What a month!!

Busy Busy Busy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! For the past two weeks I’ve been running around working on all sorts of projects!

De Doorns has been busy, but mostly the CBO has been planning their next moves. We’ve supplied them with the knowledge and tools, and now they’re busy planning when and where to implement their programs. And with their grant money now in the bank, they can finally start taking action on their own!

They’ve just started the HIV/AIDS awareness program (grassroots soccer) program in one school, and are planning to take the program to further schools in the area. This has been exciting to watch unfold, as our organization used to be the ones scheduling these programs, and now we can really see their CBO taking responsibility and empowering themselves :)

The group is also working on screening a documentary to the community, which should happen next week when we go out to visit. Again, they’re planning everything out, so there have been hiccups and a few delays, but it’s definitely a learning process for the young organization which will make a strong foundation for the years to come.

Checking the carrots' progress-- (early April), should be ready soon!

The garden is growing strong! A few things have been harvested (some more beetroot), but the carrots are getting there, and the maize too. But the tomatoes might still take some time! 

Hopefully everything decides to grow fast, as winter is quickly approaching! And in De Doorns, they get some snow on the mountains. Hopefully we can harvest most of it in the next few weeks.

Another more visible aspect of the progress is their new Windy House (/Tool Shed). The group decided to buy this shed to place in their garden for tools and equipment storage but to also use as meeting space of their own. With this shed they will become quite independent, not needing to wait on us to gain access of the church hall for their meetings, or to store their paperwork/equipment in our room at the church. I think this meeting place will really help the organization to grow, as it’s a visible symbol to the community too that they’re here to stay! The shed was delivered while we were away this weekend, but I’m excited to see it next weekend!

The main focus that has been keeping me crazy-busy these past few weeks is the Unite as One campaign—of which I’ve played a huge part in getting it off the ground. One of our partner organizations seemed like they were having trouble scheduling the start of our program (that was supposed to start early March), so we had to step in and make things happen. So for the past few weeks I’ve been calling tons of local schools, setting up meetings, and scheduling school visits. Alongside that, I also I’ve also been organizing my questionnaire and all of the paperwork needed for the campaign to come together, but it finally has.

Me & 3 facilitators at a screening at a school in the Langa township.

            The campaign has really taken off this month! In the past two weeks we have now started our School Project in 8 schools around the Cape Town area. Each school received a documentary screening to start the program. The documentary we used in partnership with STEPS organization, discussed the diversity and cultural division in a local school. It was filmed a few years ago by local high school students, interviewing their friends about their own opinions of the divisions and discrimination at their school. After each screening, our trained facilitators lead discussions in which, learners were able to brainstorm ways to decrease issues of division and embrace cultural diversity. Some of the facilitators were actually the girls that made the documentary, so it was pretty cool to have them involved. They were able to really bring these issues to the kids, and give examples of their own experiences as foreign nationals here in Cape Town. The screenings were a great way to introduce the campaign, and get the students thinking about our aims: PEACE, UNITY, and HUMANITY!

            The second step in the School Project is cultural diversity workshops, led by our partners the Institute of Healing of Memories (IHOM) has also started in a few of the schools.  These workshops have continued with the aims of peace, unity, and humanity. With an in depth workshop program, IHOM has been able to break the learners into small groups to discuss the positive aspects of cultural diversity at a deeper level. These first workshops have been well received by the learners, and over the next few weeks these schools will receive the rest of the 3 workshops.

            Another part of the School Project that will be starting soon is the mural creation. Three of the schools, and one in De Doorns (so far) will also take part in cultural diversity workshops which will result in a mural. These murals will be painted at each school, to encourage the rest of the school to embrace peace, unity, and humanity too! At these schools, a core group of ‘artists’ have been selected for this mural project and their workshops will begin in next week and continue throughout May.

            This month, the Unite as One campaign has also had the 2^nd filmmaking workshop over 2days last weekend, with our 12 youth from a nearby township. These students have been selected to realize short documentaries reflecting their own experiences with cultural diversity. At the second workshop, all 12 students pitched their story ideas to a panel of professional filmmaking judges. Of all the wonderful presentations, 4 stories were selected. The learners then formed 4 groups, and decided their different roles in the filmmaking process (directing, producing, camera, sound). 

Film making workshop

After lunch, one girl’s group-mates had to leave early, so I got to work with her. It was such a fun experience. As she was the director and creative mind, I was there to help take notes, and prompt her with questions that would further develop the “journey” that her documentary would take us on. So while I was there to assist the filmmaker who was teaching the workshop, I was also able to participate, and learn a lot about filmmaking!

For the second day of the workshop the students worked to develop their stories and will continue with this process until their next workshop. I am so very impressed with these kids and their stories. In some of the documentaries, the students will be sharing their own personal stories of discrimination and struggle or that of their close friends. Even just hearing them pitch their stories made me very emotional. These learners have been through so much, at only age 15-16, and have such strength to want to share their story to help educate others.  I am so proud of them!

Sadly though, their next workshop won’t be until June, so I won’t get the opportunity to watch the process unfold, but I look forward to hearing about it, and seeing the finished product. These stories will be very powerful documentaries and I am so thankful to have been part of this project.

            So with quite a few busy pas weeks, the campaign is right on track and has many more activities planned for the next few months! But unfortunately these exciting parts are all things I’m helping to plan, but won’t be around to see come to fruition. As my time winds down here, I’m finally starting to feel heavily invested in the community, and I know that it won’t be the end of my connection to Cape Town.

Cape Town-- view from on top of Lion's Head

            Aside from all of these busy projects I’m working on at Scalabrini, I’ve also been busy writing my research proposal and grant proposals for my PhD research. I’m planning to continue my invested interest here in South Africa, and research ways to reduce prejudice in the context of South Africa.  I will be continuing my Masters research, but in a new context, with an applied methodology. The only thing holding me back so far, is funding (hah as usual), so I’m busy writing research grant proposals and applying for scholarships too! Wish me luck!

Cape Town/Devil's Peak--view from on top of Lion's Head

While I’m starting to feel sad about leaving in a few weeks (only 2 more De Doorns trips left), I’m looking forward to being able to use my time here in a positive way. I hope the next time I come back I will be much more impactful!

I’ll write more soon!

For now if you’re also interested in following the Unite campaign on Facebook here’s a link: www.facebook.com/unite.as.one

Theres a pretty cool video about the campaign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjwxMoHWeGA

& pictures on the fbook page too!

Lots of love!

Laura

Back to work!

The past few weeks have been amazing! Getting to know South Africa better with Dan :)

This weekend in De Doorns was quite an amazing experience!

For the planning side, it seemed the weekend would turn out to be pretty ordinary. We organized a 2-day meeting for capacity building for the newly formed CBO. I would take notes for the meeting, but for the most part it would be mainly the members of the CBO deciding where they wanted the organization to go and discussing how they would get there.

Little did I know it would be such a fantastic weekend! When we arrived Friday afternoon I was shocked at how big the garden had grown! The Maize was much taller than me and even Dan! So for the garden, it was a quite exciting weekend. Dan and I spent Saturday morning harvesting some of the vegetables; our first harvest!

Some of the veggies (mainly the radish) had been neglected and should have been harvested last week, but we were able to save a few that hadn't been attacked by little bugs/creatures. But the main harvest was the beetroot! I've never seen so many large & lovely beetroot! We harvested a good 10 or so, and left the rest to grow a bit more.
We also harvested some of the rocket to thin it out a bit and make room for the other leaves to grow in full. After the harvesting, we spent some time weeding to make sure the rest of the veggies could grow in peace.
It was a proud day in the garden!

Other than the garden it was a very exciting weekend having Dan there. I'm still pulling for him to write down his own experiences (hint hint hint)... but I'll give you an overview for now.

Friday night at the meeting, it was a very focused on the internal development of the group, so not much outside help could be given (I was even only there to take notes mainly). This is a good thing for the group, helping them learn to self-sustain, however it did mean there wasn't much for us to do during the meetings. So while I stayed to take notes, Dan went off exploring in the township. He got to wander around and get to know the area a bit, and even found a pub to explore. He's said that was quite an experience in itself, (getting patted down at the door, everyone staring at him when he walked in, ect.. but I'll let him fill you in later ), but he definitely got a feel for the township-- unlike any experience I've had yet!

So far in my visits to De Doorns I haven't had much of a chance to spend time exploring the township (other than our meetings and staying with my host family), even my host family insists that I don't walk back to the Church by myself in the mornings. So on Saturday while our CBO had their development meeting, it was a really great opportunity for both Dan and I to take some time to explore the area together. We wandered around a bit, and I took Dan to meet the family I stay with. We chatted there for a bit and he got to know them, showing off his Afrikaans with them a bit.

Afterwards, we continued our walk around town, getting a lot of waves & smiles & "hi"s from the little kids. We walked around a bit and one family that was listening to music and standing in their yard invited us in to sit and chat. They were very friendly and we got to know them a little bit. One girl had just had a baby (3 weeks old! about the same age as my niece!), and I chatted to her a bit. What a cute little baby! Dan sat and chatted with the older gentleman, who explained that the little kids were his grandkids, and that he had a daughter that would be perfect for Dan! Sadly he declined, informing the man that we were dating, but they seemed okay about it.

It was a pretty cool experience, and it seems like the best way to get to know the community is to just explore and spend time getting to know the people that live there. I am so grateful that Dan could come this weekend because with out him I never would have had the chance to explore (as my project manager is usually quite busy, and I'm told that I shouldn't explore on my own). Hopefully I can incorporate more explorations in the future weekends to come, but I am so grateful for the experience this weekend. I feel like I know the town a little better, and feel like less of an outsider.

What a great weekend, with a great guy :)

I'll write more soon!

Laura