GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!! This is exactly how I feel today! LOL, in reality I’m just playing around with my blog, testing out the new format. Trying to get back into the swing of things! Ok, I like it, so I hope this is motivation to use the blogggy blog more often!!

Spirit

4th creche crincipal interview. It was wonderful. I learned all about a Xhosa tradition that takes place when a baby is born. They slaughter a goat in the baby's honour and introduce the baby to the ancestors!

Me and Shiela. Shiela helped me translate my interview in Xhosa!

Playing!

These girls were extra curious what we were doing. Some of the SAEP staff were measuring a newly constructed shack that will soon become a new part of a creche that needs serious repair.

Andanna from Yale and a sweet pea from Kiddies creche!

Principal Margaret from Kiddies creche. She's awesome! Very sweet and high energy!

I can't stop smiling in South Africa!

Shiela striking a pose! Work it Xhosa Queen!

Philippi.

Brave men on the top of fruit or veggies flying down the highway!

I used to feel funny pulling out my camera in Philippi, but the kids have a ball with it so I have millions of photos now!

Xhosa Queens discussing the fate of the community's children! Working to build an extension onto an existing creche.

Mid afternoon stroll!

Defined by sorrow...the set of a play that I went to see on Saturday! Brilliant actors!

HIV and TB testing tents.

Zamukhanyo Creche

Cutie pie!

Principal Phelisa and kids at the Creche.

3rd creche principal interview!

Driving by a "coloured" community!

My BFF in South Africa!! Tracy from Zim!!

Flat Muyo (that’s Spirit in Xhosa!)

Yet another beautiful face in the creche!

Goat in the neighborhood!

Women to be saluted! Principals of the creches!

No, my momma and Bear are not in South Africa, but I'm posting this in their honour because I miss them! Notice how I spelled honoUr!! I'm back to my Canadian way of spelling in SA!

Lindsey, Flat Muyo and Shiela. Lindsey works hard at fundraising and many other initiatives at the SAEP and Shiela is a former Gap Year student breezing through her 3rd year at the University of Cape Town!

My great friend Thobela and Flat Muyo! Thobela is also a former Gap Year intern who now works at the SAEP!

Driving by...

Hope Scholars Represent!

I feel awful that I haven’t been able to keep up with my blog as regularly as I had anticipated. I haven’t been able to carry my laptop around freely to and from work as I thought I would be able to. So, until the last few days I have been in a hostel and left my laptop there until I found a place to stay for the remainder of the winter!

So, yipeeee, I finally found a place to stay! Well, obviously I had been staying somewhere up until this point! I was staying in a backpacker’s hostel called the Green Elephant! I stayed there for about a week and a half, but it was time to go! I met some amazing people there from all over the world and made great friends, but it’s a very busy place and my experience in South Africa is having such a profound impact on me that I need some quite space to absorb and reflect what I am experiencing.

So, what am I experiencing? It’s a struggle to find the words to articulate my thoughts about Cape Town. It’s noted as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Lush vegetation, pristine beaches, towering palm trees and people of all shades. However, the paradox of the blatantly visible, deeply rooted disparity between wealth and poverty have perplexed, disturbed and torn my psyche in two. I am humbled and grateful to be able to spend time with the people from the Philippi townships. I have never met more glowing people. They have the most kind and generous spirits. The kids and teens are brilliant! The women are embracing and a joy to be around!

Within the next few weeks I will be interviewing students in the Gap Year program.
The Gap Year is one of the SAEP’s longest and most successful program. The Gap Year is a program for students who are either preparing to take the matric exam, or have already taken it and not received high enough grades to qualify for University. The matric exam is a national mandated exam that all students must take in order to qualify for University. Their scores determine what programs in University they are eligible for, if they get in at all. The SAEP helps to prepare students for the important matric exam through tutoring and mentor programs, formal classroom instruction and a host of extracurricular activities. The Gap Year helps students prepare for educational opportunities beyond the high school level.  See here for more information about education in South Africa: http://www.southafrica.info/about/education/education.htm

I had the pleasure of talking to the Gap Year interns for an hour today about the importance of oral history interviews. They told me that “it’s traditional for their grandmothers to tell them about their past.” One young man said, “if we don’t know our past, then we won’t know about the mistakes that have been made.” Another young woman said, “Our parents fought very hard for us.” Many more profound thoughts were expressed as we got to know one another better! At the end of the lesson I gave one student my camera, had one student conduct a mock interview and another person was the interviewee. We all had a great time! The youth are teaching Xhosa! I love trying to learn the language…the?? Huh!!! No, on average the youth here speak about 3-5 languages! Amazing! Well, that’s all for today. I’m headed to the new place! It’s rainy in Cape Town, but I barely notice because I’m still floating above the clouds!