July 9, 2009
Here is another video made for SAEP about the Hope Scholars program with some great footage of the township we work in.
Hope Scholars takes the most promising and bright Grade 9 students and provides them extra support and mentorship for their final four years of school. It is an awesome program, but unfortunately, may not have the funding to start another group of Grade 9 students into the four year program at the end of this school year.
July 2, 2009
This week has been so busy and we have had little time to work on our blog…
Last Saturday, we spent another morning at the Old Biscuit Mill, an organic market near where we live. It is quite the contrast to go there as compared to where we work and live, because the market is full of rich, white South Africans, who seem to prefer to live in the bubble of organic markets and lavish spending, rather than acknowledge the poverty and problems surrounding them. However, the food is quite delicious and the best breakfast place we’ve found, and we do leave there with a sense of guilt about the extravagance of the Biscuit Mill.
Ainslie on top of Lion's Head
Saturday afternoon we all did different things. Ainslie and one of our other housemates hiked Lion’s Head, which is smaller than Table Mountain but a steeper and trickier climb (ladders and chains are involved). The views of Cape Town from the top are incredible and there is a greater sense of accomplishment than climbing Table Mountain, which is just a climb straight up. Hannah and some other housemates went to Camps Bay to enjoy nice weather and sit on the beach (no bathing suits involved, the weather hasn’t been that nice.) Alex hiked Table Mountain again, showing some people who had never climbed it before how its done, while Russell stayed home to watch the Springboks and Lions rugby game.
Sunday was another gorgeous day in Cape Town (for winter, the season hasn’t been too bad, or we’re just really lucky. We haven’t had rain in a while and it is in the high 60s.) Ainslie and Hannah took a picnic lunch to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and spent the afternoon enjoying the beautiful views and gardens there. Russell went back to Simon’s Town, which was eventful, as one of our housemate’s bags got stolen and they missed the train trying to chase after the thief and track him down. Alex went with to a coloured Pentecostal church in Cape Flats, with Bradley, who works at the Lodge we stay at. Alex was surprised to find that half the mass was in Afrikaans, and therefore, understood very little of what was said.
Monday night we went to an R. Kelly (or Robert Kelly, as South Africans call him) concert at the casino in Cape Town. Security was intense- you had to check in your cameras and guns at the casino before you could go into the arena. Something we learned about South Africans- they do not call for an encore at the end of the show. We were waiting for R. Kelly to come back out and sing again, as everyone else filed out of the arena. The highlight of the concert was the Michael Jackson tribute that R. Kelly did, which ended with the whole arena singing along to “I Believe I Can Fly”- good thing Alex brought a lighter with him. It seems as though South African music is about 7 years behind ours, as we have found by listening to the radio and the music R. Kelly played, which included nothing recent. We had a great time dancing along in the last row of the arena.
Students at Zisukhanyo High School
Monday was , more importantly, the first day of Winter School and was, as they say frequently in South Africa, quite hectic. Students are currently on their winter break here in Cape Town, and SAEP sets up and runs extra tutoring sessions for Grade 12 students who are about to take their matriculation exams. This helps them review for the exams, clarify any concepts they didn’t understand, and get extra practice. We’ve been teaching at two different high schools in the township, Philippi High and Zisukhanyo. Last week, we worked to develop all the worksheets and lessons for the students, and have been revising and teaching this curriculum all this week. It is quite difficult because the students at the two high schools are on very different levels. Philippi High was identified by the government as a school in serious need of support, and students are very behind (only 8 students out of 250 passed the matric exam last year). We have been trying hard to teach them, but we have very little foundation to build off of and only a week of classes.
Alex teaching at Philippi during Winter School
Ainslie and Hannah have been focusing on accounting- the topics include General Ledgers, Share Capital and Share Premium, Dividends, Retained Income, and the South African Revenue Services (income tax). It has been a huge challenge, especially the South African Revenue Services, which we are not at all familiar with, and the system is quite different than the American one (paying income taxes twice a year and estimating what your taxes might be before finding out how much they actually are).
Russell teaching at Zisukhanyo
Russell and Alex have found teaching Econ challenge, as South Africa stresses protectionism in its curriculum, and an Economics book read “When interest rates go up, people borrow more money because they are worried the interest rates will go up further.”
Teaching everyday has been exhausting and we have newfound respect for all our previous teachers.
June 27, 2009
A Saturday morning at Biscuit Mill
Saturday morning we made our way to a place called the Biscuit Mill. Inside this brick building is a maze of tents and courtyards full of delicious food from around the world, plenty of free samples, jewelry, clothing, and other crafts. We stuffed ourselves with the yummy food and browsed around a bit before having to head home so that some of us could go on a township tour in Guguletu.
Seeing the government housing being built in the townships
This township tour was nothing like the township tours we had had explained to us when we first got here though—We did not feed the kids oranges and chocolate from the relative safety of our tour van, nor did we gawk at the shacks and general way of life. We were, in fact, led by a housemate’s coworker through the streets of Guguletu. Izzy, our guide, was involved in the death of Amy Biehl, a young girl doing research in Cape Town who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in the townships. He showed us where the violence started, where it ended, and the cross beside the road, all while recounting the story to us as if he was never there. He told us all about the unrest in the townships at that time, how many young men were part of violent groups that implemented what they called “One settler, one bullet.” Once this first part of the trip was completed Izzy led us on a walk through the streets.
The kids didn't want to see us go
Entrepreneur- the lady selling bags made out of plastic bags
Not long after we had left the van we had an entourage of children holding our hands, fighting for their places in pictures, and telling us their names. We also met a very creative lady who makes bags and hats out of old plastic bags from grocery stores. We then headed in another direction to meet some of Izzy’s family. We met some of his cousins, one of his brothers, and his grandmother. His cousins accompanied us to a shabeen, what they call a bar in the townships. These shabeens are generally run out of someone’s house, and it is customary that drinks are bought as a group and poured into glasses, as opposed to each person having their own bottle. We chatted with Izzy’s cousins and met some other members in the community.
Inside a shabeen
Mzolis food being prepared
We did not stay there long because we had ordered our food at Mzoli’s and had to go grab a table so we could eat. Mzoli’s is rather famous here in Cape Town. Here’s how it works: You order a random assortment of raw meat. This meat is then cooked in a special sauce and brought to your table (which you are undoubtedly sharing with strangers since it is so packed) along with a sort of salsa and mealie (kind of like grits, but not runny). You then proceed to messily tear off pieces of meat, dipping it in the salsa and grabbing some mealie without the use of utensils. We met a couple of nice guys who were sitting at our table and danced with them around our table. There is plenty of loud music playing at Mzoli’s, but no dance floor, so everyone simply stood behind their chair and swayed and bounced a little bit. After Mzoli’s we headed to another shabeen, this one much smaller than the first, and sat in the sitting room of someone’s home and listened to more of Izzy’s stories. Before long we were all exhausted from the days events, even though by this time is was only about 7 pm, so we headed home, thanking Izzy for spoiling us with 6 hours of his time. While some of us were in the townships, the rest of the group watched the Lions and Springboks play some Rugby from a bar on Longstreet.
Robben Island
Nelson Mandela's cell at Robben Island
Sunday a group of us went to Robben Island despite the miserable weather. The ferry ride was a bit longer than expected and left us a bit chilly. On Robben Island we got a bus tour of the whole place with a tour guide pointing out the various buildings, the overabundance of rabbits, and the tiny penguins hiding in the bushes. After the bus tour we were led through one of the prisons by a ex political prisoner who showed us the cell he lived in along with about 60 other people.
He then showed us Nelson Mandela’s cell. He had a private cell because he was a high security prisoner. He explained to us how they used the tennis court in the courtyard not so much for exercise or for the love of the game, but rather to send notes to other areas of the prison. They would do this by putting a note in the tennis ball and whacking it over to another section. The note would be read, and a response would come back later. We decided to sit in the covered section of the ferry on the way back so as to avoid the wind. Back on the waterfront some of us went home while others stayed to have a tasty meal. There was music on the sidewalks, cute craft shops, and a nice view, although it was already quite dark by the time we got back.
Russell and Alex at the rugby game
We also were able to go to a rugby game this week at a stadium right near where we work. The Emerging Springboks (the up and coming of South Africa’s national team) played the British and Irish Lions, in what everyone thought would be a blow out. For most of us, it was our first time watching rugby, but Russell was able to explain the game and answer all questions. It was an exciting environment and very different from American sports (we were in standing room only seats, the cheapest ones, in the front row), and the Boks were able to end the game in a tie during the very last play.
This week we all had to work hard on making worksheets for winter school. Russell is in charge of Life Science and has to teach about DNA, genetics, and reproduction. He should have plenty of fun with that. Alex worked on Economics worksheets and Ainslie and Hannah worked on Accounting worksheets. It has been a challenge for all of us to put these worksheets together. We have realized that the Grade 12 students have to learn so much information from so many different subject areas to take their Matric Exams.
Mass with Desmond Tutu!
This Friday Russell and Alex went to see Desmond Tutu at a mass downtown and had breakfast with him afterwards with only about 15 other people. They came back raving about the experience and made the rest of us regret not waking up extra early to go with them.
One of our students presenting his product
We also taught our fifth large group lesson. We proposed the business idea we thought would work well as an example—a community garden in a township. They seemed to like this idea, especially since a couple of them are the ones that came up with the general idea in the first place. We talked to them about doing a feasibility study/market survey. We told them the questions we had come up with and gave them their homework assignment to ask a couple people in their community to fill out the forms for us. Alex made a powerpoint about the general sections of a business plan, but it didn’t work out with the resources we were given, so he just explained it to them. Then we made a list of supplies that would be needed to start up our garden business. They came up with an extensive list that they will get to use later on to figure out exact prices for the budgeting part of the business plan. We also set goals to clarify our vision for the business in the long term and to look at finances realistically in the short term. We then managed to get the projector to show them a cool movie clip about innovation. After that we put their imaginations to work. They had to make a product out of a random assortment of goodies such as Styrofoam cups, plastic party leis, newspaper, tape, bottles, and markers. They then had to present their product to the class. They came up with some very interesting products such as a wine bottle that has a cup on top so you can just pour yourself a glass whenever you so choose, a flower that acts as an air freshener and helps fight global warming, and a tray for children that is unbreakable. This weekend we plan to go to the Biscuit Mill again, and we may get the chance to hike or walk along the beach if the weather forecast for Sunday is accurate.
June 24, 2009
Here’s another video- this one is about the Bridging Year Program.
The Bridging Years are the main group of students we work with, and a lot of the footage in the video was shot during our class. Thobela, who is interviewed during the video, was a Bridging Year student last year and now works for SAEP. He’s a great example of the influence the Bridging Year program can have on the lives of these students.
June 24, 2009
The first video appeal advertisement is up on youtube. Check it:
June 19, 2009
Our Work
Some of our Bridging Year students getting ready for class
So although our blog may seem like we are only doing fun stuff and going on adventures around South Africa, we are working quite hard during the weeks at SAEP. SAEP has been flooded with interns from universities across the U.S. who have started on lots of different projects, but we are continuing to work in the crèches in the mornings and teach or plan our entrepreneurship lessons for the Bridging Year students in the afternoons. Unfortunately, Allen left for Beijing this week to start an internship there, and the office is a little quieter and is definitely missing the expertise and experience he brought to our lesson plans (as well as the humor).
The Bridging Years (BYs) are a great group of really motivated students- they recently finished high school and entered into this year-long program with SAEP in order to better prepare them for university and help them decide what paths they want to take in life. Entrepreneurship is an important resource for them to learn about because it is applicable to any of their career goals (the group includes several future civil engineers, a geologist, a nurse- among other things). We meet with all of them once a week and then each of us has a small group of students we meet with once a week. We tend to think of it as a “class” and a “recitation” in the sense of a big class at UNC with small group meetings to reinforce major ideas and conduct more personal activities.
Working on Powerpoint with the BYs
Our first lesson began by defining entrepreneurship and the characteristics that make a good entrepreneur. We looked at some examples of entrepreneurs and discussed the challenges that they faced and the ways they were able to overcome these challenges to meet a need in the community. This is an activity that we do to begin every class now- we start with the “Entrepreneur of the Day.” This is a person who is from Cape Town and has started a business that meets community needs. Hopefully, these people can serve as inspirations to the students about the possibilities of entrepreneurship. We ultimately decided as a class that entrepreneurship entails seeing a need within the community, finding an innovative solution to that need, and implementing the solution. We ended the lesson with a game of Pictionary (something new to the BYs) to get to know them a little better and have some fun.
Allen teaching
The second lesson focused on teaching markets and included several interactive activities. We started with an activity focused on identifying target markets. Together with the BYs, we compiled a list of demographic characteristics of different target markets. The students were given an advertisement and had to identify the target market of the advertisement and identify which demographic groups were being targeted. Next, we did something similar to a “Coke/Pepsi Challenge” as a lead-in to our discussion about product differentiation. The students each received two cups of water- one was bottled water and one was tap water- and had to determine which was which. The votes came out pretty close to a tie- and we used this to illustrate that all water is pretty much the same but the perception is different because of product differentiation. We did a lesson on the board to illustrate the different forms of competition- using the example of the different types of public transportation available in Cape Town. The lesson ended by playing a game that anyone who has taken Econ 101 at Carolina- there is a group of buyers and a group of sellers and each group has a reserve price. You have to work to buy and sell in order to find the equilibrium price in the market and create supply and demand curves. It was really interesting to see the way this game turned out- typically at Carolina, the sellers have more control over the price and force the buyers to spend more then the reserve price. Here, it was the opposite. The buyers were incredibly aggressive and would talk the sellers into selling at very low prices. It was a total difference in culture and quite entertaining to see. It was a fun lesson and kept the BYs involved the entire time- something we’ve found challenging to do but most beneficial for the success of the lesson.
During the buying/selling game
The focus of the third lesson was customers, which is crucial to a start-up venture. Unlike a big company that can advertise through billboards, TV, radio, and newspaper, a small company doesn’t have the money to do this and must rely on word-of-mouth and good customer service practices. We acted out some skits of situations between employees and customers. The students were the “entrepreneur” and had to determine how the situation should play out after we showed the context and the problem. They had a good time with this and got lots of laughs out of our acting skills. We did another activity to demonstrate that the only difference between good customer service and bad is the amount of effort (time and cost remain the same). We did this by serving the two tables in the classroom a snack- the one we provided good customer service (asked if they wanted anything to drink, if they wanted seconds, etc.) while just throwing the snacks on the table to the other group (this really set them off!). We talked about reactions and though a bit exaggerated, the example was effective. Statistically, a customer shares a bad experience with 10 other people, but shares a good experience with 3 other people, so this was important to emphasize.
Reppin some national champions gear
Our most recent lesson was last Thursday, and though it was a little less interactive, it turned out really well. We talked about financing a business and introduced the BYs to the idea of microfinance, a concept that is not wide spread here. We used the example of a shoe repair business and discussed all the costs, the different types of costs, and the different means of financing. We talked about social entrepreneurship and the consideration of the environment in business. To consider social needs and entrepreneurial solutions, we had the BYs generate a list of needs in the townships, and each of them were assigned a need that they had to find a solution for using entrepreneurship. This was the best activity we have done so far and resulted in some AMAZING ideas. We are going to develop one of the ideas further and develop a business plan around the idea to illustrate to the BYs what goes into a business plan. We’re really excited about it and hope that maybe ideas can be put into practice eventually.
In our small groups, we taught the BYs how to use PowerPoint by having them use PowerPoint to market a product to investors. Our example product that we presented to them was the Snuggie, which I think confused the BYs because they couldn’t tell if we were serious or kidding about the blanket with sleeves. PowerPoint is such a useful skill for them to have- even if they don’t use it for entrepreneurial reasons- and presentation skills are also key. A lot of the students speak really softly and are shy at first, so this was a good confidence booster and fun activity for them to do.
We’re getting ready for lessons in two weeks from now and four weeks from now, when we will be teaching every day. Lots of planning and preparation work to be done, and we are trying to secure some speakers as well.
We go out to the crèches twice a week and have been working on various projects at each crèche. Russell is working to help build a new building for one of his crèches, while Alex is helping one of the principals apply for government subsidies. Hannah’s immune system is recovering from exposure to germs at the 
crèches, but she has been working on finances for her crèche principal. In doing so, Hannah has spent a lot of time getting to know the principal and hear her stories about how and why she started the crèche. Ainslie has served as a crèche cook and assisted in classrooms, but will be working with one of the principals on her monthly finances and donations next week. We all love playing with the kids during free time at the crèches- though we come back to the office exhausted in the afternoons.
Another big project we have been working on is an alternative gift market for SAEP. SAEP has wanted to put together an alternative gift market to make donating more interactive and user friendly, but did not have the funds to put towards this project. We raised money for a donation to SAEP before we left, and are going to use some of the funding to start the alternative gift market. Our vision is that the site will be divided by the different programs SAEP has and different products you can buy for that program with your donation (i.e., food for children at a crèche). Russell is also making videos about each program to put on the site as an advertisement for the program and to give viewers a real taste of what SAEP does. In return, the donor will receive a thank you card with a poem or story written by a Bridging Year student. This has involved meeting with all of the different program directors at SAEP to determine their needs and how we can use the website to help them. It should turn out really well and be sure to look for it soon at www.saep.org !
We’re busy with work and looking forward to a quiet weekend in Observatory. We’re planning a braai (barbecue) tonight to celebrate it being Friday and the nice weather. Some of us are headed to Guguletu, another township, tomorrow. Should be fun before we get back to a busy week of work next week on Monday…
June 19, 2009
Last weekend, after the success of the first weekend traveling around the area we decided to be a little more adventurous and so headed out on the Garden Route towards the Eastern Cape. We spent Saturday night at the Garden Route Game Lodge where we were lucky enough to see a cheetah eating its kill next to a rather confused looking rhinoceros, as well as lions, impala, elephants (one charged us), buffalo … and then were able to eat a few of the same animals at the safari lodge where there was actually a decent shower with hot water! The following morning we continued out on the Garden Route, crossing into the Eastern Cape before arriving at the infamous Bloukrans Bridge.
CAROLINA
Bloukrans Bridge is the tallest single span bridge in the World, standing 216 meters above the gorge below. It is also the sight of the highest commercially operated bridge jump. Although Alex and Ainslie had been pushing us to do so, the rest of us had never had the slightest inclination to fling ourselves from a great height with a rubber band tied to our ankles, but it is the biggest one in the world so deciding we ought to ‘go big or go home’ we made our way out along the walkway to the center of the bridge. It takes a second once you dive off the side to realize that you are actually falling, accelerating at breakneck speed towards the ground hundreds of meters below. It is ok to take this second to make the realization – at Bloukrans you have nearly a further seven seconds of falling to panic/ scream/ reflect, which when you are accelerating downwards at 9.8 meters per second is really a long time. Then your are yanked back up as the elastic contracts, pulling you up to free fall again, this time still further than the height of the Victoria Falls. Finally after the bouncing subsides, and after what seems like an eternity hanging upside down staring out at the Indian Ocean a man comes down to reel you in – a savior. The boys left back for Cape Town elated and very much relieved, whilst the girls stayed behind to go Kloofing (hiking along a river wearing a wetsuit and jumping in occasionally), and as girls are wont to do – get massages.
Russell isn't flying... he's falling with style
The whole country shut down for youth day on July 16 to celebrate the Soweto riots that marked the beginning of the end for apartheid. We were taken by Norton Tennille (our boss and Carolina alumnus) to Mandalay township for a celebration. The celebration was organized by graduates of the 2004 SAEP Bridging Year Program who had formed a group called “Soldiers of the Informative Arts”, in the Mandalay township community hall. Although the event was a forum for underground poetry and radical freestyle hip hop, the local pastor initiated the celebration with a sermon. He joked that he would “try and keep it brief and limit himself to two hours”… well at least we thought he was joking. Much like the rest of the event, the sermon was a strange melange of Xhosa and English and seemed to jump from Moses to pornography to South Africa to and then to the “ten commandments like: thou shall not kill and such and such”. By the one hour twenty mark the dj was playing bursts of music to try and prompt him of the stage and when he finally took the hint after waxing poetic about his love of gardening, the youth took the stage. It is hard not to have respect for freestyle rappers, to string a semi – sensible sentence stream to a beat on your feet is tough, but the range and rapidity of words punctuated by different (though all equally impossible to pronounce) clicks was fantastic to witness.
Then… back to work.
June 10, 2009
After our week of rain, we had a beautiful weekend to go exploring the Western Cape region! On Saturday, we did a wine tour in Stellenbosch- some of us rented a VW Rabbit, and everyone else rode with our trusted taxi driver. Driving was an adventure, and Alex even got to learn how to drive stick shift. The area was gorgeous- vineyards within mountains- and we visited Ernie Els’ winery (he owns a lot of land in the Stellenbosch area), as well as several others. The day ended with dinner in town at a game restaurant where we sampled several types of antelope (including kadu) and buffalo (Alex fulfilled his dreams of eating one of the “big 5″).
A little trouble with the Rabbit- Russell and Alex pushing it up a hill.
At one of the wineries
A view of the winelands
Hannah and Ainslie at the Cape of Good Hope
On Sunday we took the Rabbit down to Cape Point and Simon’s Town. The National Park at Cape Point is unbelievable. We stopped at the Cape of Good Hope (the southwest most point of Africa), and were able to explore in order to see some amazing views. The ocean break there is incredible and the water is a beautiful green, and the view is of mountains surrounded by ocean- incredible. Cape Point is farther south than the Cape of Good Hope, but much more touristy and not as scenic- but it is where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. We were able to see some wildlife in and around the park- including wild ostriches and LOTS of baboons (baboons are angry and feisty- you don’t want to mess with them. We saw one sit on a car so that the people couldn’t drive away.)
All of us at Cape of Good Hope
The amazing wave break at Cape of Good Hopeh
After reaching the end of South Africa, we turned around and headed for Simon’s Town- well known for its penguin colony. We didn’t see any jackass penguins (called that because they smell and make noises like donkeys)- but did get to explore the downtown area for a little bit. The weekend ended with a seafood dinner and a scenic drive back- the full moon was up over the ocean and the reflection of the moon in the water was absolutely stunning.
View around the Cape
Simon's Town harbor
Alex finally found a waterfall
UNC on top of Table Mountain
Ainslie, Hannah, and Hannah at the top
Sunset from the Mountain
Yesterday was the warmest day we’ve had so far in Cape Town and very clear, so we decided to take the afternoon to hike Table Mountain. The mountain sits in the middle of the city and is a constant reference point for directions (“go towards the mountain”, “go away from the mountain”), and catches the clouds as they pass through Cape Town. It has to be a completely clear day in order to climb Table Mountain, otherwise you won’t be able to see anything through the clouds. And, as one of our housemates put it, yesterday was the perfect day to climb Table Mountain. The hike was like the most intense 1 1/2 hour stair stepper you could go on, and included a lot of climbing on rocks. The views from the top were unbelievable, you can see the entire city, as well as all the other moutains (which look quite small in comparison). We stayed on the top of the mountain for sunset and took the funicular down.
All in all, pretty incredible.
June 5, 2009
So, we’re finishing our second full week here in Cape Town, and it hasn’t stopped raining since the week began (I think our friends from London accidentally brought their weather with them). Our group is finally getting settled into the routine of working at SAEP, as we used the first week to get acclimated and acquainted with our South African surroundings. This week was no less exciting though; it included sushi with co-workers, a trip to the mall, interviews with locals, an attempted braai, and some work.
Going back to Friday, we taught our first lesson. For a bunch of first-time teachers, it went pretty well, the kids were engaged, and they blew us away with their commitment to education and knowledge of business. Our group spoke about the basics of entrepreneurship and gave a short quiz to measure the students existing entrepreneurial ability. Their eagerness to learn has inspired us to put in maximum effort as they have the potential to do great things here in Cape Town as they prepare to go to college.
To celebrate surviving our first week in Cape Town, we went out for buffet sushi with some of our co-workers. Despite what you might be thinking about our decision making ability for going out to buffet sushi, we all agreed that it was some of the best sushi we’ve eaten. The rest of the weekend remained relatively calm as the rain thwarted our attempts to be adventurous and climb Table Mountain (supposedly the oldest mountain in the world). Our group along with the other kids from duke instead trekked out to the mall at Claremont which could have been Southpoint for all intensive purposes. We also went to downtown Cape Town and the waterfront on the weekend, which is pretty much the opposite of any other city, in that the city is empty and everything is closed on the weekend. This is a legacy of the apartheid- when only whites were allowed to live downtown, and it is strange to be the only ones in a big city during the weekend. Sunday most of us used to recuperate and get ready for the upcoming week.
This week we’ve had a more focused effort toward trying to work with the principals of the crèches and get them registered to receive government subsidies. Allen even had a meeting with the principal of Kiddies to develop more concrete goals for the summer. The rest of us have continued to build working relationships with our respective principals in an effort to achieve financial sustainability.
We have also made progress planning our entrepreneurship classes. Allen and Russell recently got the opportunity to speak with local teachers from Cape Town University’s Entrepreneurship Program and we plan on scheduling a field trip for the students to broaden their experience with entrepreneurship. We have a fun lesson planned today with lots of interactive games and activities related to markets. Alex and Ainslie took a small group of gap year students out in the local area to speak with entrepreneurs and business owners- including a florist, a travel agent, and the owner of a clothing store. We’re finding that the more fun and interactive we make it for the kids, the easier it is for them to learn and get excited!
We started Xhosa lessons this week- some of the bridging year students we’re working with are teaching the lessons to SAEP employees in order to fulfill a community service project. Xhosa is a language with clicks- any X, Q, or C is pronounced as a different kind of click. It is quite tricky even to say the name of the language. However, our enhanced Xhosa vocabulary will come in handy in the crèches- we can now say “Hi children” (malwani bantwana), “be quiet” (thulani), “pay attention” (phulaphulani), and “stop” (yeka), in addition to other phrases.
Because of the constant rain and lack of central heating in our house, health issues have recently become somewhat of an issue. Hannah continues to feel under the weather and is visiting the doctor today, and some of our other housemates have developed colds. The rain also hindered our plans to partake in our first braai (BB-Q) but we still managed to pull off a mock-braai using the oven and other indoor options. On a somewhat unrelated note, three new housemates moved in, and despite some of their collegiate background (Duke) they have fit in well. We’re gearing up for a fun weekend- a wine tour and possible adventure to Simon’s Town.
May 29, 2009
Our lodge- note the security measures
Some of the Carolina kids from the Lodge
We all united in Cape Town on Sunday afternoon- Allen had been here for a week already exploring, Alex had been traveling around South Africa with a business school trip, and Ainslie, Hannah, and Russell arrived that day. We are staying in “The Lodge” (our own house with a kitchen, a pool which is of no use because it is winter, and braai or barbecue area) and share the house with several other people (two other Tarheels that are working in Cape Town for the summer, two Duke students, and two German girls). It is a fun group of people- we all made dinner together on Sunday night and we’ve managed to find a way to get along with the Dukies, despite our rivalries. We’ve made dinner together a couple of times and have made some weekend travel plans together to go to the wine region and go on safari. Although our house has internet it is incredibly slow and many American websites won’t load, so our blogging and emailing may be more limited. Our house is guarded by several gates, and fence, and an electric fence- so hopefully we can stay safe from the notorious burglaries. We live in the Observatory neighborhood, which is an interesting mix of people but has a nice downtown area and is fairly close to our work.
A view of just a small part of a township-
Monday was our first day at work and we had an adventure getting to the office. We weren’t quite sure the best way to get to work and ended up taking a mini-taxi. Mini-taxis are vans, where the driver yells out to people on the side of the road to see if they need a ride, and then makes frequent stops to pick people up and drop people off. When we arrived at the office, we met Lindsey, a Carolina alum who had been our contact throughout the planning process, were introduced to everyone at SAEP, settled into our office, and began having meetings about the work we are doing while we are here. It was somewhat overwhelming- thinking about all the preparation and work we need to do- and needless to say, we ended the day by making a huge to-do list.
The Kiddies creche that Allen works in
Tuesday was our first time going into the townships and we started by going into the creches (day care centers). Each of us has two creches to work at, which are scattered throughout Phillipi, the main township SAEP works in. SAEP helps the women who run the creches to achieve non-profit status in order to get subsidies and funding from the government, and helps them do all the work needed to meet those needs (which include running water, having a ceiling, having a toliet). SAEP also helps get the teachers trained and with financial statements for each of the creches. The creches are scattered throughout the township and were typically started by women who saw that young children had no one to take care of them during the daytime and had no preparation for primary school. Each of our creches are in different stages of development. One of Russell’s creches, Qhamani, just built a new building with the help of SAEP, and is one of the first two-story buildings in the townships, providing care for over 100 children. By contrast, Allen works in a creche called Kiddies, where English is incredibly limited. In all the creches, the children speak Xhosa rather than English, and the communication ability with the teachers and principals differs depending on which creche you are in. We are supposed to be helping them with finances and developing a more sustainable form of income/fundraising for the creche, but a lot of times, we just end up filling the daily needs of the school (which typically includes playing with kids, cleaning up the classrooms, etc.) One thing is universal about the creches- the kids are absolutely adorable and love when we come to the creche. It is helpful for them to just see a white face, since being in the townships, their experience with white people is limited, and to hear an English voice, since all of them will eventually need to learn English in order to succeed in school. The kids are completely fascinated by our skin color and hair, and they all stick their thumbs up when we arrive so the South African version of a high-five. We worked in the creches Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings- and we left each day exhausted!
Today is our first entrepreneurship class, the main reason we are here! We have spent a lot of time developing our lesson plans and planning activities for the day. We are teaching the Bridging Year interns- students who have recently graduated high school and are taking a year before starting at the university to better prepare themselves.
Ainslie and Hannah at dinner
Our first week has been full of excitement and hard work, and we have been able to settle into a good routine. Our weekend plans include hiking Table Mountain (weather permitting- it is winter here and somewhat cold and rainy), as well as going to the downtown area of Cape Town.
Allen and Alex at the South African Mexican restaurant
