Last Day with the Preschoolers

Yesterday I spent my last day at Silvertown Educare. I was supposed to finish on Friday but I got to sneak back the beginning of this week because my placement at the elementary school doesn't start until today. The staff was very grateful for the time I'd spent at Silvertown and wrote me the nicest note. Natalie and Karan are still there this week and we are going to print out a bunch of the pictures we all took and make a poster for the classroom. The walls definitely need some decorating!

Yesterday, we also had our last X'hosa lesson. X'hosa is a tribal language spoken by most blacks in Cape Town. However, it is very difficult to learn. There are three distinct "clicks" associated with different letters (I think they all sound the same) and the words are long and hard to pronounce. We've been having fun with the teacher learning some songs and simple sayings. So far I've really only learned "molo" is "hello" and "unjani" is "how are you?". Also, most X'hosa people name their child a X'hosa name that has a special meaning. So many of the kids at our schools are named the X'hosa words for gift and light. One of my favorites, Ongebiwe, supposedly means "be cautious you don't get stolen." Our teacher said no parent would name their kid that, but he said like in our country, people are getting creative!


Natalie playing with the bubbles


These two are best friends (and cousins) and one was feeding the other during breakfast time
They look so happy to get their picture taken

The last day we brought out some bubbles during playtime and everyone just loved them. I will really miss all the kids, and I pray that they will grow up happy and healthy. I was so fortunate to spend time here with just happy kids and hope to stop back again before leaving Cape Town.

However, I am very excited to start my placement today at Blossom Street Elementary. I look forward to learning about curriculums in the schools here and helping teach the children. I think it will be wonderful to build relationships with kids that are a little older.

I'll fill you in soon. Don't freeze over there, please!

Jackie

Smile and wave, boys

Hello friends! Another adventurous weekend, to say the least. I'm having such a blast filling my days with incredible things to do and see. On Friday we took off right after placement to a small coastal village called Kleinbaai ("Little Bay" in Afrikaans) to go shark cage diving the next morning. I really love going on roadtrips here, always setting off to somewhere I've never been. We took the scenic route there winding between the steep cliffs of the Hottentots Holland Mountains and the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Quite pictureqsue. In the winter here, you can see whales from the road. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the bay at a seafood restaurant. (The service here was horendous paired with mediocre food... oh well). Then we went back to our hostel and were simply shocked by the most beautiful stars we had ever seen. You could see the entire milky way reaching its way from horizon to horizon. Absolutely gorgeous!

We had to get up bright and early to get on the boat for shark diving. The bay we dove off of has the highest congregation of Great White sharks in the world. There were 8 of us in total and we were all pretty excited for the trip. However, they forwarned us that the visibility was terrible (only about 0.5 meters) so were pretty nervous that we wouldn't see any sharks. But low and behold, right when we got out on the water, our skipper (who has the most face time in the world with Great Whites) found us some sharks. They are completely wild animals but he drew them in with these stinky tuna fish heads. Sounds like a great breakfast to me.
Is that Bruce???The shark splashing his tailOur shark cage

Then, we spent a couple of hours looking for sharks but couldn't find anymore. In the meantime, we all got really sea sick and there were many pukers off the side of the boat. Not me, surprisingly. But later, they tried going to a part of the bay they hadn't been to in 6 years to find sharks for us, and I finally got to go in the cage. It was so cool to be in the water right next to the sharks, even though they were really difficult to see. However, they lured a shark right next to the cage and I got to see it right in front of my face. All in all, a pretty nice adventure, minus the seasickness, it would have been a very pleasant morning.

After the trip, all worn out

That night, we came home and met up with all the other volunteers. We went out in Observatory, a town right next to ours, to a reggae and sandbar. We even got to play my favorite bar game, photohunt!
Leigh, Gina, Katie, and Ellery

Then today, we spent another day at the beach. But this time we half way down the Cape to Simon's Town, famous for it's penguin beaches. Simon's Town is beautiful, full of precious houses and shops. The water was such a beautiful shade of blue-green, too!


Here are the penguins! They just come up right by you, and the people and penguins are just hanging out all day on the beach. The train ride, bus ride, and 1.5 mile walk to the beach was definitely worth it. I definitely want to come back and spend some more time on the beach here. Another wonderful day and getting ready for an ever better week here!

Keep in touch,
Jackie

Happy Kids and Table Mountain

My second week has been terrific so far. I would say I'm adjusting pretty well to everything here. However, the days are long and exhausting. When we get back to homebase, we all want to go explore the Cape Town. There is definitely never a dull moment. Also, the meals they cook us are always hot and very heavy so we have all been craving sandwiches and lighter lunches.

I finally brought my camera in to preschool. I couldn't wait to take pictures of the babies and they absolutely loved the photoshoot! The kids are definitely adjusting to me, and love to just run up and hug me when I arrive. I am starting to understand their mumbling, although a lot of it is still jibberish. Today, we brought in facepaint and the kids really got a kick out of it (at first). Then, I think it got a little itchy and they all smeared it all over their faces. We had a lot of faces to clean along with the usual wiping off of buggers and porridge. When they go outside, it all acts like a glue so sand also gets plastered to their precious little faces. Most of them have adjusted to preschool, but we get new kids everyday, we're up to 35 munchkins. Today we made a table of the "picky eaters" so that Patricia could rapid-fire spoon feed them. They all have to eat unless they start puking, which happens daily. I haven't adjusted to the lack of sanitizing urine and puke off the ground. However, the kids are as happy and as adorable as you could imagine, and Silvertown is definitely a blessing for many struggling families. We have found out over the course of the week a little more about the familes. A few of them are cousins who live in the same house. One darling little girls lost her mom last year (most likely due to AIDS) and hasn't found a permanent home yet. And lots of other children have different types of rashes and things. I am trying to be as careful as possible to avoid getting sick here, but preschools as well as dormitory-style living really doesn't help. Tomorrow is my last day at the preschool and then I'll be working at an elementary school. I am definitely excited about that possibility.









After a long day snapping pictures of the kids, a bunch of us decided it was a beautiful day to climb table mountain. My blog picture is of the sunset over table mountain, so beautiful. It gets pretty windy here and if the winds are too strong, hiking is pretty miserable and the cable car that runs to the top shuts down. The hike was strenuous to say the least. Basically you are hiking up stairs for 2 hours. We split up into two groups, and most of the girls and I chose the leisurely bunch and we enjoying taking breaks and enjoying the nice view. But the view from the top was just incredible! And there is a cute little restaurant where we all split a bottle of champagne and then took the cable car down. We were told hiking down is more difficult than hiking up, and we enjoyed the build-up to the top. Definitely had to work for it!

New friends climbing Table Mountain
The last few steps up!

The rest of the week has also been filled with activity. We went out for margaritas to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama. Let me tell you, the world is definitely watching. Even the preschool teachers at my school watched the ceremony. And being an America abroad always stirs up political conversation. My favorite... Today we went and sampled Cape Malay cuisine. These people are descendants of the slaves brought here from Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Madagascar. Very good (but again some type of spicy lamb and rice dish). The Cape Malay people live in an area called BoKaap (above Cape Town) filled with beautiful colored houses. Photos to follow. Then we went to the old Slave Lodge museum that used to host the Dutch East India Company's slave trade. All in all, a very fun week, and I antipicate an even better weekend.

Thanks to everyone who has been checking in. I miss you all back home (but not the weather). Wish you could be here to experience everything yourself.

Talk to you soon,

Jackie

Garden Route for the Weekend

What an incredible weekend! 13 new friends and I hopped into a 15-passenger van this weekend to drive along the southern coast of South Africa stretching from around Cape Town all the way into the Eastern Cape on what is known as the Garden Route. On Friday night, we arrived to a wonderful home cooked meal at the Fairy Knowe Youth Hostel in the city of Wilderness. We stayed in bunks and there were a few other backpackers hanging out at the bar when we headed to bed.

We started out the next day bright and early at the Knysna Elephant Park about an hour and a half east of Wilderness. There is an only an estimated 3 wild African elephants remaining in South Africa (in the Knysna forest) but all the elephants we saw were domestic and are nutured by the loving staff. There used to be hundreds but they have been illegally hunted for their hides and ivory for the past hundred years or so. I had the absolute privilege of riding Shaka around the park as well as seeing many other elephants. I couldn't help but picture Disney's Jungle Book while watching them run around. They all seemed to swing their trunks, ears, and tails to the same beat. I learned a lot about elephants, most of which I already forget. I do remember that African elephants have much bigger ears than Asian elephants to help keep them cool. Who knew?

After feeding Shaka some pineapple to thank him for the ride

Two baby females playing in the field

We jumped back on the road and stopped to go Zip Lining. We zig-zagged over a canyon with lots of beautiful scenery and many waterfalls. The view was excellent, as was the ride. Everything seemed very safe, but things here are a lot more relaxed than in the states. We joked that back at home we would have to watch a 20 minute safety video beforehand. Unfortunately we couldn't bring our cameras...

Next stop was the highlight of the trip. The world's HIGHEST bungy jump! Of course, I had to check it out. 7 of us decided to "take the plunge." They pumped you up with some fun dance tunes, so everyone was really excited. And it was was simply breathtaking, just incredible. Really words cannot describe.

The bridge we jumped off, such a scenic view

Bungee!
On the way back we stopped to stick our feet in the Indian Ocean

The day was exhausting but we all wanted to celebrate such a great jump, so we headed back to the hostel for some drinks. It was also one of the girls 21st birthday so we had to celebrate. We met some local South Africans from Pretoria, and learned some good advice on things to do and see around Cape Town while we're here. They also introduced us to a new shot, a Springbok, which is the national South African animal, kinda like an antelope. The shot is actually named for the national rugby team and is composed of amarula and creme de menthe so it's gold and green like the team colors. Plus delicious!

Me and Collin and new friends

Today, we started off at an ostrich farm. Actually kind of sad how they breed ostriches for their meat, feathers, and hides. However, riding them was hilarious. Much more difficult than I expected.

Collin had fun feeding them too.

The last stop on our trip was a nature reserve, much like a zoo. We got to see lions, white tigers, cheetahs, crocodiles, birds, lemurs (my personal favorite). Some of the girls stayed and paid extra to get their pictures taken with the animals but I decided not too. We got lunch their and I tried both ostrich and crocodile. Ostrich tastes like a lean steak, but I thought mine was overcooked and kinda gamey. Crocodile is chewy but tastes like chicken.

Trying out my sweet new photography skills on the aquarium

Simba and Nala (Actually the male is Charlie with three female "angels")

All in all, the weekend was purely amazing! I had such a great time bonding with the other volunteers, meeting all the animals, being adventurous, hanging out with locals and other international travellers. I can't believe we fit so many different things in, along with the 6 hour drive there and back. But I am simply exhausted and need to rest up for another great week at Silvertown.

Jackie

P.S. I did a tiny bit of editing on the photos this time, and am fooling around with a bunch of settings to try to get some good shots. There are a few other photographers on the trip and we're going to take pictures tomorrow (at another awesome spot around Cape Town - I swear to you everything is scenic here). I am loving my new camera!

First Impressions

Now that you know a little more about the city of Cape Town, I can't wait to share with you about my placement and I think that you'll be able to relate a little better.

I'm working at a preschool in the township of Athlone called Silvertown Educare. Athlone is definitely one of the nicer townships, and our driver sometimes even calls it a suburb. To my knowledge and after asking some locals, I believe Athlone was first settled by the coloured population when many were forced to leave their homes in and around Cape Town in the 1960s and 1970s, most from the infamous District 6. (We're going to the District 6 museum next week so I'll fill you in more of that when the times comes). Thus, Silvertown used to only serve coloured children, but now children from many townships come to Silvertown and there is a mix of coloured and black children. The kids range from just under 2 years to around 6, preparing for Grade 1.

Silvertown, as far as I can judge, is one of the nicer placements. The school has 4 classrooms each holding about 40 to 50 children, with a very caring and dedicated staff. On first impression, I felt very welcomed and at home, and found the school quite similar to ones back home in the states. In comparison to other preschools with volunteers from my program, this school is fortunate to have running water, available resources, and a loving and supportive staff.

I am working there with two other volunteers, Natalie and Karan, and the first day, we all decided to help out with the "babies" as we call them, all about 2 years old, because we were told they needed the most help there. Tuesday, my first day, was the first day the preschool was back from summer holiday, and we had about 14 kids, but the classroom is enrolled for 47 so more kids come each day. As expected, there were quite a few whiny toddlers would have never left their parents before (think first day of preschool) and everyone was adjusting to the school and each other. Certain kids cry a lot, some not at all, and there is an abundance of peeing and puking galore... my favorite! Their schedule is pretty scheduled with breakfast, snacks, lunch, outdoor playtime, and naptime. The other volunteers have discussed a lot a complete lack of organization and compassion by the teachers, but our teachers Patricia and Patty are both extremely loving and wonderful with kids. They both speak perfect english (but are native Afrikaans speakers) but are sometimes difficult to understand because of the accent. The kids aren't really talking yet and many of their families speak Xhosa or Afrikaans at home, so I'm not sure if they are even mumbling in English. However, at prayer time, they magically sing perfectly in English. I help out with everything, feeding, washing, but mostly playing. They really enjoy just rolling a giant tennis ball around so do that for awhile. We've taught them some childhood games like ring-around-the-rosy, and the hokey-pokey, but for the most part, they look extremely confused and I judge they aren't quite old enough to fully understand. They love to just jump and climb all over me, and although is often seems chaotic, Patricia magically calms them down and gets everyone ready for mealtime. They are so so adorable, and even though I can't quite talk with them yet, you can definitely communicate. One of the little girls always walks around humming and dancing. I can't wait to show you some pictures, but we're not supposed to bring our cameras until we get to know the kids a little bit better. I will soon!

Patricia's daughter, Quanita, is helping out too before going back to school next week. I really like talking to her about her homelife and she loves learning about "the states". Today we listened to some Chris Brown on her cell phone and she asked me if I was friends with Beyonce. One can only wish! She speaks great English (also Afrikaans) and seems very smart.

So it seems like a normal preschool pretty much so far, but there are definitely a few differences. The toys are definitely older and mostly broken. There is a figurine (no joke) from that Dinosaurs television show that aired on TGIF in the early nineties, really brings back the memories. The other toys are worn in blocks and dolls, some broken crayons. When the kids pee on the carpet, nobody cleans it up. And if the kids wet themselves, they lose their pants for the day. So by the end of the day, almost no one has pants on anymore. The playground is pretty broken down. The teachers watch from the doorway, and when I went out to the play with the kids, I found logs fallen off benches with huge nails just sticking out so I hauled those off. Mind you, all the kids are running around barefoot, so I was pretty scared. Patricia is great with the kids, but sometimes threatens them with a ruler.One of the girls throws fit and makes herself throw up because she gets so upset and doesn't want to eat, and Patricia was explaining to me that you have to kinda scare them at the beginning so they eat their food the rest of the year. Still kinda freaks me out.

After the first day, when I asked Luann, the program director here at CCS, about Silvertown, she said that although the place is probably better kept then the other schools, the children come from the same places at the other preschools. She said what really makes the difference is the key staff, and Silvertown has had an amazing director for many years, Mrs. Reynolds, and she really used the government funding in the best way, and keeps a great staff. So I'm definitely happy to help out and think that they really do need the help, it just seems like there are other places here that could use the help a little bit more.

There is so much more to tell and I will definitely fill you in soon. Thanks for listening.

Jackie

Cape Town, a history

So much has happened in the past couple of days and I've learned so much about the city of Cape Town. I have lots to share with you so bear with me! Most importantly, I began my volunteer placing yesterday. But before I go any further, I'd like to give you a brief history and culture lesson about Cape Town. I'm learning as I go and after living here awhile, will love to give you a more in depth lesson but here goes!

Cape Town was settled a long time (1650's) by the Dutch East India company as a stopping point to help stock the ships with fresh produce for the long trip from Europe to the Indies. When they got here, they mostly found a sparse population of hunter/gatherer tribes "the Bushmen" that almost completely got wiped out by Smallpox. Then, the Europeans decided they needed Slaves to help run their farms that supplied the food so they first imported them from Asia (mostly India), the South Pacific and Madagascar. This was followed by a long chunk of history where the British and Dutch fought over control of the well-located city of Cape Town, instigated by European wars and the spice trade. The British won control in the early 1800's and slaves were emancipated (as in Britan) in 1834. In the later half of the 1800's, when gold and diamonds were discovered in South Africa (mostly near Johannesburg), Cape Town benefitted from increased importance as an industrial trade capital. Along the way, many Africans (predominantly of the Xhosa tribe) within South Africa migrated to Cape Town to find work. Still held by the British, Cape Town based a bunch of segegrist laws, and when South Africa was granted indepedence, a government (only elected by whites, those with the right to vote) established Apartheid, which attemped to racially segregate all forms of life for South Africans. Many areas were given White Only status, and entire communities were uprooted and forced to move to different Townships farther from the city, organized by race. Within the whole of South Africa, black Africans (which made up 80% of the population) were granted 13% of the most dry and unariable land within the country. [That one is verbatim from a museum here]. Okay, so the white government basically set up a system that gave them all the wealth and power at the expense of black and coloured labor. There was peaceful resistance for many years by the African National Council (ANC) such as strikes, but the white minority government had difficulty continually denying others their rights. Police violence was eventually met with violence, and South Africa was a dangerous place to live in the late 1970's and 1980's. Finally, apartheid was abolished in 1990 followed by the first democratic election in 1994 that elected president Nelson Mandela.

Map of South Africa

I'm probably leaving out lots of critical details but feel free to goggle it to find out more information. Essentially though, this has left South Africa as having the best constitution in the world (at least in terms of granting rights) but without a government or means to protect these rights. There is still lots of racial separation and tension in Cape Town, and the city is plagued with extremely high rates of unemployment, 40% overall, 58% for black Africans.

In terms of the classifications of people, when the government established Apartheid in 1948, they classified people into white, black, coloured, and Indian. Black (or black African) is of African descent, most blacks in Cape Town are of the Xhosa (pronounced cosa) tribe (same as Mandela) and as far as I can tell, most black Africans belong to one of the tribes (Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, etc.) Coloured people are the descendants of the slaves, so are of mixed descent, many with African, European, Indian, Asian heritage, but with not enough black African to be considered Black. These terms "black" and "coloured" are not taboo in South Africa and most people positively identify themselves to these designations. There is still tension between the groups, apparently, but the school I work at for instance, has both black and coloured children.

Cape Town is still racially divided into townships. And these areas of suppressed black and coloured people for many years are very poor and struggling areas. Although they range a great deal in affluence, many people live in tin shacks with 2 entire other families, with extremely limited resources. The kids need a lot of help, and all the volunteers here are so excited out to help out in the schools and hospitals in these areas.

I'll be back soon to tell you more about my specific placement. My kids are sooo adorable, heads up!

First Weekend in Cape Town

Whew! Finally arrived... and couldn't be happier to be off that plane. We got in yesterday (Saturday) during the afternoon after around 19 hours in the air. I loved watching our plane on the movie screen flying over various African countries I can only hope to go to some day. 11 other volunteers on our program were also on our flight- more about the program later- along with three travelers sporting Michigan hoodies. Who would have guessed?

Soon after, we were kindly greeted and taken to our homebase. We live in one of the quiet suburbs of Cape Town and the place is great! A few volunteers have been here for awhile but most of the 30 others started with us yesterday. Most are from the states with a few from the UK and Canada, and everyone seems very friendly, outgoing, and compassionate. A great group I can't wait to get to know.

Our homebase front porch

We went out to a Cuban restaurant/lounge for drinks and to check out the college town scene near the University. They had some killer mojitos rivaling Cafe Habana, our favorite spot in Ann Arbor, but most likely because they were only $2. Everything here is such a steal. It's fantastic!

Today we had orientation, learning about Cape Town, the home base staff, our placements, and our schedule for the next few weeks. Lots of information to take in. Then, we went on a driving tour of Cape Town. We saw a few things in the city (but that is mostly saved for another day) but drove up all along the coast and got some great views of Table Mountain and the ocean. The whole city is quite picturesque. Not to mention 80 degrees and sunny. Not too shabby! More on Cape Town later though... already have had lots of observations.

Camp's Bay Beach, where the beautiful play they say

Colin and I overlooking the Atlantic- just to the left of us is Table Mountain

We finished off the night going to a concert of a local Cape Town band called Gold Fish. They were fantastic and played dance/pop/reggae tunes as well as DJed at this club right on the beach near Camp's Bay.

All I can say is I'm lucky to be here and can't wait to check out everything else Cape Town has to offer!

Warm regards,
Jackie