Wednesday 29 June 2011

Yoh! What a Weekend!

"Yyyyyoh!" (an exclamation similar in use to the America "Whew!" ...I think) is one of the many new expressions that I have learned during these last two weeks of trying my very hardest to immerse myself in the wonderful South African culture.  This "rainbow nation" has been influenced by so many different cultures that the language is equally as colorful.  Some other funny South African words: mealies=corn, bloody, bakkie=pick up truck, robot=traffic light (Brenton is baffled as to why I think this is funny), braai= barbecue/grill, bru (pronounced brew)=bro, and many others!  I find myself trying to hold in giggles (which we all know can be dangerous for me) whenever pretty much anyone speaks, especially when Brenton gets mad about something--the accent is just so funny!

Well, I had a weekend packed full of AMAZING South African experiences starting with my first braai (see, you're learning already!) on Friday evening.  The occasion for this lovely gathering was that Gert, the accounting guy, is leaving us to take another job back in his hometown.  Well, all I have to say is that South Africans clearly know how to party.  Brenton and I left the office around 2 in order to get a little gift for Gert and go to the "bottle store" (I figured that one out without looking it up on Wikipedia).  We got to the boss man's house around 3:30 and the drinks were flowing by 4 (drinking age is 18 here, yeahhhhh)!  I am so thankful that I got this opportunity to hang out with the people I work with outside of the office.  I learned a LOT about everyone's style of working and that they all strongly believe that they can have a big fight about something at work, but they are very good about leaving it all at the office and enjoy going out and having a drink together after.  I can work with that!

 Yummy.

We even had a little discussion on race issues during which I learned that what I may have perceived as racism from some of the employees early on may not have been as bad as thought.  It turns out that this person treats everyone equally bad in the office--I think it's really just a big power trip.  Eiishh!

Overall I had a WONDERFUL time at the braai and I even tried some Boerewors, which anyone who knows about my issues with eating meat is a BIG deal!

 I still can't believe it.

 During the braai we decided that we would go to the local Lion Park on Sunday so that I could see some of Africa's "big five" animals and prove to my friends that I am, indeed, in Africa!  It was SO AMAZING!  Seriously.  I got to get out of the car and pet an elephant that one of the employees herded on to the road for us!  


See!

Then we drove through the lion enclosure where there were about 8 huge, gorgeous lions having a lazy afternoon basking in the sun.  It was one of the coolest experiences of my life--I love animals!!

Naptimeeeee


Besties

THEN we piled back into the bakkie and drove to Durban where we spent a few hours at the tourist-y hot spot, uShaka .  I got to stand in the Indian Ocean and saw more KFCs than I usually do in Cincinnati!  Our trip to Durban was relatively short, but I will be visiting there again with the group of Global Teens that visit from the US next month.


Too lazy to rotate this, but you get the idea :)

Seriously...every corner

It was an all around awesome weekend and I'm very excited to feel like I have finally found my niche here.  Updates on the Street kids program to come!

Shout outs to Jon King, Jen King, Aunt Pat, Uncle Jack, Paige, Katie Flynn, MRatt, and Scott Boden for the emails!  I really do love them and they've been very helpful.  And, as always, thanks to Hans and Rena for gchatting with me all the time and Mom and Dad for skyping me, it makes Africa seem much closer to home!

Thursday 23 June 2011

Fundraising

Hello Faithful Followers!

While this post might not be quite as funny or action packed as my last, I hope all of you still find it interesting and can give me some fun ideas and/or advice.  I hope that the Staters out there can think of this as an R&D discussion of sorts, and for my non-Stater following this means throw any idea you can think of at me--R&D (Research and Development) is just a big brainstorm session.  I think I'll write this is Scope Report format :)


Background: The Youth Justice Programme, also known as the Street Kids Program, is a collaboration between the YMCA and Youth For Christ here in Pietermaritzburg.  Its function is to provide community for homeless boys (ages aprox. 12-20) by letting them play soccer together, take a hot shower, and eat a free meal at the YMCA two days a week.

Project Title: Cleats for Kids from the Streets or YMCA Helping Kids Play (I will accept votes for your favorite)

The Goal:  The goal of the projectt Cleats for Kids from the Streets or YMCA Helping Kids Play is to  discover and implement sustainable fundraising practices to fund the current YMCA Youth Justice Programme.  The short term goal for use of these funds is to purchase soccer cleats and/or uniforms for the participants to use or have these items donated.


The Vision: The vision of this project is not yet fully developed and I will still be accepting suggestions for other possibilities, but this is what I have so far:

Option 1: In option one, the children and young adults of the YMCA would create crafts (perhaps woven bracelets?) to sell.  I am in contact with high schools and YMCAs in Cincinnati who might be interested in selling these in the US and sending the money back to South Africa.  In addition, the bracelets could be sold at the South African YMCAs in tourist locations such as Cape Town and Durban.  Pros: the YMCA participants learn a skill, are earning the money, it is a sustainable effort, and it can open up partnerships with other groups and organizations.  Cons: Pietermaritzburg is a smaller city without many tourists so it would not be a local effort, supplies for the bracelets would have to be purchased, and children who make the bracelets from other programs, such as the Y-Zone, who are not directly benefiting from making the bracelets might not be willing to make them.


Option 2: In option two, the YMCA would pursue relationships with local businesses to sponsor the team.  This option would be organized much more by the local staff of the YMCA than by myself.  Pros: It is a local effort, it will open up a relationship between the Y and these sponsors, and the companies will benefit from advertising on the shirts, etc. (maybe they would consider hiring some of the street kids at some point??).  Cons: Some businesses might just want to do a one-time donation and I do not know the likelihood of South African businesses agreeing to this.


Option 3: In option three I would simply organize annual collections at Cincinnati area high schools to support the program.  Pros: I already have relationship with high schools, it is easy. Cons: It will take longer, it is not sustainable.


The Plan:  I guess I'll need to choose an option and make sure the YMCA and YFC staff members support the vision before I create a timeline.


Why You Should Give Me Feedback:  You are all brainstorming geniuses.


The Budget: For option one: Initial cost of supplies for bracelets and cost of shipping bracelets to US or other YMCA locations.


Potential Sources: McAuley High School, LaSalle High School, St. Xaivier High School, The Archdiocese of Cincinnati, YMCAs of Greater Cincinnati, Local Businesses


Not exactly a proper Scope, but it'll do.


So, give me your ideas, thoughts, feedback in the comments section or via email (shannonflynn196@gmail.com)--I can't wait to hear it!  Also, if you know any famous soccer players (or maybe I could work out a relationship with the OSU teams?), let me know.  Feel free to ask any questions!  I am having a meeting about this with the organizers of the Youth Justice program tomorrow, so I'm sure I will have more information then.





Tuesday 21 June 2011

I sound like a Teletubby?

That's right, today during the Youth Justice Programme (The official name for the Street Kids Program) the boys told me I sound like LaLa, the Yellow Teletubby

Wow!  I don't even know where to start, these last two days have been so awesome and full of silly, funny, serious, and eye-opening experiences that if this trip continues like this, I'm going to have to start writing everything down as it happens!  I always try to limit my number of exclamation points to one max per paragraph, but I just don't think that is realistic for this trip.

I decided where to start.  So on Monday morning I had a meeting with Swazi, the woman I mostly work with, and Thys, the "director" of the Y, to discuss specifically what my role would be as an intern here.  We decided that I would take over the "outside of the office" part of the programs that the Y runs.  Meaning I will now be facilitating the Y-Zone after school program for students ranging from as young as 9 all the way up through high school.  The goal of this program is mostly to provide a safe place for kids to hang out together in the afternoons on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be working with the Youth Justice Programme, affectionately known around here as the "Street Kids Programme" during which homeless boys (once again about ages 12-20) come and play soccer together or just hang around the field together, get to take a shower at the sports center, and then have a hot meal together provided by the YMCA.  In addition to doing these program(me)s every day, I will also be working with the Global Teens, a group of American teens, when they arrive in July.  I believe I will mostly be showing them the programs I work with and helping them get to know the SA kids (ICEBREAKERS! Leave a comment with your favorite one so I have some good ideas!).  And finally, once the University students move back in after their Summer break on July 22nd or something, I'm going to start an Activities Board with them (similar to my Hall Council!) so that they can do their own programming here as well as some leadership development.

So after the meeting, I kind of just sat around the office for a while until it was time for the Y-Zone program to start.  One of the structured parts of the program is that the boys dance for much of the afternoon.  Here is a video of some of the "Spar10z" dancing at the local university. They are AMAZING!  They mainly focus on krumping and it is almost unbelievable to watch these 10 and 12 year old kids doing these complicated dance moves!  Also, the Spar10z are currently competing in a South African version of America's Best Dance Crew called Step Up or Step Out--they are so famous!  As Swazi and I walked into the yard where the program is held and everyone started chatting in Zulu, she laughed and said to me, "Oh, I think they fancy you!"  Within the first five minutes I had two twelve year old boyfriends dead set on coming back to the US with me and the three of us already had a picture together (we were all wearing pink, so it was only natural).  All of this attention is not going to be any good for my ego.  As I got to know a few of the kids (along with some of what I had already encountered around the office), I realized that racial tension is still very high in this country.  I realize now that I should not have been as surprised as I was, but some of what I encountered really did shock me.  For example, I was talking to a girl, probably about 12 or 13, and as I was saying she was one of my first friends here she kind of hesitated, giggled, looked a little bit shy and said,

"Even though I'm black..."

It caught me totally off guard.  But then as I looked around and realized I was the only white person there and thought about some of the encounters I had seen and comments I had heard from the (white) Y staff, I guess it's what made sense to her.  Then as I was talking to another one of the older boys, I could tell he was still pretty bitter about the fact that the group of Global Teens that visited last year "didn't like" them and said that their dancing was too "gangster."  I can guarantee that nothing of that sort will be happening on my watch.  

On a lighter note, as the crowd thinned out and I was just watching some of the younger guys doing some very impressive breaking stunts, and they asked me if I wanted to try.  I told them that I couldn't do their moves, but that I did know how to baby freeze--a classic white girl break move, as you will see if you google it.  You could say they were less than impressed, and I'm pretty sure they made fun of me in Zulu during it, but I like to think that they respected my effort :).

A baby freeze--it's easier than it looks

Later that day I got to know on of my co-workers, Brenton (whose name I feel like I'm pronouncing wrong if I don't say it with a South African accent), a little bit better.  He is 25 and was born and raised here in PMB, he graduated from the "Varsity School" with a degree in HR, he speaks Afrikaans (for every 3 convos in Zulu that I don't understand, I don't understand one in Afrikaans), and he just got back from interning for a year in China.  We had fun comparing SA and US cultures, mostly in terms of drinking games, food, college parties, and different words like petrol vs. gasoline and lift vs. elevator.  When I said something about American football, the only thing he could come up with to say was "Oh yeah, I really like that movie Friday Night Lights."  He tried.

Then when I got home from the office (aka I walked 50 yards to my room) around 6, I bothered Hans on G-chat the rest of the night because lucky him it was only noon in Ohio and he was on his gmail all day for work.  On that note, I'm sure Hans would appreciate it if more of you talked with me on FB and G-chat in the evenings (12pm-4pm EST, ish) so that he doesn't have to continue to hear my constant stream of comments on random things for hours on end. :)

Now for today!  So I learned yesterday that I don't have to be in to the office until 9am rather than 8, which is probably good because I don't do much in the morning anyway.  As I may have mentioned, I briefly "met" the Street Kids on Thursday, but it was more of me just awkwardly standing there while everyone conversed in Zulu and waving when people said "Cha-non."  Today was much different in that there were also volunteers from two other NGOs present, Youth For Christ and another that I don't recall the name of.  I talked for a few hours with these volunteers (they were all South African except for one from Swaziland) about topics ranging from American music artist to the new SA welfare system, to whether or not my hair was real.  But the most interesting part of this conversation for me was this young mans views on how the end of Apartheid has done absolutely nothing for South Africans (I think it would be relevant to note that he is black).  He thinks that the black people have done nothing productive with their rights and that the views of most of the white South Africans have not changed at all.  That is an extreme summary of a very long conversation, but I so much appreciate that people have been willing to open up to me about topics like this and I am learning about so many things that I did not expect, and I am so thankful for that.  Towards the end of the day, after everyone had played soccer and showered and were sitting around eating, they all began to giggling and talking in Zulu again.  But this THIS time one of my YFC friends translated a few things here and there for me, including the Teletubby reference as well as a request that I serve their food next week.  Why they want me to ladle their stew on to plates, I'm not quite sure but they certainly thought it was funny!  Then I learned some secret handshakes, and they showed off a little bit of their English as we said good-bye for the day.  

Some of the housekeepers have been teaching me a little bit of Zulu, so I hope I catch on to more so I can show off my skills to the Street Kids.

The one last disturbing cultural encounter I had today might be a little bit difficult for me to get over anytime soon.  We were talking about what I would to on the weekends and which of the staff would take me where, etc. when on our way out, one of the white men who works in the office with me said in reference to the black female security guard, 

"Oh haha and maybe she can take you over the weekend to eat a goat's head and some of them...oh what do you folk eat...chicken feet! Hahaha!"

The security guard was obviously appalled, and so was I.  I can't wait to have some discussions with this man once I have settled in a little more...

Whew! This is packed full of information! Almost done!

So when deciding what I would cook for myself I thought that I would want a mostly vegetarian diet--mostly because I don't like touching raw meat.  With this idea in mind, most of the recipes I decided on were latin american-y, lots of black beans, vegetarian chilis, etc. However when I went to the store to purchase these ingredients, I discovered that there is absolutely no Latin American food in the grocery (granted, the store I go to is not a wealthy one).  Side note--there is no real coffee, only instant.  So tragic.  Back to the point--there aren't even black beans here! No one knew what I was talking about!  So, I've decided to cook Indian food since there is a large Indian population and lots of Indian ingredients and spices.  I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! I love Indian food, and although I was disappointed about the lack of Latin American fare at first, I'm sure that this is going to be better!

Well, that's all folks!  I hope you enjoyed this update and that it wasn't too scatterbrained!  It's very difficult to write about everything all of these new experiences at once, but I'm sure I'll get better with time.  More pictures to come, I want to get more comfortable with the people before I start taking pictures so that I don't seem too tourist-y.  I've also promised Hans a video of the little boys free-styling at Y-Zone, so get excited.

I love you all! Keep the emails coming! It keeps me occupied to hear from and reply to you all! Thanks to Paige, Jonathan King, and Erica for sending me some already! :)

Be sure to drinK your Ovaltine. 

Saturday 18 June 2011

Some Pictures of my Room

I always feel weird taking pictures of people's normal lives...like at the Farmer's Market this morning.  I guess I don't want people to think of me as a snobby American tourist.  I'll work on getting over that though, because I know I'll want to have pictures of this!  But here are some pictures of my room, for those of you that are interested :)

 I had to find an adapter for my adapter to use this guy


The Stater Elephant is enjoying the visit to his homeland!


Maybe the person before me killed them all?


My little kitchen counter


Sink and Stove


Those cliff bars saved me the first few days...


Such a comfortable bed! Seriously. Love it.


Shower, bathroom sink, toilet






Delicious fried dough that Swazi told me to buy at the farmer's market.  She said that she eats it with jam in the mornings.  The woman selling it to me asked (I think, these South African accents can be very strong!) if I would like beef, curry, or savory filling, I decided to just go with plain for my first round.

I'm sure Mark, Scott, and Jon will love to see that my Nalgene made it all the way to South Africa!

This awful creation may very well end my addiction to coffee.  Starbucks VIA, where are you??



I had a great time at the farmer's market this morning!  It was good to get a lay of the land--I will probably buy some more stuff next week and try to get some pictures.  Swazi is going to take me into town today, don't really know what to expect but I'm excited!

Friday 17 June 2011

Blogging?

Sooo I had a hard time deciding whether or not to create a blog, because they seem pretty self centered and stuff...but I decided if nothing else that my parents and Paige would enjoy it, so here we are!

First of all, I am 6 hours ahead of Ohio time for anyone that is curious/wants to contact me. I am writing to you all from my little desk in the YMCA office here in PMB (Pietermaritzburg).  I have access to this computer while the Y is open, but so far my outlet adapters are the wrong size so I haven't been able to use my computer.  Apparently there is wireless that I might be able to purchase, but we'll see if I'm even able to find an adapter.  Here is a little summary of my trip so far:

The People- Obsessed with everyone's accents! Especially little kids...adorable.

Gert is the finance guy. His office is directly across from my little desk with a piece of paper hung on the wall next to it that says "Finance Department." It's a one man department that is soon to be a no man department as he is leaving in a week or so to take a new job.

Swazi is a woman of many jobs, and she will also probably end up doing most of what Gert does when he leaves.  From what I've gathered so far, she is the receptionist, she does most of the administrative work, she runs the Street Kids program, she helps with the Y-kids programs, and she is who I will be working with.  She says I got here at the perfect time since several other people recently left as well.

Thys is the director/general manager of the Y. Thys lives somewhere in the city with his family, he has had the opportunity to travel to the states and visit YMCAs there, and I only got to meet him for a couple of minutes.

My Flights- My flight to Atlanta and my flight to Johannesburg were both great, the Johannesburg one even had two meals and a little touch screen computer thing were you could play games, watch movies, look at the flight progress, etc.  Then I got stuck in Johannesburg for 16.5 hours.  Apparently my flight got switched...I realized later that I probably should have gone through security the night before and checked in and I would not have had all the trouble that I did, but I survived so it was fine!  It was crazy how small an international airport can be!  The plane we took from Johannesburg to PZB was SO SMALL! Capacity was 29 people, and that was a stretch.  The hostess somehow managed to give us all a croissant and drink too, but I really don't know how. Gert, the moderately awkward accounting guy, picked me up from the airport and we drove (in a car with the steering wheel on the right side AND on the right side of the road!) to the Y.  I left Cincinnati at 1:30 pm Ohio time on the 14th and Arrived here at 11:10 am PMB time on the 16th!


My Room- It was a little bit disheartening to see a mostly empty can of roach killer first thing when I walked in to my new home, but so far so good! I have a little mini house/studio apartment thing to live in.  It's in the staff area which is gated off from where the students live.  I have a little kitchen, a bathroom, shower, and bed with a little ancient TV.  It's nothing special but there's hot water and a comfy bed so I'm happy!  Thys told me that the interns usually just make their own food and they give us a stipend to buy it with, but I could have "them" cook for me if I wanted.  I decided to cook for myself, a. because I don't know who "they" are and b. I'll get to be picky.

Experiences so far- From what I've gathered, there are "only" about 70 students from the university living here right now because everyone else is on Winter break until July 22nd or something.  Thys, the director of the Y, told me he wants me to work on programming for them which is a little intimidating, but we'll see!  I got to meet some of the "street kids" yesterday, a name that I didn't like at first, but now I realize that they are simply not sugar coating what these kids are...they are kids living on the street who come here twice a week to play soccer together, get a shower, and eat a meal.  Swazi, told me she has started trying to gather more information about all of them and why they are where they are.  Meet is a loose term, because Swazi spoke to them in Zulu the whole time, and toward the end she kind of motioned towards me and said "Cha-nonn" She tells me that they can speak English as well, so I hope I get to hear some of their stories at some point.  By the way, Zulu is the language with clicks in it...it's pretty cool, you should google it.  I think Swazi is going to take me grocery shopping at some point today, and normal work will start on Monday as this is a holiday weekend.

It seems like I might get the opportunity to travel, which would be awesome.  There are Ys in Durban and Cape Town so hopefully I'll get to go check them out or go home to Durban with Swazi for a weekend, etc.  I think it's a perfect time for me to be here because it seems like they really need me, especially since Gert is leaving like next week or something. 

Email me and tell me anything exciting about your lives!  I'll try to get some pictures up soon.  Love you all!