Settling In

After a full week of work, I feel very comfortable living in Kimberley. I joined the gym, established a usual running route, mastered cooking on our mini stove/oven, and read a lot.

The most challenging part of the week was trying to adjust to the slower pace of work in South Africa. I think this will be an ongoing challenge throughout the year. Although I might be eating my words soon, as Chris Barkley, a GRS staff member from Cape Town is coming to spend two weeks with us and has warned us that he has a very extensive "to do" list for us.

This week we worked closely with Thuso Jones, our assistant site coordinator (our head site coordinator doesn't arrive until September 1st). He is a soft-spoken, 22 year old Black South African with a genuine passion for GRS and preventing the spread of HIV. We have definitely helped him open up with us a lot more this week. Some of the discussions we've had with him about about race and HIV in South Africa have been the most valuable and heartfelt conversations I've experienced. I look forward to working closely with him this year.

The highlight of the work week was getting to observe a Skillz Intervention at a school in Galeshewe. A Skillz Intervention is the actual delivery of Grassroot Soccer curriculum to youth. Local coaches visit each school once a week to teach 45-minute lessons for a total of eight weeks. We watched three coaches (Nombu, Vicky, and Kevies) teach a group of almost fifty kids between the ages of 12 and 14. Seeing them in action was impressive. They alternated between English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa to clearly convey the messages to the kids. I loved the "energizers" they did to keep everyone engaged. The kids caught on to new energizers very quickly. Vicky would explain it once and they would repeat it flawlessly. My favorite energizer was a "remix kilo" in which they would clap quickly three times, twice, and then do the remix move of moving a leg up and outward. "Kilos" are a GRS form of celebration. The common "Skillz kilo" involves the same clapping, but is followed by everyone saying "skillzzzzz" while drawing a large Z in the air with their finger.

We saw the coaches almost everyday, whether in the field or the office, and I really enjoyed getting to know them. I love that there are so many women in the group. They're always teaching us new games and handshakes and joking around with us. I was initially a little worried that GRS seemed like a great organization and had a great team working for them in Cape Town, but that in other sites the reality of the program might not live up to the expectations. Fortunately, my worries were erased by the quality and dedication of coaches in Kimberley. Working with them this year will be very rewarding. We come from such drastically different backgrounds, but have already begun great friendships.

Galeshewe is the township in Kimberley where the Skillz Internvetions occur. The racial segregation is especially apparent when driving from our neighborhood to Galeshewe. Our neighborhood is composed of all gated homes occupied by White South Africans with nice cars. Galeshewe, on the other hand, is almost exclusively Black. It has paved roads, grocery stores, and gas stations like our neighborhood, but many house are made from scrap metal and wood and trash lines the streets. I think the comparison of these two neighborhoods is a great illustration of South African life. For the most part, the Whites and Blacks do not interact with one another unless a business transaction is occuring. For example, every day our neighborhood has many Black people in it, but it is not because they live here. They are here to perform yard or house work for their wealthier White counterparts. It reminds me a lot of immigrant labor in the United States. Thuso pointed out that a lot of people will stare at us when we are with him because they are not accustomed to a group of White people socializing and work with a Black man. The effects of Apartheid (which ended just 15 years ago) are still strongly felt.



Kimberley has been beautiful for our entire stay. Great sunny days without clouds (and it's winter!). The nights get chilly, but we layer up and drink lots of tea or coffee before bed. We've also forgone movies for a few days and I've been able to enjoy reading from our great selection of books we all brought along with us. Our outings have mostly been to scout good restaurants/bars to watch soccer games since my roommates are both former players. The games are fun to watch, although I think I'm becoming more of a rugby fan - the fast pace is great!

Thanks for following... emails (kristin.fladseth@gmail.com) to say hi or ask questions are always welcome!

Home Sweet Kim

After three days in Kimberley, South Africa, I finally feel settled. Hooter, Lindsay and I were introduced to local Skillz (Skillz is the Grassroot Soccer curriculum) coaches on Thursday at the office. The coaches were great and I was excited to see that there were three female coaches in a group of eight. I think that the women can serve as great role models for young girls in the GRS programs and I look forward to seeing them in action in the coming week.

We've explored Kimberley a bit and we're very happy that it's larger than we anticipated. There's definitely more than just The Big Hole, which we have still yet to visit). Yesterday, we did some much needed shopping to make our house feel a little homier. We have new bedding and accessories that make it easier to envision the house as our home for the next year. I'm still adjusting to the microwave-size oven with two burners on top for cooking. But overall, it's pretty comfortable living. Lindsay and I share a room with a bathroom, off of the main room and kitchen. Hooter's room is slightly detached, but he has his own bathroom as well. It's a small place, but it's all we really need. We live on a nice piece of property with a few other renters in similar guesthouses. I am most thankful for the hot water we have. It definitely increases my daily happiness.

Our neighborhood is also great. We live in a nicer area of town, where most house are fenced and gated. It's a safe place for me to run and we have small plaza about a ten minute walk around the corner with a Pick n Pay(grocery store) and Vee's Video. We've rented movies twice already and I have a feeling that by the end of this year we'll have watched most of their limited selection.

As Kimberley is not the liveliest of cities, I anticipate being able to read a lot during my downtime. With a large sliding glass door in the main room, we get a really nice breeze through the house and have the perfect atmosphere for hanging out. We might try to get a hammock on our patio for extended lounging. The temperature is warm during the day and pretty cool at night. I'm a little scared of how hot it's going to be in the summer since it's winter right and now and already in the 70s during the day.

A great discovery today was a rugby match between the Kimberley Greikwas and the Pretoria Blue Bulls (I kid you not). It was my first rugby match and I plan on being a huge fan this year. For about five bucks, it provides some quality entertainment on a Saturday afternoon in Kimberley. Plus, our team is apparently pretty good.



Lastly, we made a huge discovery yesterday. After hearing a lot of commotion over the fence, Hooter decided to take a peak and found eight puppies. We want to steal one, but The Beast (angry father) guards them pretty viciously. Instead, we might try to befriend the owner so we can play with them.

One more day of relaxing... work beings on Monday!

As we say in Kimberley, love and diamonds forever.

Last day in Cape Town

Today was the last day of training/fun in Cape Town with the other interns. We spent the afternoon in Khayelitsha, a township outside the city. The township consists of row after row of tin shacks that are estimated to house between 400,000 and 1 million people in total. I've seen similar living conditions in the Dominican Republic, but I was surprised by the paved rather than dirt roads in the township. All of the people we passed were friendly and the kids loved to smile and wave at us. A group of young men in their twenties, who are part of an organization called Ambitious Youth, gave us a tour of the township. It was great to meet young people who want to make a difference in their community. Following the tour, we split into teams and played a small-sided soccer tournament. My team was able to lose all four games, but still have a good time.

The field we used for the tournament was pretty amazing. It was made of turf and located in the back of a school. The community was really excited about it and I could see why when we visited the site of the old field, which looked more like a flooded dump than a soccer field. The turf field is part of an organization called CTC Ten, which was started in memory of a Franklin and Marshall soccer player who passed away a few days before preseason of his senior year. I like that CTC Ten is playing a long-term role in maintaining the field. The field is open all day for kids and at night can be used for adult games. Already, I have realized the power that soccer has to bring people together.

I'm most likely leaving for Kimberley tomorrow morning with Lindsey and Hooter in our new car. I'll definitely miss Cape Town and the rest of the interns, but I'm excited for the work ahead.

Table Mountain

Hiked Table Mountian today with other interns. The view was gorgeous. At the peak, we were above the clouds, but could still see parts of the city below. It's definitely been my best experience in Cape Town so far.

I'm getting excited to leave for Kimberley in a few days and finally be settled rather than living out of suitcases. It will be sad to leave the other interns, but I'm looking forward to getting started on our work.

First Post!

Here goes the first post... We finally got our placements yesterday after months of waiting. I will be in Kimberley, South Africa with two other interns, Hooter and Lindsey. Kimberley's main tourist attraction is a giant hole in the ground created by De Beers Diamonds. So, it's definitely no Cape Town, but I think it's going to be a great experience. My responsibilities are exactly what I want to be doing. I will be doing Programs and Monitoring & Evaluation, which means that I will be doing research and ensuring that the program is working. More to come soon!