We had two expert speakers from local NGOs come to speak with us. The first was from The President's Award. This is a program encompassing 4 parts (skill, service, sport, adventure) that was formed by Prince Phillip (William and Harry's grandfather) and Nelson Mandela as a way to empower South Africa's youth. There are 3 levels of achievement- bronze, silver and gold. The gold level is very prestegious and the award ceremony is often attended by both Prince Philip and Mandela themselves. Students often say that they don't wash thier hands for week after receiving a hand shake from Mr. Mandela. I can only imagine how powerful being a room with him must be. He is truly an inspiration to this country and to the world.
The second speaker was from the Angus Gillis Foundation, which focuses on rural development. Many NGOs focus on townships and the rural villages are often overlooked. She taught us about the 'bottom-up approach' which starts with community input on what they actually need, rather than coming in with an already established agenda for development. This results in a much better success rate because the community is fully involved and committed to the work being done. She gave us many tips and takeaways that will be of use for our own projects.
While this program involves a lot of work, I am thoroughly enjoying it. The end result will be of sustance- something that does not often come with projects in courses at home. My group is extremely functional, which is very refreshing. After doing preliminary research we met at the Red Cafe for an early dinner to discuss our plan going forward. We have some great ideas flowing and I can not wait to start meeting with the local resources around us in Grahamstown.
Tonight we had group tickets to a comedy show at the festival. While the majority of the jokes went over our heads, I could still appreciate the talent of the two men performing. The room was hysterical- so even though we missed a lot of the content, it was fun going out as our complete group and seeing a true South African comedic act. Afterwards about 12 of us went to The Madhatters, a coffee shop/restaraunt to grab a bite to eat. Taking it easy tonight...after a late night last night at the EQ club, we all collectively need a night to get some sleep and wake up refreshed in the morning.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
36 hours later...
Boston-Atlanta. Atlanta-Dakar,Senegal (stayed on flight for 1 hour re-fuel), Dakar-Johannesberg, Johannesberg-Port Elizabeth. Then 1.5 hour taxi ride to Grahamstown. 36 hours later we arrived on Rhodes Campus, and every minute of the ridiculously long travel time was worth it. Everything went relatively smoothly. No long delays, no lost baggage. The 10 of us from NU are all super cool. No one knew each other before we left but after 36 hours we bonded quite well.
I got friendly with an elderly woman who was sitting in front of me during the majority of the flight (ATL to Jo-berg). She heard the flight attendant bring me a kosher meal and started talking to me. She is a Jewish woman who was returning home to Jo-berg after spending a month in the states visiting her daughter who lives in LA. She was interested in what a group of students from Boston were doing in South Africa for the next month. We talked about politics and she gave me some interesting views on South African life. She said that while apartheid was absolutely horrible, she had a very privileged life growing up as a white Jewish girl in Jo-berg. She said that now the situation is reversed- it is all about affirmative action and black empowerment. She said that a group of young white women like us would have a very hard time getting jobs in South Africa today. She was also quite concerned with current American politics, asking me my opinion on McCain vs Obama. She said that she didn’t care who was elected, just that America shape up its economy. As she put it..."When America sneezes, the world gets pneumonia." I have to agree...
The group of people I am with are amazing. There are 10 of us from NU, 10 from Rutgers, and about 20 from South Africa/other African countries. Everyone gets along exceptionally well. The first night, the G Pact rented out the deck of a local bar for us all to bond and get to know each other. The local students could not be any nicer! They always to go out of their way to show us around and make us feel welcome. We continue to find that we have a lot more in common than we had thought. We can talk music, TV, politics, and find that we are all into the same things.
The Global Pact program is very inspiring. It has been very well organized thus far and I'm very impressed with the leaders. So far we have been working on breaking down big issues to focus on root causes. We spent a portion of class time brainstorming all of the issues we could think of-globally and locally. Within 10 minutes over 100 issues were on the board. While it is very overwhelming to see the problems that exist in the world today, it is also inspiring to see the potential that we all have within us. Everyone is passionate about different issues and I can not wait to see what kind of NGOs come out of this group. It is very refreshing to experience a program such as GPact. After 6 long months at Raytheon I needed a new direction. Sitting behind a desk in a large corporation is not for me. I may have found a new calling...
Grahamstown is absolutely beautiful. Yesterday started the National Arts Festival. It is the second largest festival in the world! During our lunch break a few of us went down to check out the festival. We were talking to these people at a table and they gave us free tickets to their performance! A few hours before the show about 20 of us met up for drinks/dinner and then some of us went to the show. It was really well done- a clever little play about an apartment building and the random lives of those in it. Life is so exciting here. There are tons of pubs and coffee shops and places to hang out. I want to see as many performances as I can while Im here during the festival. The town is overcrowded for the next 10 days with tourists from all over the continent. Should make for some awesome late night conversations in the pubs tonight with all the visiting backpackers!
Today our group heard from two speakers from South African NGOs and then we spent time with our group deciding on an issue. We are going to be working for the next 3 weeks focusing on the ‘lack of financial education available for youth’. Now the researching and NGO site visits and fundraising and all sorts of excitement begins…
More to come. Its only been 3 days and I could not be happier to be in South Africa!
I got friendly with an elderly woman who was sitting in front of me during the majority of the flight (ATL to Jo-berg). She heard the flight attendant bring me a kosher meal and started talking to me. She is a Jewish woman who was returning home to Jo-berg after spending a month in the states visiting her daughter who lives in LA. She was interested in what a group of students from Boston were doing in South Africa for the next month. We talked about politics and she gave me some interesting views on South African life. She said that while apartheid was absolutely horrible, she had a very privileged life growing up as a white Jewish girl in Jo-berg. She said that now the situation is reversed- it is all about affirmative action and black empowerment. She said that a group of young white women like us would have a very hard time getting jobs in South Africa today. She was also quite concerned with current American politics, asking me my opinion on McCain vs Obama. She said that she didn’t care who was elected, just that America shape up its economy. As she put it..."When America sneezes, the world gets pneumonia." I have to agree...
The group of people I am with are amazing. There are 10 of us from NU, 10 from Rutgers, and about 20 from South Africa/other African countries. Everyone gets along exceptionally well. The first night, the G Pact rented out the deck of a local bar for us all to bond and get to know each other. The local students could not be any nicer! They always to go out of their way to show us around and make us feel welcome. We continue to find that we have a lot more in common than we had thought. We can talk music, TV, politics, and find that we are all into the same things.
The Global Pact program is very inspiring. It has been very well organized thus far and I'm very impressed with the leaders. So far we have been working on breaking down big issues to focus on root causes. We spent a portion of class time brainstorming all of the issues we could think of-globally and locally. Within 10 minutes over 100 issues were on the board. While it is very overwhelming to see the problems that exist in the world today, it is also inspiring to see the potential that we all have within us. Everyone is passionate about different issues and I can not wait to see what kind of NGOs come out of this group. It is very refreshing to experience a program such as GPact. After 6 long months at Raytheon I needed a new direction. Sitting behind a desk in a large corporation is not for me. I may have found a new calling...
Grahamstown is absolutely beautiful. Yesterday started the National Arts Festival. It is the second largest festival in the world! During our lunch break a few of us went down to check out the festival. We were talking to these people at a table and they gave us free tickets to their performance! A few hours before the show about 20 of us met up for drinks/dinner and then some of us went to the show. It was really well done- a clever little play about an apartment building and the random lives of those in it. Life is so exciting here. There are tons of pubs and coffee shops and places to hang out. I want to see as many performances as I can while Im here during the festival. The town is overcrowded for the next 10 days with tourists from all over the continent. Should make for some awesome late night conversations in the pubs tonight with all the visiting backpackers!
Today our group heard from two speakers from South African NGOs and then we spent time with our group deciding on an issue. We are going to be working for the next 3 weeks focusing on the ‘lack of financial education available for youth’. Now the researching and NGO site visits and fundraising and all sorts of excitement begins…
More to come. Its only been 3 days and I could not be happier to be in South Africa!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Africa in the AM
So I leave tomorrow morning for South Africa. I am going as part of a Dialogue of Civilizations. Dialogues are these great little faculty led short term study abroad programs that Northeastern offers as a way to earn summer session credit. Why take classes in Boston when I can take them somewhere crazy like South Africa?
It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm going to Africa, but I assume that will come sometime during the ridiculously long plane ride. Africa is really really far away. I have reading material as well as some pharmaceuticals though, so I should be okay. I have been waiting for this day for so long. Life gets super good for the next six months. One month in Africa, 5 weeks in Jersey to re cooperate and turn 21 and then off to the Czech Republic for the fall semester. So so awesome.
I'm not really sure what exactly this South Africa program entails. What I do know: I will be living at Rhodes University in Grahamstown for 3 weeks and then 1 week in Capetown. I will be working with students from Rutgers as well South African students. I will learn how to start an NGO (non-govermental organization) to combat a critical issue in S Africa from the planning stages through implementation. I will earn 8 credits toward my minor in International Affairs. I have heard amazing things of Global Pact and can not wait to experience the program first hand.
After six long months working for the man, this is definitely what I need...a change of scenery and a fresh perspective on life. More to come. See you on the other side.
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