Experience in Cape Town in 7 words or less
Taylor: Unique, yet familiar - could easily be home.
Most Memorable Moment
Ann: Is wasn’t enough to learn to sail in the most challenging waters in the world, hike in the dark of the night, or cage dive with sharks, but my most memorable moment was how easy it was to decide to bungee jump from the highest bungee jumping bridge in the world and the resulting awesome adrenaline rush was so worth it.
Taylor: I'm tempted to choose the bungee jump, but luckily there are two other moments that also come to mind. The first was one windy night, when our trip to a third outdoor movie was cancelled due to bad weather, and instead of giving up on doing something, we (Mom, our wonderful roommate Kathryn, and I) decided to take our chances at Hint Hunt. We may not have gotten out of the room in our allotted sixty minutes, but we had a great night that was probably better than the movies - because we got to work together as a team and tear apart the room we were in. The second was our last day at the building site, which coincidentally was the same day as the Christmas party being held for the kids. There was no concrete that day, but we spent the morning dancing around with the kids and then giving them the Christmas presents that we had bought for them the day before. It was a really great day to spend not only with the kids at the site, but also the adults there - even though we saw everyone again the next night on Lion's Head, it was a wonderful way to say goodbye to the wonderful people we worked with for our 8 weeks.
Culture Adaptation
To be honest, there wasn't too much we had to adapt to in South Africa - it was incredibly easy (maybe too easy) to spend time in the landscape downtown, which felt like any current western city, or at our host family's home. The predominant language is English and the customs, food, culture and many people are products of many varying cultures, similar to the melting pot of the US. The biggest culture shock came in Lavender Heights, where our project was located. The environment, like the many other informal settlements that are home to hundreds of thousands of people was the most difficult and gut wrenching we've experienced on our journey. More than once, we were shuttled away from the work site early due to gang violence in the area, and we were not allowed to walk around the township without our project supervisor. It was also a shock (even though it was expected) to see the state of the "homes" that people live in. Even though you know it exists, it's a lot harder to be inside a family's home made of tin, with rubber tires keeping the roof down than it is to see a picture of it. The beauty of being there was meeting the people and watching the strong community support of each other within the settlements.
Things we will miss
Ann: The beautiful mountains, the oceans and bays, the culture of community, the sharks, the whales, the penguins and all the great people (big and little) we met.
Taylor: Everything. The people are amazing (both within Projects Abroad and the people in the community), all the food is so yummy, and the landscape is fantastic. Being at a place in the world with such spectacular mountains and two oceans in such a close proximity to a wonderful town is so rare and such a great place to spend time - whether for a short trip or a very very extended one. I even miss the crazy, crowded, minibuses. The first few times we took the minibuses, I counted the number of people sitting in there, it's supposed to be 11, but we had more than 20 people in one during one rush hour. It was hot and sweaty and such an experience that I can't bring myself to be glad that it's over.
Things we won't miss
Ann: Fear of easily transferable infections and diseases.
Taylor: Probably hearing about other people being pickpocketed, mugged, or stolen from. There were many smart phones from people we knew that were taken, as well as a few purses, and a home that was broken into and everything (from their clothes to their laptops) was taken. The worst part of (most of) them, was that they were entirely avoidable circumstances, people just... didn't always think through pulling their phone out on a busy street. Luckily, we never encountered this, but just hearing about it from other people was stressful. And I'm definitely not missing leaving my phone at home every day.
Recommendation for Others
With the ease of culture adaptation, great host family, large volunteer base and a great supportive office, Cape Town would be a strong recommended opportunity for anyone wanting to do a volunteer assignment with Projects Abroad and in South Africa. Our experience in Cape Town was wonderful, and 8 weeks wasn't enough. We really got to know Grassy Park, Lavender Hill and Cape Town and even though we didn't travel too far on weekends from our home base, we felt that our time was well spent on the peninsula.
Final Thoughts: Ann
I leave Cape Town with a great feeling. Satisfied and humbled with being able to make a significant contribution in the lives of many in a short period of time. The people, both locals and the volunteers, were a fantastic part of us enjoying our time here in Cape Town and I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed the life style and opportunities with being on Cape Peninsula. My future hopes for Cape Town is to find a balance between providing employment opportunities to their large populations of unemployed and the continuation of finding sustainable ways to use active hands on education for those who live in informal settlements. Improving the education to enhance the living conditions within the informal settlements with classes in gardening, sanitation and use of natural resources; i.e. rain water, wind and solar would be fantastic. Another welcomed change would be for each Capetonian to proactively find opportunities where communities can work together to form a better balance of resource sharing and to build a more cohesive community. This seems like a place where the strength of the parts would build a wonderful whole community system.
Final Thoughts: Taylor
Cape Town is easily a place I can see myself living in. There's two sides of the city: the side that is doing just fine and the side that needs to continue to pull itself up. I had such a phenomenal two months there, and that was not a fluke. It wasn't just the people we worked with or lived with or helped. It wasn't just the unique atmosphere and stunning scenery. It wasn't just that the city has something to offer everyone all the time. It was all of those things and more. Being able to experience it in such an intimate and special way allowed me to see more than a guided tour. We saw the side of Cape Town that you read about, the side of Cape Town that some Capetonians don't even allow themselves the chance to see, and had the amazing opportunity to give a lot in a little amount of time. I got to know Cape Town in the short time we were there. And what I got to know was an amazing place, with a talented, unique, and wonderful group of citizens that is working towards a better future.