Lunch break: Macdonald’s and a quick safari. Would most people put those two together? I am working in Bloemfontein this week and I had an opportunity to grab a quick lunch with some of the people working in Lesotho (yes, I did also just spend the weekend with them). I met them at Macdonald’s for a fast lunch; they don’t have Macdonald’s in Maseru, so they have to get as much as possible when they are visiting. When I say as much a possible, I think they had three separate meals there in one day. After lunch we decided to run up to Naval Hill in Bloem, which as it happens is basically a free safari in the middle of the city. We pulled through the gates to be greeted by two giraffes just chilling 4 feet from the side of our car. We drove around and saw some wildebeests and antelope and in an hour I was back at work.
If you recall, I mentioned that the Kim office appears to be reaching a sustainable point, where it could function without the intern support. On the other hand I am learning very quickly that Bloemfontein could some serious intern support. There is a great group of coaches that work hard, but they definitely could use some administrative backup. I also do not understand why Bloemfontein is not its own site as opposed to a sister site overseen by the Kimberley office. I mean I am sure there is some reason it is set up like this, but Bloemfontein as a city is several times larger than Kimberley and not far behind Kimberley, CT, PE, or Soweto with its targets for FY 11 (Fiscal Year, it starts October 1st). I could see the interns being placed in Bloemfontein next year as opposed to Kimberley because there is a lot a growth to be had in Bloem and a ton of opportunity that could be seized, but I think they need a little push and a site coordinator that works on the same level as Mandla does in the Kimberley office.
The Bloemfontein team is doing everything in their power to make me South African. I have been renamed because of course this the first step to becoming proudly South African. I have been reborn and named Khethiwe (pronounced K-T-Way), which means “the chosen one.” Chosen for what I have not determined yet, maybe it is just chosen to be the Bloemfontein intern, but maybe there is something else that will show itself as the year moves along. A few times I have been introduced around as Khethiwe (secret: I don’t even know how to spell it yet) and people do a double take, sometimes laugh, and further inquire about this name for an American white girl. Additionally, they decided that in order to become South African, you must eat like a South African. I wish this upon no one. Yesterday I was basically force fed intestines. That’s right, intestines. No worries though because Playa (nickname for Pule, one of the coaches) said “they are clean intestines, not dirty intestines.” Thanks Playa, that makes me feel so much better about it. This is a girl that less than a year ago was vegan, has not eaten red meat in a very long time, and prefers to eat in a vegetarian fashion with the occasional chicken dish when protein is needed. Intestines. I was then introduced to liver. Mm…mmm…mmm, not! Luckily I just had to watch them handle it, cut it, cook it, and eat it, but I did not actually have to take part in this one. Apparently as Westerners we are very wasteful and should use all the parts of the animal, not throw it away. I just wish we would stop eating animals all together, parts or the whole thing.
This week while I am in Bloem I am supposed to primarily be acting as administrative support, but I can tell you that I haven’t been doing much in the way of administrative functions. This week is the September holidays (they are on a year round schedule for school with some breaks in September, December/January, March/April, and July) so we do not have any interventions going on. Now in Kim, the coaches are just off this week and are doing whatever they do when they are not acting as SKILLZ coaches, but here in Bloem we have a full team community service initiative running. For two days we went over to the Unity Primary School and worked to help them clean the school with some of the students (they call them learners here). We have been raking and digging and clearing out weeds around the school so they can put into some grassy areas and start a vegetable garden. I think it sounds awesome and I was super glad we could help in any little way. I think it is wonderful for schools to have vegetable gardens; really any type of garden would be great. Then, today we had the unique opportunity to go to an orphanage called Operatice and spend some time with the children there. I believe there were probably about 15 children ranging from 3 months to 15 years old. We had the chance to do some of our energizers with the children, dance, play some soccer, and play with some hula-hoops we brought.
I, actually, had a really special experience today at this orphanage. It is probably due to the fact that I am white and look very different than everyone else from a small child’s perspective (well from a lot of people’s perspectives), but that doesn’t make it any less special in my mind. When we got there, we walked up to the children that were waiting for us and started talking to them. I couldn’t really communicate that well because most of the children were really too young and hadn’t developed their English skills yet, so I just said my hellos and high fived some of the kids. After a few minutes in the group this approximately 1 and a half-year-old girl walks by a few of the other coaches pointing at me and grabs my hand. She then proceeded to give me a tour of the house (through walking and pointing of course because our verbal communication was very limited). She immediately melted my heart, keep in mind I generally do not like small children all that much. For the rest of the day she made me carry her around, play some small games with her and she sat on my lap in all the situations where we were sitting around talking. If we were walking her small hand grasped one or two of my fingers. At the end of our visit when we were leaving I waved goodbye to her and she waved back. All the “moms” of the orphanage told me I could take her if I wanted to, haha. I don’t think I am quite ready for that, but it really was a treasured couple of hours. I was having one of those days where I felt like an outsider; from the coaches all speaking in Sesotho and Setswana to the occasional challenges that driving offers me, and this little girl changed the pace of my day and made me really happy to be where I am doing what I am doing. Though she may never know the effect she had on me today and she will probably never even remember me, I know I will never forget the way she just walked up to me and turned my day around in a split second.
Here’s the thing, people, especially in Africa, generally do not like the whole “Save Africa” campaign and mentality, probably because it implies that in some way Africa needs saving. I don’t think that Africa needs saving, I think yea, Africa (well first of all I am totally generalizing when I say Africa), rather parts of Africa could use some help here and there. You know it would be nice if they and we could clear out this HIV/AIDS epidemic or at least get it down to manageable levels (well getting rid of it entirely would be ideal) and provide the basic needs for everyone, but they by no means “need saving.” In fact, I think there is a ton of things we could learn from Africa and the African people. Today when we left the orphanage, we left heaps of clothing that the coaches had compiled from their homes to donate. It blows my mind to think of really how little they even have in comparison to a lot of people I know, and still they give every little bit they possibly can. They gave clothing, their time and their energy for nothing; it was purely service that as a team they decided to do while they were not working for the week. That is truly something; really incredibly inspirational on so many levels. I am sort of secretly (well not so secretively anymore) hoping that this may inspire some of the people who are reading this blog to take some time out and give something back to their communities. It doesn’t have to be a big, grand gesture, just something small that can make a big difference in one person’s life and that’s all it really takes. See if you can RAK someone today. Random Act of Kindness for no other reason that it is a nice thing to do and ask them to pass it on. All you have to do is help someone out in anyway, tell them they have been RAKed and ask them to pass it on. It could be as simple as handing someone a flower you picked from the garden or in a personal case leaving a short note telling the person how important they are too you with a tea bag of a type of tea you know they have been wanting to try. You never really know how big of a different these small things can make in someone’s day.
Wow, I guess Bloem is having more of an effect on me than I ever would have thought.
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