Day 4: Zachary Cavazos

Today’s the third day of volunteering and it got off to an interesting start. When we got to the school, one first grade class was out on the field. They soon left to go back to their home room, but immediately came right back out as their teacher had some other business to attend to. We then had two first grade classes so we let the gym teacher take the new class while we took the still energetic, previous class of first graders.  At this point we’d received a good amount of exposure to the kids and how the gym class operates, however this was still our first group of really young children. It was exactly as hectic as you’d imagine it would be with six or seven young adults chasing a group of 30ish six year-olds around half a soccer field. Still, with our newly purchased tennis balls and hula hoops we scavenged for, we managed to create enough games to keep the kids mostly entertained. Though our attempt at a large game of sharks and minnows failed at the cost of Max’s voice and energy, the kids left happy and we had a great time.

After our first class, we had some time to come together and talk about what we wanted to do with the rest of the day, so we decided we’d make up five stations on the field and have the kids rotate around. This ended up working out really well and will likely be something we continue to use into next week. One thing the kids especially liked was the softball station where we were able to get them excited about a new sport and new equipment. Overall, it was our best volunteering day thus far in terms of how organized we were as well as how much we were able to engage the kids in new things.

During the volunteering day, one of the Dreams to Reality coordinators, Melissa, came to the school and took groups of four at a time through the neighborhood called Capricorn where many of the students come from. The community was once a site of nice government housing, however it has now degraded to houses with makeshift fences, roofing, and other structures, with the residents using anything they can find. Corrugated metal is a popular material, along with old pieces of wood and tarps.

 

This is one of the streets we drove past in Capricorn

People in Capricorn have built on their existing houses with corrugated metal, wire, wood, and any other material they can find

Besides seeing the makeshift structures, we were also told about the problems involving the JFK (Junky Funky Kids) gang and their rivals, the very prominent drug issues, and the protection fees the gangs charge all of the businesses in the neighborhood and surrounding areas. It ended up being an extremely enlightening experience as we learned about the background of some of the students we work with. Because they look and act one way at school, we can’t tell much about their background and they problems they may face at home, with drugs and violence being extremely prevalent in the Capricorn neighborhood. Melissa even shared the harsh reality of having students she had worked with through DTR killed by gang members and other acts of violence in the neighborhood. Still, it was interesting to hear that there is a mutual understanding between the volunteer organization and the gang members in the community where Melissa will greet everyone with a friendly smile and they will never think to harm any visitors being shown the community because they see the value they provide their children.

After a long day of volunteering and getting an idea of the background of the children, we had the opportunity to go on a short excursion out to Boulder’s Bay where there’s a large African Penguin colony. We made our way out there with a few Zimbabwean Uber drivers and were able to go out into the park where there were hundreds of penguins running around, staring at bushes and what not. As most of us are penguin admirers, we had a pretty awesome time out there and I particularly enjoyed watching the squads of penguins roll up together in a wave onto the beach.

Boulder Beach is one of Cape Town’s hot spots for South African penguins where they swim, socialize, and waddle around

This was a pretty fun excursion but it was a really nice wrap up to our volunteering week as we’re leaving for a three-day trip to bungee jump and go on a safari this weekend. We finished up the very end of the night by searching around Muzenberg for Wi-Fi and ultimately failing miserably.

Final Thoughts: Lingene Yang

On my last day in South Africa, I was both sad and happy. Our Uber driver, Determine, was playing See You Again while driving us to the airport, which helped me reflect on my experience. I was sad leaving after two short weeks because I was just getting to know many of the students at Floreat Primary School and only` saw most students in the computer class once. I wanted to stay there longer to see improvement in their skills over several classes. But I was happy to have the opportunity to teach the students and take photographs for them. Just seeing the smiles and excitement on their faces when my group and I arrived was very heartwarming. Many of the teachers also thanked me for making a big impact on the students by being there and being a role model they look up to, even though I was only there for a short time.

Me with many of the Prefects at Floreat Primary School

 

I absolutely loved teaching computer training classes while I was at Floreat. During our first few days, we noticed that most of the kids didn’t use computers frequently and only typed on the keyboard with two fingers. We found online resources and created a sustainable lesson plan around helping the students type efficiently with both hands. During each class we first taught the proper hand positioning on the keyboard, and then worked one on one with the students to help them practice typing with both hands. Even after the first session of teaching typing, I already saw improvement in student’s typing skills. It was exciting to see the focus in their eyes as they practiced typing even after the class was over. We occasionally showed the students how fast we can type. The students would all gather around me, screaming “yooooooooo” as they saw me typing at 107 words per minute without looking at the keyboard and typing faster than anyone else.

Andrew O’Hara teaching a student with typing using specific fingers

Bridget Koessler watching a student practice on a typing lesson.

A student intensely practicing typing.

I also learned from our host organization, Dreams to Reality, that when entering high school, students from Floreat would have to choose a specific area of study. Most students wouldn’t have many other opportunities to practice using computers besides typing up assignments in Microsoft Word. I decided during my last week to create a small programming demo to show some of the grade 7 students about the usefulness of programming and computers and possibly inspire them to pursue engineering disciplines. My short demo included printing “hello world”, counting with a for loop, using user generated input for output, and figuring out even and odd numbers through if statement logic. I was really excited to see the students’ mouths drop in amazement when I showed them the short programs and their realization of what computers can do. A few even told me that they want to now study Computer Science in high school.

Students amazed at the code I wrote.

Using user generated input for output.

Many of the students were intrigued at how my programs worked.

On a few days at the school I brought out my camera to take pictures of the students and school. Crowds of students quickly surrounded me, begging me to take pictures of them. After showing a few students some of my photos I’ve taken in the past, many of them started hailing me as one of the best photographers. They were ecstatic when I offered to take portraits of some of the Prefects. During two of the daily intervals the school has, I gathered all of the Prefects and took portraits of all of them.

Taking portraits of the Prefects.

Instead of going on one last excursion with the rest of the group, a few of us went out to print the photos I took and surprise the students with printed photos for them to keep as well as saying one last goodbye. It was so nice to see them getting all excited over their individual and group portraits (see video below).

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Overall, the Volunteer Abroad trip was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I had so much fun teaching the students and hanging out with them during intervals. Our many excursions around Cape Town and South Africa were just an added bonus to volunteering at Floreat Primary. South Africa is also one of the most beautiful countries I’ve been to, and the many mountains create interesting weather patterns and beautiful views of the surrounding landscapes. Below are some of the pictures I took throughout my time in South Africa.

The Beauty of Cape Town

Group picture in front of Table Mountain

Sitting at the top of the world.

Ascending love

Mr. van der Hoven and Prefects

Table Mountain at sunset

Table Mountain at twilight

Cape Town at night

Great views from Table Mountain

Groot Constantia

The prison where Nelson Mandela was held

A prison cell at Robben Island

Boston is not too far away…

V&A Waterfront in Cape Town

View of Signal Hill and Lions Head from V&A Waterfront

Truth, one of the best coffee shops in Cape Town, has a unique steampunk vibe

Truth. Hard at work making coffee

Path to Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

Group portrait at the Cape of Good Hope

Bridget Koessler. Taken at Lions Head

Enjoying the sunset after hiking up Lions Head

A drive through the Lavender Hill, where many of the poor live

Makeshift homes in Lavender Hill

Many children come from town in the Cape Flats and attend schools such as Floreat Primary School

Students at Floreat Primary School line up for class

A hallway at Floreat Primary

Children getting ready to play

Children crowding around my camera trying to get in the picture

Students crowd Erin Flannery

Spenser Pawlik reading to a group of children

Max Boykin teaching a child how to hold and throw a baseball

Kirstenbosch botanical garden, where you can find a multitude of species of plants

A bird perched on some plants at Kirstenbosch

A plant found at Kirstenbosch

A canopy walk through trees at Kirstenbosch

A mountain in the shape of Africa

Hanging out around a bonfire at a hostel on a 3 day excursion

Learning about the stars with Errol, our tour guide

Paul Akande taking a picture of the beautiful landscape

Sam Dion representing Michigan

EGL group portrait

Penguin!

One of the many houses in Muizenberg

Day 13: Spenser Pawlik

Today was our last day in Cape Town, we woke up and taxied to the ferry ride over to Robben Island. I understood the island was the location of Nelson Mandela’s prison cell during the apartheid regime in South Africa, but we would soon learn much more about the place. We had to run to make it but everyone just made it on the boat. An erie and foggy ride brought us the the island as the small boat harbor appeared through the fog. The island is much larger than I organically expected and we rode in a tour bus to the different sites on the island. After a brief history description, we learned that Robben Island was first home to slaves in the 1800s, a World War II base for the British Navy, and then an apartheid work camp from 1950-1991. Now it serves as a museum and is actually inhabited by many of the museum workers and their families.

The entrance to Robben Island where family and friends would arrive to visit prisoners. A family member could schedule one 30 minute visit every 6 months and could only speak English or Afrikaans (2 of the 11 official languages in South Africa) during the visit. 

We visited a stone quarry on the island where african american men were forced to work endlessly removing and moving stone, often for to particular purpose at all. A visit to the tiny prison cell where Nelson Mandela spent nearly 20 years of his life really put the experience into perspective. The visit ends with a conversation with a man who also served a sentence on the island during the apartheid period. He discussed his experience on the island and told stories about the leadership Nelson Mandela displayed while imprisoned.

Nelson Mandela lived in this prison cell for 18 of his 27 years in prison 

To finish our last day in Cape Town, we rode a cable car to the top of Table Mountain, recently claimed one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The view at the top was amazing as we could see all of Cape Town and even out to Robben Island in Table Bay.

The view from Table Mountain of Cape Town, Lion’s Head (to the left), and Robben Island (in the distance)

After Table Mountain it was time for goodbyes and rides to the airport. South Africa has been an amazing experience and I have grown so much closer to my EGL classmates. I can only speak for myself but the kids we worked with have definitely made an incredible impact on my life. A single child’s smile hides the poor living conditions at home and the violence they encounter everyday. We were there to provide that bright spot in their day through the lessons we prepared and the encouragement we provided. We will continue to send our support to their school in hopes of making a lasting connection.

Day 10: Yusuf Ghani

Hey this is Yusuf here, a Tauber 1 studying Industrial and Operations engineering. You may remember me from the Peru VA abroad blog last year. I am back this time around to talk about my experiences here in Cape Town.

Today was packed. We volunteered in the morning, went to the District 6 Museum in the afternoon, and climbed the Lion’s Head mountain around sunset.

I think today’s volunteering has been the best day so far. I work in the computer lab teaching typing with Andrew, Bridget, Lingene and Susan, and on many days before today we would have to go to the classrooms to “remind” the teachers to send their kids to computer class. Not today. All of our classes came in as expected. What really showed me that I was making an impact was when, in the morning when we had no classes scheduled, the fifth grade teacher sent her boys to the computer class so we could teach them the same typing lesson we taught the girls one day earlier. I will admit that the fifth grade boys were less well behaved than the girls, but the teacher was still surprised by how focused we were able to keep them.

The Grade 5 girls were rockstars learning to type!

Classes end early (at 1:40 PM) for us on Wednesdays. After the noon interval we has second and seventh graders before heading back to Royal House. We ate quickly as Determine (the local uber driver whom we had come to befriend) and his two mates would be at the house by 2:30. Soon we were heading north on the M5 towards Cape Town and the District 6 museum.

We arrived to the museum around 3 PM. It was supposed to close at 4. At first I didn’t think this would be enough time to view a museum but the space was smaller than I expected. The inside was a large open space illuminated by diffuse sunlight coming through a large window in the center of the roof. The exhibits were located along the perimeter of the room, and there were stairwells to the second floor in the corners. To me it was less of a museum and more of a memorial to all of the people who were forcibly moved from their homes during Apartheid. What struck me most was seeing a large canvas that hung from the ceiling to the floor that was covered with the homecoming messages from residents of all walks of life. It just serves as a reminder of how recent Apartheid was in the lives of most South Africans and how every single person has a different story and history to share.

This canvas hung two stories tall and is signed by any former District Six resident who visits the museum. 

From the District 6 Museum we took a 15-minute drive to the base of the Lion’s Head peak. Talking to Angelo and other Capetonians I had heard that this was a much nicer hike than Table Mountain. Considering that hiking Table Mountain takes about 2 hours one way, I was sold at a 45-minute ascent to the peak. The trail was a wide gravel path for the first third of the way up before becoming a path carved into the rock. Towards the top we had to use some ladders and chains that were drilled into the rock to climb some steeper faces of the mountain. We reached the peak right around sunset time and my words cannot do justice to the view. To the east you could see Table Mountain in all of its glory and one by one the lights of Cape Town began to turn on one by one as the set set to the west over the shimmering Atlantic. Lingene took many photos at the top and I am looking forward to see how they turned out.

The sunset from the top of Lion’s Head

We began our descent in the twilight and made it to the bottom by nightfall. Along the way we were passed by a couple people who jog up and down the mountain for exercise. One of the women whom we saw must have been in her late forties upper fifties said that she can usually make it down the mountain in 20 minutes. We did not come close to that time. It was a great end to a great day.

 

P.S. If you are reading this Pops, have a great birthday and I look forward to celebrating with you soon!

Day 8: Chris Hudson

Today marks the start of our second week here in South Africa. I know myself and a lot of others were completely worn out from our crammed and busy weekend of excursions. And to add salt in the wound, a few of use including myself are coming down with a cold. Nonetheless this didn’t stop any of us from being able to go back to Floreat and help out with all the kids there. Myself and the other PE coaches (what they call all of us instructors) started off the day by writing up some criculum  for the the different age groups while the school was in assembly. Now that we have seen generally what mr cootzee has planned for each age group we wanted to have a standard for how we start each class and also so that future volunteers have a reference for running activities in PE. The first class we had was the grade r kids and wow did they have a lot of energy! We started with some hopscotch exercises and played some basic command games such as Red Light Green Light and Simon Says. Our next classes followed similarly being as they were 1st and 2nd graders. It’s been very rewarding to see the enjoyment they each have when we teach them new games.

After volunteering at school today a group of us got the chance to go to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens while the others surfed and walked along the coast of Muizenburg. These gardens contained over thousands of plants, trees, and flowers unique only to Cape Town and South Africa.

Some of the beautiful flora native to South Africa

It was truly extraordinary and very beautiful overall. Just to give you a feel for how large the place was, we arrived a couple hours before closing and we still didn’t have enough time to see even half of everything. My favorite parts however were the tree canopy walkway and the useful plants section where we could see which plants were used to cure/alleviate what.

The gardens were massive!

To end the day we all got together around dinner and spent the night together which gave me another opportunity to bond with my EGL family that I am just starting to get to know.

Day 7: Andrew O’Hara

On today’s agenda was a Safari in the Garden Route game park, then the long return trip to Muizenberg. We woke up at around 6:30 AM to get an early start. Awaiting us was our first hot breakfast of the trip. After packing up, we boarded the bus. After about 2 hours on the bus our guide wanted to stop by a scenic look-out area called the “Map of Africa”. Essentially it was a mountain that looked like the shape of Africa, with a stream outlining it. Nearby was an amazing view of the ocean called the Wilderness coast. We spent a little time walking around the area, stretching out our legs and taking pictures.

After another 2 hours we arrived at the game park. 7 of us piled into a safari vehicle and took off towards the last known location of the cheetah. Apparently, all predators must wear a collar that transmits their location every 9 hours. Recently, one of the two cheetahs on the reserve had been tracked. According to the guide, the cheetahs are nearly impossible to find without the transmitted location, so our guide wanted to get us to the cheetah before it moved.

The reserve had two elephants. This picture doesn’t do them justice, they were huge!

Along the way, we made a few quick stops to see Waterbuck, Zebras, Water Buffalo, and Rhinos. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable about all species and provided a lot of interesting facts. The cost of a Water Buffalo is usually around 180,000 Rand == $15,000; however, the most expensive one went for 144 million Rand == $13 million. Most people purchase the Water Buffalo to hunt it. Our guide also talked about the growing problem of hunting Rhinos for  their horns. Many cultures believe that Rhino horn is medicinal and an aphrodisiac, so horn is in high demand. Currently the per gram price of Rhino horn is double the price of gold. Authorities are currently stockpiling the supply of Rhino horn acquired through legal means. Once they stockpile enough, authorities will flood the markets with Rhino horn in order to drive down the price. The hope is that once prices go down, less people will try to kill Rhinos for their horns.

Next, we saw one of the cheetahs and 3 giraffes. We ended up about 10 feet away from the large, male giraffe.

Look how close to the giraffe we were!

Apparently, giraffes only sleep about 30 minutes per day. After seeing the giraffe, we went to a separately fenced off area of the park. In order to get into the area, we had to drive over an electrified mesh netting. The first thing we saw on the other side was a fresh caracas… pretty ominous stuff. Obviously, this was the lion territory. The guide then proceeded to tell us about a time when one of the tourists got out of the truck to take a picture and was attacked by a lion. Now that everyone in the truck was incredibly uneasy, the guide proceeded to laugh and drive over to the spot where the lions were sleeping. The lions must have recently eaten because they seemed pretty relaxed. They were just “lion” (lying) around.

After finishing up with the lions, we took off to see some elephants. Our guide started the drive by saying, “I’m really not allowed to go this way, but we are running a little behind, so I’m going to do it anyway.” It was then proceeded by, “Watch your heads, it might get a little bumpy.” Now, this seems fairly innocent, except the roof of the vehicle was a solid 2 feet above our heads. How could we bounce out of our seats two whole feet? Well, we definitely made it to the elephants in record time. Luckily, no one injured themselves; however, that was largely due to robust handles and grip strength. It brought a whole new meaning to “white knuckle”.

Zebras! (Not zee-bra, ze-bra)

We finished the safari by driving by a few fenced off areas with animals for sale. There is a lot of selling and buying animals in order to ensure genetic diversity and maximize breeding potential. Our guide went into one of the pens with a cheetah and started petting it. It was a once in a lifetime experience and our guide was incredibly knowledgeable.

After the safari, we piled back into the van and drove the remaining 4 hours home. During the ride home, we talked with Errol about the history of South Africa and played some fun car games. We had a relatively quiet night. We went to an amazing local restaurant called Tigers Milk that had great pizza and burgers. We finished the night with planning material for the week of volunteering.

Day 6: Yatri Patel

We started bright and early with a visit to an ostrich farm. This was probably the activity that I wasn’t too excited for since I expected it to be more like an ostrich zoo or at best an ostrich petting zoo. It turned out to be much more exciting than that. Our guide, Justin, was very knowledgeable and informed us on the various products from different subspecies, their behaviors, and their history. We then went outside and had the opportunity to feed a group of female ostriches from our hands. It wasn’t painful since ostriches don’t have teeth and they actually have to swallow pebbles with their food to mechanically break it down. Another fun fact: if you cover an ostrich’s eyes, it can’t see you so it thinks you can’t see it either. And their eyes are bigger than their brain. At the end of the tour, we could sit on and ride a few of the ostriches. I was the only one to ride an ostrich because of the weight limit and it was extremely thrilling. The two jockeys showed me how to climb on, where to sit, and what to hold on to. Then they told me to lean back and I was confused until the ostrich took off at about 15 miles per hour. No warning. And then it was over in about 10 seconds.

 

EGL Senior Bridget was brave enough to climb on the Ostrich. *Note the video of Yatri riding the ostrich will be distributed at a later date

After leaving the ostrich farm we had lunch and jumped of a bridge.  Yes, all 15 of the EGL volunteers jumped off the tallest bungee bridge in the world (216 meters). There might have been a little bit of peer pressure in the decision-making process but we all emerged stronger because if it.  First we were harnessed and then we had to complete the first challenge called the catwalk. This meant we walked over a flimsy, wire bridge to the jump platform while trying not to look down because it was terrifying. When we finally got to the platform, the guys there were really cheerful and energetic so I was excited again. Another guide explained what we should do when we jumped and how to stay safe while waiting. The first person to jump was Michael and although he was really calm during the jump (at least he looked like it), we were in the back watching him and panicking before our turn. One by one everyone jumped and gradually I was more comfortable with the idea of throwing myself of a ridge. When my turn came, I was relatively calm until they moved me into position to jump. At that moment I wanted to chicken and quit but I managed to force myself to take that one small leap and I don’t regret it.  There are no words to describe the feelings I felt in the next 5 seconds. It was pure adrenaline.

 

All smiles post 216 meter Bungee Jump! Don’t worry moms we all made it!

Finally, in the evening, we went for an easy hike in the Tsitsikamma National Park. The park had breathtaking views along the trail to the suspension bridge. We were right by the ocean and could see a long length of the mountains along the shores. There were little nooks and caves that brought back memories of childhood fantasies of secret villages with elves and trolls. As the sun was setting, we left for our hostel for the night.

Day 5: Michael Brown

Today was the beginning of our three day expedition across South Africa. We started off with an early wake up to kick off the six hour drive. We loaded up the mini bus and began the scenic drive. We traversed mountains for hours and overlooked farms and cities.

Part way into the drive, our tour guide took us to a waterfall that was off the highway. Here, he told us about rock formations, how clouds get trapped in the mountains and cause hot springs, and the extreme number of plant species in the area. The plant species vary extremely when you look from one square meter of land to the next.

We took a moment to take some pictures in the area, and then took a quick group photo. The group photo was great; however, we had a minor casualty on the way back to the bus. While snapping a quick photo, someone slipped on a rock and fell into the water at the bottom of the waterfall. She was fine, but her phone was a goner. After she quickly changed into dry clothes, we pushed on with our journey.

Fast forward a few hours and we arrived in Oudtshoorn. Oudtshoorn is the ostrich capital of the world, but due to time constraints we had to push off exploring this until the next day.

Instead, we started off with an hour heritage tour of the Cango Caves. They took us through 1.2 km of paths throughout the caves. The tour guide explained the history of the caves and how the different types of formations in the cave were created.

Our EGL Seniors loved roaming the million year old caves

We had a good time exploring the caves, and we headed to our hostel afterwards.

We dropped off our stuff at the hostel and drove to a local restaurant, Ocean Basket, for dinner. They had very good food, and we scraped every last piece off the seafood platters that we were served. After dinner, we bonded back at the hostel and watched the Olympics before heading to bed.

It has been a great trip so far. We have all had a great time getting to work with the children, or learners, and the teachers at Floreat. I have been helping out with a kindergarten class in addition to the sports development project. The kids are very interested in learning about us and live in the United States. Similarly, I have gotten to learn a lot about South Africa, the kid’s backgrounds and families, and have even learned a few Afrikaans phrases. Totsiens!

Day 4: Zachary Cavazos

Today’s the third day of volunteering and it got off to an interesting start. When we got to the school, one first grade class was out on the field. They soon left to go back to their home room, but immediately came right back out as their teacher had some other business to attend to. We then had two first grade classes so we let the gym teacher take the new class while we took the still energetic, previous class of first graders.  At this point we’d received a good amount of exposure to the kids and how the gym class operates, however this was still our first group of really young children. It was exactly as hectic as you’d imagine it would be with six or seven young adults chasing a group of 30ish six year-olds around half a soccer field. Still, with our newly purchased tennis balls and hula hoops we scavenged for, we managed to create enough games to keep the kids mostly entertained. Though our attempt at a large game of sharks and minnows failed at the cost of Max’s voice and energy, the kids left happy and we had a great time.

After our first class, we had some time to come together and talk about what we wanted to do with the rest of the day, so we decided we’d make up five stations on the field and have the kids rotate around. This ended up working out really well and will likely be something we continue to use into next week. One thing the kids especially liked was the softball station where we were able to get them excited about a new sport and new equipment. Overall, it was our best volunteering day thus far in terms of how organized we were as well as how much we were able to engage the kids in new things.

During the volunteering day, one of the Dreams to Reality coordinators, Melissa, came to the school and took groups of four at a time through the neighborhood called Capricorn where many of the students come from. The community was once a site of nice government housing, however it has now degraded to houses with makeshift fences, roofing, and other structures, with the residents using anything they can find. Corrugated metal is a popular material, along with old pieces of wood and tarps.

 

People in Capricorn have built on their existing houses with corrugated metal, wire, wood, and any other material they can find

Besides seeing the makeshift structures, we were also told about the problems involving the JFK (Junky Funky Kids) gang and their rivals, the very prominent drug issues, and the protection fees the gangs charge all of the businesses in the neighborhood and surrounding areas. It ended up being an extremely enlightening experience as we learned about the background of some of the students we work with. Because they look and act one way at school, we can’t tell much about their background and they problems they may face at home, with drugs and violence being extremely prevalent in the Capricorn neighborhood. Melissa even shared the harsh reality of having students she had worked with through DTR killed by gang members and other acts of violence in the neighborhood. Still, it was interesting to hear that there is a mutual understanding between the volunteer organization and the gang members in the community where Melissa will greet everyone with a friendly smile and they will never think to harm any visitors being shown the community because they see the value they provide their children.

 

After a long day of volunteering and getting an idea of the background of the children, we had the opportunity to go on a short excursion out to Boulder’s Bay where there’s a large African Penguin colony. We made our way out there with a few Zimbabwean Uber drivers and were able to go out into the park where there were hundreds of penguins running around, staring at bushes and what not. As most of us are penguin admirers, we had a pretty awesome time out there and I particularly enjoyed watching the squads of penguins roll up together in a wave onto the beach.

This was a pretty fun excursion but it was a really nice wrap up to our volunteering week as we’re leaving for a three-day trip to bungee jump and go on a safari this weekend. We finished up the very end of the night by searching around Muizenberg for Wi-Fi and ultimately failing miserably.

Day 3: Lizzy Ettleson

Today was my first day back in second grade in 13 years. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in tiny chairs in a classroom with alphabet animals lining the walls. The setting brought back memories of my time in Mrs. Powell’s second grade class. Memories of sitting cross-legged on the floor listening to my teacher read and working through double digit addition math exercises. Half way across the world and over a decade later, the same activities are happening in this Grade 2 classroom. This is the class that I’m assisting during my time volunteering at Floreat Primary School. Although the class reminds me of my time in elementary school, stark differences separate the experiences. This class has 35 students in a classroom smaller than mine of 25, each student nearly touching the shoulder of the student next to them. But Mrs. Solomon’s knows each one of her students inside and out, and the passion she exudes is inspiring. I’ve noticed that in general teachers at the school tend to be stricter and the disciplinary action more harsh than in the United States. However, it’s evident the teachers are shaping these students to be good-hearted, productive citizens despite the disadvantaged background so many of the students come from.

At first I was unsure of my role in the classroom. The children were very polite and pleasant when I entered the room, but they too seemed confused on what role I would play in their life. I wasn’t told what to do, and it took time to adjust to a new classroom. But soon I was helping the students with their math exercises, and they were teaching me their version of Duck Duck Goose on the playground. I learned that more often than not eye contact and a smile was met with the same in return. Mrs. Solomons asked me to tell the class about my culture, and I realized that the observation of culture was two-way. They wanted to know if I had met Justin Bieber, and if people in America have dogs. None of these students have ever been to United States so just as they are my window into South African culture, I am their window into America’s.

After volunteering, we hit the beach for a surf lesson! The fifteen of us wet-suited up, grabbed a board, and headed out to the ocean.

We wet-suited up!

I, like many in our group, had never surfed before but were excited to give it a try. According to one of our instructors, it was “flippin’ windy” but we went out anyway. I myself was definitely not short on wipeouts and swallowed a little more salt water than I wanted, but I was so impressed with some of the surf talent in this group! Regardless, I think we all had a blast and are excited to catch some waves next week.