Emily K on budgeting in South Africa

Many people ask me how I was able to afford to come on a trip so amazing as this and participate in all of the wondrous activities Cape Town has to offer. It has been a combination of a lot of things that allowed me to come on this trip in the first place and that allows me to sustain being here!

I think that taking advantage of opportunities that college offers is extremely important. When I applied for college, I knew that I wanted studying abroad to be part of my experience. I also knew that there would be significant costs involved if I wanted to make my goal of studying abroad a reality. Knowing this, I took special care to make sure that I sought out, or found, every financial option to ensure my trip could happen.

I did this in a few different ways. First, I saved my own money from my summer job and my job at school. This was very important because even if I did win scholarship money additional money would be necessary for me to have to spend on the trip on things like groceries and activities that would allow me to make the most of my experience. While at my university I tried to find work that was relevant to my field and enhance my college and study abroad experience while gaining funds that I needed for studying abroad.

In addition to working, I looked for scholarship opportunities available to me as a student at the University of Connecticut. I found that our study abroad office offered a Global Citizenship scholarship that I could apply for when I submitted my study abroad application through the completion of an essay on global citizenship. I also found that my major, Human Rights, offered funding for students completing their internship and I would be completing an internship while studying abroad. I was very excited to win both of these scholarships and they significantly offset the cost of studying abroad.

Lastly, I looked for scholarships to study abroad available to all university students. I found a program called the Gilman Scholarship given out by the United States Government for students who have financial need and would like to study abroad. I applied for this scholarship and went to the study abroad office for advice on writing my essays and the Gilman application process. This award helped tremendously with the cost of studying abroad and not only provided me with funding but important connections to a community of current recipients and alumni who studied abroad as well as connecting me with programs like Reach the World to help me get the most out of my study abroad experience.

Now that I am abroad, I know that I need to be responsible with the funds I have with me. In order to accomplish this I came up with a budget before I left that I try to adhere to. This budget allocated money for certain things each week; it allows for money to cover transportation costs, groceries, and some money for activities. I also made a list of things I wanted to do in Cape Town outside of my program and set aside a special fund from my summer job so that I can have these experiences. I keep track of all of my expenses in a notebook so I can see where all my money is going and to make sure that I am maximizing my experience through the best possible use of the money I have with me.

Katrina's recognition of her privlege

The train that runs through much of Cape Town has become one of my favorite discoveries over the past few months. With the Rondebosch station a mere 20 minute walk (but more often a 10 minute sprint), you can hop on and get a round trip ticket all the way to the beautiful beaches of Muizenberg for about 180 rand (the equivalent of less than a dollar seventy-five). The train here is pretty different from the handful I’ve been on back home, a metro ticket entails cramming yourself into the door and pushing your way through a mosh pit of people hoping to get a ceiling hold for when the train jolts off. From there you stand, holding on by one arm, as you get pushed every which way by people coming and going, old and young, everything from beggars to performers to preachers. One morning a few kids even got the whole train singing a Bruno mars song…good stuff.

On one of our first trips home on the train, four of us accidently got on the MetroPlus section, a section much less crowded and hectic than the Metro section, even offering a seat on the quieter days. We happily took a seat, pumped that we wouldn’t have to stand in the loud, cramped and sweaty section we were in before.

Two men wearing uniforms then came dramatically onto our car, yelling at people asking for tickets. I froze. Although I had suspected so, it was then I realized we were on the MetroPlus without the correct tickets, and we were about to get caught. Would I go to train jail?!?!? The officer first started yelling harshly at this old, frail women sitting across from us, ending with him ripping the brown bag with a bottle of alcohol in it and violently throwing it out the window. I could hear the glass shatter on the tracks as the women cried out. They argued with the next man, but in Xhosa so I couldn’t understand (all the good drama always is), but ended up forcing him up and out of the train on the next stop. I knew my moment was next, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. But the train official didn’t even look my way as he walked past. Initially I was relieved, over-joyed really to avoid that confrontation. How lucky I was! But it quickly dawned on me. Was luck really it? Why had he so harshly harassed the other people sitting around me and not even given us a glance? It was clear to me now. We were the only 4 white people on the train. He assumed that obviously we were not supposed to be on the Metro, and even if we weren’t it would not be worth the fuss for them to hassle us. I should’ve been happy for my free train ride, but all I could picture was the tears in the old woman’s eyes as the bottle shattered, falling quickly behind us.

Katrina opening her eyes to the world

Spending time here in South Africa has opened my eyes like never before to just how many free rides I’ve been given. I’ve been constantly confronted by my own privilege, which is honestly a very uncomfortable though necessary experience in my mind. Being a white America here, I am the top of the totem pole. If I walk around the township of Khayelitsha, children wave and flock to me, and people run out of their houses to take pictures of me. This is not after spending long hours volunteering or trying to improve living conditions, this is after I’ve done NOTHING. I am a celebrity simply because I am white and American. I am a celebrity in some of the schools because of what past students that looked like me have done. This is a very humbling experience, and I can only hope that any time I spend with the people during my stay can even come close to earning the respect they already give me.

Working in Tafelsig, I get to interact and get to know lots of patients living in the area everyday. Many of them ask me why I’m here, what my program entails, and how I like Cape Town. I can’t help but tell them I’ve absolutely fallen in love with their homeland, and never want to leave. While they want to hear that I like it, there is also the unspoken knowledge that my existence in Cape Town is very different from theirs. While I’m off hiking, running races, and surfing they are stuck in their small homes and shacks in unbearable conditions. While I go home at night and sleep in a (mostly) safe house, they don’t know what dangers the night will bring. We laugh and I’ve connected with many patients, but we each know the unspoken privileges that will mean very different lives for both us and our children.

Katrina (front center) with colleagues at Tafelsig Clinic

When I do clinical work in the prep room, it is my first job to ask them their age. Every time I get a patient who is 20 I can’t help but pause. Often times this 20 year old, sharing my age and time on this planet, has already been pregnant at least once, and likely without work or education. And she is looking to ME as her medical provider, a title she only gives me because I’m a white American wearing scrubs. I have a whole world of possibilities in front of me, while her life seems doomed to follow in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, struggling to get by, day by day, and raising children from an early age. Some days this seems almost too much for me. Why was I born into such incredible privilege, and better yet, how could I have not even truly appreciated it until now? Of all the trivial things I complain and think about, it is rare that I realize how much I’ve been given. With loving supportive parents, all my basic needs met, and access to an amazing education and so many opportunities, my future was whatever I wanted it to be. I’ve found that both guilt and pity are unproductive emotions, but I’m still trying to find what to make of this privilege I was given, and how I can use that to help whatever community I end up living in. And for now I remain SO incredibly grateful to be having this opportunity, by far the best time of my life.

Melanie's recap of her time in Cape Town

Despite at first thinking this may be impossible, my time in Cape Town has become increasingly exciting and meaningful. I have been fully enjoying my internship, classes, activism project, and some fun activities!

First of all, Manuela and I have begun spending our Mondays at the Kliptonfein Primary School in the run-down community of Netgear (translating to Just Right) with a community worker. First of all, I felt incredibly welcomed by all the staff. On our first day we were thrown right into it, Deon put us at his desk and told us any person who walked into his office was now our responsibility. 



It was not easy because we were not yet familiar with the resources available in the area but Deon helped us get familiar with how he goes about helping clients. The first woman was new to Deon’s office and was having a housing problem because she was no longer getting along with her husbands family whom she stayed with. Her husband also was about to lose his job and her cancer had just come back. With the help of Deon the women was given information about getting onto a housing project waitlist but it did not look promising. Instead, Deon resorted to giving advice about ways to handle conflicts with the family and to encourage her husband to be supportive in her time of sickness and need. After more people came in and out throughout the morning I began to notice something about the way Deon valued each of his clients. No matter what problems they came in with, he advocated for them and exhausted all of his resources to help solve their problems. Often one client would sit there as he made dozens of phone calls, dialing away and patiently explaining the dire need for whoever was on the other end to help. As someone who wants to enter the social services field, this is a value I will want to hold onto deeply. Even if Deon is not able to help his client, they leave with the validation of knowing someone tried everything they could, they feel respected and heard.

Aside from spending mornings in Deon’s office, we’ve found ourselves useful in all other areas of the school. We help in the crèche, in the after-care tutoring program for underachieving kids, playing at recess, and our personal favorite was reading to a grade 4 class and doing a mini-English lesson (being as it’s a primarily Afrikaans speaking school). Visiting the classroom was really fun and it allowed us to also form relationships with the teachers. We were graciously invited to dinner Friday night with two of the teachers and then ended up playing mini-golf at Sea Point. Overall, this experience has helped me realize I really enjoy the school environment and should look into school social work for the future.

The classes we’ve been taking here have also been really insightful. We are exploring the history and politics of South Africa, the basics of the organization of our internships, and in Marita’s class we explore and discuss issues relating to race, class, gender, and privileges as a whole. I’ve learned to look at issues in a whole new, non-defensive way and connect them to not only what goes on here in South Africa but also how my own life has been impacted by them. So far it’s brought a lot of awareness to me and I look forward to continue reflecting on it.

Another new, exciting aspect of this program for me is my new activism project. Despite getting off the a rocky start, myself and Emily, Savannah, and Lauren have decided to volunteer, do crafts, and read with the children at Maitland Cottage Home, a residential hospital for physically disable children (where Savannah also interns). The need for this as brought to our attention as Savannah pointed out that the children there do not get many visitors and don’t have enough toys to play with. After Lauren and I first visited on Thursday, we are even more excited to get this project going and develop relationships with the kids.

Lastly, I’ve found my time in Cape Town to be quite the mixture of touristy activities and cultural activities. For example, surfing, skydiving, and horseback riding on the beach was great but I’ve also found an interest in the local plays and musicals. I first attended Blood Brothers, then A Human Being Died that Night, and then Missing. Each play uniquely represented many of the issues South Africa faced and continues to face in a powerfully moving way. Blood Brothers was about two twins who were secretly separated at birth, one with his birth mother and one with a wealthy woman desperate to have a child. It explores class issues as the brothers lives intensely interconnect. A Human Being Died that Night was about a psychologist interviewing a man who had committed many malicious crimes during apartheid and her struggling to see his humanity, questioning values of morality and evil. Lastly, Missing was a deeply saddening story about a member of the ANC who went into exile in Sweden, started a family with a white woman, and started a new life only to be turned upside down after their first visit back to South Africa post-apartheid brings up unfinished business, a longing to remain in his home country which he desperately missed, and a need to feel that his work in the struggle had been appreciated. Overall, I’ve grown an appreciation for the way the arts can help people understand and connect with stories and histories.

              

With just a month left, we are all planning to fit as much as we can in. But for now, we are looking forward to our weeklong excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park!

Val accomplishes a childhood dream

I accomplished a childhood dream today. I flew.

Cassie, Manny, Mel, Emily W., Morgan, Jenna, Ryan and I went skydiving this morning with Skydive Cape Town. To accurately describe the experience, I’ll quote the dude who sold us our “Skydive Cape Town!” t-shirts: “If you can find an activity that tops skydiving, other than anything involving drugs or taking off your clothes, let me know… because that would be a first.” And he was right.

It was a trifecta of awesome-ness: good people, real fear and a perfect, cloudless sky. We split up into groups of three, with Ryan and Mel going with other groups of people since only three of us plus three divers could fit in the planes. And really, calling those dingy things “planes” is generous.  It may have been scarier flying in that barely-bigger-than-a-model-airplane contraption than it was diving from 8,000 feet up.

Me, Manuela and Cassie went up after Ryan and his group did. Here is the first crucial part of the trifecta: good people. I love these two crazies. We have conversations all the time about how we came on this trip expecting to make friends, but not close ones. And now we’re rubbing up against each other’s shoulders and purring, creating flattering nicknames (Casey, Cassandra, Cassarella, Manny, Manuela, Veal, V’Lishia), going HAM dancing at clubs, being strange human beings, confiding in each other and singing obnoxiously loudly/terribly at all times during the day. And the best part is I don’t even really recall how it happened. I don’t remember a time when I thought “Hey, I’m going to go try to get close to Cassie/Manuela!” Nope, it just happened. And I think that’s a testament to how real we are with each other. We didn’t have to try to get along or fake our way into friendship. It was a genuine and spontaneous thing.

Next up is Real Fear. And let me tell you, once I got up in that dingy plane/thing, it was REAL. I hadn’t let myself even think about it up until then and it was all-encompassing to the point that I blacked out from the time I swung my legs over the edge of the open doorway until five seconds before the parachute was pulled. I was told I wouldn’t get that stomach-dropping-into-my-toes feeling and that was correct because it was more like a stomach-dropping-to-the-earth’s-core feeling. I felt so out of control and free, which was awesome and awful at the same time, and I’m pretty sure I screamed the entire time we were free-falling. My diver literally had to pull my head to the side so that I would look at the camera instead of staring at the ground and squealing like I had a popped lung.

The final part of the Trifecta of Awesome-ness is the clear blue sky. The condition of the sky sounds so trivial compared to the thought of jumping from 8,000 feet, but this one simple factor can throw off the whole day if it isn’t accommodating. The experience will not be as charged if it’s cloudy/rainy/cold/windy/not sunny, and when we went up, the weather was warm, sunny and without a cloud in sight. Looking out of the plane windows, we saw mountains, fields, the ocean and little houses smooshed together along roadsides. It was beautiful and, after a few days of cool weather and rain, almost cathartic.

The Trifecta of Awesome-ness + Fulfilling Seemingly Impossible Childhood Dreams = A good day

Lauren's unforgettable experiences

I know I am a little late here but… yesterday, I finally started my activist project! I am going to be volunteering at Maitland Cottage, a children’s orthopedic hospital in Newlands. Savannah is an intern there, and so she was able to help us figure out when we should go volunteer and how to get there. So yesterday afternoon after class, Melanie and I decided to hop on a minibus taxi and go check it out.

I’ll admit that before I went to Maitland Cottage yesterday, I was a little nervous. All of the children at the hospital have severe physical disabilities, mostly bone deformities, and most of them are confined to their beds. I remembered touring Maitland Cottage during orientation and being struck by the site of dozens of children, lying in their hospital beds side-by-side. I was not sure how the children would respond to me or whether they would enjoy my attempts at playing with them.

Once Melanie and I arrived at Maitland Cottage, however, all my nerves disappeared. The nurses were all really welcoming, and the children absolutely LOVED that we were there. I did not realize how excited the children would be or how much of a difference we could make in their lives, just by showing up. Melanie and I brought a few crafts with us and all the kids went crazy for them! We showed them how to twist pipe cleaners into hearts, butterflies, and other things. It was the simplest activity, but they were all amazed and excited to try. We just gave them a simple pipe cleaner – and yet, I know that I will never forget how wide their smiles were. It was truly amazing to see how something so small could make such a big difference and bring the children such joy. I am really excited to continue volunteering at Maitland Cottage!

Lauren & Melanie are doing a fundraiser to buy toys for the kids at this hospital.
Donations can be made at http://www.gofundme.com/7wejcc

Then this morning, I went paragliding off of Signal Hill! Most of the other students decided to go skydiving, and since that was WAY too scary for me, Katrina, Allie, and Savannah, we decided to go paragliding instead! That way, we still felt like we were doing something exciting and we wouldn’t get too jealous of all the skydivers. I’ll admit, when we got there, I was ridiculously nervous. It ended up being amazing though! (Besides a small mishap when Katrina lost her sneaker) We got to coast along, enjoying the incredible view and the beautiful weather. It might not have been on the same intensity level as skydiving, but it was still an awesome experience that I will never forget! 

Katrina & Lauren