I want to dedicate this blog
post to all of the Capetonians I’ve had the pleasure to get to know here.
Whether I’ve known them for the past couple months I’ve been here or met for a
couple of hours or minutes, they have all treated me like family and have
contributed a great amount to my abroad experience. My mother and her friend
recently arrived in Cape Town and the first thing they raved about were how
friendly the locals were; thus, I was inspired by their conversation to finally
say my well-deserved thanks to some of the best people I’ve met.
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| Sister Castle |
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| Eric, Sister Castle & Derek |
Sister Castle at Tafelsig
has been the most wonderful mentor in both medical studies and life lessons.
She continually makes us feel at home in the clinic and she pushes us to make
the most of our internships. Sister Castle consistently goes out of her way to
introduce and welcome us into her community - she’s taken us to her church
functions and her weekly art class. I’m never in a bad mood at work as I’m
always laughing at her ridiculous stories or smiling at another gift she’s
surprised us with. Back home co-workers and supervisors are so eager to finish
their work and leave that they would never think to take a moment out of their
day to converse or teach students like us. I recognize how lucky I am to have
such an awesome opportunity and I am very thankful for Sister Castle.
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| Power |
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| Abongile |
Abongile and Power are the
two coaches of the Firefighters Football Club, the activist project I’ve been
working with. Since day one they have watched over us to make sure we are
transported safely back and forth from Khayelitsha; moreover, as soon as we
arrived they introduced and welcomed us to the team like family. I have never
seen Bongi not smiling; he is always laughing, waving his hands around, and
talking a hundred words a minute with great excitement. His disposition is so
contagious that on my worst days or weeks I could count on him and his great
Bongi hugs to boost my mood and energy. Power, a man I thought to be
intimidating, now greets us with great excitement as well. In passing he tells
us stories of the community’s hardships and societal detriments. Although they
are sad to hear, I know he speaks of this to us in confidence and I appreciate
that he feels we are trustworthy and close enough to share such information. I
am inspired by these stories and they allow me to see how significant their
work is to the community and what amazing people they are for spending so much
of their time, effort, and money to work with these boys for no financial
reward.
I know I am going to miss
the warmth of the people here when I return. There have been countless times on
minibuses where I’ve had random people start up conversations, the locals
always relay where I need to go to the driver, and I’ve always been greeted once
I step on the bus and told bye and miss you as I step off. On public
transportation at home everyone keeps their headphones on, eyes glazed, and
thoughts to themselves; if someone were to display such South African kindness
they would be mocked or stared at weirdly. Not to mention the honor system that
is paying for mini-bus taxis – try telling the average city-living American
that they have to hand their money to the line of passengers in front of them.
Chances are they would refuse as they wouldn’t trust the people in front, and
some chances are that a passenger would attempt to pocket another person’s
money. But time and time again my money has gone through to the driver and I’ve
been returned the perfect amount of change. On the mini-bus I have had a woman
miss her own stop to make sure I got off at the right stop in Khayelitsha and
without looking for a thanks or tip she walked home. The countless acts of
genuine kindness I have seen here have been heart-warming, I hope I can somehow
take these good vibes back home and inspire some Cape Town hospitality in
Connecticut.
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