This is my last blog post and the
last one I will be writing while in Cape Town, South Africa. I am having
mixed feelings about going home. I truly do miss my family and friends and
just being in a familiar place but now I see Cape Town as another home
which I am now having difficulty leaving. Of course I enjoyed the classes I`ve
taken and my internship but I am proud of how I now see the world around me. I
am going to enjoy the various restaurants I have
grown accustomed to while here and the many adventures on the mini-bus
taxi. I went to the city for the last time and it hit me that this was my last
time walking the streets of Cape Town for at least a few years. I
began thinking about the first time I went into town alone and how it took me
an hour to get to the mini-bus taxi rank from a location 5 mins away. I
remembered calling Vernon for directions and when I didn`t find it, I called
Ben in hopes of him helping me as well. Good times lol. I came to the
realization that I`ve done everything I wanted to do while here and I am
leaving on a positive note. I`ve learned a few things about myself and
the people surrounding me and am taking
back experiences that I will remember for a life time.
In addition to my final thoughts, I
am also very proud of the work me and my activist project group did
in the room at Elonwabeni. After about 2 months of planning,
painting, fundraising, shopping, and organizing we finally completed
the room and provided the teenagers at the centre with a space of their own. A
few days ago I was frustrated and was feeling overwhelmed with the lack of
support for our project. It made me reevaluate why I volunteer and
decide to help people to begin with. In the end, I realized that as
long as I give my all then I am satisfied with my performance no
matter what spectators may have to say. This project has opened doors for other
projects in the future. I`ve recently read about the importance of shelters who
cater to women and children. Most of these women are abused by their
significant other and their only opinion is to go to a shelter.
The problem lies with the resources and spaces shelters are able to
provide because of lack of funding. This is at least the case in
the Western Cape and in result women and their children end up on the
streets where they are vulnerable to HIV and AID, STIs, TB, rap, drugs and
alcohol, and "survival sex". My goal in the future would be
to volunteer with shelters and help make it aware
of their importance to the state and to these women.
Lastly, the final dinner was great.
For the first time I was able to connect with the director of the Western Cape
Network of Violence Against Women. During my time interning there,
the originally director resigned and I was working with one of the
employees who works for South African National AIDS Council which is an
organization the Network houses. I was fortunate enough to do actual
Network assignments the last two and a half weeks of my time there. Glynis
Rhodes, my director, really contributed to my time at the Network.
She gave me projects and allowed me to attend staff meetings and
actually have input and an important role in the Networks future endeavors.
Overall, I have enjoyed my stay here in Cape Town. I cannot stress enough how
happy I am that I came on this trip instead of freezing in Storrs, Connecticut.
I plan to share all of what I learned while studying abroad with the people
around me and hopefully get people as excited as I am to make a better
world.
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