Advertisement
Published: January 23rd 2008
Safe arrival in Cape Town! SOOO excited to be here…even more so now that I am here. It is just stunning as are the views from the house…it’s a 360 of mountains and oceans and homes up on the hillsides…just lovely. So while I was worried about my connection in Jo-burg being a little tight I had more than enough time, even more so when my flight was delayed over an hour until 1030PM. So I finally landed around 1AM and we were at the house by 2. Amanda is the project leader who picked me up and Becky is an Aussie who had flown in as well that day. It was just Becky and I in the house last night…and its a lovely house…not quite as fantastic as St. Lucia but no complaints, although there is NO air con. In the morning, I met Mike who is the project manager and Charlotte arrived from the UK. We will be getting a fourth volunteer on Wednesday and that is it for this project while I am here. Since its brand new and schools are just starting back up and running after break we were the first to arrive. Both Becky and
Charlotte I think were a bit disappointed as well with the whole last minute change in the project, and Charlotte only found out when she arrived this morning that she was no longer in the city but rather the suburb of Fish Hoek! Not to say we are upset and this may be a wonderful change…the town seems absolutely lovely and it’s a short walk to one of the most popular beaches. There seems to be a whole lot to do here and now I am a bit sad I chose to leave early but cest la vie…I will just have to pack it all in! And it doesn’t get dark here until about 830 so well have plenty of time after work to try and get out to see things if we so choose.
We have a cook here named Flo. I’m not sure how old she is but she did mention something about being our grandmother! Anyway, she is adorable and our first meal was great…her husband Alan comes to help her out…so cute together. However she seemed to be freaking out about what to cook me as I said I am a vegetarian…and I clarified that
with sometimes I’ll eat meat but I’m very picky with what so I just say I’m veg to make it easier…So Flo will come up with a menu for the week and I will take a look at it and let her know if there is anything I won’t eat.
So there are a few random topics for me to mention…the first is, it seems like nearly every boy I have met on this trip after spending some time with them have mentioned that I remind them of their sister… I’m not quite sure what to make of it! If you have insight, please share… but for now I am amused. The other is most everyone I have met in Africa cannot believe that I am 28 (well next month anyway). I’m assuming that has something to do with my maturity! No, but seriously, in the last week or two it seems as though when it comes up in conversation people are shocked when I tell them my age! It’s fantastic…I guess I should travel forever…it will keep me YOUNG! Oh and I guess people are quite shocked with how brown I am…it’s a terrible thing, this olive skin
I have - ha.
Monday was our orientation day with Mike and Amanda. Both seem really really nice. The project itself is about a 30 minute drive from our house in a community called Red Hill. It seems SOO different than Khula Village…Khula looks like Saddle River in comparison! Going back to one of my previous entries…this is what I had envisioned I suppose…homes built from scraps and anything that can be used to make a wall and a ceiling…dirt and sand all over…homes on top of one another…etc. I have to say though it is such a photogenic village. Amanda thought best since this is literally the beginning of this project (as I mentioned they changed the entire thing around about two weeks ago) that we get to know them first before just snapping away, which I can understand but there were SOOO many pictures I was seeing and dying inside that I couldn’t pull out the camera. Especially with the sun out! So with this being the first few days of the project, we are essentially the guinea pigs.
The house is really nice here and I have my own room again with a queen bed
and ensuite bathroom…the whole thing may even be bigger than my last apartment in NYC. Shame. And that’s another thing…the people here all say shame!! And not in the way we use it, like oh that’s such a shame, but they use it under any circumstances. So the house is situated slightly up the mountain with great views of False Bay, which is essentially the Indian Ocean.
Tuesday was our first day at work…I started the morning at Children of Hope Educare Center where I helped out with the crèche (nursery) and the young children in preschool. Amanda was there for a bit but then I was left with Rene and Sohpia who are sister-in-laws married to two brothers and really nice! Charlotte and Becky went to the primary school. Both of Rene’s and Sophia’s children attend the Center and they are adorable. Rene (26) has three children…Joanne (8), Jeremiah (4), Elrige (2, and his name is also biblical where el stands for god and rige means reach) - never ever have I seen eyes before that smiled so much…even more so than his infectious cheek to cheek grin full of innocence. Sophia (38) has two children Ronald (6,
and ridiculously hyper and clingy) and Sophia (4, who has the most interesting eyes…Amanda seems to think that it may be from alcohol fetal syndrome but Sophia just doesn’t seem like the woman who drinks heavily. I dunno…
So overall this day was EXHAUSTING…I haven’t been this drained in a long long time. I don’t know how Rene and Sophia do this 5 days a week from 7AM to 5PM! I was there essentially the same period except I arrived at 8AM and had an hour lunch at home. The amount of snot, pee, poo, vomit, and dribble was more than enough to handle! There were about 12 kids in the crèche and another 12 in the edu-care. When I wasn’t helping with the feedings or keeping babies quiet I was cleaning the dishes…although I thought it was funny that I didn’t do them this morning back at the house and just shoved them in the dishwasher. Also there is no running water at Children of Hope although there is a sink and I assumed a drain but apparently it just falls into a pot underneath and not piped out…I nearly dumped a big tub of water into the
sink and thankfully realized that the pot below was full and I needed to chuck it outside…man, what a mess that would have been!
Children of Hope gets food donated to them every day for lunch. Inside the kitchen container was a bag of bread and I just saw how many flies were inside and it was really sad…I spent about ten minutes trying to get them out and then tying it in a knot so no more could get in! The containers themselves…essentially trailers…are much more structured and set up than the day care in St. Lucia but the structure of the program itself is not…mainly because, I assume, this project in Red Hill just started today with us.
When the children were leaving at 5PM, Sophia drives them home…I went out in time for her last trip of children…7 kids, 3 infants and herself and Rene in a small ass yellow car that resembles a 1982 colt. Cant say that I think its safe… oh and I how could I forget to mention the girl with colgate on her head! I showed up in the morning and straight away noticed a girl with blueish colored “medicine”
in her hair. When I warmed up with Rene and Sophia I asked what happened and why she had this stuff on her head…I guess the little girl had ringworms and so they shaved her all of her hair off and to keep the infected sores dry, her mother put toothpaste on them. She doesn’t seem to be effected by it so I guess I get a chuckle…I hope that’s not wrong!
Strangely enough it was pretty chilly on Tuesday, compared to the scorcher on Monday. I really needed pants and long sleeves! Might have only been like 60.
So day two was a bit different but more of the same…Same Same But Different. I worked at the bottom primary school…this one is a bit more rough around the edges and probably because it only charges R30 versus R120 per child. Anyway, I organized books, swept, put puzzle pieces in their correct box which included doing the actual puzzles and sharpened pencils. Not much time with the kids…there are only a few kids still at the moment as many of them are still on holiday until February. They all go to the Eastern Cape in South Africa which
is where most of them originally came from - this We were shuttled home and ate lunch pretty quickly and then went to Masiphumelele, another township where we will be helping out in the afternoon with kids.
Day three I was back at Children of Hope. Our newest (and last, at least while I am here) volunteer arrived…Ashley from Canada. Really sweet girl…again, she thought I was in my early twenties…I’m feeling younger and younger every day! So we’ve decided to swap between to the two day cares between the four of us every other day. It’s nice too at the moment since we all seem to get along. Anyway, another exhausting day! My self-imposed project was to take photos of each of the kids and we will print them and put their name on it so we know who they are! We are also taking pictures of the staff and Rene and Sophia wanted me to stop by again on Friday morning to retake their pictures…I’m interested to see how they do themselves up for a photo! So sweet.
The kids were great but the crier just went on and on and on…I’m shocked he has any
tears left…he exhausts himself to sleep, eventually… I changed my first poopy diaper…that was crap. Literally. Ugh, just awful. And then the same little tyke threw up ON me. That was special.
In the afternoon (after my disinfecting shower) we were back at Masiphumelele with the older school children. Our job is essentially to keep them occupied and happy for two hours til their parents or siblings come to pick them up. Some of them are absolutely adorable and others are a bit more of a menace. There was one girl who was taking all of the hoola-hoops we brought out (brand new) and folding them in half. It wasn’t cool at all and it was nearly impossible to get her to calm down and not go after them…when I got her to relax a bit she ran off in a sulk. Then there was the girl who I first thought was a boy…shame…it happens quite a bit since many children have their heads shaved…anyway, she’s sitting there in front of me saying, “Miwalke” and I’m trying to understand this strange local name…eventually I get that she is saying “Me, Walker”. Ahhh your name is Walker…so I in turn
respond with “Me, Beth”. She doesn’t say anything and I smile and move along. I come back maybe a minute later and alas, my little friend is standing in her Walker! I can’t tell you how much of a jackass I felt like, I mean I didn’t know but still I just had to apologize. OY!
I think Cape Town should be called the Windy City for literal reasons…it blows constantly! And plenty of gusts to pelt sand against your leg…I do under normal circumstances enjoy the breeze.
Friday was again more of the same…that evening I went to my friend Jon’s cousins home for Shabbat. I actually went to services as well! It was fascinating to see the differences…South African Jews seem to be very laid back, particularly in what they wear to shul. Some people were in linen pants and sandals and some women in dangerously low-cut booby tops. Even I thought it was wildly inappropriate. Although this shul was nice in that it had a choir. Different than anything I had been to before. Dinner was delicious at his parents house and it was just nice to be surrounded by local people. They are a
bit far from where I stay…I think it was 45 minutes without traffic. I was able to get dropped off by AI but on the way home I took a quite expensive taxi back since we are no longer in the city anymore. I felt badly that I was kind of rushing out…I was beginning to feel a bit queasy. And not to mention EXHAUSTED! After about 10 minutes of trying to get a hold of Ricky’s (the taxi company) we finally got through and they would be there in another 10 minutes. They had been nice enough to suggest that I stay over but it’s a good thing I didn’t since my queasiness came into full force shortly after I came home. Oy! The rest of the night was a disaster and Saturday day was terrible as well. I have no idea if it was something I ate or if I caught something from one of the kids…but I started to wig out that I had malaria…as the first signs are flu-like symptoms…so I went to the doctor who said that there was “something” going around but if I still felt like shit on Monday to come back. Well
its Saturday night and I feel a good deal better although a bit achy and sore. Not a fun night I tell you! So my first weekend in Cape Town was sort of a bust. I didn’t go out with the volunteers either night…but oh well. My health is my priority.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.136s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 13; qc: 82; dbt: 0.0936s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
Ali
Ali Watters
Colours! fantastic
Just a comment on your latest photos - yet to read anything ;)