From January to June of 2009 I will be living and studying in Cape Town, South Africa. I am from Wisconsin in the United States, and these are my stories. They are filmed on location with the real men and women of law enforcement.
I'm now a few weeks into my volunteering program with SHAWCO. Recently, we've worked on cover letters and resumés (which are called CVs here), as well as the intricate details of what to include on both, and the purposes they serve.
When I chose my program, I knew that it would probably be more difficult than the others, especially working with adults, and it certainly is. There are so many key differences from working with children. With kids, they love you and the barriers to engage aren't that great. You're the cool older person, so even if they're wild they want to learn about you and all that, and you'll find something in common to play or learn. Even more, the subject material is easier and you're just teaching them math or science, generally. Not to say that can't be difficult, or that handling a large group of children can't be overwhelming, but you have the option of playing games and things to engage them, as well as a set curriculum (that you understand) to work with. It can be fun and rewarding, but I think I'd wonder how much I'd helped them. I opted to work with adults, hoping to apply my skills to something a bit more practical. Both have their unique rewards, I suppose.
With Masizikhulise, we're working with adults ages 18-35. Many of them have never had a formal job and never graduated high school, maybe have children and are married, or not. Worse yet is that they don't really think they have the skills to succeed or to the resources to get one. So... it is an uphill battle. I lead an exercise where we brainstormed things that we've been part of (groups, jobs, etc.), and then to think of the skills that you have from it, and how it can be applied to a job. Whew... that was way too much too fast. After silence, it descended into me explaining that even being in a relationship teaches you skills that can be applied to a job (patience, communication, problem solving, compromise). Then moved to explaining the benefits of playing soccer or being in church choir.
There's a language barrier for most of them since despite speaking English, it is limited. I'm struggling with understanding what experiences they do have, and ways to connect, but its difficult. They're so quiet! At one moment my students are understanding what I'm saying about a resumé and agreeing, and as we're moving down the list of things to include it slowly becomes clear that only one of the eight in front of me has an email address... or knows how they work. So I transitioned into a ten minute discussion on e-mail, which we really take for granted. "It is like paper mail... but on the computer and instantaneous." I never thought I would explain email after middle school.
Like, think about it. What do you do for an interview? You get dressed up and answer questions in a way that promotes your skills and your ability to assist the employer in what they need. It seems simple, but it's certainly not part of township life. Especially with the high unemployment rate. I don't even know if the curriculum the program is giving me will help. Resumés and cover letters, some of the material asks you to list dissertations or tertiary accomplishments. Seriously? We're in Khayelitsha. Further yet, only about 11% of the country has access to internet. That's the country. Ouch!
Beyond the barriers to communication and teacher/student dynamics, they're grown and looking for jobs. So it is hard not to focus on the stuff that they need to know, because we've got work to do. It's not as simple as mastering the concept and being done. And probably on a more selfish, mopey note, most of the students don't really care who we are, or so it seems. They just need help, which is understandable, but I'm in love with the context of things, and long for the connection.
I'm usually quite good at bridging these gaps, but I'm certainly being challenged here! After class, I like to find the children and play on their shoddy wooden jungle gym until the bus comes, to unwind. That's what these photos are, since I don't attempt to take pictures in class.
I began my volunteering with SHAWCO today. I've started a bit later than everyone else, because I'm working on a newer, special program. I'll explain that in a bit. Other UCT students are on their third or so week of volunteering, and I've been anxiously waiting to start, but now I have.
A little background: SHAWCO is UCT's main volunteering program. Established in the 1950's by a student, they recruit medical students to offer health services in many of the townships, and also have other students work in the education sector with younger students after school (Math, Chem, Arts, Sports, Environmental Studies, Biology, etc). I've been told that SHAWCO is the largest student run nonprofit on the continent. That is neat. And they operate in several different townships.
SHAWCO center in Kensington.
I will be working in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's largest township. It means "Our New Home" in Xhosa, which is ironic, because much of it, by most standards, can scarcely be referred to as a home. Despite this, its wooden and tin sheeted make-shift shacks have come to house somewhere between 500,000 to 1.5 million people, they aren't really sure. It is important to note that most townships in South Africa are not just the "result" of poverty. Rather, black and coloured South Africans were removed in the 1950's-70's from their homes, after most portions of large cities were simply declared whites only areas. And just like that, they were removed and dumped in townships.
Khayelitsha was established by the government in 1985 to provide 'legal and formal' housing for blacks, most of which were unsettled after the forced removals. Apartheid has since ended, but its effects are staggering and still remain. Here is a recent article about Khayelitsha from the Associated Press, if anyone is interested.
The organization was introduced to me like this. "Welcome to SHAWCO! Out there, in the real Cape Town, our public schools are failing. They are failing the children that need them, and we need you to help." And so, almost all of the eight hundred UCT volunteers work directly with students aged 6-18, most (I believe) with elementary and middle school students. I didn't go that route though.
In Khayelitsha, it is estimated that the unemployment rate is between 50-60%. This is where my program comes in. It is called Masizikhulise, and means "Let us grow together." It focuses on entrepreneurship, employment search, and overcoming obstacles to employment. Specifically, I'm working with adults ages 18-35 on employment search skills, and leading classes on how to find a job, create a resumé, write a cover letter, and how to interview. I chose it because of my skill set from being a manager the last two years, and I also think I'll be able to do more practical good by working with adults.
A different township on the way out of town.
So yes, SHAWCO does a lot of good and has a massive operation, but as a result, they aren't terribly organized. I got on the bus to volunteer today (every Wednesday) with the other guy from my project, arrived at our center, and just walked around looking for a woman named Nosisi for our next instructions (which took a while before we were given an area to work in). And good thing I have experience in this field! They hand you a lesson plan and an agenda, and you're just supposed to go over it. Luckily, I've got a fair amount of experience when it comes to interviewing, cover letters, applications, and resumés (but a lot to learn about South African job markets). The other guy was much less comfortable, I think.
It was a good session though. We had 8 people to work with, from ages 19-28 today. Some had a few kids, some had previous jobs. Others got up to grade 11 or so, never graduated from high school, and thus haven't had a job in years. I just don't know how you get along like that. I think they liked me though. I especially enjoyed it when a woman turned to me and started speaking in Xhosa. I said with a smile, "I honestly didn't think it necessary to say, but I don't speak Xhosa. Maybe I should make an announcement?" She laughed, and apologized. Then I said she could keep speaking to me, I'd just try my best... but we agreed on English.
We turned to the classifieds though, and damn, it is bleak! The jobs section in one of the papers literally had 5 jobs in the whole province. This in contrast to the "work wanted" that had dozens and dozens of people that placed ads asking for work. It would say "Looking for a job. 30 years old, strong, good health, hard worker" with a cell phone number if you had work for them. I think we're going to have to find other methods for finding jobs! I'll have to do some research before next Wednesday. Sorry for writing so much.
This has been a pretty packed week. As I mentioned, the first day of our orientation was a coach tour of the peninsula, different areas of Cape Town, the penguins on Boulder's Beach, as well as the famous Cape of Good Hope. The last few days have mainly consisted of lots of speakers... on many different topics. We've covered safety and crime in Cape Town and on campus, the libraries, technology, HIV/AIDS, information about registering for classes, as well as some general welcome addresses from UCT representatives.
I thought it would be interesting to see how the campus addressed the HIV/AIDS issue, since by some estimates, 28% or so of South Africa's population is HIV positive. I haven't really encountered too much obvious educational campaigning in the city. That being said, they've got a pretty active group on campus that works on education, information, and testing.
To finish the lectures off yesterday, we had two volunteering groups from the university speak to us. SHAWCO and Ubunye are both groups that work with youth in area high schools and townships... and I'd like to get involved with one of them, just not sure which yet. Afterward, we got on buses to visit a SHAWCO township site. Kara and I went to the Kensington site and saw a music school, as well as an elderly center, and a day care for parents that work during the day. The children woke up from their naps to sing Patty Cake, Patty Cake for us. It was probably the most adorable thing in the world.
Anyhow, I've been giving some thought to the best way to present photos, etc here. I decided to make a photo slideshow with some of the highlights of this week. I took something like 400 photos since I got here (all on my new camera), but here's the abridged version.
If you'd like to look through the photos more closely, or see the explanations of any of them (I've got captions), you can go to this album. Higher quality, and explained!
I still haven't gotten used to the roads and opposite lanes, I look the wrong way a lot. And I keep jumping back and forth between a feeling a paradise and a feeling of third world country. There is such a divide between classes, race, and privilege. I'd like to explore that a bit, a maybe take a relevant class. I schedule tomorrow morning, so I should figure that out soon! Hope everyone is well! As they say in Cape Town... Life is Good!
With Masizikhulise, we're working with adults ages 18-35. Many of them have never had a formal job and never graduated high school, maybe have children and are married, or not. Worse yet is that they don't really think they have the skills to succeed or to the resources to get one. So... it is an uphill battle. I lead an exercise where we brainstormed things that we've been part of (groups, jobs, etc.), and then to think of the skills that you have from it, and how it can be applied to a job. Whew... that was way too much too fast. After silence, it descended into me explaining that even being in a relationship teaches you skills that can be applied to a job (patience, communication, problem solving, compromise). Then moved to explaining the benefits of playing soccer or being in church choir.
