Cool pictures

Just some cool pictures I thought you all would enjoy...



This is a picture of a lion that we got up close and personal with on Safari, apparently lions love hanging out in trees. Really cool to see these animals face to face in their natural habitat.



This one is of an epic sunset in the Serengeti

Safety and Security in South Africa

This picture is of Rosie, Anna and I on our holiday trip to Tanzania. This picture is from the rim of the Ngorogoro Crater, a huge mecca for animals. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.


Hey Everyone,

Well, things in Port Elizabeth are certainly better than they were last time I wrote. The four of us are very relieved to have the month of January behind us, and we are looking forward to the rest of 2010. The end of January consisted of us being herded from motel, to holiday flat, to our Boss, Mpumi’s house, before we finally found and confirmed the lease on our new home. After numerous negotiations and complications with our Cape Town office, we were able to solidify our new place, and even though it was a nightmare of an experience, it all worked out well in the end. Our new house was probably the best of all the homes we were looking at: four bedrooms, incredibly safe(alarm system both up and downstairs, a beeping system for every time that you open a door or a window, and keys and bars for every window and door). It is a FORTRESS! Literally. And, we live 2 doors down from our boss, which is pretty hilarious as well. Our home is spacious and comfortable, we have a pool and tennis court in the complex, and we are within walking distance to the gym as well as the beach, so we are all getting back into our active lifestyles. January put a damper on everything: our routine, enthusiasm, fitness and energy level, so it’s nice to get back into a healthy and happy routine. Plus, summer is finally upon us in Port Elizabeth, so we are psyched to be out in the gorgeous sunshine every day!

While January was stressful, and something to put behind us, we certainly learned a lot of things along the bumpy journey, and we as interns are optimistic about getting to help create a new Grassroot Soccer protocol for emergencies. Heaven forbid a situation like this ever occurs again, but if something were to happen, it would be incredibly effective to have a plan, and money set aside. We were working with minimal amounts of money during the month of January for our housing(which resulted in us living with our boss for ten days), so simple logistics and financial issues like that could be avoided in the future.

The other day, Rosie and I were talking about what we have learned throughout the six months that we have been living in South Africa, and while I have learned so many things, one thing that we both agreed upon is that we have learned to appreciate America. Sure, one of our most famous athletes is involved in a giant sex scandal and our former President has a less than perfect track record, and our obesity rates are through the roof, but the US has so many incredible opportunities and freedoms, many of which are a given for every citizen, that I have to step back sometimes and thank my lucky stars that I was born in America, as corny as that sounds.

To give you an example, we had our friend, Meg, a South African over the other night to see our new place. As she was walking around looking at the windows in our living room(all of which have bars on them), she commented that she was looking at pictures from her cousins home in Australia, and she noticed that there weren’t any bars on the windows. “The windows looked so naked and bare, I had never seen anything like it!” While in the States, many people certainly have gates and alarm systems, it is a rareity to find bars on the windows, especially on the second floor. Here, in South Africa, that is a reality. Along with that, you NEVER leave your windows open at night. There are so many ways of life here that are so common to South Africans, but become such a burden and frustration to foreigners. And, while now we are beginning to adjust and accept these habits into our daily routine, we are by no means perfect. There are times where we forget to hide our possesions, leave a window open, or forget to close curtains. All these little details are things that I would certainly stress to any visitors to South Africa before they visit. Obviously, visiting any country you have to take certain precautions, but many of them are just more extreme here.

The other night, Dom and Mike met some Americans who have only been in Port Elizabeth for a week, and already three girls within the group of twenty have been mugged. The reason being that they walked alone at night. Huge Red Flag, and as soon as Rosie and I heard this story, our reaction was, “You never do that here”. But, I can remember back to our intern training in Cape Town when we first arrived here, and most nights were spent dancing and enjoying ourselves on Long Street and downtown, where none of us were hyperactively aware of the fact that we needed to walk in large groups and be mindful of our wallets. While there were a few close calls, as a group we were incredibly lucky that nothing bad happened. All these lessons, along with so many more, are just daily reminders that life is different in South Africa, and this is a constant learning experience. The best solution is to try and keep as open of a mind as possible, and to accept that things here will never be as they are in the States, so there is simply no point in comparing the two. I must say, in the month of January I have never longed for home so much, which is ironic because January is usually the month in New England when everyone wants out!

When we talk about life lessons, many of those come from our life outside of work, but we have also learned an incredible amount as interns for Grassroot Soccer. Every day at work tries your patience and work ethic in one sense or another: whether it is dealing with the inconsistent internet, persistently calling someone for a price quote on something, conversing with teachers and principals who are hard to track down or negotiating schedules with our peer educators, there are constantly moments of humor and frustration. As we are slowly becoming GRS ‘veterans’, we are learning more and more tricks of the trade, and how to navigate these systems. While in a sense I feel like many of these systems have made us lazier, I think that in reality it is just learning, and accepting that things are done differentely, here than in the States. While work has its moments of frustration, 2010 has only been exciting and positive, and there is so much to look forward to in the upcoming months. Work was actually the driving force for all of us during our low points in January. The amazing people that we work with were helping us to maintain our sanity and sense of humor, and they were the only constant that we were able to find in our disorganized lives.

But, I’ll get into more specifics of work in the next post, so look out for that! I hope you all are doing well, thanks for taking the time to read my blog. As always, please reach out to me at any point(sjcallaway@gmail.com) with questions or an update on things in your life, I always love hearing from people!

ps. I am including a few pictures from my holiday trip to Tanzania, enjoy!





This is a picture of us with our guide and cook from our safari in Tanzania. From left: Gamba, me, Rosie, Anna and Tuma.

Happy 2010 all, hope this year finds you happy and healthy, and your new years resolutions are going strong in January!

Sorry for the delay in blogging, life here has actually been beyond hectic. You know those moments where you are stressed out and believe that things cannot get any more stressful than they are, and then they do? Well, that is pretty much how I am feeling now. The good thing is that I am attempting to maintain a sense of sanity and humor throughout this roller coaster that 2010 has served up to us here in Port Elizabeth.

To begin with, the night before we left for vacation, we had a third (and hopefully FINAL) break in...yes, our THIRD! And this time, they were determined little dudes, they hauled a sketchy, homemade ladder down to the end of the complex(where we live) and climbed up the ladder into our upstairs bathroom! These guys definitely had our number. Here is the craziest part, they did the unthinkable(or at least what we thought was unthinkable), they came into our rooms. This Thursday night, Austin, another intern from Norwich, was visiting with his girlfriend, Caitlin, one of my good friends from home. They were both sleeping in my room on my floor. Neddie, one of Dom’s friends from home, was sleeping downstairs in Dom’s room...needless to say, we had a very full house and we thought that anyone would be CRAZY to attempt to break into our house with that many people. Well, guess they are full on crazy. What they did was, one climbed up the ladder, into our tiny bathroom window, proceeded to leave the bathroom and venture into Rosie’s room, and into Dom’s room downstairs. Mike and I heard everything, and both knew from our respective rooms that something was going on. Caitlin got up to use the bathroom, and as soon as she closed the door, I leapt out of my bed and immediately checked for my belongings hidden throughout my room, knowing that something was up. The second that I sat back in my bed, I heard my door open, and in walked a tall man, dressed in all black. Our eyes met, my stomach dropped, I let out a gasp, and before I could blink, he was racing down the stairs, leaving me standing in the hallway rubbing my eyes in disbelief. Did I really just see a man in my room?! Thank goodness he was as scared of me as I was of him. After a few minutes had passed, I went to Mike’s room, and he and I spoke briefly about what we had heard before waking up the others and calling the Police. Thankfully, the police actually took this report seriously, and were at our house in less than an hour.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur, between giving statements to the police, getting things fingerprinted, going into the office and packing for our vacation, but by the afternoon Rosie and I were off to Johannesburg, and Dom, Mike and Neddie were on their way up the wild coast. All of us were hoping to just put aside this stress and anxiety and enjoy a relaxing holiday vacation.

In brief, our holiday was great. Rosie, myself and Anna(who went to Dartmouth), an intern living in the Northern Cape of South Africa, went to Zanzibar(an island off the coast of the capital, Dar es Salaam) and then on Safari in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater. Zanzibar was gorgeous; we kept comparing it to those classic beach screensaver backgrounds, or a Corona advertisement: it was heavenly and a much needed break. We did lots of reading, swimming, sunbathing, journal writing and just general relaxing, enjoying delicious fish and fresh fruit. The experience flying to Zanzibar was absolutely classic: we arrived at the “airport”, an office next to the international airport, where they wrote out paper tickets for us after we paid(in american dollars, no less), went through “security”, which consisted of a broken conveyor belt that we rolled our suitcases on, then we sat in the waiting area to board our flight. After about thirty minutes, some man in a orange vest came in and told us that we could head out to the tarmac, and he took our bags and stowed them underneath the plane. We walked out to see a tiny plane awaiting us. The plane had about 6 rows, including the pilot and co-pilot(who was actually just a passenger), so it was quite the cozy ride! But, it was awesome, I love flying in planes so I was psyched to get to watch the pilot navigate the skies. And, it was gorgeous to see the ocean and the island from the sky. In twenty minutes we had landed, and an hour later we were sitting by the beach relaxing.

After Zanzibar, we flew up to the Kilimanjaro International Airport in Moshi, where we explored the town where climbers begin their ascent. Then, we embarked on our safari. For five days and four nights we were taken by our driver, Tuma, and cook, Gamba, throughout Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater and The Serengeti Plain. We saw all “The Big Five”(the animals that hunters used to target because they could sell them for large amounts of money). The big five includes buffalo, leopard, elephant, lion, and black rhino. It was so awesome! Look for some pictures to come. The Serengeti was actually so amazing, vast and beautiful, as was Ngorogoro. Tanzania is an amazing country: the people are so friendly, the culture is amazing and it was so great to visit another country completely different from South Africa. It was a much welcomed change!

So, upon returning home to Port Elizabeth, after a great New Years with Dom and his entire family who was visiting from the states, we learned that we were going to be moving from our house, that we needed to find a safe and secure new place as soon as possible. Long story short, the logistical mess of finding a new place within our budget, communicating with Cape Town about our findings and frustrations, and starting up at work again has been incredibly stressful and exhausting. We are trying to stay as optimistic as possible, but the entire process has actually been like a perfect storm: all the stars have aligned in every area to create a huge mess. But, the one blessing that has come of this is that it is has made all four of us much stronger, and we have grown closer because of the situation. I am just hoping that this will all end soon and we will be settled in a new place that is safe and secure. It is looking like that will all be settled out in the next few days, so I will certainly keep all of you updated on that process.

As always, keep in touch(sjcallaway@gmail.com)! All the best,

Sarah

'Tis the Season

The holiday season always seems to be a time when we all give thanks for the great things in our lives: family and friends, roofs over our head, our health and all the blessings that we have. I have been thinking about what I am thankful for a lot lately, especially because my life and my work here has helped me to prioritize and appreciate what I have even more.

There are two things that I wanted to briefly write about, to highlight some of the frustrations, and common practices in South Africa, which I have been thinking about a lot lately.

About a month and a half ago, much to our surprise, we had two break ins at our house. We live in suburbia, comparable to Southern California, a place that you would not expect to have break ins. But, what we have learned is that you cannot expect anything here. Life is different, and South Africa is a completely different world. Just because it looks like America does not mean that it is comparable to the States. At any rate, one morning we awoke to find our back sliding door unlocked and open, and things strewn about on the floor of our living room. A robber managed to steal computers, iphones, ipods, sneakers, money and a door key while we were all asleep. Then, a week later, another(or the same) robber returned and while we were eating dinner downstairs, climbed onto our upstairs porch, opened a window and stole sneakers, a camera, a wallet and some soccer jerseys. It was such a mess, and certainly a huge wake up call for all of us. We learned that just because a place looks safe does not mean that it is safe. What is the most disappointing thing to learn is that in all honestly, people don’t really care about these things. Petty theft is so common here, it’s almost a rite of passage. Everyone we have spoken do has experienced a similar(or worse) situation, and the police here barely even bother with reports. They don’t really care, so they don’t even bother trying to help. It’s completely jarring to think that this event which impacted our lives so much is just another day in South Africa to most people. While these experiences have made us grow and we have learned a lot from them, it also makes me wonder if I could ever actually live in a place where events like this are common practice, and having your guard up is just part of life. Who knows. One thing that we have to be incredibly thankful for is that the robbers were only looking for things, not for us.

Another thing that I wanted to touch on briefly is one part of my week that always humbles me. Usually once or twice a week, one of the interns brings the trash from the office out. Where we bring the garbage is to a large pile of trash, mixed with twigs and branches. This pile sits right behind the Primary school where we work, and often you will see kids rummaging through the trash. And, the common practice with the garbage is to simply light it on fire, rather than disposing of it any other way. I mean, in all honestly, with the other things to worry about in the township, why would anyone be concerned with where their trash is going, or that they are releasing harmful toxins into the air every day? Either way, every time that I throw our black trash bags onto the pile, I always have to step back and think about things. As small of a thing as it is, that is one thing that I still have yet to fully accept. We see a lot of things on a daily basis that are quite shocking, but that we are learning to accept as part of the scene. But this garbage pile is something that I can never really get over. It makes me think about the frustrations over lack of recycling and compost in the States, and in comparison to garbage situations in most countries, we are extremely progressive. As I said, although small in the scale of concerns that South Africa faces, this small act that I am contributing to always makes me stop and think, and appreciate the every day novelties we are blessed to have in America.

So, in between holiday parties, gift shopping, skiing, skating, shoveling snow, baking and celebrating, try and remember all the great gifts that we all have every day. It’s easy to forget all that we have to be thankful for, and even seeing such hardship here sometimes I get so wrapped up in my own world that I forget to step back and appreciate all the wonderful things in life. I hope that these two small glimpses into life in South Africa help you to appreciate and recognize the gifts of life in America.

Well after work this week I am off to Tanzania with Rosie and Anna for Christmas, leaving this Friday, so I will have lots of stories and photographs to share when I return. I hope you all have wonderful holidays, and happy new year!

Voluntary Counseling and Testing

On November 28th, in conjunction with December 1, World Aids Day, we had our annual Voluntary Counseling and Testing(VCT) Tournament. This is an event sponsored by Grassroot Soccer that allows high school teams from three of the townships in Port Elizabeth to participate in a soccer tournament, as well as have an opportunity to get tested for HIV. The event is also open to the public, so community members can come, watch some soccer, enjoy some live music and know their HIV status. The events are always a huge success, and this year in particular Grassroot Soccer has been breaking testing records across Southern Africa at these events. So, we were really excited to help out and see our first VCT.

The 28th also happened to be right after Thanksgiving, so after enjoying a delicious feast on the 26th with friends and co-workers, we got down to business to prepare final logistics for the big day. Dom had been working on this event for months, facing challenges, budget cuts and other frustrations along the way, but the day of the event everything went incredibly smoothly, and everyone had a lot of fun. We tested 188 people, which was a huge success. And, for the first time ever, we had every team show up to participate in the soccer tournament, which was a huge accomplishment. Everyone had a great time. All of our staff and coaches were there, helping out in various areas, like coaching the teams and ensuring that the day ran smoothly. We had prizes and giveaways as well, like cool vuvuzelas, a plastic horn that are like the South African national instrument, used at any soccer match. We also had a signed Bafana(the South African national soccer team) jersey as a prize, which a student won, so that was very exciting.

All in all, the day was really really fun, probably one of the best days that I have had in South Africa. It was a great bonding experience for our entire staff as well. The highlight of my day was at the end, we all were dancing and goofing around, then we decided to all go and get a beer together to celebrate the end of the VCT. So, Dom, Mike, Rosie, Anna(another intern who was visiting for the week) and I, along with about twenty of our coaches piled into various cars to head to a bar near the field where we held the tournament. Anna had brought her truck down for the week, so I jumped in the back along with about fifteen other coaches. We were dancing, singing and playing vuvuzelas, in a euphoric and adrenaline filled state in the back of the truck. I have rode around in trucks before, but usually on back roads in Vermont, so riding around in the back on some major roads in the township probably wasn’t the smartest move that I could have made, but I jumped on board in the excitement and energy of the moment. So, we were all packed in the truck bed, singing and jumping around, waiting for the other cars to catch up, and we see a cop come crawling towards us. My heart sank. Immediately, my gut reaction was, “If the cop sees a white girl here, in the back of a truck, he’s going to fine me”. I held my breath and tried not to make eye contact with the close approaching police vehicle. Dom, Mike and Rosie in the cars behind me watched nervously. The cop car approached us slowly, then accelerated while driving up on a grassy embankment on the side of the road, zooming past us without as much as an acknowledgment of our cars. I was in shock. While most of the time, our thoughts towards the cops here are that of frustration and resentment, at this moment, I loved the cops here, and I loved South Africa! That would NEVER happen in the States. I breathed a sigh of relief, and let out a huge laugh. We were on our way, cheering and singing songs again. That is a moment that I will never forget.

The picture above is of Mike, Dom and I with a bunch of coaches and DJ Slyso(in front), a well known radio DJ who performed at the VCT.

BAFANA FUN

This weekend we went to a Bafana Bafana Match(translates to "The boys, the boys") versus Japan. Bafana is the name for the South African National team, and we got to see them play in the new world cup stadium built in Port Elizabeth. The stadium was awesome, although the game ended in a 0-0 draw, which was a bit frustrating. The energy and the fans however, made the day. It was so awesome to see people rallying behind their team, people know much more about the national soccer team here than most Americans do about our own team! The flags, the colors, the chants and the music made the viewing experience unlike any other game I have ever attended. But, you could still feel that unified comraderie leaving the stadium just like it feels when you leave Fenway Park. We all had a great time. Here is a photograph of the four of us with a bunch of our coaches who attended the game as well. Did I mention we sat five rows up from the field?! Don't think that will be happening for the World Cup!

Graduation Time

So, in between having my brother visit, hosting about 10 other interns at our house for Halloween, our office has been really really busy planning for our upcoming event that coincides with World Aids Day on December 1st. Every year, the Port Elizabeth office has a VCT Tournament. VCT stands for Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV, and we combine that with a soccer tournament for local high school teams. So, teams compete in the tournament, as well as have the opportunity to know their status. The event is also open to the community and is one of the biggest events that Grassroot Soccer performs across South Africa. So, we have all been working on that, Dom in particular, and it has been quite stressful, in large part because most tasks are just incredibly difficult here.

Along with working on the VCT, it is also Graduation season. Graduations are held at at each school we work with once all the students participating in our Skillz Curriculum complete the eight practices, or graduate. It is an event that parents are invited to, as well as teachers, and the principal usually attends and speaks. Graduates are given an opportunity to share something as well, either a song, dance, poem, skit or any type of performance. They are wonderful moments of coaches and students coming together one last time to celebrate the achievements of the children during their time with Grassroot Soccer. Grassroot Soccer also provides snacks for the children and guests, which is one of the highlights of our jobs as interns(not really). We get to venture to a place called “Sweet Connection” which is a warehouse of junk food, where we buy packages of Beef flavored chips, Fruit Chutney, Nik Naks(think cheetos), and more for the people attending the graduation. This pretty much goes against all that GRS stands for, as we are trying to teach kids to be healthy and active, but if we brought them apples and oranges there would probably be a riot, so it’s best to just give them some treats on this special day.

This round of graduations in particular meant a lot to me, as it was all the schools that Dom, Siya and I visited when we first arrived in PE. I have gotten to know the principals and teachers in these schools, as well as some of the students, so I feel really connected to these places, and it is weird to think that we will not be going back to them, or else at least not until next year. It makes me think about how strong of relationships the coaches must be developing with these kids, and how hard it must be for them to say goodbye. On Tuesday, Cingani High School(pronounced Thing-ah-ni), had their graduation, where approximately 230 children graduated from our Skillz Curriculum. I was particularly excited for this graduation, because the coaches had told me these children were all really intelligent and passionate about Grassroot Soccer, and because I have gotten to know one student at Cingani quite well. Wisdom, a 14 year old girl was at the holiday camp in Motherwell as well, so I got to talk a lot with her there, and she is such a motivated, inspiring girl who is intelligent beyond her years. We talked about life goals and dreams, as well as HIV/AIDS and the pressures that girls face in South Africa. She recited a beautiful poem to me about HIV, and I encouraged her to recite it at the graduation, which she did. I have decided to include it in my blog, because I think it is so beautiful:
AIDS


I am here today with a big bag
I'm ready to produce my seeds
Spread them and plant them

Seeds with no future
Seeds with no life

Ready to wipe the nation
So you better watch out

The only thing I am after it's you. You cannot run you
cannot hide

But the only thing you can do is
to protect yourself not for one minute
but for your whole life

So be aware and be wise
Use protection before
I get you!!


She is quite the amazing girl. It meant so much to her to get to perform this poem in front of so many of her classmates. She is just one example of the many, many children that Grassroot Soccer touches in such amazing ways. Before beginning the Skillz Curriculum, Wisdom barely knew anything about HIV/AIDS, and she actually refused to partake in the activities. It was only after talking with the coaches more, and learning more about Grassroot Soccer, that she agreed to participate, and after that, she was hooked.

I hope that her story and poem will continue to inspire and touch you all, as it did for me. She has made a big impact on me and my life, and seeing how affected she was by GRS was a reminder to me about just how amazing and powerful this organization truly is.

Much more to come in the next few days, this weekend we are going to see Bafana Bafana (the South African national team) play Japan in a Friendly World Cup match in the new World Cup stadium in Port Elizabeth. It should be nuts, I cannot wait.

Hope you all are doing well, thank you for the continued love and support.