Kayla excited to discover the ways she has changed because of this experience

Well, the dreaded day has come…the final blog post. I really don’t know how to write this so I guess I will just start by saying that this was one of the most amazing four months of my life. By saying that I don’t want to imply that I was happy every single day and that every single day was absolutely incredibly. Like any other semester, it had its ups and downs. However, unlike every other semester, I feel like I actually grew as a person other than simply as an intellectual.

At UConn I have only ever lived in a standard dorm so this was the first time I have ever lived on my own in a setting where I had to do really practical things like buy groceries. Simple tasks like that where I was spending my own money that I saved, as cheesey as it may sound, “really showed me the value of a dollar.” Even though this may not necessarily be incredibly accurate since the dollar is worth a lot more in South Africa currently. Either way, it did give me a small understanding of all the background work my parents have to do to keep our home running day to day.

My internship was another very educational piece of my time in Cape Town. I interned at Prevention in Action in Kuyasa, Khayelitsha. As most co-educators will note, the pace in South Africa is completely different. Starting each day with about an hour of reflection period before starting the day’s work was an adjustment for me. Despite the slower work pace, I learned an incredible amount at Prevention in Action. The organization was recently defunded and I was continuously so impressed by the organization leaders’ work despite lack of resources. This was a continuous reminder to me that one always has something to give, even if it may not seem that way.

Kayla (far right) with Paige, Sydney, Emily & Maria
at Heaven's Nest Child Center

My activist project was another very influential part of my time in Cape Town. I chose to do my activist project at Heaven’s Nest Child Care Center. My time there taught me an indescribable amount about children and their development. However, more than that, it taught me how easy it is to become involved in volunteering. In the past, I have often looked at causes or organizations and really felt passionate about them but never became involved. My time at Heaven’s Nest showed me how welcoming organizations are to help and that all one really has to do is reach out to see what they may want or need. This summer I plan to continue volunteering with children at home because my time there really sparked a passion for me.

Overall, I can’t believe my time in Cape Town has come to a close. I will miss so much about Cape Town- the food, the people, the natural beauty, and the list could go on forever. When I look back to why I chose to study in Cape Town, no outstanding reason comes to mind. I really don’t know what exactly drove me to that beautiful city, but I am so thankful I came. I know that my time in Cape Town has changed me in ways that I may not even know yet, but I am very excited to find out.

Lily on the many things she'll miss until she finds a way to return

I can’t believe that the best semester I’ve had has finally come to an end, and cannot wait to find a way back to Cape Town eventually. There are so many things I will miss about this amazing place. 

I am going to miss living with so many people and always having these friends to talk, explore or eat with. My co-educators are amazing in that they are so intellectually curious and willing to discuss anything and everything. We have had conversations about so many social and political issues through the course of the semester and it will be strange going home to such an intense political climate. It has been interesting getting to hear the opinions of everyone on the trip, as well as the opinions of so many Uber drivers who are interested in the upcoming elections in the US. 

I am going to miss being in a place full of so many differences in such a close proximity to each other. Going from mountain to oceans in twenty minutes provides so many opportunities. Seeing extreme wealth and extreme poverty in a different twenty minute drive was even more shocking. It was eye-opening and really made us recognize the class divide that has been left by the apartheid system; it’s something that is very difficult to ignore, even if one tried because you drive by townships, people are begging on popular city streets, and so many people can be found sleeping on the parade and in the shade. It is something that is indescribable if you haven’t seen it for yourself and really makes you more aware of these inequalities that are well hidden in the US.

I am going to miss the wide variety of people, places and activities that city has. We were busy every day of the week between internships, classes, projects and activities to the point that I can’t remember what it’s like to just relax in my house for an entire day. I will miss how friendly people are and how they actually want to know when they ask how you are and love to tell you about their entire lives when you ask how they are. We have met so many different people with so many different qualities that it will be strange to go back to a university where everyone is our age and most are from the same state. I’ll miss being able to wake up and hike a mountain, surf, explore art galleries and eat a huge variety of food. 

I am going to miss classes and internships and the way that they work together to combine knowledge acquisition with context. I have enjoyed learning about the history and politics of South Africa alongside learning about race, class and gender, as well as learning about NGOs and helping organizations because it shows how they all effect and are affected by each other. I’m especially going to miss the children at Maitland Cottage and how they loved to teach me new games that they learned and have me read to them.

I am going to miss the discussions that we have in Cape Town; there aren’t too many taboo topics like there seem to be in the US. If you’re being respectful about it then Capetonians seem to have no problem discussing topics of controversy like politics and the president, topics of importance such as race, class and gender, and topics of opinion, such as interests and beliefs. There have been so many discussions between our co-educators about our value systems and the way we’d like to live our lives, which I believe will turn out to be productive for our futures and the way we view the world. 

I am going to miss being with people who are sharing this experience with me, because that makes it easier to think about and process. It is such a difficult experience to describe to anyone, even if I could find someone with an attention span long enough to listen to me talk about my entire semester. Journaling seems to have been important for many of us on this trip and I hope that it’s something we all continue doing over the summer, as well as communicating with each other for support. 

I’m going to miss Cape Town so much.

Megan's lessons learned and realization this is only the beginning

 

 

I am in disbelief that I am even writing this post. I am sitting in the house that has become my home for the past 3 months, with co-educators that have become family, in a city that I have fallen in love with. Tomorrow, I will board a plane and leave this all behind me to return back to Connecticut.

     

Honestly, that terrifies me. I am terrified to leave myself in Cape Town; to leave the curiosity, adventurousness, confidence, enlightenment and growth that have characterized my time here, and have changed me. I am scared for what will happen when I try to explain to those at home what I really experienced here, outside the skydiving and safaris. I am scared that I won’t be able to accurately describe the internal metamorphosis that I feel in myself every day, and to eventually lose that feeling in my inability to express it. I am terrified to go home, and to turn back into the person who never came to Cape Town.

     

I also feel inexplicable gratitude. I was insanely lucky enough to be in the small part of the world population that is able to go to college, able to go abroad, and able to come to Cape Town. Through the care and work of Marita, Vernon, and Vincent among others, I was able to meet amazing people and learn the complicated history while living here. I was able to intern at an amazing organization that taught me so much about democracy in political campaigns and grassroots organizing. I was able to work with the adorable children at my activist project at the Athlone YMCA, as well as during our homestay in Ocean View and at the Boys and Girls Club in Soweto. Cape Town has given so much in the short time I have called it home.

      

It is difficult to reflect on my whole stay here and sum it up in a short blog post, so here are some of the main thoughts I have leaving Cape Town (excerpts from my journal):

1. Ostrich is way better than beef.
2. Do more things alone. Explore alone. You have the freedom to do whatever you want, think whatever you want, or anything else you feel like doing. It is important. True independence is addicting and fulfilling.
3. Minibus taxis are a great system and I might buy a van and just start yelling out of it at UConn.
4. Volunteering is so important. I never realized this at home and it should really be a priority of everyone’s. Doing something once a week can help make peoples lives so much easier and happier.
5. Surfing is amazing, and not just for blonde, weirdly active hippies.
6. Talk to everyone. Smile at everyone. There is no basis why we are taught skepticism as a reflex when it comes to new people. Most are good. Get to know them.
7. Being an overly trendy-indie (most of the time white) person is the worst thing you can be. Do not become obsessed with big velvet hats, or smoothing bowls, or quinoa and coconut water or excessive amounts of vintage clothing. IT IS NOT COOL.
8. Keep relationships. Prioritize them, and nurture them. They are one of the only possessions you will ever have in life.
9. Espresso is definitely better in a vanilla shake.
10. Emotions are important, and fulfilling. It doesn’t make you more respectable or mature to lack them.
11. Yoga is great, even if yogis can be weird.
12. Don’t make this your last adventure. This is not where I stop learning; this is not where I stop exploring; this is not where I stop growing. This is the beginning.
    
    

Eric's thank yous and bittersweet farewell (for now) to Cape Town

Today, on our last full day in Cape Town, I have had Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye” stuck in my head all day, thanks to Mteto’s incredible rendition at last night’s supervisor dinner. I must say that the dinner last night was an absolutely beautiful and touching way to round out this semester. Together in one room were all of the incredible people who helped to make this program all that it was. I thought it would be appropriate to take this time to thank everyone who played a part in making this the most unforgettable experience of my life to date.

 

To the staff of Tafelsig Clinic: Thank you for so readily welcoming Derek, Paige, Abby, and me to the clinic. Each day I came to my internship knowing that someone would take me under their wing to teach me and show me the ropes. You threw us in head first, but I learned so much that way. Your patience and compassion for the patients even under chaotic conditions is remarkable and a quality I hope to adopt in my future work. We shared many laughs, smiles, and even tears together. Thanks for making us feel like part of the family.

To Bongi, Power, and the Khayelitsha Fire Fighters: Our time together seemed so short, but it left a huge impact on me. I can see why students have been helping the team for over 5 years now—no coaches are as personally invested in the growth and development of their athletes as you are. You recognize the need in your community to keep the boys away from drugs and violence and to provide them with structure and a home away from home. It was an honor to be able to conduct training sessions and to cheer the boys on in Kensington. The way they handled defeat was humbling and epitomized what sports should be about. I’m going to bring this mindset back to the win-first attitude of the United States. I can’t wait to see how the Fire Fighters do this season!

To Marita and Vernon: I am convinced that the UConn in Cape Town program would be a shell of what it is now without you two. Most of the work you do to give us every opportunity to learn and grow is done behind the scenes, but it surely does not go unnoticed. Both of you are so loving, caring, passionate, and dedicated to this program and to the betterment of our world. I came into this semester as a science major with little background in race, gender, or human rights, but am returning home with a newfound interest in all of the above. You have both changed the way I see the world, including my own country, the United States, which I thought I knew all about. I felt uncomfortable at times coming to terms with my previous assumptions, but I slowly found the value in taking risks and opening myself up to being challenged and corrected. When I go home, I won’t be able to see society or approach conversations in the same way, but that prospect is both exciting and frightening. This program sparked an intellectual fire within me because of you two.

And finally, to my 28 brilliant co-educators: There is not a single one of you whom I would have traded for someone else.  I thoroughly enjoyed our discussions and debates in class. I loved being able to share a laugh or hold a conversation with all of you. As much as I learned from our readings and videos, I often learned more from just talking and throwing ideas around. Of course, I will never forget all of the good times we had outside of class. From the Garden Route, to Johannesburg, to the music festivals, to the beach, to hiking, and to Long Street, we made memories together that will last a lifetime. I am so excited that this program was able to bring together such a diverse group of people that might not have even met otherwise. I really look forward to seeing how we all progress through the rest of college and beyond because I know everyone is destined to do great things. If you ever need an extra body at an event you are putting on or just want to talk and grab a bite to eat at the dining hall, never hesitate to ask!

It is definitely bittersweet to be going home, but I feel better knowing that this will not be the first and last time I come to Cape Town. I have made such strong connections not only with the people I mentioned above, but also with people like Vincent, Chantel, Mteto, Sizwe, Joe, and many, many others who welcomed us to their country and culture for three and a half months. I’ll be leaving part of my heart here when I leave, but I now know I have another place on this Earth to call home.

Elizabeth learned to complain a little less and appreciate the beautiful world a little more.

When we came here mid-January, I had many high expectations for the dream experience that I was going to have (cue adventure music). In the hype of Marita’s pre-departure class and the words of the symposiums, I was expecting to have the experience of all these very different people combined into mine.

I am glad to say that Cape Town has made its own impact on me in a unique way not detailed in these information sessions. There is nothing like the people of Cape Town and their unrelenting spirits.

I will never forget our first week here when we went to the District Six museum and one of my co-educators asked Joe (our guide) how they stayed so strong during the forced removals, and he said, “With the mountains, it is hard to have low spirits.” The strength of table is so much more powerful than I could have ever thought.

This trip has really made me re-evaluate and think of they ways in which I view and think of poverty and in my very minimal travels, no matter how dire the situation, the people of Cape Town have this perseverance and tenacity to push through. This may be the sheltered view I have had of the people, but I think this is exampled by the people who create their own crafts, Tuck shops, street stands and road businesses wherever you go. The people try to take control of their situations to better themselves and their families.

Unfortunately, not all have this ability to engage in entrepreneurship because of traumatic events that have led to PTSD and substance abuse. These people are victims of a system of racial classification and segregation that has been in place for hundreds of years before their births.

When Charity and I visited the Castle of Good Hope with Lucy and saw the Khoi exhibit, the true weight of van Riebeeck’s refreshment station sank in. This was not just a beautiful fort, but one where many indigenous people and animals took up residence. What would it be like if someone came to my home and told me to move in a language I did not understand with weapons I could not fathom existing?

 Similarly, the forced removals of the 1950’s provided this same movement of indigenous populations to areas where they did not have the same family ties or land access points that made them the people they were.

When touring the Bo Kaap area, the brightly colored houses right below Signal Hill, there were people out on their porches drinking coffee and children running between houses, as their connections stemmed from their own families who had been their for years and years. This vibrant neighborhood brings so much warmth and happiness to Cape culture, and would not be this way had forced removals occurred here.

To look at the neighborhoods, or “townships” that were created as new places to stay like Athlone where my activist project was or Hanover Park where I worked, there is rampant unemployment, increased gang violence and substance abuse. This displacement still has incredible impact on these people’s lives. The women I work with at the community center often remark at how the people fighting in the gangs senselessly die for the unknown problems of their grandfather’s.  This war that takes so many lives of broken communities can be reached back to the violence that was imparted on the people from the first removal of the indigenous people in 1652.

If this trip has taught me nothing else, it is that you never realize the impact you have on others lives, be it positive or negative. The kindness I have received from the amazing people of Hanover Park that I work with and communicate with at FCRC inspire everyday to complain a little less and appreciate the beautiful world around me a little more.

It has been a great experience Cape Town, you will truly be missed until the next time!

Elizabeth with her amazing co-workers

Derek realizes the challenges she most feared about this trip are now the things she'll miss the most

I never thought I’d see the day but tomorrow is fast approaching. The thought of this flight is daunting, I am very tempted to hide from our bus driver and spend the rest of my days living off-the-grid in Cape Town. Only thoughts of my family and friends in the States that I’ve missed so much relieve the pain of leaving such an amazing place.

In the last couple weeks here, I’ve spent much time reflecting on my experiences here by rereading and comparing the pre-departure units to the discussion boards, blog posts, and papers that I’ve completed in my time here. In doing so I recognized that I had accomplished all of the goals I created for myself which made me choose this unique study abroad program in the first place. The amount of character development, perspective change, and knowledge gained by this program is unreal and has fostered me into an exponentially well-rounded and better person. Moreover, I’ve recently noticed this week of how much more I’ve gained from the experience. In our final class with Marita I saw great humor in one of activities as I noticed that all the things I wrote I would miss about Cape Town were the very same concepts I put down during the pre-departure course as my most feared challenges in going abroad. During our internship dinner last night, I recognized that in my rationalizations of going abroad, not once did I place significance on meeting and fostering new relationships. However, as I joked, danced, hugged, and reminisced I realized how much I cared for these people that I had known over the short three-month timespan. Without a doubt, the people I’ve met (both UConn and Capetonian) are what I’ve come to value most from my study abroad experience. Saying goodbye to each of our newfound Tafelsig and Firefighter family members: Sister Castle, Dr. Raciet, Dr. Dawood, Tracy, Valda, Joe, Bongi, and Power was emotionally taxing. I could not express how much I appreciated and respected them for their efforts in their community and their mentoring of us. These people were more than amazing and shaped my Cape Town experience, I will make every effort to keep in touch with them until I am able to book another flight and visit them all again.

I’m scared to return home as I do not know how to summarize my experience here to my friends and family. I don’t want to solely have surface level conversations of all the extra-curricular activities I did here, but I also can’t translate all of my emotions attached to this place into coherent sentences. I wonder if my family and friends will see me as changed and if so, will they continue to like the person I’ve become. Whatever the case I now understand the concept of a co-educator and I know that I have 28 amazing people that I can count on as support systems. I find it comical that I had such great reserves in coming here – I almost convinced myself the night before the flight to stay in my routine at UConn – as now, I could never imagine a world in which I didn’t spend an unbelievable semester in Cape Town, South Africa.

Derek (middle) looking out over the city she'll miss with some of her co-educators