The glorious welcome sign at our front gate. Can't get more promising than that.
Home Sweet Home
Lindsay chilling in the spacious living room/kitchen.
Girls' Room
My Nook
Backyard Braai (BBQ)
Front Garden
Sunday, September 27, 2009
House Tour
The glorious welcome sign at our front gate. Can't get more promising than that.
Home Sweet Home
Lindsay chilling in the spacious living room/kitchen.
Girls' Room
My Nook
Backyard Braai (BBQ)
Front Garden
Monday, September 21, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Lesotho
This weekend, Hooter, Lindsay, and I traveled to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho (pronounced leh-sue-tue). We wanted to take advantage of a free weekend to visit a new country and see two other GRS interns (Curtis and Austin), who are working there for the year. To get to Lesotho, we took 2 minibuses, which are the most basic form of transport here. It was an interesting experience on many levels. For instance, the way a minibus operates is by waiting in a designated area until it fills with enough people and then it leaves for its destination. If you’re lucky and arrive when there’s an almost full bus, you leave immediately. On the other hand, if you are the first person, you could wait a few hours. Fortunately, the longest we had to wait was an hour a half. However, waiting twice on a trip that takes only three hours by car, can get a little frustrating. We were the only White people riding the minibuses and the other passengers were pretty surprised we were riding them. Still, they were all very friendly. When we had to stop early in our trip (tire troubles) and wait an hour for a new minibus to arrive, we had a great time with two young women and one of their children. This adorable little boy loved getting his picture taken and could do break dancing moves and dance like Beyoncé from her “All the Single Ladies” video.
The women were also open and willing to talk to us when I asked them questions about HIV and the pervasiveness of young, high school-aged girls dating so called “sugar daddies” (older men who buy gifts for younger girls in exchange for sex, despite the truth of this interaction never being fully acknowledged). As the girls are typically from lower economic backgrounds, the cell phones minutes, clothes, cash, and other items they receive are highly desired. They told me that girls with sugar daddies are particularly prominent in Kimberley. I had read and heard that sugar daddies were a problem in spreading HIV, but having the prevalence of it confirmed by someone who is a part of the culture and sees it on a daily basis was much more meaningful. They shared that older men in Mercedes Benzes drive around with young girls, who look like their daughters, but are actually their lovers. Apparently, many girls feel peer pressure to engage in such relationships. One of the women likened it to feeling a need to dress in nicer clothes in order to be popular. However, in this situation, instead of wearing nice clothes, it has been taken to the extreme of engaging in risky sexual behavior in order to gain popularity. This practice is risky because older men are more likely to have HIV. In all likeliness, they probably also have at least one other sexual partner in addition to these young girls, which adds to the chances of spreading HIV. (Multiple concurrent partnerships are a huge risk factor in the spread of HIV, especially in Africa. I will explain it in more details in a future entry)
After our unique experience with minibuses, we finally arrived about six hours later at the Lesotho border. It was amusing to be able to just walk across the border and quickly have our passports stamped. On the way back, I quickly flashed my passport to an officer and he waved me on without even looking at it. It’s quite different from border control at home. TIA as we’re always saying (This Is Africa).
Lesotho is a unique country in that it is entirely surrounded by South Africa. It’s almost like an island country in the center of South Africa. Despite its location, it greatly differs from South Africa. Most noticeably, there are very few White people. The White people that do live there are almost exclusively international volunteers, who practically all know one another. Without the strong presence of a White population like South Africa, racial tension and segregation is minimized. It is much more the portrait of Africa that I had originally imagined. In addition to the racial composition, the landscape significantly differs from our Kimberley home. The most noteworthy and appreciated difference is the presence of mountains. On Saturday, we drove about an hour outside Maseru to a place called Malealea, where we could explore the mountains. We opted out of the pony trekking option and decided to set out on our own adventure. I really felt that I was in the Lion King when we were sitting on a rock ledge, overlooking the dry savannah below. The landscape was pretty cool and at times reminded me of Peru.
On Sunday, we helped Curtis and Austin with an event they had organized. They work with Kick4Life, a partner organization of GRS. It is a British organization that utilizes GRS’s curriculum to teach about HIV and AIDS. I was very impressed that in the previous 2 weeks, their organization had trained ninety GRS coaches. The event was the first opportunity for these new coaches to put their skills to the test. Their energy and passion were great. I was definitely jealous. The coaches in Lesotho are exclusively volunteers and therefore, only receive transport money. In Kimberley, we have fewer than ten coaches and they are dropping like flies despite receiving a stipend in addition to transport money. I only wish we could have coaches that were as passionate and excited to volunteer as the coaches in Lesotho.
The event that Kick4Life hosted combined a soccer tournament with an HIV testing component. All of the kids who participated were orphans. Some had mismatching shoes, others played barefoot, but they were all excited to play soccer. Boys were the majority, but there were still some feisty girls in there. Each team was assigned a few GRS coaches, who began they day by running some energizers and GRS activities. The main lesson they taught is called “Choices”, which emphasizes that everyone has the right to make his or her own choices in life and that it’s okay to choose something different from everyone else. It may be something as simple as your favorite sport or color, but it also applies to choosing to abstain or use a condom when others aren’t. The kids are to recognize that they control their own lives and with smart choices, they have bright futures.
After this activity, the tournament games began. The kids were competitive and seemed to really enjoy themselves. There was also music playing throughout the day and people who weren’t playing made some really fun, spontaneous dance circles. I loved watching them dance and hope that one day I will be half as good as they are. It’s great that no one is shy about dancing here. Young, old, male, female – everyone dances when they hear music. I really wish it was the same at home.
The part of the tournament that I was most interested in was the voluntary HIV testing component. We’re having a Skillz Holiday camp at the end of this month and my main contribution to it is securing a testing partner. Like the tournament in Lesotho, we will be using the help of an organization called New Start. New Start is great because it provides nurses, counselors, confidential tents, and testing kits, all for free. I recently met with a woman from New Start in Kimberley, and was thrilled with how cooperative the organization is. The way that the testing component worked at the Lesotho tournament, was if people wanted to get tested, they could visit a tent adjacent to the fields. Once inside, they receive pre-counseling, testing, and post-counseling, regardless of whether the test is positive or negative. The entire process is confidential and people that test positive are referred to local clinics or hospitals where they can start receiving treatment. I met a young man at the tournament, who ended up there just because he heard music. Once there, we started talking to him and he decided to get tested for the first time. I felt really moved by his decision. For the first time, a face was put to the idea of the entire process. It made it very real for me. I also heard that many of the newly trained coaches got tested during the day. They’re huge role models for the kids, so I found their brave decision quite admirable.
Thanks for sticking out this entry – somehow they always end up longer than I intended. Cape Town interns are coming to visit us this weekend! We plan on doing some fly fishing (a first for me) and seeing the South African national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, play Madagascar in a ‘friendly’ match. It’s the first time they’ve ever played in Kimberley and I’m pretty surprised they chose it as the location for the game, but I’m pumped so I’m not going to complain.
Also, a special thanks to everyone who has donated to my internship! I love the support and I’m happy to have raised a total of $8,000!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Vote For Ethan!
http://www.thegentlemensfund.com/final_vote.asp
Ethan Zohn, Survivor winner and co-founder of Grassroot Soccer, is currently in the running for Better Men Better World Search. Visit the above link to help Ethan win and gain Grassroot Soccer recognition in GQ Magazine!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Site Visits
I thought I would start this entry with a short story from a coach, describing a Skillz Intervention near Durban. It really conveys the power of GRS:
"The Skillz program, after a very hectic but very successful first day, is a huge hit with teachers and students. Our team ran 5 different sessions today, reaching the entire 8th grade (we registered and "pre-tested" approximately 200 students).
The period after lunch was cut short because the students were late returning from break, so we only got through about half of what we got through with the other classes. The students were so disappointed that they organized a sit-in on the soccer pitch and refused to leave. Seriously. But, after our coaches convinced them that we'll be back every week, they finally followed their teachers' instructions and moved on to their next period."
This anecdote is great because it illustrates how passionate the kids are about soccer and their eagerness to learn. It also demonstrates the power of soccer in GRS's curriculum. I only wish I had been there to see it!
Last week, we were able to visit two other sites that we support, Danielskuil and Lime Acres. Danielskuil and Lime Acres are both about an hour and a half drive from Kimberley and about 20 minutes from one another. They are much smaller communities than we have previously seen, but like Kimberley, their main industry is mining. Our assistant site coordinator, Thuso, is from Danielskuil, so it was nice to see his family and where had grown up. We also held a meeting with the coaches at both sites. I was again impressed by the number of women in the groups - they outnumbered the men at both sites. Equally impressive, was that one of the coaches, who looked about nineteen or twenty, was just fourteen. I was excited to see interest in GRS from someone so young. She's likely a huge asset to the team in Danielskuil, as she she is the same age or slightly older than the kids enrolled in the program. Since she is part of their peer group, I imagine that the kids can relate to her and the lessons she teaches more easily. She and the other female coaches there were also really fun and friendly. Besides GRS, they are involved in theater and dance. Like most people here, they love playing music out of their cellphones. But they added to the music by showing us some of their dance moves. I loved how they weren't shy and instantly became friends with us. Instead of handshakes, hugs were used and they told neighbors that we were their sisters. We had only been there an hour, but already I felt so comfortable and couldn't wait to come back. Lindsay will be supporting Danielskuil and Lime Acres. Since we both have an interest in starting a Skillz Street league that is focused particularly on girls, we may be working there a lot to get the first program up and running.
The other interesting part about Danielskuil was its drastic racial segregation. The road that leads into town clearly separates the White population from the Black population. On the right, shacks made from scrap metal and wood line the landscape. Further ahead, on the left, are the wealthier neighborhoods of the White population that resemble typical American neighborhoods. Thuso told us that Blacks have to be very careful about staying on the correct side of the highway or they could wind up in trouble very easily. Even in the short time we were visiting our coaches in the township of Danielskuil, an elderly woman walked by and was upset that the coaches were associating with us since we are White. She wanted to know what we were doing there because we apparently didn't belong. The coaches laughed and walked the woman home, but I still found it bothersome. We talked to the female coaches a little more about it and they explained that they live on this side of the road, while the White population lives on the other, and they do not socialize with one another. I've never seen segregation like this and I don't think I'll ever get over how appalling it is.
Every morning, I run before work and I'm always in awe of the masses of Black people walking long distances from the townships, to work in my neighborhood. It's before 7am and all of them have probably walked miles to get to their informal jobs, working in the homes and yards of White Afrikaners. And these are the lucky people - they have a reliable income, whereas the majority of people living in the township do not. It's disheartening to constantly see this glaring disparity among the people who live here.
In other, lighter news, I have now driven stick shift twice (on the left-hand side of the road and on the right side of the car). Luckily, no one was injured in the process. Still, most cars sped past me in frustration.
Hopefully I'll watch a few more Skillz inteventions this week and start working on a proposal for my independent research project. Right now, I'm leaning towards researching something related to gender and the role that multiple concurrent partnerships or "Sugar Daddies" play in spreading HIV. Hopefully my research will influence the curriculum for Skillz 2, which is currently in the works and aimed at high schoolers (the current Skillz 1 targets middle schoolers).
TTFN
"The Skillz program, after a very hectic but very successful first day, is a huge hit with teachers and students. Our team ran 5 different sessions today, reaching the entire 8th grade (we registered and "pre-tested" approximately 200 students).
The period after lunch was cut short because the students were late returning from break, so we only got through about half of what we got through with the other classes. The students were so disappointed that they organized a sit-in on the soccer pitch and refused to leave. Seriously. But, after our coaches convinced them that we'll be back every week, they finally followed their teachers' instructions and moved on to their next period."
This anecdote is great because it illustrates how passionate the kids are about soccer and their eagerness to learn. It also demonstrates the power of soccer in GRS's curriculum. I only wish I had been there to see it!
Last week, we were able to visit two other sites that we support, Danielskuil and Lime Acres. Danielskuil and Lime Acres are both about an hour and a half drive from Kimberley and about 20 minutes from one another. They are much smaller communities than we have previously seen, but like Kimberley, their main industry is mining. Our assistant site coordinator, Thuso, is from Danielskuil, so it was nice to see his family and where had grown up. We also held a meeting with the coaches at both sites. I was again impressed by the number of women in the groups - they outnumbered the men at both sites. Equally impressive, was that one of the coaches, who looked about nineteen or twenty, was just fourteen. I was excited to see interest in GRS from someone so young. She's likely a huge asset to the team in Danielskuil, as she she is the same age or slightly older than the kids enrolled in the program. Since she is part of their peer group, I imagine that the kids can relate to her and the lessons she teaches more easily. She and the other female coaches there were also really fun and friendly. Besides GRS, they are involved in theater and dance. Like most people here, they love playing music out of their cellphones. But they added to the music by showing us some of their dance moves. I loved how they weren't shy and instantly became friends with us. Instead of handshakes, hugs were used and they told neighbors that we were their sisters. We had only been there an hour, but already I felt so comfortable and couldn't wait to come back. Lindsay will be supporting Danielskuil and Lime Acres. Since we both have an interest in starting a Skillz Street league that is focused particularly on girls, we may be working there a lot to get the first program up and running.
The other interesting part about Danielskuil was its drastic racial segregation. The road that leads into town clearly separates the White population from the Black population. On the right, shacks made from scrap metal and wood line the landscape. Further ahead, on the left, are the wealthier neighborhoods of the White population that resemble typical American neighborhoods. Thuso told us that Blacks have to be very careful about staying on the correct side of the highway or they could wind up in trouble very easily. Even in the short time we were visiting our coaches in the township of Danielskuil, an elderly woman walked by and was upset that the coaches were associating with us since we are White. She wanted to know what we were doing there because we apparently didn't belong. The coaches laughed and walked the woman home, but I still found it bothersome. We talked to the female coaches a little more about it and they explained that they live on this side of the road, while the White population lives on the other, and they do not socialize with one another. I've never seen segregation like this and I don't think I'll ever get over how appalling it is.
Every morning, I run before work and I'm always in awe of the masses of Black people walking long distances from the townships, to work in my neighborhood. It's before 7am and all of them have probably walked miles to get to their informal jobs, working in the homes and yards of White Afrikaners. And these are the lucky people - they have a reliable income, whereas the majority of people living in the township do not. It's disheartening to constantly see this glaring disparity among the people who live here.
In other, lighter news, I have now driven stick shift twice (on the left-hand side of the road and on the right side of the car). Luckily, no one was injured in the process. Still, most cars sped past me in frustration.
Hopefully I'll watch a few more Skillz inteventions this week and start working on a proposal for my independent research project. Right now, I'm leaning towards researching something related to gender and the role that multiple concurrent partnerships or "Sugar Daddies" play in spreading HIV. Hopefully my research will influence the curriculum for Skillz 2, which is currently in the works and aimed at high schoolers (the current Skillz 1 targets middle schoolers).
TTFN
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Bloemfontein
This week was a lot different from the last, as we had Chris Barkley, Director of Programs in South Africa visiting us (he’ll be here for this coming week as well). The most helpful part of him being here is that we have a much better understanding of our immediate and long term work roles. Right now, I’m focusing on entering information about the graduates’ attendance and pre and post quiz responses for interventions from December 2008 until present into a GRS database. It will likely keep me busy for another week, but it’s going to be very useful for the office in Cape Town in terms of analyzing the effectiveness of the program. The pre and post quiz responses reveal whether the graduates have improved their knowledge of HIV and AIDS and where there may be weak areas of the curriculum that are not properly conveying key messages. Keeping track of this data is going to be especially important in this coming year since our site is trying to increase its outreach from about 500 graduates last year to 5000 graduates this year. As we expand tenfold, we need to ensure that quality is not compromised by quantity.
On Wednesday, we traveled with Chris to Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein (Bloem) is a site that our office in Kimberley supports. It’s also one of the World Cup sites for 2010, so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get tickets through the lottery. From Kimberley, Bloem is an hour and a half drive on a straight, two-lane road through the middle of nowhere. The dry landscape was pretty barren, scattered with a few Acacia trees and tons of massive termite hills. Hooter will be the primary intern supporting the Bloem program, so he’ll be making the drive frequently. I will probably accompany him once a month or every other month to run focus groups and collect “Most Significant Stories” from coaches, which entail coaches sharing powerful moments they’ve had in their Skillz interventions.
Upon arrival, Lindsay and I were invited to watch an intervention. The coaches at this site were awesome. We watched Samitto and a new, young, female coach lead an intervention with a class of boys and girls. They led the curriculum’s second lesson, which focuses on distinguishing between HIV and AIDS myths and facts and sharing a “coach’s story”. A coach’s story involves one of the coach’s revealing a challenge in his or her life and the way it has affected them. It helps to break down barriers between the students and coaches by humanizing the coaches and demonstrating that they have faced their own struggles in life. The female coach shared a story about losing her mother to AIDS. As she spoke, all of the students listened carefully while giving her their full attention. I was impressed by the respect they gave her and the thoughtful questions they asked when she was finished. Overall, the two coaches were really impressive. They had a strong connection with the class even though it was just their second lesson. Samitto had a great gauge for appropriate times for energizers or quick call and responses to maintain their interest while having fun. It makes me happy that we have such great coaches in our program.
The township where GRS works in Bloem is called Mangaung. On Wednesday night, we packed our car with GRS coaches and drove to a Celtics soccer match (professional South African league) in the heart of the Mangaung. As we approached the stadium, there were thousands of fans walking to the game in their green and white striped jerseys. Everyone was excited for the game. We were warned that the Celtics have the best fans in all of South Africa and we were not disappointed. The game was truly unlike anything else I have ever experienced, in the best of ways. Tembi, an energetic and charismatic “Master Coach”, told me that the fans would not stop singing and dancing until the match was over and she was right. At halftime, she led us to rowdier section and taught us some of their cheers and dances. The enthusiasm and energy of the crowd was incredible. I loved being a part of it. We were the only White people in the entire stadium; fans were surprised to see us there. Apparently the local Afrikaners are not huge supporters of the soccer teams. I had a few people ask me in a different language what kind of fan I was since I was White. I thought it was pretty funny. Tembi just told me to keep my hands in my pockets on my money and cellphone and with that one precaution, I was fine the entire time. In the end, the game was a tie, but the entire team, including coach and manager, walked over to the most enthusiastic section of the stands and waved a huge “thank you” to the crowd. I just can’t imagine American teams ever doing the same – I loved it!
This weekend we also had two fellow interns, Anna and Chris, come visit us from Richmond. They’re really living in the middle of nowhere, in a town of just 6,000 people. The highlights of the weekend include making delicious fajitas and apple pie, finally visiting the epic Big Hole, attending a Griekwas rugby game in which our team managed to lose 58-13 at home, and watching the Arsenal v. Manchester United Game at The Halfway House, our favorite bar in town. The fajitas may have been my favorite part since I love Mexican food and thought I wouldn’t be able to have any for a year. I am also starting to enjoy watching the English Premier League (EPL) soccer games with Lindsay and Hooter and I think I might become a pretty good fan this year.
Pictures should be up soon! I’m just waiting on a package from home with the usb cables for my camera.
On Wednesday, we traveled with Chris to Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein (Bloem) is a site that our office in Kimberley supports. It’s also one of the World Cup sites for 2010, so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get tickets through the lottery. From Kimberley, Bloem is an hour and a half drive on a straight, two-lane road through the middle of nowhere. The dry landscape was pretty barren, scattered with a few Acacia trees and tons of massive termite hills. Hooter will be the primary intern supporting the Bloem program, so he’ll be making the drive frequently. I will probably accompany him once a month or every other month to run focus groups and collect “Most Significant Stories” from coaches, which entail coaches sharing powerful moments they’ve had in their Skillz interventions.
Upon arrival, Lindsay and I were invited to watch an intervention. The coaches at this site were awesome. We watched Samitto and a new, young, female coach lead an intervention with a class of boys and girls. They led the curriculum’s second lesson, which focuses on distinguishing between HIV and AIDS myths and facts and sharing a “coach’s story”. A coach’s story involves one of the coach’s revealing a challenge in his or her life and the way it has affected them. It helps to break down barriers between the students and coaches by humanizing the coaches and demonstrating that they have faced their own struggles in life. The female coach shared a story about losing her mother to AIDS. As she spoke, all of the students listened carefully while giving her their full attention. I was impressed by the respect they gave her and the thoughtful questions they asked when she was finished. Overall, the two coaches were really impressive. They had a strong connection with the class even though it was just their second lesson. Samitto had a great gauge for appropriate times for energizers or quick call and responses to maintain their interest while having fun. It makes me happy that we have such great coaches in our program.
The township where GRS works in Bloem is called Mangaung. On Wednesday night, we packed our car with GRS coaches and drove to a Celtics soccer match (professional South African league) in the heart of the Mangaung. As we approached the stadium, there were thousands of fans walking to the game in their green and white striped jerseys. Everyone was excited for the game. We were warned that the Celtics have the best fans in all of South Africa and we were not disappointed. The game was truly unlike anything else I have ever experienced, in the best of ways. Tembi, an energetic and charismatic “Master Coach”, told me that the fans would not stop singing and dancing until the match was over and she was right. At halftime, she led us to rowdier section and taught us some of their cheers and dances. The enthusiasm and energy of the crowd was incredible. I loved being a part of it. We were the only White people in the entire stadium; fans were surprised to see us there. Apparently the local Afrikaners are not huge supporters of the soccer teams. I had a few people ask me in a different language what kind of fan I was since I was White. I thought it was pretty funny. Tembi just told me to keep my hands in my pockets on my money and cellphone and with that one precaution, I was fine the entire time. In the end, the game was a tie, but the entire team, including coach and manager, walked over to the most enthusiastic section of the stands and waved a huge “thank you” to the crowd. I just can’t imagine American teams ever doing the same – I loved it!
This weekend we also had two fellow interns, Anna and Chris, come visit us from Richmond. They’re really living in the middle of nowhere, in a town of just 6,000 people. The highlights of the weekend include making delicious fajitas and apple pie, finally visiting the epic Big Hole, attending a Griekwas rugby game in which our team managed to lose 58-13 at home, and watching the Arsenal v. Manchester United Game at The Halfway House, our favorite bar in town. The fajitas may have been my favorite part since I love Mexican food and thought I wouldn’t be able to have any for a year. I am also starting to enjoy watching the English Premier League (EPL) soccer games with Lindsay and Hooter and I think I might become a pretty good fan this year.
Pictures should be up soon! I’m just waiting on a package from home with the usb cables for my camera.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
