Just wanted to write a quick note to let you all know I’ve got several stories in the works right now, and I’ll post them soon. Quickly, our VCT ran really well and we had a great Thanksgiving. World AIDS Day was December 1 and we had a small gathering with the teachers at our school to acknowledge the day with some words about the history of the day, personal stories, and a song. This past weekend the four of us drove to Cape Town for the World Cup draw and the opening of the FIFA Football for Hope Center in Khayelitsha. It was a hectic, exciting weekend – great to see the interns and be back in Cape Town for the first time in 4 months. Vacation is fast approaching and we’re busying planning holiday camps for the 14-18 of December. I hope all is well at home and you’re enjoying the beginnings of the holidays wherever you are. Love to you all.
Rosie
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Bafana Bafana!
Well, last week was a bit of a nightmare, but overall pretty cool. We had compliance training Monday and Tuesday, meaning we sat through two 8-9 hour days learning about how to properly use our USAID grant. Important in the grand scheme, but I mostly tried not to let my eyes close for over 5 seconds (otherwise I would have been gone). Our days were long, but Tuesday night was our last hip hop class, during which we video-taped our final routine. I will alert the press when the video is available – you’ll be able to find it on youtube and facebook, so don’t worry. You won’t miss it. I tried to dress as hip hop as I could: mid-length spandex with a longer tank under a somewhat shorter shirt. I dunno.
Wednesday was an interesting day. A Malaysian documentary crew came to film our office for a series on South Africa they are putting together. When I say documentary, I mean more of a staged, somewhat true representation of what is actually happening – we did multiple takes of each scene. They had two of their crew, decked out in soccer jerseys, carrying duffel bags and soccer balls, walk around the office and ask us at each of our seats questions about GRS, what we were working on, etc. When the camera came to Sarah and me, we conveniently had the GRS webpage open and were able to drop some names. I’m excited to see the final result: Rosie dubbed over with Malaysian subtitles. I’m finally living my fifteen minutes of fame.
After the filming wrapped for the day, we headed over to UPE, the local university, where Bafana was training before their match on Saturday against Japan. It was really cool to see them so closely…there wasn’t much in the way of security or barriers, so we hung out in the stands at the stadium for awhile, watching them run counter-attacking drills, and then free kicks. 
This was the first game back for Perreira, their former Brazilian coach who left the team last year when his wife got sick in Brazil. Their coach from that point last year up until about a month ago was another Brazilian, Santana, who was sacked after they lost nine international matches since the Confederations Cup in the summer. Friday was pretty uneventful…I paid my first speeding ticket – R80 (about $11). If only they were that cheap in the States.
Saturday was great. We took a cab downtown to the stadium, which we had yet to see. I was excited that our first experience inside would be at a Bafana game, and there had been a lot of build-up to the game, so we were ready for a huge crowd and loads of vuvuzelas (those horns people were blowing throughout the duration of the Confederations Cup). We walked in to pumping house music and painted-up fans waving South African flags, dancing and singing. It was insane. The stadium is beautiful, with a roof that people here describe as looking like a pumpkin. It seats 46,000 and 44,000 were in attendance for the match, so it was almost a full house. We wandered around for a bit, trying to find some of the coaches who said they’d meet us there. We found them 5 rows up from midfield – pretty good for R30 tickets.
We watched as the teams entered the field to a thunderous crowd cheering for Bafana as they enetered to the beat of the music. They ran what we called at Colby a Swedish warm up: 4 even lines going back and forth across the field doing dynamic stretches, clapping, twisting etc. It’s a good way to warm up, but more importantly, when done right, looks badass. Everyone in the lines was in sync and moving to the beat of the music. Had they played the way they warmed up, they would have crushed Japan.
Following the warm up, the teams changed in the locker rooms and came back out for the national anthems. I think this was my favorite part of the day. The lyrics of SA’s national anthem are a combination of Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English, drawing from the hymn “Nkosi Skilelel’ iAfrika” and the previous national anthem “Die Stern van Suid-Afrika.” The history of the anthem is really interesting, as the hymn was originally sung in church, but was later used to defy the apartheid government. The Afrikaans anthem was sung with “God Save the Queen” until 1957, and then alone until 1995 when Nelson Mandela adopted both anthems. The songs were merged in 1997, forming the current national anthem:
(Xhosa) Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
(Zulu) Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo
(Sesotho) Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa.
(English) South Africa, South Africa!
(Afrikaans) Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
(English) Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.
Translation:
God bless Africa
May her glory be lifted high
Hear our petitions
God bless us, Your children
God we ask You to protect our nation
Intervene and end all conflicts
Protect us, protect our nation, our nation
From the blue of our heaven,
From the depths of our sea,
Over our eternal mountain ranges,
Where the cliffs give answer,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.
National anthems usually make me tear up a bit, but this one was particularly special. It was amazing listening to 44,000 people singing together. One of the coaches grabbed out hands and slapped them over our hearts while we listened. It was a pretty emotional couple of minutes, and I was really happy in that moment to be where I am.
The game was a little disappointing, South Africa playing pretty flat and not having much spark in their play. We expected with their newly returned coach and this being the second to last international friendly before the Africa Nations Cup that they’d be fired up to play, but that wasn’t the case. They managed to keep it scoreless, though – better than losing. We’re all hoping they pull themselves together and are ready when the World Cup rolls around, but we’ll have to wait and see for that one.
All in all, pretty great weekend. We had a lazy day on Sunday and went out to the Maitlands, a nature reserve about 30 minutes from where we life. It’s a beautiful stretch of rocky coastline and sand dunes, and we had a great afternoon jumping off the dunes and gearing up for this week.
Love to everyone,
Rosie
Wednesday was an interesting day. A Malaysian documentary crew came to film our office for a series on South Africa they are putting together. When I say documentary, I mean more of a staged, somewhat true representation of what is actually happening – we did multiple takes of each scene. They had two of their crew, decked out in soccer jerseys, carrying duffel bags and soccer balls, walk around the office and ask us at each of our seats questions about GRS, what we were working on, etc. When the camera came to Sarah and me, we conveniently had the GRS webpage open and were able to drop some names. I’m excited to see the final result: Rosie dubbed over with Malaysian subtitles. I’m finally living my fifteen minutes of fame.
After the filming wrapped for the day, we headed over to UPE, the local university, where Bafana was training before their match on Saturday against Japan. It was really cool to see them so closely…there wasn’t much in the way of security or barriers, so we hung out in the stands at the stadium for awhile, watching them run counter-attacking drills, and then free kicks. 
This was the first game back for Perreira, their former Brazilian coach who left the team last year when his wife got sick in Brazil. Their coach from that point last year up until about a month ago was another Brazilian, Santana, who was sacked after they lost nine international matches since the Confederations Cup in the summer. Friday was pretty uneventful…I paid my first speeding ticket – R80 (about $11). If only they were that cheap in the States. 
Saturday was great. We took a cab downtown to the stadium, which we had yet to see. I was excited that our first experience inside would be at a Bafana game, and there had been a lot of build-up to the game, so we were ready for a huge crowd and loads of vuvuzelas (those horns people were blowing throughout the duration of the Confederations Cup). We walked in to pumping house music and painted-up fans waving South African flags, dancing and singing. It was insane. The stadium is beautiful, with a roof that people here describe as looking like a pumpkin. It seats 46,000 and 44,000 were in attendance for the match, so it was almost a full house. We wandered around for a bit, trying to find some of the coaches who said they’d meet us there. We found them 5 rows up from midfield – pretty good for R30 tickets.
We watched as the teams entered the field to a thunderous crowd cheering for Bafana as they enetered to the beat of the music. They ran what we called at Colby a Swedish warm up: 4 even lines going back and forth across the field doing dynamic stretches, clapping, twisting etc. It’s a good way to warm up, but more importantly, when done right, looks badass. Everyone in the lines was in sync and moving to the beat of the music. Had they played the way they warmed up, they would have crushed Japan. Following the warm up, the teams changed in the locker rooms and came back out for the national anthems. I think this was my favorite part of the day. The lyrics of SA’s national anthem are a combination of Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English, drawing from the hymn “Nkosi Skilelel’ iAfrika” and the previous national anthem “Die Stern van Suid-Afrika.” The history of the anthem is really interesting, as the hymn was originally sung in church, but was later used to defy the apartheid government. The Afrikaans anthem was sung with “God Save the Queen” until 1957, and then alone until 1995 when Nelson Mandela adopted both anthems. The songs were merged in 1997, forming the current national anthem:
(Xhosa) Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
(Zulu) Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo
(Sesotho) Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa.
(English) South Africa, South Africa!
(Afrikaans) Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
(English) Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.
Translation:
God bless Africa
May her glory be lifted high
Hear our petitions
God bless us, Your children
God we ask You to protect our nation
Intervene and end all conflicts
Protect us, protect our nation, our nation
From the blue of our heaven,
From the depths of our sea,
Over our eternal mountain ranges,
Where the cliffs give answer,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.
National anthems usually make me tear up a bit, but this one was particularly special. It was amazing listening to 44,000 people singing together. One of the coaches grabbed out hands and slapped them over our hearts while we listened. It was a pretty emotional couple of minutes, and I was really happy in that moment to be where I am.
The game was a little disappointing, South Africa playing pretty flat and not having much spark in their play. We expected with their newly returned coach and this being the second to last international friendly before the Africa Nations Cup that they’d be fired up to play, but that wasn’t the case. They managed to keep it scoreless, though – better than losing. We’re all hoping they pull themselves together and are ready when the World Cup rolls around, but we’ll have to wait and see for that one.
All in all, pretty great weekend. We had a lazy day on Sunday and went out to the Maitlands, a nature reserve about 30 minutes from where we life. It’s a beautiful stretch of rocky coastline and sand dunes, and we had a great afternoon jumping off the dunes and gearing up for this week.
Love to everyone,
Rosie
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Round 2
Hey all,
Officially three months in, and it’s been jam-packed. We had a pretty quiet week after the break-in, laying pretty low and getting our heads wrapped around what had happened. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a one-time deal, and we were broken into exactly one week later last Thursday night. We didn’t realize it until we all went to bed, but someone had climbed up onto the balcony that overlooks our walled-in yard and used a cracked window to get into my roommate’s bedroom. They took his wallet, including credit cards and cash, his watch and two soccer jerseys, and then opened the sliding door and jumped back down into the yard. This all took place between 8 and 10ish while we were eating dinner downstairs. After the initial disbelief faded, we were all pretty shaken and angry. We called the cops around 2 am, again at 3, while we sat in the living room jumping at every noise we heard. At 4 we decided to get some sleep, and all brought our sleeping bags into one room upstairs. While we were moving our stuff around, I thought for a minute that the robber had been in my room and stolen a wad of cash I had in my backpack, transport money for our coaches that I was in charge of – total around $450. I flipped out before realizing I had moved it to a different hiding place in the bag. Aside from being scared that I’d lost the money, I was angry that this person has gotten so deep into my mind that I can’t think straight before jumping to some conclusions. It was a long night; one I spent lying awake listening for someone to try to break in again.
The next morning was mostly routine: we got ready for work, made some calls to our supervisors, and went to the office. Our wonderful maintenance man, Sheppard, came to the house and bolted the windows shut where the robber had climbed in. He was shocked, asking the same questions as we were: who the hell are these people? The total weirdness of what happened was accentuated by the fact that Sheppard had waved us down on Thursday morning as we were leaving for work to show us that someone had tried to get into one of the empty, furnished condos closer to the gate. The would-be robber tried to pry the window open next to the sliding door leading out to the yard, but the door was secured shut with a lock that had been installed at the top of the door. I’m sure he meant well, to give us an idea of how these guys think, but it was pretty eerie to actually see a failed attempt. We got robbed 12 hours later.
To top off all the drama, we were expecting 11 of the other interns from around South Africa to come on Friday for the weekend. We debated whether we should cancel or not, but everyone was still on for a weekend away, and we decided it would probably be a good thing for us to be with a group of people who understand where we’re at mentally, adjusting to life here and dealing with a bad situation. We ended up having a great weekend – chill, great weather for the beach, and some Halloween celebrations. It was a relief, at least for me, to have a bunch of people all looking out for each other so that I didn’t have to constantly think about the robbery.
Talking with Sheppard, he told us that people living in another complex down the road from us actually saw the robbers throw a blanket over their electric fence, and jump it with things they had stolen. These people chased the robbers into the bush behind our neighborhood, and found themselves in front of two plastic shacks where they uncovered a bunch of stolen goods. They informed the police, who refused to go check the shacks out. The people who found these shacks also told the police they could identify the robbers among the men who wait around down at our gas station, looking for work, but the police again were not interested.
Did they sit back and wait to get robbed again? Nope. They formed a group and went back to the shacks, recovered their stolen possessions, and then torched the shacks. A big f-you to whoever has been creeping around. I also sent my regards vicariously through that bonfire.
At this point, we’ve made some security updates and are working on getting some sort of legit security system…German Sheppard? We all agree that if we do get a dog, we’ll fight for who gets to keep it, smuggle it out when we leave, as South African German Sheppard puppies are much better than the American version (at least in our opinion). It was tough week mentally, jumping at any and all random noises, imagining noises when they’re not there, and generally not sleeping well. I was pretty nervous about being home last Thursday night, as this creep seems to enjoy prowling through the neighborhood and our belongings on Thursdays, but we had a beautiful day – sunny and warm – went surfing, grabbed dinner, and then went home to find it securely locked and untouched.
Away from the negatives, we’re organizing one of our VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) tournaments for 28th November, and it’s non-stop at the office every day. These tournaments involve teams competing from schools is the communities where we run our curriculum, and participating in Skillz activities between games. They are able to test for HIV for free, and counseling is available for those who test positive. We have been trying to nail down a venue, prizes, security, the list goes on and on. One huge aspect of a VCT is getting a celebrity or two to make an appearance to draw in people who otherwise wouldn’t be interested. We’re probably going to get a widely popular DJ from the area to emcee, and we may get one or two Bafana players (SA men’s national team) to show up. Bafana is playing Japan at our stadium on 14 November, and we managed to get them to agree to sign a t-shirt that we can give away as a raffle prize. One of Bafana’s players, Khanyeza, is featured in our Skillz dvd that we use in trainings, and he may make an appearance and talk about our VCT on the radio when he’s in town. It’s stressful, but really exciting. We’re trying to make this our largest VCT ever in GRS, with the buildup to World AIDS Day on 1st December and the World Cup on 4th December.
Congrats if you made it all the way through this blog. I’ll try to write more often so you’re not reading a dissertation on my life each time.
Stay warm,
Rosie
Officially three months in, and it’s been jam-packed. We had a pretty quiet week after the break-in, laying pretty low and getting our heads wrapped around what had happened. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a one-time deal, and we were broken into exactly one week later last Thursday night. We didn’t realize it until we all went to bed, but someone had climbed up onto the balcony that overlooks our walled-in yard and used a cracked window to get into my roommate’s bedroom. They took his wallet, including credit cards and cash, his watch and two soccer jerseys, and then opened the sliding door and jumped back down into the yard. This all took place between 8 and 10ish while we were eating dinner downstairs. After the initial disbelief faded, we were all pretty shaken and angry. We called the cops around 2 am, again at 3, while we sat in the living room jumping at every noise we heard. At 4 we decided to get some sleep, and all brought our sleeping bags into one room upstairs. While we were moving our stuff around, I thought for a minute that the robber had been in my room and stolen a wad of cash I had in my backpack, transport money for our coaches that I was in charge of – total around $450. I flipped out before realizing I had moved it to a different hiding place in the bag. Aside from being scared that I’d lost the money, I was angry that this person has gotten so deep into my mind that I can’t think straight before jumping to some conclusions. It was a long night; one I spent lying awake listening for someone to try to break in again.
The next morning was mostly routine: we got ready for work, made some calls to our supervisors, and went to the office. Our wonderful maintenance man, Sheppard, came to the house and bolted the windows shut where the robber had climbed in. He was shocked, asking the same questions as we were: who the hell are these people? The total weirdness of what happened was accentuated by the fact that Sheppard had waved us down on Thursday morning as we were leaving for work to show us that someone had tried to get into one of the empty, furnished condos closer to the gate. The would-be robber tried to pry the window open next to the sliding door leading out to the yard, but the door was secured shut with a lock that had been installed at the top of the door. I’m sure he meant well, to give us an idea of how these guys think, but it was pretty eerie to actually see a failed attempt. We got robbed 12 hours later.
To top off all the drama, we were expecting 11 of the other interns from around South Africa to come on Friday for the weekend. We debated whether we should cancel or not, but everyone was still on for a weekend away, and we decided it would probably be a good thing for us to be with a group of people who understand where we’re at mentally, adjusting to life here and dealing with a bad situation. We ended up having a great weekend – chill, great weather for the beach, and some Halloween celebrations. It was a relief, at least for me, to have a bunch of people all looking out for each other so that I didn’t have to constantly think about the robbery.
Talking with Sheppard, he told us that people living in another complex down the road from us actually saw the robbers throw a blanket over their electric fence, and jump it with things they had stolen. These people chased the robbers into the bush behind our neighborhood, and found themselves in front of two plastic shacks where they uncovered a bunch of stolen goods. They informed the police, who refused to go check the shacks out. The people who found these shacks also told the police they could identify the robbers among the men who wait around down at our gas station, looking for work, but the police again were not interested.
Did they sit back and wait to get robbed again? Nope. They formed a group and went back to the shacks, recovered their stolen possessions, and then torched the shacks. A big f-you to whoever has been creeping around. I also sent my regards vicariously through that bonfire.
At this point, we’ve made some security updates and are working on getting some sort of legit security system…German Sheppard? We all agree that if we do get a dog, we’ll fight for who gets to keep it, smuggle it out when we leave, as South African German Sheppard puppies are much better than the American version (at least in our opinion). It was tough week mentally, jumping at any and all random noises, imagining noises when they’re not there, and generally not sleeping well. I was pretty nervous about being home last Thursday night, as this creep seems to enjoy prowling through the neighborhood and our belongings on Thursdays, but we had a beautiful day – sunny and warm – went surfing, grabbed dinner, and then went home to find it securely locked and untouched.
Away from the negatives, we’re organizing one of our VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) tournaments for 28th November, and it’s non-stop at the office every day. These tournaments involve teams competing from schools is the communities where we run our curriculum, and participating in Skillz activities between games. They are able to test for HIV for free, and counseling is available for those who test positive. We have been trying to nail down a venue, prizes, security, the list goes on and on. One huge aspect of a VCT is getting a celebrity or two to make an appearance to draw in people who otherwise wouldn’t be interested. We’re probably going to get a widely popular DJ from the area to emcee, and we may get one or two Bafana players (SA men’s national team) to show up. Bafana is playing Japan at our stadium on 14 November, and we managed to get them to agree to sign a t-shirt that we can give away as a raffle prize. One of Bafana’s players, Khanyeza, is featured in our Skillz dvd that we use in trainings, and he may make an appearance and talk about our VCT on the radio when he’s in town. It’s stressful, but really exciting. We’re trying to make this our largest VCT ever in GRS, with the buildup to World AIDS Day on 1st December and the World Cup on 4th December.
Congrats if you made it all the way through this blog. I’ll try to write more often so you’re not reading a dissertation on my life each time.
Stay warm,
Rosie
Monday, October 26, 2009
I need to apologize for not writing in so long. I had an entry prepared about my week at our training of coaches – great detail and pretty witty in my opinion. I planned to post it with some pictures, and then our house was broken into Thursday night and my computer was stolen, among some other things. I suppose that’s what I get for not blogging more often.
Joking aside, it’s been a weird couple of days trying to process being robbed. I spent most of Friday in shock. We woke up early that morning, and I saw that our gate that leads out of our walled-in backyard to the rest of the compound was wide open. I remember having a flash of some feeling that something wasn’t right, but it didn’t stay long and I didn’t really think about it. I had left my computer on our counter, having used it to look at a recipe for dinner Thursday night. It wasn’t where I left it, but I figured someone had moved it before they went to bed. As we all started eating breakfast and getting ready for work, I found out no one had moved my computer, and some other things were missing as well. It started to set in that we may have been robbed when we realized no one had used the gate that morning.
Initially I thought someone was messing with me. That feeling of being duped lasted most of the morning…I kept expecting someone to start laughing and pull my computer out from its hiding place. We checked with Sheppard, one of the nicest men we’ve met who manages maintenance and upkeep of where we live, and the night guard, Elvis, to see if they had seen anything suspicious. There were no signs of forced entry, leading us to think that we had forgotten to secure the lock on the sliding door that leads to the backyard. We’ve forgotten to lock the doors on other occasions, something you absolutely don’t do here. We’re good about it for the most part, but having grown up in a place where there’s not a constant worry and suspicion that someone will break in, it does slip our minds sometimes.
I knew coming here that the petty crime rate is very high, but our time here has, up until last week, been completely uneventful in that arena. I am upset that my computer was stolen, but in the grand scheme I’m relieved that no one was hurt, even relieved that it was a relatively cheap computer that I’d only had a couple months. Most of my files and pictures were safe on my memory stick in my bag. Having said that, I feel violated and angry that some jackass broke into our home and took our belongings. It’s unsettling to think of a stranger going through our things while we were asleep.
I’m not one to want to hash these kinds of things out right away, if at all. There was definitely shock and anger on Friday, along with just feeling at a loss with what to do or think about what’s happened. The weather was beautiful, so we went to the beach to surf late in the afternoon. Usually being active and physical helps me more than anything to center myself and get back in a positive mindset, but having the waves crash against me again and again did the opposite. I called it quits early and hung on the beach for awhile, the sun still warm and the breeze low…the calm I’d been looking for. This weekend was quiet also and I’m feeling pretty okay about putting it all behind me, and getting on with things.
I’ll write soon about the training of coaches, which was a really incredible experience and I want to share it with you all. Also, another update: the hip-hop dance classes we’ve been taking are awesome and will be video taped in a couple weeks, so get excited. I’ve been sharing some of my moves with the kids…
-Rose
Joking aside, it’s been a weird couple of days trying to process being robbed. I spent most of Friday in shock. We woke up early that morning, and I saw that our gate that leads out of our walled-in backyard to the rest of the compound was wide open. I remember having a flash of some feeling that something wasn’t right, but it didn’t stay long and I didn’t really think about it. I had left my computer on our counter, having used it to look at a recipe for dinner Thursday night. It wasn’t where I left it, but I figured someone had moved it before they went to bed. As we all started eating breakfast and getting ready for work, I found out no one had moved my computer, and some other things were missing as well. It started to set in that we may have been robbed when we realized no one had used the gate that morning.
Initially I thought someone was messing with me. That feeling of being duped lasted most of the morning…I kept expecting someone to start laughing and pull my computer out from its hiding place. We checked with Sheppard, one of the nicest men we’ve met who manages maintenance and upkeep of where we live, and the night guard, Elvis, to see if they had seen anything suspicious. There were no signs of forced entry, leading us to think that we had forgotten to secure the lock on the sliding door that leads to the backyard. We’ve forgotten to lock the doors on other occasions, something you absolutely don’t do here. We’re good about it for the most part, but having grown up in a place where there’s not a constant worry and suspicion that someone will break in, it does slip our minds sometimes.
I knew coming here that the petty crime rate is very high, but our time here has, up until last week, been completely uneventful in that arena. I am upset that my computer was stolen, but in the grand scheme I’m relieved that no one was hurt, even relieved that it was a relatively cheap computer that I’d only had a couple months. Most of my files and pictures were safe on my memory stick in my bag. Having said that, I feel violated and angry that some jackass broke into our home and took our belongings. It’s unsettling to think of a stranger going through our things while we were asleep.
I’m not one to want to hash these kinds of things out right away, if at all. There was definitely shock and anger on Friday, along with just feeling at a loss with what to do or think about what’s happened. The weather was beautiful, so we went to the beach to surf late in the afternoon. Usually being active and physical helps me more than anything to center myself and get back in a positive mindset, but having the waves crash against me again and again did the opposite. I called it quits early and hung on the beach for awhile, the sun still warm and the breeze low…the calm I’d been looking for. This weekend was quiet also and I’m feeling pretty okay about putting it all behind me, and getting on with things.
I’ll write soon about the training of coaches, which was a really incredible experience and I want to share it with you all. Also, another update: the hip-hop dance classes we’ve been taking are awesome and will be video taped in a couple weeks, so get excited. I’ve been sharing some of my moves with the kids…
-Rose
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hey to all! Sorry I've been terrible at updating the blog. Life went into overdrive here in the past two weeks, and I'm working on my next blog, so bear with me. Things are going well -- the weather is warming up (sorry to those who are facing the dropping temperatures at home) and we just finished up holiday camps and coaches' trainings. We've been working on inputting data and reporting for the past two weeks, and today is our deadline for the last of it. 20 of our coaches have been part of a Psychosocial counseling trainings at our office this whole week, so our workspace has temporarily been moved into our supervisor's office -- not the best work space for 6-8 people trying to input quiz results and attendance information on a system that freezes or cancels your data at random. I finished the last of my work last night around 1, so I'm hoping to coast through today and get some more writing done to update you all on other things that have been going on here. I hope all is well wherever you are!
Rosie
Rosie
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tsitsikamma and Addo
Jump off the highest bungee in the world...Check. Play with baby lions and get clawed in the face and neck…Check check. We decided to dedicate the past two weekends to trips and activities that involved jumping off tall objects and playing with big cats. My cool factor has gone up exponentially in the past two weeks (at least I think so).
First, some of you might know that Ethan Zohn, one of Grassroot’s co-founders (yes, the Ethan who won Survivor) was diagnosed with CD20+ Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the end of April. He has been nominated as a finalist of the GQ Better Men Better World Search; the winner receives $10,000 to donate to his choice of charities. Ethan has pledged to donate all the prize money to GRS, HIV/AIDS, and cancer charities. You can check out Ethan and the other finalists’ background and information, and cast a vote at http://www.thegentlemensfund.com/final_vote.asp.
The weekend before last the PE interns rented a car and headed out to Tsitsikamma, meaning “place of much water” in Khoisan. The park is along the Garden Route, west of PE, stretching 80 km from Nature’s Valley to the Storms River mouth. We stayed at a hostel in Storms River Village where we met some great backpackers and spent two ridiculous nights. Dom convinced us all to bungy off Bloukrans Bridge, the highest bungy jump in the world at 216 meters (think MetLife building, and then picture me jumping off that).
It’s conveniently located just outside the park. We all agreed to jump, but as the day drew closer I began to have moments of panic, including elevated heart rate and sweating at random times during the day. Dom had been a couple times before and showed us videos of himself doing jumps, and then the day before we jumped he admitted that he was terrified. Good confidence builder.
I spent the drive from the hostel to the bridge weighing the pros and cons of jumping. Pros = if I survive, I can say I jumped off the highest bungy in the world; my roommates don’t make fun of me for chickening out. Cons = death, among other things. The other three were getting pumped to some Linkin Park, but I couldn’t get into it. I had told a friend that I was going to do this jump and I was pretty sure I’d be crying at the jump-off point. Her reply, being the ever-supportive friend she is, was “Of course you’re going to be crying – make sure someone takes pictures.” (Thanks Whit) I’m proud to say I didn’t cry, though I did start to hyperventilate a bit when I got out of the car and saw the bridge for real.
We signed a form stating we weren’t too heavy to jump – no talk about health risks such as heart attack, blood pressure, or pregnancy (these were addressed on a sign in the gift shop that we saw after jumping). I signed on the dotted line, gave the woman my credit card, and hopped on the scale. I became 66/J11 (66 kg/Jumper 11). We harnessed up and headed down a path warning us to be aware of snakes, following it to a wire mesh bridge that led to the middle of the actual bridge. For those of you who have walked up or down a ferry ramp that you can look down at and see though the open squares, picture a similar ramp only smaller holes (not by much) and a springier tension. Raise yourself up about 700 feet and you’ve got the mini-bridge I had to cross to get to the actual jump. This ended up being the scariest part of the day – I kept my eyes on the back of Mike’s head in front of me and tried to take deep breaths.
We reached the middle of the bridge and climbed up to the jumping area. Loud music was pumping and the crew immediately engaged us in conversation, asking where we’re from, what we like to do, etc. I didn’t realize it until after, but their goal was to keep our minds off what we were about to do. Job well done by them. I was the first to go (not by choice),
so they dragged me over to a crate and sat me down to hook me up to the bungee cord. They wrap floatie-esque devices around your shins and then a strap that connects to your harness – your first point of attachment. This is reinforced by another strap, just in case you’re incredibly unlucky. While the guy was attaching my floaties, he told me the strap he was wrapping around my shins could hold up to 3 tons – I replied that I thought that should hold me and we shared a laugh. I’m sure he was humoring me. From that point, I put my arms around two of the guys so they could walk me out to the jump-off point (see picture) where they hold onto you and count down, “5-4-3-2-1 GO!!!” At that point, they don’t exactly push you off, but don’t give you any other choice but to jump. 
I threw myself off the edge of the platform and for a second looked out at the horizon toward the mountains, wondering with the hell I just did. I screamed until I ran out of breath and managed to keep my eyes open for the entire fall. The initial terror you feel shifts into a pure adrenaline rush as you move from being horizontal (see picture) to falling straight down, head first, arms spread (see next picture). The bounce is gradual and really peaceful once you realize you’re still alive. I started laughing and enjoyed hanging there for a while. I could see the mountains in front of me, and could turn my head to see the ocean in the opposite direction. My teeth and hands were numb with adrenaline.
The one scary part about just hanging there, waiting for someone to come down to help pull you back up, is your feet feel like they could slip out of the floaties. I spent a couple tense minutes flexing my feet as tightly as possible, just hoping they wouldn’t slip and leave me hanging by my backup attachment strap. Thankfully, the floaties prevailed. One of the bungy guys was lowered down to meet me and he cranked my harness so that I was sitting upright for the ride back up to the bridge. Back at the bridge, a whole crew met me with high-fives and hugs, pictures and some more high-fives. I got to watch Mike and Sarah jump on a TV screen I hadn’t seen before I jumped. The music kept pumping and when the four of us had all jumped and been pulled back up, we had a huge group hug. Everyone was jacked with adrenaline and extremely happy to be alive.
From Bloukrans Bridge we drove into the park for lunch and a hike. We hiked the Otter Trail, which takes a few days to hike in total, but we only ventured in about an hour and a half to a fresh-water waterfall that runs into the ocean.
The trail starts by taking you into a lightly forested area that runs along the ocean. You walk out of 
the forested area onto a rocky beach where you can look up and down the coast. It felt like I was home being on that stretch of beach. The rocks were bigger, more like boulders, but a sense of peace came over me being that close to the ocean, running and jumping across the rocks. We hiked across the beach for most of the trip, climbing here and there on the taller of the boulders to look out at the ocean. The colors were intense and beautiful, and the waves were incredible.
The waterfall came off the cliff that runs along the beach.
The water fell into a large pool that had formed in the rocks, and flowed down into the ocean. The water was freezing according to the boys, who decided to climb up next to the falls and then swim across the pool. I sat for a while watching the waves beat on the rocks, which are all shaped so that they slant downward toward the ocean – visible evidence of the waves crashing against them for hundreds of thousands of years. We hiked back to our car and drove to the restaurant at the end of the road for dinner. We stood outside for awhile after dark looking at the stars. The sky here is huge and when it’s clear at night we have incredible stars. We found the Southern Cross, and the other night we finally located Orion’s Belt.
Sunday was more relaxed, just zip-lining over a river and some waterfalls. Normally I’d be a little nervous zip-lining, but after the bungy, I feel weirdly brave. From here, sky-diving is probably the next step up in terms of extreme weekend outings.
So the next weekend we went to Addo Elephant Park, which is about 40 minutes outside of PE. The park has elephants (obviously), as well as lions, kudu (like reindeer), warthogs, jackals, rhino, etc. We decided to go for a sunrise tour, starting at 6 am.
It definitely wasn’t warm for the tour, which meant the elephants wouldn’t be abundant, but we saw an incredible sunrise and some of the smaller animals, like warthogs and jackals. We stopped to watch some jackals running around and the tour guide explained that males and females mate for life and are considered monogamous. If the female dies, the male generally doesn’t take another mate because he can’t leave his territory. Females on the other hand search out new mates, usually younger and who haven’t chosen a partner yet. The guide equated this to “what they call in America, a ‘cougar’.” (For those who don’t know, a “cougar” is an older, attractive woman who preys on younger men) After taking a second to realize what the guide had said, the four token Americans burst out laughing. He then asked, “Are there any cougars on board?” We replied no, but we did have two potential cougar victims with us. It’s amazing sometimes what filters through to other countries from America.
We ended up seeing one elephant, though it was mostly hidden behind the scrub, but we didn’t get to see any lions out and about. In the car leaving the park, we decided to try to find a spot where we could play with baby lions – one of the boys had read about a place nearby that sounded pretty cool, and seeing as how it was only 9 in the morning, we figured we could kill some more of the day searching out Simba and Nala. Before we got outside of Addo’s boundaries, we saw a sign for a Lion and Croc Ranch. Sounded sketchy, but it had potential. We pulled off the road and headed inside, where we pulled a hungover you guy out of the bar where he was watching rugby to give us a tour. He worked at the ranch, tending the big cats. They had 4 or 5 pits of crocodiles, all of which were motionless and boring. We saw a Bengal tiger who would lick our guide’s fingers when he put them through the fence. After seeing the basic stuff, we got to the good part – the lion cubs.
We went into a large, caged-in area where four 7-month-old lions were hanging out under a tree. They seemed pretty big, but our guide walked right up to them and started petting and scratching their stomachs.
They would start to play with him and he would throw them around, bat their paws, etc. It took a minute or two, but we all finally sat down and let the lions sniff us out. Two of the males decided they liked the taste of my feet – they began licking and semi-biting my toes. It was weird/scary at first, but then it just tickled. Before I knew it, they were putting the paws on my chest and shoulders, and grabbing onto my hair. More scary than fun, but I tried to roll with it.
There were 3 males and 1 female in the caged area. The female seemed extremely wary of us the entire time we were there, and she started to pace around while we played with the males. Out of nowhere, our guide tells me, “You need to stay still.” I thought he was kidding because it had been so light and funny, what with the lions licking my toes and all. “No, I’m serious…that one’s still got the wild in it.” So I had a “wild” lion creeping up behind me, neck exposed and everything. I started to
freak a bit on the inside, but the roommates say I seemed pretty calm. All of a sudden, I felt two paws on my shoulders, and then one went to my head and the claws came out, gripping a big chunk of hair. The other paw went to the back of my neck and just a little too much pressure was applied. This is when I started to freak outwardly, covering my face and saying something profound like, “Ow, ow, oh my God…” There was a moment of “Wow this is happening right now…I’m getting mauled by baby lions.” The guide grabbed the lion who was on my back and threw him off – apparently they just wanted to play. The so called “wild” one was actually still a couple feet away just watching me. It ended up being one of the playful males who jumped me from behind. Regardless, I got out of that cage and really had no further desire to play with the actual baby lions who we saw next. Any other day and they would have been the cutest cats I’ve seen, but I was bleeding a little and starting to worry about bacteria and infection and all the other stuff bio majors learn.
In case you’re wondering, I’m fine one week later. No infection, no serious scars, though that would have been pretty sweet. The boys were pretty jealous that I got attacked. They took pictures of the puncture wounds and kept looking at me like I had just done something seriously cool. Looking back at the pictures (because it was highly documented), it does look pretty badass.
In other news, I’m set and ready to go to the Training of Coaches next week. One of the Head Coaches is unable to go, so I think I’m going to be pretty involved and busy. I’m really excited to see how these are run – they’re a huge part of our success as an organization and it’ll be a great opportunity to understand how and why these trainings are so vital and successful. I’ll be sure to take pictures and update everyone when I get back next weekend.
First, some of you might know that Ethan Zohn, one of Grassroot’s co-founders (yes, the Ethan who won Survivor) was diagnosed with CD20+ Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the end of April. He has been nominated as a finalist of the GQ Better Men Better World Search; the winner receives $10,000 to donate to his choice of charities. Ethan has pledged to donate all the prize money to GRS, HIV/AIDS, and cancer charities. You can check out Ethan and the other finalists’ background and information, and cast a vote at http://www.thegentlemensfund.com/final_vote.asp.
The weekend before last the PE interns rented a car and headed out to Tsitsikamma, meaning “place of much water” in Khoisan. The park is along the Garden Route, west of PE, stretching 80 km from Nature’s Valley to the Storms River mouth. We stayed at a hostel in Storms River Village where we met some great backpackers and spent two ridiculous nights. Dom convinced us all to bungy off Bloukrans Bridge, the highest bungy jump in the world at 216 meters (think MetLife building, and then picture me jumping off that).
It’s conveniently located just outside the park. We all agreed to jump, but as the day drew closer I began to have moments of panic, including elevated heart rate and sweating at random times during the day. Dom had been a couple times before and showed us videos of himself doing jumps, and then the day before we jumped he admitted that he was terrified. Good confidence builder.I spent the drive from the hostel to the bridge weighing the pros and cons of jumping. Pros = if I survive, I can say I jumped off the highest bungy in the world; my roommates don’t make fun of me for chickening out. Cons = death, among other things. The other three were getting pumped to some Linkin Park, but I couldn’t get into it. I had told a friend that I was going to do this jump and I was pretty sure I’d be crying at the jump-off point. Her reply, being the ever-supportive friend she is, was “Of course you’re going to be crying – make sure someone takes pictures.” (Thanks Whit) I’m proud to say I didn’t cry, though I did start to hyperventilate a bit when I got out of the car and saw the bridge for real.
We signed a form stating we weren’t too heavy to jump – no talk about health risks such as heart attack, blood pressure, or pregnancy (these were addressed on a sign in the gift shop that we saw after jumping). I signed on the dotted line, gave the woman my credit card, and hopped on the scale. I became 66/J11 (66 kg/Jumper 11). We harnessed up and headed down a path warning us to be aware of snakes, following it to a wire mesh bridge that led to the middle of the actual bridge. For those of you who have walked up or down a ferry ramp that you can look down at and see though the open squares, picture a similar ramp only smaller holes (not by much) and a springier tension. Raise yourself up about 700 feet and you’ve got the mini-bridge I had to cross to get to the actual jump. This ended up being the scariest part of the day – I kept my eyes on the back of Mike’s head in front of me and tried to take deep breaths.
We reached the middle of the bridge and climbed up to the jumping area. Loud music was pumping and the crew immediately engaged us in conversation, asking where we’re from, what we like to do, etc. I didn’t realize it until after, but their goal was to keep our minds off what we were about to do. Job well done by them. I was the first to go (not by choice),
so they dragged me over to a crate and sat me down to hook me up to the bungee cord. They wrap floatie-esque devices around your shins and then a strap that connects to your harness – your first point of attachment. This is reinforced by another strap, just in case you’re incredibly unlucky. While the guy was attaching my floaties, he told me the strap he was wrapping around my shins could hold up to 3 tons – I replied that I thought that should hold me and we shared a laugh. I’m sure he was humoring me. From that point, I put my arms around two of the guys so they could walk me out to the jump-off point (see picture) where they hold onto you and count down, “5-4-3-2-1 GO!!!” At that point, they don’t exactly push you off, but don’t give you any other choice but to jump. 
I threw myself off the edge of the platform and for a second looked out at the horizon toward the mountains, wondering with the hell I just did. I screamed until I ran out of breath and managed to keep my eyes open for the entire fall. The initial terror you feel shifts into a pure adrenaline rush as you move from being horizontal (see picture) to falling straight down, head first, arms spread (see next picture). The bounce is gradual and really peaceful once you realize you’re still alive. I started laughing and enjoyed hanging there for a while. I could see the mountains in front of me, and could turn my head to see the ocean in the opposite direction. My teeth and hands were numb with adrenaline. 
The one scary part about just hanging there, waiting for someone to come down to help pull you back up, is your feet feel like they could slip out of the floaties. I spent a couple tense minutes flexing my feet as tightly as possible, just hoping they wouldn’t slip and leave me hanging by my backup attachment strap. Thankfully, the floaties prevailed. One of the bungy guys was lowered down to meet me and he cranked my harness so that I was sitting upright for the ride back up to the bridge. Back at the bridge, a whole crew met me with high-fives and hugs, pictures and some more high-fives. I got to watch Mike and Sarah jump on a TV screen I hadn’t seen before I jumped. The music kept pumping and when the four of us had all jumped and been pulled back up, we had a huge group hug. Everyone was jacked with adrenaline and extremely happy to be alive.
From Bloukrans Bridge we drove into the park for lunch and a hike. We hiked the Otter Trail, which takes a few days to hike in total, but we only ventured in about an hour and a half to a fresh-water waterfall that runs into the ocean.
The trail starts by taking you into a lightly forested area that runs along the ocean. You walk out of 
the forested area onto a rocky beach where you can look up and down the coast. It felt like I was home being on that stretch of beach. The rocks were bigger, more like boulders, but a sense of peace came over me being that close to the ocean, running and jumping across the rocks. We hiked across the beach for most of the trip, climbing here and there on the taller of the boulders to look out at the ocean. The colors were intense and beautiful, and the waves were incredible.The waterfall came off the cliff that runs along the beach.
The water fell into a large pool that had formed in the rocks, and flowed down into the ocean. The water was freezing according to the boys, who decided to climb up next to the falls and then swim across the pool. I sat for a while watching the waves beat on the rocks, which are all shaped so that they slant downward toward the ocean – visible evidence of the waves crashing against them for hundreds of thousands of years. We hiked back to our car and drove to the restaurant at the end of the road for dinner. We stood outside for awhile after dark looking at the stars. The sky here is huge and when it’s clear at night we have incredible stars. We found the Southern Cross, and the other night we finally located Orion’s Belt.
Sunday was more relaxed, just zip-lining over a river and some waterfalls. Normally I’d be a little nervous zip-lining, but after the bungy, I feel weirdly brave. From here, sky-diving is probably the next step up in terms of extreme weekend outings.
So the next weekend we went to Addo Elephant Park, which is about 40 minutes outside of PE. The park has elephants (obviously), as well as lions, kudu (like reindeer), warthogs, jackals, rhino, etc. We decided to go for a sunrise tour, starting at 6 am.
It definitely wasn’t warm for the tour, which meant the elephants wouldn’t be abundant, but we saw an incredible sunrise and some of the smaller animals, like warthogs and jackals. We stopped to watch some jackals running around and the tour guide explained that males and females mate for life and are considered monogamous. If the female dies, the male generally doesn’t take another mate because he can’t leave his territory. Females on the other hand search out new mates, usually younger and who haven’t chosen a partner yet. The guide equated this to “what they call in America, a ‘cougar’.” (For those who don’t know, a “cougar” is an older, attractive woman who preys on younger men) After taking a second to realize what the guide had said, the four token Americans burst out laughing. He then asked, “Are there any cougars on board?” We replied no, but we did have two potential cougar victims with us. It’s amazing sometimes what filters through to other countries from America.We ended up seeing one elephant, though it was mostly hidden behind the scrub, but we didn’t get to see any lions out and about. In the car leaving the park, we decided to try to find a spot where we could play with baby lions – one of the boys had read about a place nearby that sounded pretty cool, and seeing as how it was only 9 in the morning, we figured we could kill some more of the day searching out Simba and Nala. Before we got outside of Addo’s boundaries, we saw a sign for a Lion and Croc Ranch. Sounded sketchy, but it had potential. We pulled off the road and headed inside, where we pulled a hungover you guy out of the bar where he was watching rugby to give us a tour. He worked at the ranch, tending the big cats. They had 4 or 5 pits of crocodiles, all of which were motionless and boring. We saw a Bengal tiger who would lick our guide’s fingers when he put them through the fence. After seeing the basic stuff, we got to the good part – the lion cubs.
We went into a large, caged-in area where four 7-month-old lions were hanging out under a tree. They seemed pretty big, but our guide walked right up to them and started petting and scratching their stomachs.
They would start to play with him and he would throw them around, bat their paws, etc. It took a minute or two, but we all finally sat down and let the lions sniff us out. Two of the males decided they liked the taste of my feet – they began licking and semi-biting my toes. It was weird/scary at first, but then it just tickled. Before I knew it, they were putting the paws on my chest and shoulders, and grabbing onto my hair. More scary than fun, but I tried to roll with it.There were 3 males and 1 female in the caged area. The female seemed extremely wary of us the entire time we were there, and she started to pace around while we played with the males. Out of nowhere, our guide tells me, “You need to stay still.” I thought he was kidding because it had been so light and funny, what with the lions licking my toes and all. “No, I’m serious…that one’s still got the wild in it.” So I had a “wild” lion creeping up behind me, neck exposed and everything. I started to
freak a bit on the inside, but the roommates say I seemed pretty calm. All of a sudden, I felt two paws on my shoulders, and then one went to my head and the claws came out, gripping a big chunk of hair. The other paw went to the back of my neck and just a little too much pressure was applied. This is when I started to freak outwardly, covering my face and saying something profound like, “Ow, ow, oh my God…” There was a moment of “Wow this is happening right now…I’m getting mauled by baby lions.” The guide grabbed the lion who was on my back and threw him off – apparently they just wanted to play. The so called “wild” one was actually still a couple feet away just watching me. It ended up being one of the playful males who jumped me from behind. Regardless, I got out of that cage and really had no further desire to play with the actual baby lions who we saw next. Any other day and they would have been the cutest cats I’ve seen, but I was bleeding a little and starting to worry about bacteria and infection and all the other stuff bio majors learn.
In case you’re wondering, I’m fine one week later. No infection, no serious scars, though that would have been pretty sweet. The boys were pretty jealous that I got attacked. They took pictures of the puncture wounds and kept looking at me like I had just done something seriously cool. Looking back at the pictures (because it was highly documented), it does look pretty badass.
In other news, I’m set and ready to go to the Training of Coaches next week. One of the Head Coaches is unable to go, so I think I’m going to be pretty involved and busy. I’m really excited to see how these are run – they’re a huge part of our success as an organization and it’ll be a great opportunity to understand how and why these trainings are so vital and successful. I’ll be sure to take pictures and update everyone when I get back next weekend.
Monday, September 21, 2009
We’ve been busy over the past couple weeks, trying to input data for our curriculum to meet our goals for the end of this year and organizing holiday camps for the students’ holiday the week of 28th September. In addition to that, we had SKILLZ graduations all over Zwide, New Brighton, and Motherwell that required food runs and transportation of coaches. I’ve been driving coaches to and from schools and running errands for supplies, so I’ve had a chance to get out of the office and know my way around the area. 
The graduations are the culmination of the SKILLZ curriculum. Rows of chairs are set up outside or in a classroom and the graduates are encouraged to invite their families to attend, though there is usually only a handful of parents who end up coming. The kids demonstrate one or two of the activities that are part of the curriculum, such as Find the Ball, where two lines of kids face each other standing side to side, hands behind their backs so that the other line can’t see a ball moving side to side behind them. A coach will place a ball in the hands of one
participant in each line, and then sing while the kids pass the ball up and down the line. At the end of the song, the coach will ask a participant from one line to name the one holding the ball in the other line. Usually the kids guess wrong, and the game progresses to the ball representing HIV and the child holding it at the end being HIV+. The activity is designed to show participants that you can’t identify an HIV+ individual just by looking at him or her; the only way to know for sure if someone is HIV+ is to get tested. We did this activity during training at Dartmouth, and it’s a lot of fun and does a great job of getting the message across.
The graduates put on skits about stigma and discrimination against HIV+ individuals; they read poems they’ve written for the celebration, and sing and dance. One of the graduations I saw was held outside, with rows and rows of graduates, sprinkled with some parents, and other students lining the perimeter. The kids on the perimeter would creep slowly in toward the performers until one of the coaches had to push them back so the graduates had enough room. The kids who haven’t been through the curriculum yet are clearly eager to be a part of it; an encouraging thing to see. The kids at this particular graduation went up in groups and sang beautiful Xhosa songs accompanied by background singers and dancers. The dancing here is so natural and rhythmic – I don’t dare try it yet because I’ll look so uncoordinated and white. The performances give you chills and really make the more tedious times worth it.
On the 5th of September (first Saturday of the month) we put on a mini-camp for St. Barnabas church in Zwide (I’ve included some pictures of the activities and teams in the tournament). The office staff, along with 5 or 6 coaches and the four interns, spent half the day with a large group doing SKILLZ activities and reffing a mini-tournament at a local sports center. The teams would play one or two games, and then take part in either Find the Ball
or another activity called Choices (designed to show people it’s ok to make their own choices, the coach yells “Favorite soccer team!” and the kids get into groups if they have the same favorite, or stand by themselves if they’re the only one who likes the team). The Tuesday before the day with St. Barnabas, Mpumi called us into the office and told us we would be running the SKILLZ activities with the groups – pretty daunting considering we’ve had zero training in teaching the curriculum. On Friday a group of coaches took us outside and helped us run through each activity. They pretended to be the kids, asking questions about each drill, and we would explain the key messages. It was fun – they’re very playful and love to joke so it was easy to laugh at ourselves when we messed something up. It was also great to learn how to teach some of the activities.
Before the St. Barnabas group arrived at the sports center, two little boys (in the picture) came over and watched us setting up. We started playing 2v2:
Dom and me on one team with the younger of the two boys in goal, and Mike and VIP (one of our coaches) with the older of the two boys in their net. Our goalie is the boy dribbling on the court where we played. They spent the day with us, the younger of the two staying close to my side for most of the time. 
I love these random little connections I make with the really young kids. Their English is usually minimal if anything, but they’re still very innocent and love to play. As the kids get older they understand how to hassle us and use our attention to ask for things like pictures and food, sometimes money. The young ones light up when we play with them and it gives us a chance to let loose and act like kids too.
The tournament and activities went really well – we ended up entering a GRS team and tied our opponents. I helped with Find the Ball, and we all participated in Choices with a huge group of older women from the church.
Everyone loved the activity – they confused “Favorite Color!” with “Favorite Car!” when Dom yelled out categories and we could hear them yell “Jeep!” and “Yellow…White!” Apparently our accents are confusing.
The day with St. Barnabas was a huge success –the group loved our activities and we loved the opportunity to teach the SKILLZ curriculum with the coaches. This week and last week have been focused more on our holiday camps and Training of Coaches coming up next week. I’m going to be driving Titie and Siya to Alice where the ToC is being held. I’m really excited to see an entire ToC, hoping to get some training myself during the week. Titie and SIya, two of our Head Coaches, are great teachers and I’m excited to see them in action. We’ll be there Sunday through Friday night – my first chunk of time away from PE since I got here. I’ll be sure to write some updates and share photos when I get back.
The graduations are the culmination of the SKILLZ curriculum. Rows of chairs are set up outside or in a classroom and the graduates are encouraged to invite their families to attend, though there is usually only a handful of parents who end up coming. The kids demonstrate one or two of the activities that are part of the curriculum, such as Find the Ball, where two lines of kids face each other standing side to side, hands behind their backs so that the other line can’t see a ball moving side to side behind them. A coach will place a ball in the hands of one
participant in each line, and then sing while the kids pass the ball up and down the line. At the end of the song, the coach will ask a participant from one line to name the one holding the ball in the other line. Usually the kids guess wrong, and the game progresses to the ball representing HIV and the child holding it at the end being HIV+. The activity is designed to show participants that you can’t identify an HIV+ individual just by looking at him or her; the only way to know for sure if someone is HIV+ is to get tested. We did this activity during training at Dartmouth, and it’s a lot of fun and does a great job of getting the message across.The graduates put on skits about stigma and discrimination against HIV+ individuals; they read poems they’ve written for the celebration, and sing and dance. One of the graduations I saw was held outside, with rows and rows of graduates, sprinkled with some parents, and other students lining the perimeter. The kids on the perimeter would creep slowly in toward the performers until one of the coaches had to push them back so the graduates had enough room. The kids who haven’t been through the curriculum yet are clearly eager to be a part of it; an encouraging thing to see. The kids at this particular graduation went up in groups and sang beautiful Xhosa songs accompanied by background singers and dancers. The dancing here is so natural and rhythmic – I don’t dare try it yet because I’ll look so uncoordinated and white. The performances give you chills and really make the more tedious times worth it.
On the 5th of September (first Saturday of the month) we put on a mini-camp for St. Barnabas church in Zwide (I’ve included some pictures of the activities and teams in the tournament). The office staff, along with 5 or 6 coaches and the four interns, spent half the day with a large group doing SKILLZ activities and reffing a mini-tournament at a local sports center. The teams would play one or two games, and then take part in either Find the Ball
or another activity called Choices (designed to show people it’s ok to make their own choices, the coach yells “Favorite soccer team!” and the kids get into groups if they have the same favorite, or stand by themselves if they’re the only one who likes the team). The Tuesday before the day with St. Barnabas, Mpumi called us into the office and told us we would be running the SKILLZ activities with the groups – pretty daunting considering we’ve had zero training in teaching the curriculum. On Friday a group of coaches took us outside and helped us run through each activity. They pretended to be the kids, asking questions about each drill, and we would explain the key messages. It was fun – they’re very playful and love to joke so it was easy to laugh at ourselves when we messed something up. It was also great to learn how to teach some of the activities.Before the St. Barnabas group arrived at the sports center, two little boys (in the picture) came over and watched us setting up. We started playing 2v2:
Dom and me on one team with the younger of the two boys in goal, and Mike and VIP (one of our coaches) with the older of the two boys in their net. Our goalie is the boy dribbling on the court where we played. They spent the day with us, the younger of the two staying close to my side for most of the time. 
I love these random little connections I make with the really young kids. Their English is usually minimal if anything, but they’re still very innocent and love to play. As the kids get older they understand how to hassle us and use our attention to ask for things like pictures and food, sometimes money. The young ones light up when we play with them and it gives us a chance to let loose and act like kids too.The tournament and activities went really well – we ended up entering a GRS team and tied our opponents. I helped with Find the Ball, and we all participated in Choices with a huge group of older women from the church.
Everyone loved the activity – they confused “Favorite Color!” with “Favorite Car!” when Dom yelled out categories and we could hear them yell “Jeep!” and “Yellow…White!” Apparently our accents are confusing. The day with St. Barnabas was a huge success –the group loved our activities and we loved the opportunity to teach the SKILLZ curriculum with the coaches. This week and last week have been focused more on our holiday camps and Training of Coaches coming up next week. I’m going to be driving Titie and Siya to Alice where the ToC is being held. I’m really excited to see an entire ToC, hoping to get some training myself during the week. Titie and SIya, two of our Head Coaches, are great teachers and I’m excited to see them in action. We’ll be there Sunday through Friday night – my first chunk of time away from PE since I got here. I’ll be sure to write some updates and share photos when I get back.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Some info on HIV/AIDS in SA
We’ve been in PE for almost four weeks now and it feels like we’ve been here for months. It’s really easy to forget about the outside world when everyday is a sensory overload. South Africa, and PE specifically, is one of the most complex, interesting places I’ve experienced in terms of racial tension and divide, and of course in terms of the HIV epidemic. Coming here I expected racial differences, but I had an idea in my head of a diverse and mixed population, all living and interacting as one. It’s true there are populations of whites, blacks, and coloreds, but they live and interact mostly in separate parts of the city. There is mixing when you are downtown, but as you drive out of the center of town it becomes more and more divided.
The community we live in is essentially suburbia. There is a large Afrikaner population, sprinkled with some blacks and coloreds. Most of my interactions with Afrikaners have been less than positive. I’ve found them to be somewhat closed-off and rude compared to the blacks in the townships who we work and interact with every day. When we talk to local whites about what we’re here for and where we work, they are shocked. They can’t believe that we venture into Zwide on a daily basis; only a few have been to the townships themselves. One guy told us he had driven through Zwide once when he was younger, and that was a pretty big deal. Talking about it later, we realized that whites growing up in this culture really don’t have a reason to just go into the township during their day to day lives. The boys met a couple American students studying at the university downtown and they said they were told not to go anywhere near the townships while they’re here. It’s discouraging to see how wonderful the people are here and know there is this continued discrimination still being propagated.
It’s very obvious that we’re American – not just because of the accent or the clothes and hair, but because we talk to everyone and anyone. Our Indian neighbor, Vassie (by the way, makes incredible curries and samosas) told us that whites here generally don’t talk to blacks and coloreds just to have a conversation. They do business with them in daily life and interact in that way, but they generally don’t mix company outside of work. She commented on how talkative and friendly we are, how we ask questions about her life and how she’s doing when we go get dinner. It’s not something I thought much about in the States; it was always natural to smile at someone and say hello when you walk by, but here just saying hi and asking how someone’s day is going can make all the difference in their perception of us as whites, and particularly as Americans.
The HIV epidemic is a whole other arena that I’m still trying to come to terms with. In the States we hear about the devastation of the disease on the news, but there are rarely enough details to convey the extent of the epidemic to the people sitting at home. We all know HIV and AIDS are wiping out millions of people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but putting faces and names to those statistics has rocked me. I just finished Helen Epstein’s The Invisible Cure, which gives good statistical and historical background on the epidemic in Africa, and the Western response to the rise of the disease in the 90s. She writes about Uganda’s success in dramatically lowering HIV incidence when the surrounding countries experienced just the opposite. The book also addresses the current day issues, especially in South Africa, that are contributing to the continuing spread of the disease. Definitely worth reading to get a general idea of what’s going on here.
The HIV rate is 32% in the townships of PE. One in three people have the virus. We have about 40 coaches who are trained in the curriculum and teach kids about HIV prevention and transmission, and statistics say 12-13 of them are infected. Obviously the fact that they’re infected doesn’t matter when it comes to determining whether they’re good coaches. It does throw into sharp relief the fact that a third of these people who I’m getting to know and forming friendships with are infected by an incurable disease. I was driving one coach around doing some errands last week with Sarah and we got to talking about her family life. She has a one year old daughter and lives with her grandmother and sisters. She asked if we wanted to meet them, which of course we did. He daughter was standing at the door when we pulled up, bundled up in a hat and sweater. She had these incredible, big brown eyes and just stared at us, probably wondering why the hell we’re so pale. We got back in the car and the coach bluntly told us how much of a relief it was to find out her daughter was HIV negative when she was born. She then mentioned that she herself is positive. It took a few seconds for that to sink in, to realize how much a part of everyday life HIV is for people in the townships. It scares me a bit to find out who among the other coaches is HIV positive, knowing what the disease does to people; not only to their bodies but their families and communities. One thing we’ve been told by Africans is, “If you’re not infected, your affected,” and it’s the absolute truth.
I haven’t put my thoughts and feelings about these things together on paper yet, so it’s difficult to convey the discomfort and anxiety that I sometimes feel, but also how incredible these people are and how happy I am to be here. We were told at orientation that we will become close friends with many infected and affected people, some of whom will die of the disease. It’s strange going into a place, opening yourself up to people, and knowing that some of them will be killed by this virus that is yet incurable.
One of the biggest issues with HIV/AIDS in Africa is that many countries refuse to address it on a personal level. That is, it is viewed as a virus that affects “high-risk groups,” including prostitutes, truckers, migrants, etc. Westerners came from this point of view in the 90s when they were developing programs to fight the virus. Their methods were largely based on how the virus spread among people in the U.S., i.e. gay men and intravenous drug users. The problem is that in Africa, it’s not just the high-risk groups who are affected, it’s entire communities. South Africa’s former president claimed AIDS was a disease of poverty and malnutrition. Opinions such as Mbeki’s that don’t accept the virus for what it is, blaming other parties and sources, as well as concurrent relationships and transactional relationship (where the girl receives material items, i.e. cell phone, makeup, etc, from her boyfriend in return for sex) in South Africa, as well as other affected countries, are the major contributors to the epidemic.
A concurrent relationship is one where one or both partners participate in multiple other long-term sexual relationships while they are together. It’s not the same as affairs, which occur more randomly and in which one or both participants tend to use condoms. The problem with concurrent relationships is they create a sexual network in which partners are less likely to use condoms due to their longer nature. If one person becomes infected, he or she will infect not only their multiple partners, but also their partners’ partners and so on. You can imagine how rapidly the virus spreads among these sexual networks.
This is really just the basics of what’s being addressed by GRS and other organizations who are trying to educate communities and fight HIV/AIDS. We’re adjusting to the fact that we can’t work as quickly and on as many things at once as we’d like to, the way we could in the States. It’s frustrating for sure, but it’s also helped me to slow down and take my time. I’m taking in more than I would if I were moving at an American pace, and it’s helping me understand where South Africans are coming from and what their mindsets are.
I hope this information helps paint a better picture of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and what we’re trying to do. I have pictures that I want to share, and I’m working on how to upload them and provide some descriptions for all of you. Until then, the pictures below are of all the 2009 GRS interns when we were in Cape Town at the beginning of August, and the four of us from PE at Jeffrey's Bay. Keep the questions and love coming!
-Rosie
The community we live in is essentially suburbia. There is a large Afrikaner population, sprinkled with some blacks and coloreds. Most of my interactions with Afrikaners have been less than positive. I’ve found them to be somewhat closed-off and rude compared to the blacks in the townships who we work and interact with every day. When we talk to local whites about what we’re here for and where we work, they are shocked. They can’t believe that we venture into Zwide on a daily basis; only a few have been to the townships themselves. One guy told us he had driven through Zwide once when he was younger, and that was a pretty big deal. Talking about it later, we realized that whites growing up in this culture really don’t have a reason to just go into the township during their day to day lives. The boys met a couple American students studying at the university downtown and they said they were told not to go anywhere near the townships while they’re here. It’s discouraging to see how wonderful the people are here and know there is this continued discrimination still being propagated.
It’s very obvious that we’re American – not just because of the accent or the clothes and hair, but because we talk to everyone and anyone. Our Indian neighbor, Vassie (by the way, makes incredible curries and samosas) told us that whites here generally don’t talk to blacks and coloreds just to have a conversation. They do business with them in daily life and interact in that way, but they generally don’t mix company outside of work. She commented on how talkative and friendly we are, how we ask questions about her life and how she’s doing when we go get dinner. It’s not something I thought much about in the States; it was always natural to smile at someone and say hello when you walk by, but here just saying hi and asking how someone’s day is going can make all the difference in their perception of us as whites, and particularly as Americans.
The HIV epidemic is a whole other arena that I’m still trying to come to terms with. In the States we hear about the devastation of the disease on the news, but there are rarely enough details to convey the extent of the epidemic to the people sitting at home. We all know HIV and AIDS are wiping out millions of people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but putting faces and names to those statistics has rocked me. I just finished Helen Epstein’s The Invisible Cure, which gives good statistical and historical background on the epidemic in Africa, and the Western response to the rise of the disease in the 90s. She writes about Uganda’s success in dramatically lowering HIV incidence when the surrounding countries experienced just the opposite. The book also addresses the current day issues, especially in South Africa, that are contributing to the continuing spread of the disease. Definitely worth reading to get a general idea of what’s going on here.
The HIV rate is 32% in the townships of PE. One in three people have the virus. We have about 40 coaches who are trained in the curriculum and teach kids about HIV prevention and transmission, and statistics say 12-13 of them are infected. Obviously the fact that they’re infected doesn’t matter when it comes to determining whether they’re good coaches. It does throw into sharp relief the fact that a third of these people who I’m getting to know and forming friendships with are infected by an incurable disease. I was driving one coach around doing some errands last week with Sarah and we got to talking about her family life. She has a one year old daughter and lives with her grandmother and sisters. She asked if we wanted to meet them, which of course we did. He daughter was standing at the door when we pulled up, bundled up in a hat and sweater. She had these incredible, big brown eyes and just stared at us, probably wondering why the hell we’re so pale. We got back in the car and the coach bluntly told us how much of a relief it was to find out her daughter was HIV negative when she was born. She then mentioned that she herself is positive. It took a few seconds for that to sink in, to realize how much a part of everyday life HIV is for people in the townships. It scares me a bit to find out who among the other coaches is HIV positive, knowing what the disease does to people; not only to their bodies but their families and communities. One thing we’ve been told by Africans is, “If you’re not infected, your affected,” and it’s the absolute truth.
I haven’t put my thoughts and feelings about these things together on paper yet, so it’s difficult to convey the discomfort and anxiety that I sometimes feel, but also how incredible these people are and how happy I am to be here. We were told at orientation that we will become close friends with many infected and affected people, some of whom will die of the disease. It’s strange going into a place, opening yourself up to people, and knowing that some of them will be killed by this virus that is yet incurable.
One of the biggest issues with HIV/AIDS in Africa is that many countries refuse to address it on a personal level. That is, it is viewed as a virus that affects “high-risk groups,” including prostitutes, truckers, migrants, etc. Westerners came from this point of view in the 90s when they were developing programs to fight the virus. Their methods were largely based on how the virus spread among people in the U.S., i.e. gay men and intravenous drug users. The problem is that in Africa, it’s not just the high-risk groups who are affected, it’s entire communities. South Africa’s former president claimed AIDS was a disease of poverty and malnutrition. Opinions such as Mbeki’s that don’t accept the virus for what it is, blaming other parties and sources, as well as concurrent relationships and transactional relationship (where the girl receives material items, i.e. cell phone, makeup, etc, from her boyfriend in return for sex) in South Africa, as well as other affected countries, are the major contributors to the epidemic.
A concurrent relationship is one where one or both partners participate in multiple other long-term sexual relationships while they are together. It’s not the same as affairs, which occur more randomly and in which one or both participants tend to use condoms. The problem with concurrent relationships is they create a sexual network in which partners are less likely to use condoms due to their longer nature. If one person becomes infected, he or she will infect not only their multiple partners, but also their partners’ partners and so on. You can imagine how rapidly the virus spreads among these sexual networks.
This is really just the basics of what’s being addressed by GRS and other organizations who are trying to educate communities and fight HIV/AIDS. We’re adjusting to the fact that we can’t work as quickly and on as many things at once as we’d like to, the way we could in the States. It’s frustrating for sure, but it’s also helped me to slow down and take my time. I’m taking in more than I would if I were moving at an American pace, and it’s helping me understand where South Africans are coming from and what their mindsets are.
I hope this information helps paint a better picture of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and what we’re trying to do. I have pictures that I want to share, and I’m working on how to upload them and provide some descriptions for all of you. Until then, the pictures below are of all the 2009 GRS interns when we were in Cape Town at the beginning of August, and the four of us from PE at Jeffrey's Bay. Keep the questions and love coming!
-Rosie
Monday, August 31, 2009
Week Two in PE
The days here are flying and it’s hard to keep track of how quickly time goes by. We went to Jeffrey’s Bay on last Saturday, which is one of the top surf sites in the world. Mike, my surfer roommate, was like a kid on Christmas when we pulled up to the beach. The waves were around 8-10 feet and they would break perfectly all the way down this massive stretch of sandy beach. The boys went out to try some of the bigger waves and Sarah and I stuck to some small ones that ended up being really choppy and I got completely owned. On a side note, as I was putting my arms into my wetsuit I realized I had it on inside out. Go figure. We rented from a Billabong shop across the road from the beach and the guy was trying to sell us on surf lessons with some short surfer bro with super-blue eyes and I was thinking “Psh, I can handle this myself.” Then I put the wetsuit on inside out, grabbed my board, and hit the waves. Awesome.
We called it quits after about 45 minutes, but we walked down the beach to see the boys. Dom found us and pointed out which little speck was Mike in the water. We could see dolphins swimming in the swells with the surfers. So cool. Mike came running down the beach 15 minutes later with his face lit up, telling us about riding the waves with the dolphins – he said it was awesome after he realized they weren’t sharks. One thing I didn’t really think about was the sharks – they’re definitely around but it sounds like surfers are pretty safe as long as they don’t go at prime feeding hours.
Our head coaches travelled to Somerset East, about two hours drive from PE, to a Training of Coaches (ToC), where they train new coaches in the SKILLZ curriculum so they can deliver the curriculum to kids at new sites. They took Big Momma, so we were stuck at the house for most of Sunday through Tuesday. We worked from home for a couple days and I got a chance to sleep and catch up on some reading, and spend some time down at the beach where I run. Tuesday was beautiful – sunny and hot. I ran to the beach, and attempted to run down it, but the wind picks up around midday so the sand was blowing across the beach in waves. I just about collapsed from the dry air, which is taking some time to adjust to.
The rest of the week went by quickly, just doing odd jobs around the office and getting supplies for SKILLZ graduations, where the kids complete the curriculum and finish with the GRS program. This is still something GRS is working on in terms of engaging the kids once they finish SKILLZ. The Snap project (cameras and kids) that I’m hoping to help with is one idea, but it’s something we all know is essential to develop and implement in the near future. A lot of the kids ask that SKILLZ be taught every day at their school, so there is definitely demand for some kind of post-SKILLZ program.
The last couple of days have been pretty relaxed. Friday night we went out for dinner at the boardwalk and watched Barcelona play a UEFA Cup match. They won in OT on a great goal by Pedro, assisted by Messi. Mike’s a huge Barca fan, so we get caught up in the excitement. Saturday was also laid back: surfboard shopping (I’m still hunting but I have an idea of what I want) and brunch at a fantastic café downtown called Vovo Telo. I tried on some wetsuits, both of which kind of bombed. The first fit well, but I realized once I had it on that it was a men’s suit and I walked out of the changing room asking the guys if there was supposed to be a huge pouch at the crotch. Obviously yes. Then I tried a women’s suit and the chest was cut so that it was somewhat like a cone bra. Not a great look for me.
Vovo Telo is my new favorite spot for food and coffee. It’s located in a side neighborhood in a shady part of town, but the atmosphere was great and the waiters were hilarious. I ordered mueseli, yogurt, and honey with fresh fruit and our waiter looked at me like I was crazy not to order the pizza he just recommended. I also had two cappuccinos that finally tasted like espresso. The coffee has been pretty weak so far and I was starting to worry that I’d be going for a year without a good shot of caffeine. We ended up at the pub where we sang karaoke a couple weeks ago for dinner and to watch Man U vs. Arsenal. What a game. We were sitting with a bunch of Arsenal fans and the energy was great.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed downtown to surf for a few hours. I managed to stand up a couple times and even caught a pretty big wave at one point. I didn’t stand up completely on that one, but managed to ride it for a while. It’s so addicting, and is one of those things that hook me in because I get so competitive with myself. I wanted to try bigger waves once I stood up, and I got pretty close. After surfing we walked down to an outdoor market where people sell everything from clothes to baked goods to wood carvings and paintings. We bought this incredible painting of a Cape Town township with Table Mountain and Lions Head in the background to hang in our living room. I also got a couple paintings and a beautifully carved wooden piece of elephants. Needless to say I’m wiped and my face is completely sunburned.
We called it quits after about 45 minutes, but we walked down the beach to see the boys. Dom found us and pointed out which little speck was Mike in the water. We could see dolphins swimming in the swells with the surfers. So cool. Mike came running down the beach 15 minutes later with his face lit up, telling us about riding the waves with the dolphins – he said it was awesome after he realized they weren’t sharks. One thing I didn’t really think about was the sharks – they’re definitely around but it sounds like surfers are pretty safe as long as they don’t go at prime feeding hours.
Our head coaches travelled to Somerset East, about two hours drive from PE, to a Training of Coaches (ToC), where they train new coaches in the SKILLZ curriculum so they can deliver the curriculum to kids at new sites. They took Big Momma, so we were stuck at the house for most of Sunday through Tuesday. We worked from home for a couple days and I got a chance to sleep and catch up on some reading, and spend some time down at the beach where I run. Tuesday was beautiful – sunny and hot. I ran to the beach, and attempted to run down it, but the wind picks up around midday so the sand was blowing across the beach in waves. I just about collapsed from the dry air, which is taking some time to adjust to.
The rest of the week went by quickly, just doing odd jobs around the office and getting supplies for SKILLZ graduations, where the kids complete the curriculum and finish with the GRS program. This is still something GRS is working on in terms of engaging the kids once they finish SKILLZ. The Snap project (cameras and kids) that I’m hoping to help with is one idea, but it’s something we all know is essential to develop and implement in the near future. A lot of the kids ask that SKILLZ be taught every day at their school, so there is definitely demand for some kind of post-SKILLZ program.
The last couple of days have been pretty relaxed. Friday night we went out for dinner at the boardwalk and watched Barcelona play a UEFA Cup match. They won in OT on a great goal by Pedro, assisted by Messi. Mike’s a huge Barca fan, so we get caught up in the excitement. Saturday was also laid back: surfboard shopping (I’m still hunting but I have an idea of what I want) and brunch at a fantastic café downtown called Vovo Telo. I tried on some wetsuits, both of which kind of bombed. The first fit well, but I realized once I had it on that it was a men’s suit and I walked out of the changing room asking the guys if there was supposed to be a huge pouch at the crotch. Obviously yes. Then I tried a women’s suit and the chest was cut so that it was somewhat like a cone bra. Not a great look for me.
Vovo Telo is my new favorite spot for food and coffee. It’s located in a side neighborhood in a shady part of town, but the atmosphere was great and the waiters were hilarious. I ordered mueseli, yogurt, and honey with fresh fruit and our waiter looked at me like I was crazy not to order the pizza he just recommended. I also had two cappuccinos that finally tasted like espresso. The coffee has been pretty weak so far and I was starting to worry that I’d be going for a year without a good shot of caffeine. We ended up at the pub where we sang karaoke a couple weeks ago for dinner and to watch Man U vs. Arsenal. What a game. We were sitting with a bunch of Arsenal fans and the energy was great.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed downtown to surf for a few hours. I managed to stand up a couple times and even caught a pretty big wave at one point. I didn’t stand up completely on that one, but managed to ride it for a while. It’s so addicting, and is one of those things that hook me in because I get so competitive with myself. I wanted to try bigger waves once I stood up, and I got pretty close. After surfing we walked down to an outdoor market where people sell everything from clothes to baked goods to wood carvings and paintings. We bought this incredible painting of a Cape Town township with Table Mountain and Lions Head in the background to hang in our living room. I also got a couple paintings and a beautifully carved wooden piece of elephants. Needless to say I’m wiped and my face is completely sunburned.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Making ourselves at home in PE
It’s been a crazy week, so try to keep up.
First, there’s a video of the night the GRS staff sang to us at the office on YouTube and it’s worth checking it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VwJXy-LKzI (watch parts 1 and 2).
Our final days with the group were awesome. On Monday we had specific training for our positions, which means I got to go to Kyelitsha with the Programs Interns where there was a SKILLZ tournament going on. We met some of the coaches and their teams and watched them go through one of the SKILLZ activities. The activity dealt with having multiple sexual partners and the consequences of not using condoms in those relationships if one or more of the partners is HIV+. We joined in, and we had to dribble through a line of cones and then pass back to the next person in line. In the first round, if the person dribbling hit a cone, he/she had to do 2 pushups, representing what happens if you have sex with someone without “condomizing.” In the second round, if the person dribbled into a cone, everyone had to drop and do 2 pushups to represent the effects HIV has on the person who contracts the virus, but also their family, friends, and community. The coaches talked with the kids afterwards, asking them different questions about the drill and then how it applied to their lives. Many of them made the comment that they don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents about HIV, so we discussed ways to make that easier for them.
South Africans celebrate Women’s Day on August 9, paying tribute to the women who marched against the ruling in the 1950s that black and colored women were required to carry passbooks like their male counterparts. Monday night was spent at a bar called Dubliner’s, where we went the previous Monday and listened to this guy sing. He played the usual Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Caroline, but we told him it was one of our birthdays (a guy named Corey), so he sang this ridiculous version of the song that ended up being our anthem for the entire week. It being the day after Women’s Day, a group of men came into the bar dressed in drag – shocker for sure (these guys were not built like Nadal or Daniel Craig). Combine that image with the Corey Happy Birthday song (played at our screaming requests not once but twice). There is a video available, so I’ll post it when I get my hands on it.
On Tuesday we had a tour of Kyelitsha by a local youth group who serve as role models for the young kids in the township. We got to see a new turf field that was donated by friends of one of the interns, located at a primary school in the township, and then we walked around and saw some local sites and landmarks. I felt very invasive and uncomfortable when I first heard we were going for a township tour, but the group who led the tour assured us that people don’t get offended when they see outsiders walking around. I’m not sure how much I believe it, but I did feel comfortable walking with people who were actually from Kyelitsha, who knew the culture and people of the community.
Following the tour, we met up with most of the Cape Town staff (both from the office and coaches) back at the turf field where we were split into teams and played a round robin tournament. Team Supersport made it to the final only to lose 2-1. It was so much fun to play with the coaches, especially once they realized I can really play. I had a few assists and almost scored a goal, but the ball went just wide.
Our plan was to leave for PE at 6 am on Wednesday morning, but that got pushed back to the early afternoon. We were waiting for a new car to be delivered, which took until 4 that afternoon. Mpumi (our site coordinator) came to the Best Western to pick us up, and it started pouring just as we started to pack the car. We acquired a maroon Toyota Avanza, fondly nicknamed “Big Momma”, that’s a cross between a minivan and small SUV. She’s pretty badass.
Our trunk was filled to absolute maximum capacity, and then we had three seated in the back with bags under our feet and on our laps, and Mike Zales Mike Zales (one of my infamous roommates who became a legend during training) rode shotgun with two suitcases on his lap. Mpumi drove us through the driving rain Wednesday night to Knysna, a tourist beach town about 2 hours from PE, where we spent the night. We finished the drive on Thursday morning, driving straight to the office to meet the management. There are three Head Coaches, Siya, Titie, and Ngwenya, who run programs manage coaches at our three sites In Motherwell, New Brighton, and Zwide, respectively. The house was the next stop and it felt so good to finally be there. We live in a development of condo-esque houses, where we have a full kitchen and living room, 4 huge bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a walled-in yard with a grill and clothing line. It’s pretty amazing. The grocery store, Laundromat, and gym are around the corner, and the beach is 3 blocks down the road. Not too shabby.
We have an extra roommate until tomorrow, Rowena, who has been here since the end of May working on a project for her MPH. She’s been really amazing showing us around town and introducing us to a whole network of locals. PE is tourist destination for South Africans and Europeans, so there is a definite touristy area near the water called The Boardwalk…it reminds us of Disney World a bit. There are some pretty cool little shops but it’ll get pretty mobbed in a couple months when the tourists invade.
On Saturday we had a braai at the house to say goodbye to Ro and the Head Coaches and Mpumi came to hang out for the day. I’m starting to adjust to African time, which essentially means nothing ever starts on time and no one ever gets anywhere one time, except for football and rugby matches, which they make sure to be early for. Dom and Mike grilled lamb, chicken, and boer woers (sausages) and we had salad, pap (corn meal), chakalaka (spicy vegetable mix in sauce), and avocado. We also went into downtown PE to an area called Central where there’s an English-style pub to watch some matches on Saturday. We met another American who became friends with the interns from last year. He worked on Wall Street for a while, and then picked up and moved here last September to work for an NGO that goes into the township schools and helps tutor and support them. In addition to all of that, Ro took us to meet Vassie last night, an Indian woman from Durban who cooks and serves food out of her garage. She literally lives 2 blocks down, and last year’s interns spent a ridiculous amount of time at her house learning to cook curries and watching Bollywood movies. No question this year will be the same. We got “bunny chows”, apparently a South African style of serving curries in a bread bowl, and samosas. The food was unreal.
Today was our first “real” day of work, and it consisted of me stuffing folders with new coaches’ information sheets and then re-formatting a Coaches Code of Conduct sheet. That took us from 9-3:30, with about an hour long lunch break at a local braai where we bought meat at the front of the store and they grilled it for us out back. We ate the meat with a loaf of bread and a liter of Coke. Livin’ the life. I could only think of Eben and Dad when I was sitting there gnawing on animal bones.
In other news, I went driving for the first time yesterday. Learning stick on the left side of the road isn’t too bad, except when I stayed too far to the left and ran up onto the curb. Dom (the only experienced manual driver among the four of us) was very patient and made me stop so he could make sure I didn’t do any damage to Big Momma. No harm done, so I’ll probably take her out for a spin tomorrow. Our gym is awesome – think 80s-style writing on the wall, somewhat dated machines, and a 2 lane heated swimming pool planted next to the weights. Hell yes.
That should do it for now. Send me questions and emails, because I’d love to hear from you all!!!
-Rosie
First, there’s a video of the night the GRS staff sang to us at the office on YouTube and it’s worth checking it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VwJXy-LKzI (watch parts 1 and 2).
Our final days with the group were awesome. On Monday we had specific training for our positions, which means I got to go to Kyelitsha with the Programs Interns where there was a SKILLZ tournament going on. We met some of the coaches and their teams and watched them go through one of the SKILLZ activities. The activity dealt with having multiple sexual partners and the consequences of not using condoms in those relationships if one or more of the partners is HIV+. We joined in, and we had to dribble through a line of cones and then pass back to the next person in line. In the first round, if the person dribbling hit a cone, he/she had to do 2 pushups, representing what happens if you have sex with someone without “condomizing.” In the second round, if the person dribbled into a cone, everyone had to drop and do 2 pushups to represent the effects HIV has on the person who contracts the virus, but also their family, friends, and community. The coaches talked with the kids afterwards, asking them different questions about the drill and then how it applied to their lives. Many of them made the comment that they don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents about HIV, so we discussed ways to make that easier for them.
South Africans celebrate Women’s Day on August 9, paying tribute to the women who marched against the ruling in the 1950s that black and colored women were required to carry passbooks like their male counterparts. Monday night was spent at a bar called Dubliner’s, where we went the previous Monday and listened to this guy sing. He played the usual Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Caroline, but we told him it was one of our birthdays (a guy named Corey), so he sang this ridiculous version of the song that ended up being our anthem for the entire week. It being the day after Women’s Day, a group of men came into the bar dressed in drag – shocker for sure (these guys were not built like Nadal or Daniel Craig). Combine that image with the Corey Happy Birthday song (played at our screaming requests not once but twice). There is a video available, so I’ll post it when I get my hands on it.
On Tuesday we had a tour of Kyelitsha by a local youth group who serve as role models for the young kids in the township. We got to see a new turf field that was donated by friends of one of the interns, located at a primary school in the township, and then we walked around and saw some local sites and landmarks. I felt very invasive and uncomfortable when I first heard we were going for a township tour, but the group who led the tour assured us that people don’t get offended when they see outsiders walking around. I’m not sure how much I believe it, but I did feel comfortable walking with people who were actually from Kyelitsha, who knew the culture and people of the community.
Following the tour, we met up with most of the Cape Town staff (both from the office and coaches) back at the turf field where we were split into teams and played a round robin tournament. Team Supersport made it to the final only to lose 2-1. It was so much fun to play with the coaches, especially once they realized I can really play. I had a few assists and almost scored a goal, but the ball went just wide.
Our plan was to leave for PE at 6 am on Wednesday morning, but that got pushed back to the early afternoon. We were waiting for a new car to be delivered, which took until 4 that afternoon. Mpumi (our site coordinator) came to the Best Western to pick us up, and it started pouring just as we started to pack the car. We acquired a maroon Toyota Avanza, fondly nicknamed “Big Momma”, that’s a cross between a minivan and small SUV. She’s pretty badass.
Our trunk was filled to absolute maximum capacity, and then we had three seated in the back with bags under our feet and on our laps, and Mike Zales Mike Zales (one of my infamous roommates who became a legend during training) rode shotgun with two suitcases on his lap. Mpumi drove us through the driving rain Wednesday night to Knysna, a tourist beach town about 2 hours from PE, where we spent the night. We finished the drive on Thursday morning, driving straight to the office to meet the management. There are three Head Coaches, Siya, Titie, and Ngwenya, who run programs manage coaches at our three sites In Motherwell, New Brighton, and Zwide, respectively. The house was the next stop and it felt so good to finally be there. We live in a development of condo-esque houses, where we have a full kitchen and living room, 4 huge bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a walled-in yard with a grill and clothing line. It’s pretty amazing. The grocery store, Laundromat, and gym are around the corner, and the beach is 3 blocks down the road. Not too shabby.
We have an extra roommate until tomorrow, Rowena, who has been here since the end of May working on a project for her MPH. She’s been really amazing showing us around town and introducing us to a whole network of locals. PE is tourist destination for South Africans and Europeans, so there is a definite touristy area near the water called The Boardwalk…it reminds us of Disney World a bit. There are some pretty cool little shops but it’ll get pretty mobbed in a couple months when the tourists invade.
On Saturday we had a braai at the house to say goodbye to Ro and the Head Coaches and Mpumi came to hang out for the day. I’m starting to adjust to African time, which essentially means nothing ever starts on time and no one ever gets anywhere one time, except for football and rugby matches, which they make sure to be early for. Dom and Mike grilled lamb, chicken, and boer woers (sausages) and we had salad, pap (corn meal), chakalaka (spicy vegetable mix in sauce), and avocado. We also went into downtown PE to an area called Central where there’s an English-style pub to watch some matches on Saturday. We met another American who became friends with the interns from last year. He worked on Wall Street for a while, and then picked up and moved here last September to work for an NGO that goes into the township schools and helps tutor and support them. In addition to all of that, Ro took us to meet Vassie last night, an Indian woman from Durban who cooks and serves food out of her garage. She literally lives 2 blocks down, and last year’s interns spent a ridiculous amount of time at her house learning to cook curries and watching Bollywood movies. No question this year will be the same. We got “bunny chows”, apparently a South African style of serving curries in a bread bowl, and samosas. The food was unreal.
Today was our first “real” day of work, and it consisted of me stuffing folders with new coaches’ information sheets and then re-formatting a Coaches Code of Conduct sheet. That took us from 9-3:30, with about an hour long lunch break at a local braai where we bought meat at the front of the store and they grilled it for us out back. We ate the meat with a loaf of bread and a liter of Coke. Livin’ the life. I could only think of Eben and Dad when I was sitting there gnawing on animal bones.
In other news, I went driving for the first time yesterday. Learning stick on the left side of the road isn’t too bad, except when I stayed too far to the left and ran up onto the curb. Dom (the only experienced manual driver among the four of us) was very patient and made me stop so he could make sure I didn’t do any damage to Big Momma. No harm done, so I’ll probably take her out for a spin tomorrow. Our gym is awesome – think 80s-style writing on the wall, somewhat dated machines, and a 2 lane heated swimming pool planted next to the weights. Hell yes.
That should do it for now. Send me questions and emails, because I’d love to hear from you all!!!
-Rosie
Sunday, August 9, 2009
And my site assignment is...
Port Elizabeth, here I come!
We got our site assignments last night, and I’ll be going to Port Elizabeth, about 700 km east of Cape Town, along the seaboard. I was pretty attached to being in Cape Town because of the program one of the staff is piloting with kids in townships using cameras – the Snaps Project – so it was a little bit of a shock when I was placed in PE.
The announcements were made at Grassroot’s COO’s house in Cape Town. He has this incredible place that looks out on Table Mountain. The sun had just set and one of the staff, a college intern who had been in Cape Town for the summer and was leaving the next morning, made the announcements. She would list the names of people at one site and we would go stand together and then we would get a “Welcome to Team ______.” At this point we were all so anxious to know where we were placed that the drama of the moment wasn’t totally appreciated. Earlier in the day we had made fantasy site picks, getting into groups of 3 or 4 and picking who we thought would go to each site, so it added some comedy to a pretty intense evening. I didn’t hear when my name was called for PE, partly because I was so set on being in Cape Town and partly due to the adrenaline pumping in my ears, so I stood there for a second not realizing people were waiting for me to go join my group. Obviously.
I’ll admit that I was pretty disappointed for about half a minute – I figured since I’d be in PE, I wouldn’t be able to work on the project I had gotten myself so excited about. But then I realized how incredible our group is going to be. There are 4 of us, 2 girls and 2 guys. I don’t think I could have picked 3 better people to live with for a year. PE is also GRS’s most productive site in that we graduate the most kids out of any other site from PE’s SKILLZ programs. We’re all going to get to organize tournaments and coaches’ trainings, work with curriculum development and evaluation, and numerous other projects. We met our Site Coordinator, Mpumi, and one of the Master Coaches, Siya (see-yah), and we’re going to dinner with them on Monday to get to know each other and hear about PE in more detail.
Following that drama-fest, we all went back to the hotel to change and then went out for the night. We were all in this great bar on Long Street and the intern who read our assignments was there along with some other people from the staff. I was talking with her and somehow the snaps project came up, and she told me that I will in fact be working on the project, among other things, but from PE. I can’t describe how happy I was to hear that. I don’t know exactly what I’ll be working on, but I’m so ready to get going on it. I think there’s a lot of potential in PE for piloting this program and getting some preliminary research going.
So that was all Friday night – pretty big night. Saturday morning a big group of us when to Muisenberg to surf. This was my first time surfing and the little toe is technically not supposed to be getting much of a workout yet, but I figured since I’ve been walking and running around Cape Town for a week, it can handle a day surfing. The area we went to was beautiful. It’s a bay that is surrounded by mountains and has this long white-sand beach. The waves were 1-2 feet high and 7 of us rented suits and boards from a surf shop. One of the guys with us (also one of my roommates) is a surf instructor at home, so he taught us the basics and helped us out in the water (side note: I’m also so pumped about PE because it’s an hour away from Jeffries Bay, which is one of the top surf sites in the world and my roommate has offered to teach us all to surf). It took a while, but I did manage to get up on my board twice. I was so shocked about standing up that I promptly fell over backwards. The little toe survived…kind of sore but it was totally worth it. The after-effects of surfing are also great – so tired, hungry, and sore, but completely satisfied with what you just did. I was smiling like an idiot for the rest of the day.
We have two more days of training, and then Wednesday we depart for PE. We’re taking the scenic route, stopping to see what I’ve heard is some of the prettiest sites along the coast as we go. Hope you enjoyed, and I’ll be in touch when I get to PE!
We got our site assignments last night, and I’ll be going to Port Elizabeth, about 700 km east of Cape Town, along the seaboard. I was pretty attached to being in Cape Town because of the program one of the staff is piloting with kids in townships using cameras – the Snaps Project – so it was a little bit of a shock when I was placed in PE.
The announcements were made at Grassroot’s COO’s house in Cape Town. He has this incredible place that looks out on Table Mountain. The sun had just set and one of the staff, a college intern who had been in Cape Town for the summer and was leaving the next morning, made the announcements. She would list the names of people at one site and we would go stand together and then we would get a “Welcome to Team ______.” At this point we were all so anxious to know where we were placed that the drama of the moment wasn’t totally appreciated. Earlier in the day we had made fantasy site picks, getting into groups of 3 or 4 and picking who we thought would go to each site, so it added some comedy to a pretty intense evening. I didn’t hear when my name was called for PE, partly because I was so set on being in Cape Town and partly due to the adrenaline pumping in my ears, so I stood there for a second not realizing people were waiting for me to go join my group. Obviously.
I’ll admit that I was pretty disappointed for about half a minute – I figured since I’d be in PE, I wouldn’t be able to work on the project I had gotten myself so excited about. But then I realized how incredible our group is going to be. There are 4 of us, 2 girls and 2 guys. I don’t think I could have picked 3 better people to live with for a year. PE is also GRS’s most productive site in that we graduate the most kids out of any other site from PE’s SKILLZ programs. We’re all going to get to organize tournaments and coaches’ trainings, work with curriculum development and evaluation, and numerous other projects. We met our Site Coordinator, Mpumi, and one of the Master Coaches, Siya (see-yah), and we’re going to dinner with them on Monday to get to know each other and hear about PE in more detail.
Following that drama-fest, we all went back to the hotel to change and then went out for the night. We were all in this great bar on Long Street and the intern who read our assignments was there along with some other people from the staff. I was talking with her and somehow the snaps project came up, and she told me that I will in fact be working on the project, among other things, but from PE. I can’t describe how happy I was to hear that. I don’t know exactly what I’ll be working on, but I’m so ready to get going on it. I think there’s a lot of potential in PE for piloting this program and getting some preliminary research going.
So that was all Friday night – pretty big night. Saturday morning a big group of us when to Muisenberg to surf. This was my first time surfing and the little toe is technically not supposed to be getting much of a workout yet, but I figured since I’ve been walking and running around Cape Town for a week, it can handle a day surfing. The area we went to was beautiful. It’s a bay that is surrounded by mountains and has this long white-sand beach. The waves were 1-2 feet high and 7 of us rented suits and boards from a surf shop. One of the guys with us (also one of my roommates) is a surf instructor at home, so he taught us the basics and helped us out in the water (side note: I’m also so pumped about PE because it’s an hour away from Jeffries Bay, which is one of the top surf sites in the world and my roommate has offered to teach us all to surf). It took a while, but I did manage to get up on my board twice. I was so shocked about standing up that I promptly fell over backwards. The little toe survived…kind of sore but it was totally worth it. The after-effects of surfing are also great – so tired, hungry, and sore, but completely satisfied with what you just did. I was smiling like an idiot for the rest of the day.
We have two more days of training, and then Wednesday we depart for PE. We’re taking the scenic route, stopping to see what I’ve heard is some of the prettiest sites along the coast as we go. Hope you enjoyed, and I’ll be in touch when I get to PE!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
First Post from Cape Town
Wow! So much to share, so bear with me (this will probably be done in 2 posts).
First, know that I’m sitting here writing to you all while everyone else is out playing soccer. Reason? The little toe. Enough said.
My last week in Maine was incredibly laid back, considering I was getting ready to move half-way around the world and couldn’t walk due to said little toe. I spent Tuesday-Thursday shopping and gathering supplies with Nance basically morning to night. Thursday night was spent laying out everything I planned to bring and shoving it all in bags with the mindset that I may lose one or more of the bags in the process of flying to SA (DWPJR was the leading force in that project). Amazingly I didn’t explode or cry or yell at anyone in my family during this whole process…signs of personal growth.
I left Boston on Friday night with two other interns and we arrived in London Saturday morning, meeting a wave of interns who had just arrived from JFK. We all went into the city to meet a GRS staff member, Nik Haigh, who works in business development on his own in London. We saw Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace, and passed out in the park for a while until it started to rain. He also disclosed that Hillary Clinton is coming to Cape Town this week to see the Football For Hope Center in Kayelitsha (the township in Cape Town where we operate) AND Zinedine Zidane is coming to its official opening on Dec. 5, the day after the World Cup draw in Cape Town. YES!
The flight to Cape Town was 11 hours, overnight. By the end I was pretty delirious and it really didn’t register when we finally landed in Africa that it was AFRICA. Though, my first sighting was out the window as we landed and the mountains were silhouetted by an orangey sunrise – The Power of One came immediately to mind. Taxis took us to the Best Western Cape Suites (Whit, I think of you every time I see the sign at the entrance…the Worst Bestern for some).
Sunday was mostly settling in and Monday began bright and early. We were split into groups of 3 or 4 and sent on a “Resiliency Race” across Cape Town. We had a list of tasks, terms, and items that we had to find and document throughout the day with a budget of 100 Rand (a little over $12) each. My group immediately made our way downtown where we met some fruit vendors who lacked a few teeth but more than made up for it in conversation. One man in particular, Faisel, helped us out with some of our list items, like “Name the 11 official languages of SA” and “Name the 9 provinces of SA”, though he did tell me Congolese and Zimbabwean were official languages. I was later called out on this in front of the group and thoroughly laughed at. Faisel called a friend who took us around in his “minibus”, a taxi van seen all over the city.
Adie was our minibus driver and he was fantastic. He helped us map out exactly where we wanted to go and how to do it quickly. We got down to the beach and the hospital, both items on our to-do list, and he helped us translate some Afrikaaner and Xhosa terms into English. From there we walked to the 2010 World Cup Site, the Green Point Stadium, which is still under construction. It will seat 60,000 and is situated downtown on the water. From the stadium we walked up a long hill and ended up in a wealthier end of town, from which we made our way back into the center of the city following one long road. Along the way we met our third local acquaintance, Marcillino, a statistician who happened to be walking in the same direction. Among other things, Marcillino helped us find an HIV testing center that was free and willing to test us (Getting tested and videotaping someone sharing a personal story about how HIV has affected them was a big point-getter on our task list).
Getting tested was a really nerve-wracking, but great thing I did that day – definitely wasn’t expecting to be positive but when I was called in to have my results read, the nurse asked me to read my own test. She had explained that one line meant negative, two positive, but I wasn’t really paying attention and when I saw the one line I was really nervous to ask “Negative?” She could totally tell too. I feel better having tested, not only knowing my status according to an official test, but also knowing that I’ll be preaching the importance of testing for the next year and I’d be a complete hypocrite if I didn’t do it myself.
We all met back at the hotel for a quick sandwich and then we had an hour to prepare a PowerPoint on our day with the pictures and video we took. Each presentation was great and we all feel pretty competent finding our ways around the city now. It’s much less intimidating and I’m already recognizing certain areas and streets when I’m out.
Immediately after presentations we walked into town to the GRS office (so cool) for a Sexual Harassment meeting. Gross. We were all dreading it. Jet lag + running through a city all day + extreme dehydration = not in the mood. Kirk, one of the founders of GRS, was there to meet us in the darkened office where we sat on the floor and signed an alcohol/drugs policy. Just as he was opening the binder to read the policy, a guy came out of the dark wearing a black fedora, followed by a line of people walking to the beat of Thriller. I had no idea what was going on. It progressed to a full-fledged concert by the entire staff who were hiding in the darkened rooms (separated by glass-window walls) and up in the rafters. They had re-written the lyrics to Thriller, We Didn’t Start the Fire, Escape, and Wonderwall and they put on an intense performance for us. Every one of us was smiling ear to ear. It was hilarious. I’ve never felt so excited to meet so many people at once. I feel like I finally understand how lucky I am to be part of this organization and I’m so ready to get going.
Tuesday was our first day of training and consisted of introductions to some of the staff and the GRS mission, our F4 Initiative (Football for an HIV-Free Generation), and a brief overview of the curriculum we implement (SKILLZ) by some local coaches. I also found out we’ll be getting our site assignments on FRIDAY!!! Definitely nervous/ excited about that. One staff member in particular is working on developing a project in Khayelitsha where kids are given small cameras and are asked to go into their communities and document what they see as important, after having been through the SKILLZ curriculum and learning about HIV transmission/prevention/etc. I got really excited about this idea, especially after experiencing the kids with cameras in India. He also worked on the “11forHealth” initiative that is FIFA’s step toward health education programs. Also something I’m really excited about watching develop with FIFA’s Football For Hope Center in Kayelitsha.
Today was some more of the same with other staffers. Intros to our partners, business development, SKILLZ magazine, brand and marketing, etc. Basically an overview of everything so we can get an idea of what each department works on. The best thing I’ve taken away from the past two days is that everything is connected here. No one department operates alone and there is plenty of opportunity to work with numerous people on multiple interesting projects at the same time.
Personally, I’m feeling more confident and assured that I made the right choice coming here. The first couple days definitely rocked me and it caught up to me yesterday in a moment where I really just wanted to go to my room and cry. I held it together and we ended up having a great night. Ordered pizzas in and 20 of us played charades in our suite for three hours.
If you’re still with I’m impressed and hope you enjoyed. I have some more info in regards to partners and projects GRS is working on, but I’ll save it for another blog. It’s pretty interesting stuff, so you’ll see it soon.
Love to you all,
Rosie
First, know that I’m sitting here writing to you all while everyone else is out playing soccer. Reason? The little toe. Enough said.
My last week in Maine was incredibly laid back, considering I was getting ready to move half-way around the world and couldn’t walk due to said little toe. I spent Tuesday-Thursday shopping and gathering supplies with Nance basically morning to night. Thursday night was spent laying out everything I planned to bring and shoving it all in bags with the mindset that I may lose one or more of the bags in the process of flying to SA (DWPJR was the leading force in that project). Amazingly I didn’t explode or cry or yell at anyone in my family during this whole process…signs of personal growth.
I left Boston on Friday night with two other interns and we arrived in London Saturday morning, meeting a wave of interns who had just arrived from JFK. We all went into the city to meet a GRS staff member, Nik Haigh, who works in business development on his own in London. We saw Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace, and passed out in the park for a while until it started to rain. He also disclosed that Hillary Clinton is coming to Cape Town this week to see the Football For Hope Center in Kayelitsha (the township in Cape Town where we operate) AND Zinedine Zidane is coming to its official opening on Dec. 5, the day after the World Cup draw in Cape Town. YES!
The flight to Cape Town was 11 hours, overnight. By the end I was pretty delirious and it really didn’t register when we finally landed in Africa that it was AFRICA. Though, my first sighting was out the window as we landed and the mountains were silhouetted by an orangey sunrise – The Power of One came immediately to mind. Taxis took us to the Best Western Cape Suites (Whit, I think of you every time I see the sign at the entrance…the Worst Bestern for some).
Sunday was mostly settling in and Monday began bright and early. We were split into groups of 3 or 4 and sent on a “Resiliency Race” across Cape Town. We had a list of tasks, terms, and items that we had to find and document throughout the day with a budget of 100 Rand (a little over $12) each. My group immediately made our way downtown where we met some fruit vendors who lacked a few teeth but more than made up for it in conversation. One man in particular, Faisel, helped us out with some of our list items, like “Name the 11 official languages of SA” and “Name the 9 provinces of SA”, though he did tell me Congolese and Zimbabwean were official languages. I was later called out on this in front of the group and thoroughly laughed at. Faisel called a friend who took us around in his “minibus”, a taxi van seen all over the city.
Adie was our minibus driver and he was fantastic. He helped us map out exactly where we wanted to go and how to do it quickly. We got down to the beach and the hospital, both items on our to-do list, and he helped us translate some Afrikaaner and Xhosa terms into English. From there we walked to the 2010 World Cup Site, the Green Point Stadium, which is still under construction. It will seat 60,000 and is situated downtown on the water. From the stadium we walked up a long hill and ended up in a wealthier end of town, from which we made our way back into the center of the city following one long road. Along the way we met our third local acquaintance, Marcillino, a statistician who happened to be walking in the same direction. Among other things, Marcillino helped us find an HIV testing center that was free and willing to test us (Getting tested and videotaping someone sharing a personal story about how HIV has affected them was a big point-getter on our task list).
Getting tested was a really nerve-wracking, but great thing I did that day – definitely wasn’t expecting to be positive but when I was called in to have my results read, the nurse asked me to read my own test. She had explained that one line meant negative, two positive, but I wasn’t really paying attention and when I saw the one line I was really nervous to ask “Negative?” She could totally tell too. I feel better having tested, not only knowing my status according to an official test, but also knowing that I’ll be preaching the importance of testing for the next year and I’d be a complete hypocrite if I didn’t do it myself.
We all met back at the hotel for a quick sandwich and then we had an hour to prepare a PowerPoint on our day with the pictures and video we took. Each presentation was great and we all feel pretty competent finding our ways around the city now. It’s much less intimidating and I’m already recognizing certain areas and streets when I’m out.
Immediately after presentations we walked into town to the GRS office (so cool) for a Sexual Harassment meeting. Gross. We were all dreading it. Jet lag + running through a city all day + extreme dehydration = not in the mood. Kirk, one of the founders of GRS, was there to meet us in the darkened office where we sat on the floor and signed an alcohol/drugs policy. Just as he was opening the binder to read the policy, a guy came out of the dark wearing a black fedora, followed by a line of people walking to the beat of Thriller. I had no idea what was going on. It progressed to a full-fledged concert by the entire staff who were hiding in the darkened rooms (separated by glass-window walls) and up in the rafters. They had re-written the lyrics to Thriller, We Didn’t Start the Fire, Escape, and Wonderwall and they put on an intense performance for us. Every one of us was smiling ear to ear. It was hilarious. I’ve never felt so excited to meet so many people at once. I feel like I finally understand how lucky I am to be part of this organization and I’m so ready to get going.
Tuesday was our first day of training and consisted of introductions to some of the staff and the GRS mission, our F4 Initiative (Football for an HIV-Free Generation), and a brief overview of the curriculum we implement (SKILLZ) by some local coaches. I also found out we’ll be getting our site assignments on FRIDAY!!! Definitely nervous/ excited about that. One staff member in particular is working on developing a project in Khayelitsha where kids are given small cameras and are asked to go into their communities and document what they see as important, after having been through the SKILLZ curriculum and learning about HIV transmission/prevention/etc. I got really excited about this idea, especially after experiencing the kids with cameras in India. He also worked on the “11forHealth” initiative that is FIFA’s step toward health education programs. Also something I’m really excited about watching develop with FIFA’s Football For Hope Center in Kayelitsha.
Today was some more of the same with other staffers. Intros to our partners, business development, SKILLZ magazine, brand and marketing, etc. Basically an overview of everything so we can get an idea of what each department works on. The best thing I’ve taken away from the past two days is that everything is connected here. No one department operates alone and there is plenty of opportunity to work with numerous people on multiple interesting projects at the same time.
Personally, I’m feeling more confident and assured that I made the right choice coming here. The first couple days definitely rocked me and it caught up to me yesterday in a moment where I really just wanted to go to my room and cry. I held it together and we ended up having a great night. Ordered pizzas in and 20 of us played charades in our suite for three hours.
If you’re still with I’m impressed and hope you enjoyed. I have some more info in regards to partners and projects GRS is working on, but I’ll save it for another blog. It’s pretty interesting stuff, so you’ll see it soon.
Love to you all,
Rosie
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Little Toe
So just an update on my little toe...
I went to a foot doctor today who told me I had dislocated my small toe on my left foot. I may or may not have been playing soccer volleyball barefoot this weekend on a dimly-lit turf field, which ended in me pulling up lame before my team could pull a comeback cougars. The doctor numbed my toe with Novocaine, which was probably the most painful experience of my life. He took a needle to that little toe and stabbed in and around the joint until I had tears running down my face and was gasping for breath. Once that was over with he pushed and pulled it back into place, thankfully while I was reclined and unable to see exactly how much pressure he was using. I had a feeling it was pretty strong seeing as his hands were shaking while they were holding my toe.
Once everything looked normal on the x-ray, he taped it up and delivered the news that I'm not allowed to do anything remotely athletic for 3 weeks until the bones reset. Apparently the small toes normally just break, but mine dislocated instead. I assume this is better, though he said if I wasn't leaving for Africa they would have inserted a pin into the toe to ensure that it heals straight. Thank God I'm leaving on Friday.
-Rosie
I went to a foot doctor today who told me I had dislocated my small toe on my left foot. I may or may not have been playing soccer volleyball barefoot this weekend on a dimly-lit turf field, which ended in me pulling up lame before my team could pull a comeback cougars. The doctor numbed my toe with Novocaine, which was probably the most painful experience of my life. He took a needle to that little toe and stabbed in and around the joint until I had tears running down my face and was gasping for breath. Once that was over with he pushed and pulled it back into place, thankfully while I was reclined and unable to see exactly how much pressure he was using. I had a feeling it was pretty strong seeing as his hands were shaking while they were holding my toe.
Once everything looked normal on the x-ray, he taped it up and delivered the news that I'm not allowed to do anything remotely athletic for 3 weeks until the bones reset. Apparently the small toes normally just break, but mine dislocated instead. I assume this is better, though he said if I wasn't leaving for Africa they would have inserted a pin into the toe to ensure that it heals straight. Thank God I'm leaving on Friday.
-Rosie
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Hey all,
Here's the update:
Our orientation for GRS took place two weekends ago at Dartmouth, where we all stayed for 3 days and participated in some pretty interesting get-to-know-each-other drills. For instance, the first night we were standing in a circle in a dorm lounge and given an animal to act out. One other person was given the same animal. We were told to get on all fours, close our eyes, and make the sounds of our respective animals in order to find our partner. It was interesting (I was a dog).
It was a huge relief to finally put faces to names I had only seen in group emails since March. We are a group of 26, all very different and interesting people. Most, but not all, play or played soccer and everyone was really excited about our upcoming year.
I personally got a bit overwhelmed that weekend. It finally hit me in full what I'm about to do, and I remember feeling pretty anxious and out of my skin while I was there. I'm hoping that was my mini freak-out moment and I'll be able to adjust more quickly once I'm there.
The week before and after orientation were spent at Colby working at the soccer camp Mark Serdjenian runs each year. It was a total blast and just what I needed to keep my head clear and not spend my time worrying about packing and leaving -- that's reserved for this week. We spent most of the two weeks laughing, and continued the party through last weekend when a group of us went to Gillette to see A.C. and Inter Milan play. The players were less than impressive...I guess I can't blame them seeing as the stadium was half empty and dead quiet, but it was definitely an adventure. Later that night were played soccer volleyball (a favorite at camp) and I ended up catching my small toe on the turf. I'm going to the doctor today, but I'm pretty sure it's broken where there's a little hard bump sticking out of my skin.
All in all, it's been a great couple months since graduation and I'm ready to get going. I have a lot to do in the next three days and I'm trying to remember to breathe. The advice I get most frequently is "Everything they tell you about what it's like, what to expect, don't believe it." So I'm trying to do that, and just make sure I bring enough to wear.
-Rosie
Here's the update:
Our orientation for GRS took place two weekends ago at Dartmouth, where we all stayed for 3 days and participated in some pretty interesting get-to-know-each-other drills. For instance, the first night we were standing in a circle in a dorm lounge and given an animal to act out. One other person was given the same animal. We were told to get on all fours, close our eyes, and make the sounds of our respective animals in order to find our partner. It was interesting (I was a dog).
It was a huge relief to finally put faces to names I had only seen in group emails since March. We are a group of 26, all very different and interesting people. Most, but not all, play or played soccer and everyone was really excited about our upcoming year.
I personally got a bit overwhelmed that weekend. It finally hit me in full what I'm about to do, and I remember feeling pretty anxious and out of my skin while I was there. I'm hoping that was my mini freak-out moment and I'll be able to adjust more quickly once I'm there.
The week before and after orientation were spent at Colby working at the soccer camp Mark Serdjenian runs each year. It was a total blast and just what I needed to keep my head clear and not spend my time worrying about packing and leaving -- that's reserved for this week. We spent most of the two weeks laughing, and continued the party through last weekend when a group of us went to Gillette to see A.C. and Inter Milan play. The players were less than impressive...I guess I can't blame them seeing as the stadium was half empty and dead quiet, but it was definitely an adventure. Later that night were played soccer volleyball (a favorite at camp) and I ended up catching my small toe on the turf. I'm going to the doctor today, but I'm pretty sure it's broken where there's a little hard bump sticking out of my skin.
All in all, it's been a great couple months since graduation and I'm ready to get going. I have a lot to do in the next three days and I'm trying to remember to breathe. The advice I get most frequently is "Everything they tell you about what it's like, what to expect, don't believe it." So I'm trying to do that, and just make sure I bring enough to wear.
-Rosie
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Hey all,
31/2 weeks to go. It officially hit me the other day and I have some moments of panic, but I'm ready to go. Thank you to all who have contributed to my fund thus far. I really appreciate everyone's support and words of encouragement, and I promise this blog will get much more interesting in a few weeks.
Rosie
31/2 weeks to go. It officially hit me the other day and I have some moments of panic, but I'm ready to go. Thank you to all who have contributed to my fund thus far. I really appreciate everyone's support and words of encouragement, and I promise this blog will get much more interesting in a few weeks.
Rosie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
