Learning from the Rainbow Nation...

One Month into my ten week placement in Cape Town, South Africa with the British Government programme International Citizen Service via the British charity Skillshare international. The vast amount of lessons learned so far from personal volunteering experiences and working in such a diverse country cannot be underestimated.

One cannot imagine how different and diverse Cape Town is to British culture. Cultural, political, geographical and racial diversity of South Africa is what makes the rainbow nation such a fabulous place. There is no disputing the fact that in terms of diversity it truly lives up to the tag of rainbow nation.
After arriving in Cape Town International airport from London in a long winded 13 hours on board on the South African airways, only made bearable by the wine served on board by SA airways and the good company I found by the form of a South African girl who was on her way back to her homeland to enjoy a much needed break from the miserable weather in our little island.

I also had the good fortune of sitting near half of the South African cricket team on the connection flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, with Francois Du Plessis and the Morkel brothers the main attraction. At Cape Town International Airport we were received by the ICS team here in South Africa which included Gediminas my team leader, Nina our lovely supervisor and Coaching For Hope Southern Africa coordinator Norman Brooks, who was recently named on her majesty’s new year’s honours list.

Arriving into the height of the summer here in Cape Town from a cold and wet London was quite an experience and challenging to deal with, especially Wellington the place we were based for the introduction week where temperature got up to 40 degrees. One can imagine how difficult the jump from 5 degrees to 40 would have been to deal with.
The introduction week was very useful in terms of getting info on our local partner organisations, setting important ground rules and general information on programme and life in Cape Town. Life in Wellington was certainly made bearable by the pool at the property we stayed at along with the two running streams, which provided the much needed help to beat the heat.

I have found the whole programme to be very well structured so far, whether that is due to the incompetency of the NGO’s that I worked with previously or ICS being a well planned program is a good debate topic.
As I mentioned in my previous column my placement is with a local Non-profit organisation called Orion in the town of Atlantis about 45 minutes outside Cape Town. Orion is an NPO organisation that cares for people from all abilities, ages and backgrounds. At Orion there is a workshop for people with disability who may find it difficult to find employment elsewhere, there is a day care centre for children and an activities centre alongside an elderly care unit.

Orion has facilities that can compete with organizations in the Western World thanks to well wishers and donors from all around the world, namely a few very generous donors from Germany. The presence of experienced staff members at Orion made the adjustment period for us volunteers very smooth and bearable. On the first weekend I and some of the other volunteers had the good fortune to sit in with the Board members of Orion including the CEO Hannl Cronje and other important staff members to discuss the plans and directions of Orion for the future. I believe it also shows how much Orion value its volunteers to include us as representatives in an important board meeting. As an organization Orion’s focuses are mainly on providing a platform for people in and around Atlantis from all abilities and backgrounds to thrive and break barriers. Atlantis is a prime example of the segregation that is still very much present in South Africa, the very segregation Nelson Mandela fought against.

Race is divided into South Africa; Whites, Blacks, Indians and ‘Coloured’ all other people from mixed race ancestry. Atlantis is a mainly a mixed race town. As shocking as the word ‘Coloured’ may seem to a British person it is a generally accepted form of recognition here in South Africa. My Host Father was surprised at the reluctance of the British people to use the term, as he believes and sees the term as common vocabulary without any other meanings or offense intended.
My host family, Pastor Sydney Jacobs, Michelle and their three sons, welcomed me into their family as a member of their own. My host family has been very supportive and helpful from providing me with an unlocked phone to information about the heart and soul of Atlantis. In Atlantis volunteers have also been helped greatly by our team leader and our amazing local South African volunteers. Safety cannot be compromised in Atlantis even slightly with its history of gang violence and culture of ghettos and recent fatal incidents though all this is somewhat different to the street that we volunteers reside in, which once again highlights the big gap between the rich and the poor here in Cape Town.

My host family in Atlantis have more luxury than I had ever imagined before I arrived here in South Africa. I must add that I may have been quite fortunate as not many other volunteers have been placed into a community or programme in Cape Town with facilities similar to mine.

Having a nice house with a pool compared to some other volunteers without running hot water in other parts of Cape Town shows the differences in standard of living and also the mass diversity in wealth. I have managed to take advantage of the swimming pool and achieved a personal development goal of learning to swim within 3 days of being in Atlantis and I'm very happy to have achieved a goal that has eluded me for all my life.

In the next column there will be more information on the projects that I will be undertaking in Atlantis including a planned survey for Orion in the neighborhoods of Witsand in Atlantis. From this week we are also starting our main project with Coaching for Hope teaching and involving people of all ages in sporting activities to convey the messages on crime prevention. There will also be more information on the weekend us volunteers spend in Cape Town hiking the Table Mountain, visits to others local attractions and An International Development study session organized by our team leaders. As we also get closer to the half-way point in our placements here in Cape Town there is also a mid-term review due to take place and I will also report on information from the review session