Looking back at February: Part 1

  REWIND

What happened to February and March? More importantly, what happened in these last two months? The time flew by these last months and now that it is the beginning of April, I wanted to give a more or less – brief – recap on the significant events that went down in February and March. 

February

New Chapter Foundation – Site Confirmed!

Grounds at Phumlani Community Center (Photo Credits: Dani Strandson)

Mama Vera - Community Leader Principal of the creche daycare, Overall Boss. (Photo Credits: Dani Strandson)

The girls and I in another "brainstorming session"

After-school youth program

It seems like forever ago…the process of choosing which service site I would volunteer at. I felt in sync with this nonprofit organization almost immediately. We met with the founder, Malcolm, early this month, and his love for the community seemed completely transparent and genuine. He started an after-school youth program in 2011 in the village of Phumlani (pronounced poom lah nee) and has been hosting it every semester since. Phumlani is the smallest township in its District, home to a little over 4000 residents. Malcolm is a dreamer, his motto for the organization is “Shaping the Journey of Dreamers”. There is a high dropout rate in the school districts surrounding Phumlani and an even higher unemployment rate. A fact that is evident by the number of children and adults roaming the streets of the township during any time of the day. Crime is evident in Phumlani, truthfully, a thorough Google search of “Phumlani Village” will only provide information on the occasional crime incidents and their July riots. Malcolm’s dream is to create a safe place for the children of Phumlani to learn life skills and participate in clubs.

Studying nonprofit work, this service site seemed perfect. There was room to employ and challenge my current knowledge of nonprofit administration. Both Malcolm and New Chapter are fairly green, so there is a LOT of room for structure. The first weeks of working at NCF were spent planning and brainstorming. On Tuesdays, we meet at the Steenburg Office located at the Steenburg Community Center. On Thursdays, we go to the Phumlani Community Center, where we share the space with Mama Vera’s Day Care, called the crèche. Before the afterschool programming starts for the older kids (ages 6-16), my fellow service learners and I are bombarded with dozens of tiny tots, waiting to be picked up by their parents. 

The last couple of months have endured a whirlwind of events while working with New Chapter. I will be sure to dedicate a couple of posts explaining my service a little more in depth, and introducing you to some of the people in Phumlani.

 

Kirstenbosch Music Concert – Freshly Ground – Feb 3

The CIEE Staff invited us to attend the Freshly Ground Concert hosted by Kirstenbosch Gardens. Just a short drive from our house, the gardens are an overwhelmingly beautiful place to spend any day. The foliage and wildlife are –actually– magical, yep, a cliché that doesn’t begin to explain how wonderful it was being there, even on a day that was overcast. On top of that, there are mountains surrounding the area, as if it couldn’t get any better. I would say that the pictures speak for themselves, but they really don’t. The pictures cannot really capture the extent of the experience, but they do express a brief moment in time. Hallmark should hire me. 

Entering Kirstenbosch Gardens

Hummingbird!

Just another beautiful mountain.

Kittyfowl! These are everyone in ZA. While picnicking, a group of four came running in. They were not afraid to approach people for food. I love them. Wild Jurassic-looking chickens.

SO, we arrived to Kirstenbosch. We played icebreaker games with the RA’s and students from Stellenbosch. Quinton, chief of CIEE and my professor, loves his icebreaker games. We then split into small groups and got to know new people. The staff brought food from Coco Wah Wah and we picnicked for a bit and enjoyed the view. Delightful. 

Freshly Ground at Kirstenbosch Gardens.

As we departed our picnicking area up to the concert hill, we were greeted by African men and women dawning traditional ceremonial garb, singing, banging on drums, and offering to do face painting. We herded our way through the crowds and found our spot on the hill. People in ZA know how to do outdoor concerts. I was sitting directly behind a French family, they had their wines and cheeses, special dried meats, small sandwiches. What impressed me the most was their device that holds two wine glasses, upright, just at the perfect angle, so there was no spillage while sitting. Magnifique! Where do you buy these contraptions!? This was the norm, almost everyone had specially prepared bites and coolers full of their preferred beverages. While I waited for concert to start, I chatted with a couple of people I was sitting with, sipped on cider, and shamelessly took selfies.

She was my favorite - genuinely enjoying life.

The band got on stage and everyone started rousing and cheering. Zolani Mahola, the lead, thanked everyone for coming and started up. I was delightfully surprised, the music was folky with a South African twist. Freshly Ground is a widely popular band over here in ZA, back in the States, they are probably best known for performing “Waka Waka” with Shakira. The lead vocals mimic the smooth and raspy tones of Stevie Nicks. Definitely a band to check out. The experience was amazing – sitting at Kirstenbosch with good friends, listening to great music. By the end of the concert everyone was up and dancing, gettin’ down. The crowd cheered on the band for two more songs. My favorite line was, “You want another song? Buy our CD!” 

Freshly Ground - Pot Belly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XPl6Pb8K4I I can’t recall them performing this song on during the concert, but I’ve heard it multiple times since. It’s pretty catchy!

 Okay, so February isn't brief. For posting purposes, I've decided to break it up into a few posts. 

As always, thank you for reading! :)

Lisa