Live, Laugh, Love =): Greetings From South Africa!! :)

I have almost been here in South Africa for two weeks and wow it has been amazing. My final days in Vietnam consisted of finishing a lot of final country assignments as well as our end of Vietnam dinner banquet. This is where we were able to thank our wonderful country coordinators as well as all of the amazing student volunteers that were so helpful when translation issues came up.

Pictures from Vietnam country banquet

Now to South Africa! The time is just flying by. I am having such a wonderful experience. After arriving to South Africa almost two weeks ago my group spent the first few days at a hostel in muzienberg. This hostel is located right on the ocean which had some of the best views when it came to watching the sun set and rise each day.

The view from the hostel

After a two day transition period we were off to our first home stay experience in zwelethemba. Zwelethemba is a black township community that was created during times of apartheid. Race is definitely something that is talked about much more openly here than I have ever experienced in the US. I had never been in a situation where I stood out as much as I did these past ten days; yet I have never felt more welcomed and protected in any other place I have stayed.

My homestay house!:)

Each morning I woke up to my host mothers good morning. on days that I went running it was my host brother that she made get up at 7am to sit outside and watch my home-stay partner and I run. It wasn't even the fact that I ever felt unsafe it was just my home-stay mother being so protective of my home-stay partner and I. My host mother treated us like her own children.

Family pictures

Through our morning runs I was able to meet some adorable neighborhood children that began to join in on our morning running routines. They were so cute and actually if anything they sped up my running pace. Their drive and desire to learn how to do push-ups and squats as I taught them a new move each morning was hard to compare to anything I have ever seen. These children would come knock on our door two hours after we finished our running workout to see if we wanted to go back out and run again. Most of the time the children ran in flip flop type sandals if they even wore shoes which a few did not own. I was running in sneakers and still these children were keeping up with me. I learned so much from these children and my morning runs each day with them.

Each day we would make the 15 minute walk to the local library where we would have class. In Zwelethemba our group was so fortunate to have so many panels of individuals from the community that wanted to speak with us. From the youth panel where we talked about gang violence, drug use and other peer pressure that face the youth these days growing up in this township. We also were able to hear each of the five mid 20 year old guys tell their experiences as well as the extreme unemployment rates within South Africa. We also had a mothers panel as well as a reconciliation panel. This panel was especially touching as one of the worchester 1999 bombing victims told her story and her journey in later going to the prison and forgiving the bomber that traumatized so many people that Christmas Eve day. Olga has been featured in the national geographic magazine as well as was recognized by Desmond tutu for the human reconciliation act award. She was such an inspiring women and I am so grateful to have met her and hear her story.

Later in the week we spent time doing a photo-voice project which by far has been my favorite project on this trip. We gave cameras to people within our families or local community members and asked them to take pictures of places that were healthy or unhealthy in zwelethemba. It was such a unique opportunity because the people had the ability to take pictures of whatever they wanted to within this assignment without any guidance from us.

Each student picked two pictures with the help from our families that we mounted on construction paper and will have displayed within the zwelethemba library. All of the children that participated were so excited to see the picture they either took or were getting prepared to be put on the library wall.

Later in the week my home-stay partner and I made dinner to show our appreciation for our family hosting us. We kept it simple and made a spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic bread and chocolate chip cookies!:):)

Although it wasn't the same as my home-stay mothers amazing cooking; she was so appreciative. Many of the things Elizabeth cooked were similar to what my family cooks in the US which was really comforting to be closer to my US in comparison to Vietnamese food which was definitely a major adjustment.

My experience in zwelethemba was nothing but extraordinary. My host mother Elizabeth is one of the most hard working people I have ever met. She is so religious and so appreciative for everything god brings into her life. She works as a social worker for the school for the deaf about 15 minutes outside of the township. She deals with children of all ages and asks as resource for so many children that are abandoned as a result of being deaf at a young age. My host brother even stated that when he is younger Elizabeth would use so much of her own salary to give back to these children that her own family would struggle to out food on the dinner table each day. Giving back and helping others is her mission no matter what. She is a true discipline of god and I could not have been more inspired by living with such an incredible women and family these past 10 days. I know my experiences here in zwelethemba will stay with me for the rest of my life. I even hope to be able to make it back to this township community at some point during my graduate school years. Tears have filled my eyes as I am leaving a community and family that I have become so close to these last ten days.

On Monday, March 24th I will be off to my second home-stay experience in South Africa in the Bo Kapp which is a Muslim community located very close to the heart of Cape Town. As sad as I am to leave zwelethemba I am excited for the new experiences I will be able to embark in this weekend and with my new home-stay in completely new part of the city.

I went to Cape Point this past weekend. I was told by our tour guide that the drive around the Cape is one of the most scenic in the world! :) It was remarkable. I also went to Boulder's Beach which is one of the few sands beachs with penguins. It was amazing!!