English-English Translation Part 2

Upon completing my internship in South Africa I flew to Brisbane, Australia for two and a half weeks to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins who live here and explore the city. So far its been a pretty relaxing vacation and I have encountered some more interesting English words prompting me to make a part 2 of my English-English translation.

Cupper - a cup of tea, pretty obvious once explained but when my uncle offered me a "cupper" I was pretty confused.

Capsicum - what we call green/red/yellow pepper in Canada.

Pumpkin - butternut squash, apparently they don't have what we call a pumpkin in Canada.

Docket - receipt

Mate - friend/you there/person, this is a pretty well known one I think but people really do use it all the time, from the bus driver to my relatives, we're all mates

Footie - rugby, but only the "lower class" rugby league. The "upper class" rugby union is called rugby, yeah there's two types of rugby - I didn't know that either.

Bogan - a hillbilly/hick/lower class person. Pejorative. I saw some at the footie game I went to.

Movement

This is the last of my themed blog entries and it seems fitting that I am writing it on my last full day at Nkosi's Haven. For this entry I have chosen the theme of movement. I think the most dramatic movement I have experienced over these three months is the movement of time.

As I reflect back on my time here in South Africa I realize how much I have had the opportunity to see and how many different things I have experienced, from drinking umqombothi (home brewed beer) in a local township shebeen to visiting homes in Sandton and Pretoria (two of the wealthiest parts of Johannesburg and area) I have been able to see the contrasts that exist within South African society. Almost everyday I experience something new, even if it is as small as a new dish for supper.

While I am excited to move onto my next adventure (two and a half weeks in Australia visiting my aunt and family) and then my final year of university right now this excited is overshadowed with the question “where has the time gone?”

The cliche that “time flies when you’re having a good time” seems to be holding true for me and though I am still relatively young I wonder whether time will continue to move at the lightening fast pace has over the past year. I think this experience has really highlighted how fast time can move and to really take every opportunity offered. I will end this ramble with a quote I really like from Mark Twain. At this rate twenty years will have gone by before I even realize.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Family

Themed blog: What you value.

There are many things that this experience has made me value but the most significant is family. I think I have always appreciated my family but my stay here has made me realize how lucky I am to have a stable family and a stable home to grow up in. Being at Nkosi's Haven had made me look back at my childhood and wonder how I would have coped in a place like this. While everyone does what they can to help the children grow up to be the best they can much of these efforts are limited by the children's situations. One example that I have struggled with thus far is how and when I developed my sense of values. I cannot remember consciously learning values but they were instilled in me somehow and I can only assume this was the doing of my parents.

This has led me to conclude that growing up without having someone guiding you, whether it is a parent, relative, mentor, or close friend, it could be very challenging to develop the values, sense of self worth and motivation needed to succeed in life. I can only wonder who I would have grown up to be if it was not for my parents and my family in general. The first hand realities of children who do not have these people in their lives has made me value what I have much more.

Turning Point

Blog Theme: Turning Point

During the past week I have had several realizations that I would say mark a turning point for me here at Nkosi’s Haven. While I approached this experience knowing that I would encounter people on a daily basis who are living with and have come from harsh and challenging situations this manifests in unexpected ways. While the work being done here at Nkosi’s Haven is remarkable and many of the mothers and children have access to care and opportunities that they would not otherwise complicated problems still exist. One of the largest questions and challenges I have struggled with recently is “how do you help people who do not want to help themselves?”

Studying international development at York, one of the largest debates is surrounding help -- how to help people, what kind of help is most beneficial and whether one should even be ‘helping’ as it can be more harmful than helpful. Here at Nkosi’s Haven an ongoing struggle is how to empower or motivate the resident mothers to want to better their own lives.

When I first arrived here, after a few days or weeks I began to form ideas of how things could run better, especially in regards to the mothers and their overall lack of willingness to contribute to the community. I would like to clarify that I am by no means trying to lump them all together because many have rose from very challenging situations to contribute to this community and to move on to other places. However, despite being given many employment and other opportunities the majority of them seem only be willing to perform the bare minimum duties (cleaning common areas, working in the kitchen) and spend the rest of their time sitting around.

This lack of willingness to grab opportunities to improve one’s circumstances is one that I struggle to understand and accept. I am not ready to believe that these women should be given up on but I am unable to propose how values such as self-confidence and self-motivation can be instilled in someone who appears to have given up on themselves.

While I would consider this a negative conclusion, it has made me realize how exceedingly complex and complicated this issue is and how little I know. This to me reflects the basic problem of “experts” in the development world -- highly trained and paid professionals that are brought into a context for a short period of time, usually several weeks or perhaps months, and relied on to provide advice and guidance to a project.

In addition many of the empowerment and employment opportunities offered here that have failed are those that have worked in other contexts. This adds to the development theory that one project that functions in one situation cannot simply act as a blueprint for another situation. In the context of Nkosi’s Haven I have only began to see the cracks in the surface of this very complex situation where initially I thought I’d seen problems and how to solve them.

Pictures!

Here are a few more pics of more adventures I've had.

This past weekend I went to a game reserve called Rhino and Lion park. It was a really neat experience, I saw lots of animals I've only seen in movies before and I got to pet a tiger and a lion cub! Here I am with the tiger cub.

The other weekend I took a bicycle tour of Soweto, a huge, famous township nearby. The trip included a lunch at a local restaurant where we had kota, a township staple. Kota is a quarter loaf of bread hollowed out with chips (fries), atchar (mango pickle) as basics and other ingredients (in this case ketchup, cheese, egg and polony).

This is a picture of a street in Soweto.

Recently a few friends and I took a trip to a nearby nature reserve where we saw wild animals like donkeys!

Here is a view of the nature reserve from above on a sewer pipe we walked out on.

Through Someone Else's Eyes

For my third themed blog I have chosen the topic: See yourself through someone else’s eyes. During my time here in South Africa I have had lots of experiences where it is very obvious that I am not South African. Despite South Africa being a country filled with many different types of people, if I am not assumed to be a foreigner due to my skin colour it becomes obvious as soon as I speak.

For the purposes of this blog entry I am going to focus on how I think that I am perceived by the residents of Nkosi’s Haven. Nkosi’s Haven regularly receives international volunteers (at the moment there are 14 here) so the residents are no stranger to Western/white people but as a volunteer one is an eternal source of interest.

I believe that the kids see me as someone who is almost always happy to see them, someone who will always give them a hug and pick them up. I think that the children see me as somewhere between a friend and an authority figure (certainly more towards a friend based on the number of times my warnings are ignored). The some children certainly also feel that either because I am white or because I am from Canada that I am rich and therefore should buy them things or give them my things. This is a perception that I have thus far completely rejected as I have never bought an individual child anything as I believe this creates materialistic bonds (as seen in other cases here). I plan to make a donation to Nkosi’s Haven as a whole upon my departure.

As for the mothers living at Nkosi’s Haven it is much more challenging for me to see myself through their eyes as they are harder to get to know. I think overall the mothers see me, and other volunteers, as someone who comes and goes but since they know I will only be here for a fixed amount of time it is not worthwhile to become more than acquaintances. At least I think this is how I would feel were I a resident here. However, I think the mothers also see the volunteers as a source of knowledge and a resource, particularly related to technology.

One example if this is recently I had a mother, Happy, come to me asking me to help her activate her Facebook mobile (Facebook on your cellphone) and a few other programs. For me this would be a simple process but for her first we had to create her first email address, then a Facebook account and then use this information to activate Facebook on her phone. Going through this process and explaining each step to her made me realize how complicated technology could appear when you have not been very exposed to it. I heard the next day that she was up all night chatting on her phone so I guess it’s working.

Overall my experiences here have made me really consider my place in the world and how I am seen by others, living in Canada for my entire life has made me accustomed to having people assume that I am of a Canadian background (which is an accurate assumption) but here I am asked almost daily where I am from and subsequent questions. Being the minority has been a very interesting experience for me and I’ve learned a lot from it so far.

English-English Translation

Being here in South Africa I have encountered a variety of amusing and seemingly unique uses of English words, as well as many other languages. Definitions are based mostly on usage that I've observed (List to be updated as I encounter more).

South African English = My definition

geyser (pronounced 'geezer') = water tank ... no idea why

robot = traffic light

valet, shouted at parking attendants while in a parking lot = "I want to park near the entrance to the store"

Howzit? = "What's up?" "How are you?"

sharp, typical reply to 'Howzit" = good, okay

Vienna sausages = hot dogs

takkies = running shoes ... this one doesn't make much sense to me

braai = barbeque (this is really an Afrikaans word I think but it's always used in English)

just now = sometime in the semi near future

now now = sooner than just now

bakkie = seems to be a pick-up truck

doing sport = this isn't something I picked up from South Africans but rather the Germans I live with - they use it to mean "getting exercise" or "working out", I love how it sounds. Eg. "I'm going to do sport today"

For a much more comprehensive list check out Wikipedia's page on South African regionalisms

Independence

Gate in Berea.

For my next themed blog post I have chosen: Something you now appreciate that you didn’t before. For me there are tons of things that I now appreciate more than before but the most significant thing that I definitely took for granted is independence. For almost the last two years I have lived in my own apartment with my friend near York. While in Toronto I can literally do whatever I want whenever I want. This doesn't mean that I do - it usually just leads to lots of late nights doing homework but the potential exists. Yes there is danger in Toronto, I am aware of it and I take care but the level care is totally different from here.

Johannesburg, and South Africa in general, has a reputation for high levels of crime and my gender and race make me in particular a target. This means that I have almost never walked alone outside of the fences of Nkosi's Haven and I don't go anywhere alone at night or on foot. This might sound very limiting and at times it does feel that way but most evenings are spent hanging around with the other volunteers and I don't mind too much.

The next aspect of independence I took for granted in public transportation. The TTC might not be the best transit in the world but compared to mini bus taxis it is a breeze. The mini buses are certainly interesting and I'm glad I have been able to take them but I would not want to rely on that form of transit. There are times in life when you don't want your trip somewhere to be an adventure. Most frustrating for me is the total lack of any signs. You want to find out which bus to take? You have to ask. Want to know the fare? You have to ask. Want to know where to get off? You have to ask. And you can never be totally sure the person you're asking knows where you mean and is giving you the right answer. This would definitely get easier the longer you lived here but it can also be rather frustrating. The other limiting aspect of the mini buses is most don't run past when it gets dark and it's not advisable to be travelling on them past dark any ways. Next time I start to complain about the TTC I'll try to stop and remember how it would be if I needed to rely on a mini bus.

The third aspect of independence here is the gate. As a result of South Africa's high crime rate almost every house and business has a fascinating mix of fences, spikes, bars and gates. Here at Nkosi's Haven we are able to keep the gate open during the day as the area is pretty safe but it is locked around 7pm. So if you want to go out of the gate after that you need to get the key, unlock the gate and lock it again. If you're coming back later than 7pm you also need to call the nurse (who keeps the gate keys) and have her come and let you into the gate. All of this can take 10-15 minutes of messing around at least.

This might seem like a relatively negative post but I really do now realize how much freedom I have in Canada. To me the most negative part is that people are so desperate that they feel they must resort to theft and violence. And that this results in people being so fearful of theft and crime that they need to surround themselves with fences. Realistically these issues have not been a major source of frustration for me, they are inconvenient for sure but I'd rather be safe than sorry as the saying goes.

More Pictures...

It's another public holiday today - Youth Day, which celebrates the beginning of the student riots in Soweto in 1976 protesting education only being offered in Afrikaans. Holidays seem to lead to trips to the mall and blog posts for me. Here are a few more pictures...

There seems to be grass fires on the edge of the freeway on a pretty regular basis here and no one gets too concerned. But one day there was a fire in the nature reserve RIGHT across the fence from Nkosi's Haven!! (The building on the right is one of our cottages.) Us foreigners (me and 3 German volunteers) were, I think, legitimately concerned since there was fire, right across a fence. After much running around someone did call the fire truck and the fire went out on its own but the lack of concern about fire was very interesting and somewhat concerning.

The next 3 pictures are of the other site that Nkosi's Haven operates in downtown Joburg, I had the opportunity to visit it the other week and it is a really neat place. It is made up of 2 houses that are very patchwork and they have the most adorable chef who made sure we ate the entire time we were there.

This is one of the houses.

Me standing in their courtyard type area.

The Nkosi's Haven logo painted on the wall at the entrance.

Define Beautiful

Hello Everyone.

Part of the reason for this blog’s creation is my internship’s requirement to write a blog entry once every two weeks on specific predefined topics. While I have been writing on here fairly regularly I haven’t written any entries on these topics. So here is the first one. Topic: the definition of beautiful where you are. It has been challenging for me to narrow down how to define beauty here at Nkosi’s Haven as there is beauty in something as simple as making someone laugh or having a baby fall asleep in my arms but here goes.

What defines beauty for me here at Nkosi’s Haven is singing. On the evening of June 1st there was a memorial service held here to mark 10 years since the passing of Nkosi Johnson. The service featured several speeches, a bible reading and singing by the Soweto Gospel Choir, all the children of Nkosi’s Haven and several mums and caregivers. Every time I experience the children, mums or caregivers singing or dancing it amazes and captivates me. Prior to the service in the morning, with just Gail (the founder of Nkosi’s Haven) and those of us living here lit a candle in memory of Nkosi at 5:45am, the time he passed. As we walked into the room where there was a memorial set up for Nkosi the children sang one song that almost made me cry.

I expect that it is a fairly well known song but since I am not religious and most of the songs sung are gospel songs, this was the first time I remember hearing this song. It is so simple but so beautiful. One of our caregivers, Sarah, began by singing “We walk” and then everyone else answered with “in the light of God, the light, the light of God” and then the song continues from there, though that simple lyric made up the majority of the song. The swell of voices and collective passion was very powerful touched some deep part of my heart. As I write this and try to reflect on how much this song and moment affected me, I am having trouble expressing how I felt in that moment and I certainly don’t feel that this description is doing the beauty justice.

In comparison to my very privileged life many of these children lack the basics that I took for granted growing up - enough clothes that fit properly, two parents who are together, a room of my own, more toys than I could play with - yet many of them have such incredible talent for singing and dancing with little training. And to me this is beautiful. Of course there are also many times when the children are not nearly as perfect as I’ve presented them so far - they don’t say please and thank you nearly as much as they should, they hit each other, grab, and ignore your attempts at discipline. But overall there are many more beautiful moments here than ugly ones.

Every little bit counts.

Hello Everyone!

In my short time here at Nkosi's Haven I have had the opportunity to witness first hand the amazing work that this organization does and the tirelessness of its staff and volunteers. Nkosi's Haven was inspired by a little boy who changed a lot of people's lives and their lives. Nkosi Johnson worked throughout his short life of 12 years to educate people about AIDS and those living with it. You can read more about Nkosi here. June 1st, 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of Nkosi's death and to honour his legacy we have embarked on a fund-raising campaign. I would now like to take the opportunity to speak from personal experience about the need here and tell you some ways your donation would be spent.

The current and most urgent need for Nkosi's Haven is heaters. It may seem crazy to Canadians that winter in South Africa is cold, but it really is! The past two days I've spent all day wearing a coat and my fingers are freezing as I type. The cottages are not insulated and so children are currently sleepy with hot water bottles, which don't hold much heat.

Another important need currently is funds to fix the transport. Since I arrived a month ago both the large vans to drive the kids to and from school, therapy off-site and to take them on day trips have been broken. This has made it very challenging day to day and we are currently relying on the kindness of friends of Nkosi's Haven.

While these are short term needs there are many long term ones including the development of the farm that Nkosi's Haven has recently purchased to produce food and revenue for all our sites, expand our recently started jewellery project that allows the mothers to earn their own income and maintaining the current level of care at all our sites.

I can personally see that the money that Nkosi's Haven has is being well spent but the number of people living with AIDS and in need of care greatly surpasses our current capacity. I know that most of those reading this blog are students and don't have much to give but every little bit counts and as Nkosi himself said "Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are."

You can donate here online!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and anything you can give is really, truly appreciated.

Normal programming will resume next post.

Lack of electricity.

I think that one common perception of Africa is that the electricity can be rather unreliable. My experience of this thus far has been two very local power outages. And when I say local I mean local. Saturday night and last night the power went out in 5 cottages, including the one I am staying in, in Nkosi's Haven village. Luckily the kitchen still has power and we still have water so it hasn't been much more than a minor inconvenience. Apparently its a result of all the kids taking a bath at the same time and the water tanks - geezers they call them, I don't know why - overloading the wiring. I find it ironic and amusing that the only power outages I have experienced thus far have been so localized. As far as I know I can look forward to another evening in the dark. I miss my electric blanket.

A Few Highlights

Hello Again.

Today I had a day off because it is South Africa's municipal elections so it is a national holiday. Since I obviously can't vote it was just a Wednesday with no work for me. Naturally I took a nap and now I'm not very sleepy so I am going to post a few more pictures of a few of my highlights so far...

These first 3 pictures are from the past Saturday, May 14th. Nkosi's Haven enjoyed a fun day that was put on by a local group of families and friends that like to organize fun days for homes and orphanages. After being somewhat annoyed that there was about 100 kids yelling outside my window at 8am on Saturday morning, I joined the fun. The kids had a great time and it was nice to see them enjoying the day. There was a bouncy castle, an elephant ride (like those ones you'd see in the mall, not a live elephant), hula hoops and then there was a visit from the Johannesburg Zoo with a cockroach, bunny, lizard and a snake much to the terror of many of the 2-4 year-olds. I ended up with four kids crowded into my lap all screaming from fear and excitement as other kids touched the animals.

Later on Saturday I set off with another volunteer, Silke, to visit another friend she has staying with a host family in a township, Daveyton. I could write a book on the whole experience but for now I will leave you with the part where I tried eating worms. As most of you know I have been vegetarian for about 6 years but I decided that while I am in South Africa I am not going to limit me from trying new things. Technically these are caterpillars but they are called mopane worms. Eating bugs has a big EW factor in North America but really it wasn't much different from any other food. Almost a bit anti-climatic actually. I excepted a big explosion of green guts or some sort of weird burst of flavour but they tasted .. a fishy and chewy. Not bad really.

I get many visitors in my office, usually kids, but also peacocks. There are an unknown number of peacocks living at Nkosi's Haven and they are very nosy creatures. I happened to have my camera on this day so I snapped a picture. I won't let them come in the door, I'm worried they'd act Canada geese and peck me or something.

I'm going to try to keep updating, so far I am enjoying blogging, it gives me a good opportunity to reflect on and try to explain my experiences. Byeeeee!!

A Day in my Life.

Sanibonani (Good Day) Everyone! I hope that whatever corner of the world you're in you're doing well.

I thought that for this entry I would give you a basic idea of what I spendmost of my days doing (so far). After two weeks of working I have settled into a basic routine but everyday is different.

I wake up around 7am and get ready for the meeting that all the volunteers and mothers have each day at 7:45am. These meetings are run by a staff member. From what I gather these meetings are a fairly recent addition to the routine here at Nkosi's Haven and they allow everyone to have an opportunity to raise concerns or make announcements. This is important in a place like Nkosi's Haven because word of mouth is how almost all announcements seem to be made.

After the meeting I go back to cottage I live in and have breakfast. Breakfast is served in the kitchen everyday at 6:30am but I have no intention of getting up at that time for maize porridge or bread. (This is what I've heard is served for breakfast I've only eaten it once, my first day because I arrived at 7am.) This is the cottage I live in.

Then its time for me to “commute” to "work". Here is the hill I walk up to get to work

Once I arrive at "work" - about 3-4 minutes later - I start working on whatever tasks I have for that day. This always involves several trips “downstairs” (the bottom of the hill) for discussions with the founder of the organization, and my boss, Gail. As everyone is always saying, walking up and down the hill will make me “fit”. This is my office.

So far I have written a donation proposal, taken over running Nkosi's Haven's Facebook page, created a media list and am currently planning a memorial event for the 10th anniversary of the death of Nkosi Johnson, the boy who inspired the creation of Nkosi's Haven. Shameless plug: If you have Facebook, you can “like” our Facebook page by using the box to the left.

I work until about 1pm when lunch is served. Lunch varies from day to day but its generally a variation of sandwiches, fries, sausage, hot dog, potatoes, salad (rarely with dressing) or bread. So far lunch has not been my favourite meal of most days.

After lunch I go back to work until about 4pm or 5pm it varies from day to day. Since my office is in the therapy building of the village I usually get a few visits from kids who are coming for therapy, tutoring or Afrikaans lessons.

After I finish work I pack up my things and commute back down the hill. Then I usually spend an hour or so hanging out with the kids while we wait for dinner.

Dinner starts at 5pm with the children being served first. Then everyone else is free to come and serve themselves. I usually eat dinner in the cottage with the other volunteers. After dinner we usually hang around and talk or sometimes I read. Another volunteer and I are also trying to learn a bit of Zulu (the most common African language spoken at Nkosi’s Haven) so some nights we read aloud from the instruction books we bought.

I don’t quite know why but something about this place makes you tired very early. It gets dark at 6pm and everyone heads to their cottages around 7pm and seem to be in bed shortly after. So around 9:30/10pm I turn on my electric blanket and go to bed. For some reason the majority of houses in South Africa don’t have any insulation and we don’t really have an effective heating system either so its quite cold at night ... more on that later. I think that ‘quirks’ will make for an interesting future blog entry.

Leave comments!! More pictures to come...

First Few Days...

Hello Everyone!

I have made it to South Africa safe and sound after about 30 hours of travelling and not much sleeping. I had no real problems travelling, just a lot of sitting and waiting, and more sitting and more waiting.

I arrived on April 30th and got to Nkosi’s Haven at about 7am so I’ve been here for almost three days now. Since it’s been such a short time that everything is new and exciting but I’m going to try and give the highlights. As well, I don’t start work tomorrow (Tuesday) since today was a public holiday (Labour Day or Worker’s Day).

I think one of my favourite things so far is the kids, there are kids running around almost all the time and they are always happy to see you and give you a hug or a wave. There are I think about 100 kids ranging from infants to teens, 30 mothers/caregivers, and 4 volunteers living in Nkosi’s Haven currently (don’t quote me on the numbers) so someone is almost always around. There also several staff members that live off-site. Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming to me so far.

Yesterday I ventured to the mall with one of the other volunteers (who has been here for around a month) to buy some groceries and a cellphone. However, I couldn’t buy a cellphone because I needed ID and I hadn’t brought any. Walking around here on the roads is interesting, first of all because the cars drive on the left so it can be hard to remember which way to look, there is a lack of cross walks and drivers (or pedestrians) don’t necessarily pay attention to the rules of the road. Regardless, we got to the mall and back and only almost got hit once.

Today I went back to the mall with another volunteer who also needed a cell phone since his had broke. This time I did manage to get one but only after a lot of hassle. Cellphone stores in South Africa seem to require ID and proof of residency in the country to register a SIM card. This time we were armed with passports for ID but we were not aware of the proof of residency requirement.

After trying several stores with no luck, one clerk mentioned that we just needed a letter stating where we lived, at which point it was suggested that if we just went to the internet cafe and typed one ourselves that could be fine. At this point I remembered I had a letter with the address of Nkosi’s Haven in my email account in case I needed it for immigration.

After printing this letter we went to the store sure we had all we needed this time. Then the clerk was unable to make her computer accept my Canadian address and phone number or the South African address or phone number I gave. Many, many errors and retrys later we gave up and were discussing what else we could do when the lady who had been helping us said she would register the SIM card under her name and address for me!!! Shortly after we were on our way with a phone, which by the way cost me about $10. (The cheapest model but still, we are getting ripped off in Canada). I was so surprised and pleased that she offered to do that for me, thinking that would not happen in Canada, I will definitely be looking for a way to pay it forward.

After finally getting a phone (and several hours later than expected) we headed back by mini bus taxi. This was a small adventure all on its own. Joburg is lacking in a functional public transit system, taxis are relatively expensive and if you don’t want to walk, there is the mini bus taxi. I’ll try to post a picture later but they are basically 10-12 seat vans (though much skinnier than a van that would fit that many people in Canada) and at the mall they all sit in a huge part of the parking lot. To find out which one to take you go and ask one of the “managers” - guys standing in a bunch that know what’s going on - which one to take. Then once you get in the mini bus you pay the driver the fare which seems to be arbitrary and somewhat based on how far you are going.

The whole system is very ad hoc but I think the most amusing part is that the person who sits up beside the driver is supposed to figure out how many people are in the taxi and take the correct amount of fares based on that. Of course, we ended up in the front but we insisted that we did not want to make change so I just took the fares and handed them to the driver and he made change and then I handed back the change. Luckily we weren’t going far and I didn’t have this job for too long.

That’s been the main highlights so far, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and please feel free to comment, I’d love to get feedback!! Pictures to come!

Introduction...

Hello Everyone!

Here is a short (hopefully) introduction to how my 3 months in South Africa will be spent.

I am doing an internship through York’s International Internship Program. (Any returning York students check them out, there are some amazing opportunities!) While these internships can take you around the world, mine will be taking me to Johannesburg, (Joburg for short) South Africa.

I am working with an organization called Nkosi’s Haven which provides holistic care to women who have HIV/AIDs, their children and AIDS orphans. Nkosi’s provides housing, food and support in two self-contained communities in Joburg. As you may know HIV/AIDS has had particularly devastating effects in South Africa with around 17% of the population currently living with AIDS. Those infected frequently face social stigma and alienation as well as the physical effects of the disease. This is why organizations like Nkosi’s are so important.

I will be living and working at their larger community called Village which is located just outside of the city, south of Joburg. My internship is focused on marketing and promoting Nkosi’s Haven but since I am going to be living in accommodations provided for volunteers on site, I am sure I will be learning all the time. Given my academic background in international development and communication studies, this position is an awesome combination of both my fields of study.

Since I have never been to South Africa, or any part of Africa, before I am excited to experience a life very much outside my own context. (Also stay tuned after my internship ... I’m going to be going to Brisbane, Australia for 2 and 1/2 weeks to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins who live there.) I hope to be able to learn as much as I can from this experience and I will do my best to share it on here. This is my first time really blogging so I’m sure I’ll learn from this too. Doing my best not to sound like I’m writing an essay or a cover letter. :P

Below is a touching commercial that Nkosi’s has created.

The Beginning

Hello!

Welcome to my blog!

The countdown is on to my departure! I am flying out of Ottawa on April 28th.

For those of you that may not know, my parents live in Arnprior, a small town near Ottawa. I moved all things here for the summer to avoid paying rent and I will be departing from here. Right now I am feeling a mixed of excitement and nervousness. I currently working on tying up the loose ends I have left before my departure. Shopping, appointments, tackling mountains of laundry, you know, the usual.

8 days!