Greetings
from South Africa!
Two
weeks in to my stay in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (just outside of Durban)
I have finally got my first blog post sorted out. My three co-interns –
Emanuela, Brynn, Bryan – and I are well on our way to crossing the road without
nearly getting hit, accepting that wearing long pants in 34 degrees to work is
the norm, and that life in South Africa has many similarities to home and
remarkable differences.
We
are working with a non-profit from Victoria - VIDEA (click here for a link), Victoria International Development Education Association. VIDEA facilitates powerful development work in the areas of gender equality, human rights, and social justice. Our South African counterpart is Ukulapha (isi-Zulu for ‘healing’) Community Outreach Project. Ukulapha is a
grassroots organization doing necessary work in a community that has grown stronger
from its presence. Click here to check out Ukulapha's website. The four of us are working with a school, in the classrooms
assisting the teachers and brainstorming projects to implement at the school
and within the community. Those of you that know me well may have a guess at my
energy and excitement for work like this… This is my jam! The kids are
enthusiastic and hilarious – they love asking me to pronounce difficult
isi-Zulu words; isi-Zulu is a clicking language, click (pun intended) here to check out a
video demonstrating Xhosa, another clicking language in South Africa – and the teachers have helped us
acclimatize nicely.
I work in a grade seven math classroom each morning and grade seven
EMS (Economics and Management Systems) classroom each afternoon. This week the
homework club started up after school and we – the school, Ukulapha, and the
four Canadian interns – have several other projects beginning soon. Stay tuned
for student council, Easter day camps, field trips, computer classes, and
teacher & parent workshop updates soon!
South
Africa is a fascinating country with contrasts everywhere. Pietermaritzburg
expands like the Target store logo with the bulls-eye being downtown and growing
outwards from there. The British colonial architecture dominates the central
business district. The suburbs are lined with beautiful (albeit gated, alarmed,
sometimes guarded, and fenced) homes. There are no shortages of Audis and BMWs
either. Finally as you leave the city and suburbs, you’ll find the endless
sprawl of townships. Townships in South Africa grew during apartheid when
non-whites were excluded from white neighbourhoods. The green hills of
Pietermaritzburg roll from one township to the next. It is just a few minutes
drive from one part of town to the next.
We
have a great spot in the suburbs, close to two malls and five grocery stores! The
prevalence of grocery stores here is important, as food is so cheap! South
Africa has delicious produce (a little cheaper than home), huge yogurt tubs (so
cheap – less than $2 for a kg – and tasty, my favourite being the passion fruit
flavour!), and bread that is 65 Canadian cents for a Cobs-style loaf!!! We rent one of four cottages from our
fantastic landlords who also live on site. We
have an electronic gate to enter the property and lots of room for skipping,
push-ups, and exercise outside our front door. Our cottage is a great size and
very much our home.
Pietermaritzburg
is a friendly and appealing medium sized city. A South African friend that now
lives in Canada described it as the Kelowna of South Africa; this is the
perfect description, just add a whole lot more greenery! Last weekend we
discovered, not to our surprise, that the surrounding area is also stunning. We
visited the spot where Nelson Mandela was captured in 1962 by the apartheid
government. We ate lunch at a touristy little spot that reminded me
of Coombs Market sans goats. And we hiked through a nature reserve amongst
giraffes, zebras, and wildebeests. Yup, I sure am back on my favourite
continent!
I
look forward to updating you on our work, learning, and adventures in South
Africa. Earlier today, I returned home from a sweaty walk to my first isi-Zulu lesson.
Tomorrow tennis and the KwaZulu-Natal Botanical Gardens are potentially on the menu.
Cheers
from down here,
Russell
