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

Mary learning the value of trying new things

One issue I have been interested in and following in Cape Town is the MetroRail torchings. Many MetroRail trains have been torched this entire month, although the news articles never quite explain the reason why. I use the MetroRail trains to get to my internship, and at first this didn't affect me; it mostly affected the train lines around areas like Kraaifontein (where one of my co-workers lives actually). But the past few weeks have been different; all MetroRail trains have been affected, and some have even been torched in Woodstock, a huge stop right before the city. There are so many delays and cancellations all the time, and I'm often late or waiting awhile. The trains are not reliable anymore so I've been using minibus taxis. This issue has been affecting so many people. In the office, it's now normal for people to come in late and for that not to be a big deal, as it's understood that transportation is a huge problem right now. 

This past Friday, Molly and I went to a fashion show fundraiser held by one of Africa Unite's school clubs, Simunye High School. We took a minibus to Cape Town, and from there a minibus to Delft. I like the minibuses as they are so much cheaper than Uber or a taxi and they go to so many areas. It was only R12 for the 35-40-min drive, which is insanely cheap. I'm happy to say we've become quite knowledgeable and comfortable using various modes of transportation here. It is definitely something I was worried about in the beginning, so it's cool to see how much has changed.

The fashion show was a great success! Hundreds of students and children came to watch, and people were very energetic and excited. I helped make the posters, nametags, and more for this event too, so I was glad to see how well it turned out. Props to the students in the school club for organizing such a big event! 

One theory (or rule of thumb) I've learned from this trip is to always go for new experiences and opportunities when they are presented to you, even if you are hesitant or feeling neutral about it. I've been trying to experience new things, and when I find something that I'm only half interested in or not feeling too much, I make myself go anyway and it almost always turns out to be good. And even if it isn't, I still take away something from the experience. I'm glad to say I've been branching out more this way and taking new opportunities. I hope to follow this notion back in the US because I'm learning and experiencing a lot more from it.

Yesterday, Molly, Charity and I went to Kalk Bay where we had the BEST fish n' chips I've ever had (Kalk Bay is known for having the best fish n chips in Cape Town)! We shopped around and got some last gifts for our families/friends too. This weekend we also went to a rugby game which was really cool to see. It felt like a real sporting event like you'd see in the US. where people are so excited, rowdy, and loud. This is the second rugby game I've seen and I think I'm starting to understand the rules more. I love going to sporting events and being in that energetic environment so it was really fun! This is our last week in Cape Town so I'm just trying to live in the moment and enjoy little experiences like this.

Trista's realization that Cape Town will always hold a special place in her heart

Sunset from Lion's Head

For the past few weeks, my blogs have been defined by the finite amount of time I have left in Cape Town.  3, 2, and now 1 week remains until I am back on that 15 hour plane ride across the Atlantic.  I continue to come to new realizations and view my time here in different ways.  Very recently, perhaps my greatest accomplishment was accepting that my experience was, in many ways, not what I expected.  Prior to coming here, I had talked to previous participants who’s faces lit up when they talked about Cape Town.  I envisioned spending every single day experiencing a feeling of absolute bliss, and anticipated feeling at home within weeks of my arrival.  What I failed to comprehend, however, was that it is entirely unrealistic to expect that, over the course of three and a half months, anyone could be elated every single second of the day.  For me, my time here, while amazing, has been challenging.  I didn’t seem to feel the sense of home that the other participants had talked about, and it took me a few weeks to truly begin to enjoy my internship.  Things were not perfect as I had imagined they would be, and I felt very disappointed with myself that I did not face every day with the elation that lit up the faces of the past participants I had talked to.   I was filled with the constant anxiety of comparison, and I worried on occasion if I had made the right choice in coming here or was doing something wrong.

However, after taking a step back, particularly after my lessons learned in Johannesburg, I was able to see what this program has provided me what I would never have been able to achieve sitting in a lecture hall in Storrs. I learned a wealth of medical information, was able to witness a number of procedures, and experienced the integral role of caring for a patient’s emotional well-being.  I met people who would go out of their way to help me when they had so many of their own challenges to face.  I learned the importance of informing myself of my own government and exercising a responsible vote, as so many South Africans died fighting for the right to just be treated as the same level of human as someone like me and to be able to vote themselves.  I learned so much in this one semester that can’t be measured by a numeric scale.  So, while I may not have ever felt that Cape Town was my home or always felt intense joy about being here, it will always hold a place in my heart as somewhere where I did a significant amount of growth,  and I will always have love for this incredible place.

So, in conclusion, I would say that my experience was certainly not what I expected, and completely different from those of my co-educators and past participants, but I now fully realize that that is completely and entirely okay.  It doesn’t lessen the significance of my time here or my gratitude for the people I’ve met and the things I’ve seen. 

It seems unfortunate that I seem to be falling the most in love with Cape Town in the final couple of weeks of my stay, but I’m soaking in as much of it as I can before next Saturday.  This morning, I finally went to Bo Kaap and viewed the brilliantly colored houses there.  Tomorrow, I plan to hike Devil’s Peak, the final of the three mountains that comprises the skyline behind my house.  I go back and forth every day about whether I am more excited to return home or wished I had more time here, and I don’t think I’ll reach a resolution before I leave.  While Cape Town may not be my home, it will certainly always hold a place of significance in my heart.

Eric's reflections on his time at Tafelsig Clinic

It’s getting harder and harder to pretend that our semester in Cape Town is never going to end and that it is still only January, not April. I have come a long way in terms of understanding more about the United States, the world, race, gender, class, the economy, and the media. I am seeing things that I never used to see, and I am thinking about things that I never used to think about. But, more on that in my final blog post next week. Today, I want to reflect upon the place where I spent 7 hours a day, 3 days a week expanding my medical knowledge and deepening my passion for the discipline: Tafelsig Clinic.

Going into this internship, I was resolute in my determination to enter the healthcare field as a physician assistant, but I had little practical experience to show for it. I completed a short 3-month shadowing experience at Danbury Hospital in high school and have worked as a lifeguard for the past 3 summers, but I was still missing important skills such as taking blood pressure, counseling patients, and measuring blood glucose levels. Starting on our first day, I quickly learned how to do all that and more. I cannot emphasize enough how welcoming and patient each doctor or nurse was towards us, always willing to have us shadow them or practice a skill that is useful in their department. Now, three months after starting, I have been exposed to a variety of sub-disciplines in primary care: curative adults, chronic adults, sick children, family planning, mental health, and antenatal care. In completing these rotations, I not only learned more about what doctor-patient interactions are like and how to work through a treatment plan, but I also gained so much hands-on experience that would have been extremely difficult to get in the United States. I am returning home able to take blood pressure, triage patients for their symptoms, measure glucose levels, present health education talks, give injections, and even draw blood. These will all be valuable as I complete my EMT course this summer and begin seeking internships and applying to PA school.

Naturally, with the ups came the downs. Some of the most emotionally and mentally challenging days from my semester took place at the clinic. As I discussed in a previous blog post, just over a month after we started, a mother brought her unresponsive 6-week-old baby to the clinic, but the resuscitation attempt was unsuccessful and we lost the child. A few weeks ago, an unresponsive 4-year-old was brought to the clinic, and though we carried out the resuscitation protocol for over 45 minutes, we were again unable to revive the boy. This incident was especially hard on me because frustratingly, the ambulance did not arrive for over an hour after we called it, and because this time I participated in the chest compression rotations, which made the event a little more personal. Although nothing was quite as devastating as that, it was still difficult to see how the facility was impacted by lack of adequate financial resources. Patients wait at the clinic for hours due to limited staffing, and sometimes they cannot receive the proper treatment or medication due to unavailable equipment. Yet, the quality of care the patients are able to receive is a true testament to the dedication, adaptability, and compassion of the staff.

I am also going to miss people of Mitchells Plain who gave the clinic its unique character. They laughed at my inability to pronounce some of their names and grilled me on my support of Donald Trump. They smiled as I practiced my Afrikaans greetings on them, and I reciprocated when some of them labored through their symptoms in English. I met men who killed and went to prison, and women who ran away from the abuse of their husbands. But most importantly, I never met anyone who didn’t readily embrace Derek, Paige, Abby, or me as learners and valuable assets to the clinic. We were often commended for the work we did and wished a happy and safe stay in Cape Town. They could be understandably loud and unruly at times, but it was the variety of interactions that made each day so unique.

Sister Castle played an invaluable role as a mentor and teacher this semester, and for that I will be forever grateful. I am going to miss her little pearls of wisdom and occasional goofing off in the face of a hectic working environment. I know that I would not have grown and learned as much as I did without her continued support, and I am definitely going to make sure that we stay in touch after I leave.

Eric, Sister Castle & Derek

Eric, Sister Castle & Paige