals and departures. Michelle, Denise and I are volunteering for 30 days, from the 7th until August 2nd.

August 2nd (Day 30)
Our volunteering ends and we say goodbye to the people we have met and the place we have temporarily called our home. We depart from Capetown to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to begin our tent safari with Intrepid Travel!
We will have an hour and a half layover in Johannesburg, which means that we will not be leaving the airport. I only mention this because of the city's reputation for being very dangerous, although we will still be on high alert and be aware of our surroundings and luggage while waiting to board.


Here is what our 10 day tour will be in a nutshell:

We will be camping at night and travel overland!

August 11 (Day 39) - Goodbye Africa
We begin our journey back home by boarding a flight from Johannesburg to our layover in London at 7 am London time, and board in Heathrow on our flight home to Calgary at 6:15 pm. That is a total of 11 hours of layover, who knows what we will get up to! (Buckingham, anyone? ... If we are not falling to pieces with exhaustion of course!)

August 12 - Welcome Home
This time, we will chase the sun on our flight back. Thankfully, we arrive at 8:40 pm Calgary time, just late enough to justify going to bed.




I cannot believe that I am leaving in 5 days, especially since this is something that the three of us have been planning for just under a year. I cannot wait to have my life turned upside down by the very Africanness of Africa. I am sure that I will find better words to describe the change that I hope to feel once I am there. I am so grateful to be able to experience this with some of my favourite people on this earth. I cannot wait to meet the rest of you, the people that in the future will teach me. I cannot wait to help and be a part of something that sincerely matters.


Until next time,

Jenn

Oh hello! I am a 19 year old Canadian woman with a taste for spices and new experiences. In addition to following my passion for art by studying at the Alberta College of Art and Design, I fill my free time (if there is any, let's be real) by playing instruments and singing a tune. Although I am very passionate about art and music, nothing trumps the latter like my love of adventure and the human race. I know that as a Canadian I have been given what many people in the world do not have: peace, stability, economic freedom, political freedom, rights and more. Even more than that, when you have only known this kind of life, it is very easy to be ignorantly comfortable about the realities that face our world today. The realities that seem simple: like clean water and steady electricity, or even the fact that I live above a grocery store and I do not have to walk ten kilometers to make sure that I don't starve. I am not subject to civil wars or an extensively corrupt government (although some would argue that this is not true, given the recent findings of government spying uncovered by Edward Snowden), I do not fear for my life when walking down the street. I am educated - not only this, but I am educated in the arts, which typically are better funded in a good economy (comparatively). Although my country is facing its own pressing issues that should not be ignored, I know that I, as a Canadian, am extremely fortunate.
So what prompted me to leave? Why would I even dream of going to somewhere as foreign and potentially dangerous as Africa?
Let me make this easier to understand. 
In my first year at ACAD, we were required to take a humanities course that centered largely around philosophies and concepts of the great minds of history. Examples: Darwin, Thoreau, Plato, Marx. Something that has always stuck with me is Plato's allegory of the cave. Plato compares having only knowledge of living in a cave and the firelight that plays against the wall, with someone who has bravely emerged from the mouth of the cave and experienced daylight in the context of the knowledge of darkness. Essentially, you cannot know what true darkness is if you haven't experienced light. Choosing to be ignorant to either light or dark means that you can never grow, you can never truly understand anything. I am in the cave, the rest of the world is the light. We grow as a species by sharing, collaborating and respecting each other, and I want to spend the whole of my life being a positive part of humanity.


 Which brings me to explain what I will be trying to accomplish while there (in no particular order):

1. Help the people - Michelle, Denise and I are all assigned to childcare with the volunteer organization IVHQ. This role entails educating and playing with young children who have come from unfortunate circumstances.
2. Learn the language(s). South Africa is even more culturally diverse than Canada, and has twelve official languages. I thought that learning french was hard... bring it on! 
3. Immerse myself in the culture - try everything! 
4. Experience the landscape and the hidden treasures within it. You never know what you can find if you look hard enough... Or don't look at all; serendipity is a mysterious force. 
5. Maintain my safety. There are many pickpockets and other more serious offenses that could occur (Hint: this is one of the reasons that I am keeping this blog; I need to let people know that I am in fact alright). 
6. Embrace everything
7. Learn
8. Grow
9. Love

In my next post, I will talk more about the trip itself  and its itinerary.


Until next time,
Jenn