Home Sweet Home

Hi friends!

Happy to report that I am safely back in New York!  The flight back from Cape Town was quite long, but was pretty good--not a lot of turbulence, and plenty of time to take a nice long nap :)  I had checked a duffel bag that was stuffed with all my souvenirs, but the airline misplaced it...but it was found last night and is supposed to be delivered to my house this afternoon!  Hooray!  :)

I am very happy to be home with my wonderful family, and am happy that I will get to see more family and friends tomorrow in Rochester before heading back to BGSU.  When I landed at Newark Airport yesterday it was 103 degrees Fahrenheit (103 degree Celcius), which was an INSANE adjustment from the 60 degree weather I was loving in Cape Town.  I am a bit snuffly, but I am hoping that is just my body adjusting to the hot, humid weather.

Although I am very happy to be back, I am already missing my LSR family and my friends back in Cape Town.  All of my experiences in South Africa were unforgettable and I know that my friendships will last a lifetime.  It will be weird not being able to text or call my South African buddies, but hopefully gmail, facebook, and skype can keep us all in touch...and I know a few of my CapeTown-ians plan to visit me in the States--and I can't wait for that! :)

Even though I am now back in the States, there are a few more blog posts to come.  I was so busy embracing every moment in South Africa my last few weeks, that I didn't have time to post, but there are many other experiences I wanted to share with you all.  So, keep an eye out for a few more updates!

Cheers,
Kaity

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: 

The name of this blog comes from a man named Rob.  Rob works at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU).  This past week at NMMU there was the inaugural African Green Campus Initiative (AGCI) conference.  Luckily I had the amazing opportunity to attend this conference. Although only South African universities attended, it has the potential to grow into a very large international conference made up of students from every African country who share a desire to live green.  Anyway, Rob was a common fixture at the front of the conference room where we met every day for countless presentations and programs.  He was quite the comedian and always had us all laughing at his witty humor and random jokes.  At one point he decided to read off several quotes by John Wayne who he mentioned had been in several movies such as "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".  Regardless of the fact that it was in fact Clint Eastwood who was in the movie, they were still very funny quotes, and hence the inspiration to this post.

Beyond the entertainment that Rob and others provided at the conference there were many other moments that made me quite grateful for the opportunity given to me.  First off it was great to just get some time to interact with students.  Since I arrived in South Africa on the last day of classes and will leave the day after classes start, there has been little time for me to sit down and interact with students and see what they are like.  I had a blast talking, laughing, and learning with them.  One of the things I learned was how different protests in the U.S. are from protests in South Africa.  The students I went with explained that in South Africa when folks protest, they dance and sing.  They are passionate, mad, happy, and excited all at once.  They form big circles or squares and let their bodies say just as much as their words do.  While the students at the conference never protested anything they did constantly burst out into song and dance, which is something I have never experienced before.  A woman named Des, who works in Campus Operations at UWC and sponsored the UWC delegation, explained to me that in the morning on the way to work whole buses full of folks will be singing and dancing on the bus just as students were now as we made our way from place to place during the conference.  I was confused how they all knew the words and moves to these made up dances.  She continued to explain that one person starts and the others just know what to do, that it is just a South African thing, and ingrained in their culture.  I could see a few students who did not grow up in South Africa standing just outside of the dance circles, taking relief in the fact that I was not the only one who would not have been able to keep up with the improvization that was taking place.  Overall, it was just fascinating to learn more about the culture of South Africa and how the express themselves and their passion through dance and movement as opposed to relying on the strength of words, as is common in the U.S.

UWC won many awards at the conference including best green initiative for chipping their own dead trees and branches instead of letting outside organizations take the wood.  UWC then returns the woodchips to the many gardens on campus.  UWC also won the overall most green campus, best presentation, and received countless praise for our display in the lobby.  The award for best presentation came with a check for 10,000 Rand to be used for green initiatives on campus, and I can't wait to see what they do with it.  UWC also won best female dress in the green fashion show, a fashion show where folks modelled clothes made entirely out of recycled products.  Thankfully UWC didn't submit a male model or else we might have won the best male model, and best dressed male & female awards, leaving nothing for other schools to win.  I am joking of course, the awards that UWC won could have gone to any number of schools that were there since they all had done amazing work.  I must also give a shout out to Kaitlyn Wells, one of my former Mac RA's at BGSU for teaching me how to make flowers from paper since I was able to make some pretty sweet additional items out of cans and paper to add to the dresses and push UWC over the top.  I can sleep easy at night knowing that I can always fall back on my skill of taking recyclables and turning them into something not can or paper shaped.

The Bad:

While there was a lot of great information being shared at this conference and a lot of students becoming more aware of the need to live green, there were some clear issues.  First off, for a conference about sustainability the conference wasn't very sustainable.  At almost every meal one would find that the only drink option was bottled juice.  Also students would take to go containers of food back to their rooms to eat instead of sitting down and eating.  This meant students unnecessarily using styrofoam containers.  Bottled water was also very present at this conference.  Finally, all conference delegates left to do a community outreach project in one of the local townships.  When we arrived we were given about 15 minutes to explore the Red Location Museum which celebrates the efforts of countless leaders during the Apartheid period and remembers the terrible suffering that took place.  After those 15 minutes we did about 30 minutes of trash clean up and then proceeded to wait over an hour for the bus to return.  In other words, a lot of fuel was wasted having the bus drive back and forth for such a short time spent in the township.  I wish we could have been given more time to learn and explore the museum or have had the buses simple wait for us.  In addition we were all given bags filled with useless high quality paper guides and books about NMMU.  Yes some were related to the conference and sustainability, but some were also just promotionary material for NMMU.  When I attended a NEAUCRH (North East Affiliate of University and College Residence Halls) conference at SUNY New Paltz our program guides were made from cereal boxes and were printed on the backs of old flyers, hand outs, and notes.  In other words, other conferences where the main focus isn't sustainability have managed to find ways to be more sustainable than the conference I was at.  Regardless it was still a worthwhile experience and a great conference for NMMU's first attempt.  I just hope that they learn from the comments and feedback they receive and strive to make a conference about sustainability more sustainable.

The Ugly:

Before I go any further I just want to comment that I do not believe all South Africans hold the opinion of the man I am about to talk about or believe that the conference delegation knew this is what he was going to speak about. 

So on the last night of the conference there was an absolutely beautiful banquet where awards were given out and much laughter was shared.  However, it was also the first time in my life that I felt like I was not welcome.  The man who made me feel that way was a supposed champion of AGCI and had been asked to give one of the key note addresses of the night.  He talked about the need to go green and made some good points, however I also found him to be quite ignorant and damaging to the cause of AGCI.  Among the points he raised was the idea that Americans hate foreign ideas and that they would not be a part of anything that was not their own idea and that if South Africa wanted to accomplish anything they would need to do it on their own.  While I do agree that the U.S. Government may tend to be very hesitant at times to put support behind an initiative founded in a foreign country I did not think that I needed to remind him that the former South African government also refused to distribute treatment to help those with HIV/AIDS because they had not been the ones to develop it. While I know enough to realize that the opinion and stand of a nation's government is not the opinion of all those it governs I am not positive that this speaker fully understood that concept.  I believe that due to his ignorant generalizations he was therefore jeopardizing the goal of AGCI and arguing against points made just earlier in the day; points which called out for a global response to climate change only achievable by everyone working together.  After all, the point of AGCI isn't to address climate change only in Africa so that Africa can be the last continent standing, but to join as many people together to learn from each other and tackle the issues that Africa and the world is facing.  However, all countries face many of the same issues surrounding the need to reduce waste, clean up the environment, find alternate sources of energy, and many other things.  Therefore by reinforcing the idea that climate change needs to be tackled alone, without the others who won't help, does nothing to solve the issue.  Countries should not act like school children and ignore those who they don't get along with, but never stop emphasizing the need to work together, regardless if they don't exactly see eye to eye the whole time.

As I was saying, this speaker made me truly feel as if I didn't belong since from his speech it would appear that he would see me simply as an American.  Not as a person, not as catalyst of change, not as part of the solution, but simply as part of the problem due to policies of the government in which I live.  I'm not sure that he even knew if I was an American since I can easily pass for a Cape Townian, that is until I start speaking, but I wish he did since the simple fact that I travelled to Africa and attended this conference all in the name of learning disproves the speaker's believe that all Americans refuse to learn anything that is not an American idea.  Luckily the UWC students I was at the table with knew better than to take what he was saying to heart.  One actually was very embarrassed by what he was saying and asked that I not tell anyone about it.  I do apologize of course for not being able to stay quiet about this issue but I just believed that I had to share this and that hopefully someone will read it and get something from it since I write this blog as much for me as I do for others.

Overall I am just glad that I do not share this man's ignorance since if I did I would never return to South Africa having believed that all South Africans share the beliefs of this one man.  It is true that he was possibly making generalizations, but it did appear very convincingly that he was talking about all Americans and not just the U.S. government.  I also hope that the speaker can open his eyes to the world around him and realize that the world is becoming a global community and that no single country can solve the world's problems alone.  I hope one day that this man can travel to the U.S. and visit college campuses and see the work that is being done.  Currently there are countless students all doing their part to combat climate change, and you can bet that it includes learning from everyone in the global community.  This experience has certainly made me appreciate the opportunity my career path has given me to work with students since they truly are the future and the hope for a brighter tomorrow since they seem to realize more than anyone, and certainly more than this speaker, what is needed to save this planet which we call home.  Basically the point of this section is to emplore everyone to not judge everyone by the actions of a few, whether it be the actions of a government or even a terrorist organization.  Either way we must always do our best to suspend our judgements and speculations about a person until we actually get a chance to sit down and learn who that person actually is.

The Interesting:

I know there is no forth word in the title of this blog but I still wanted to discuss briefly one other point.  I find it quite amazing how large a role religion plays in the lives of some South Africans.  For example, on the bus we took to the conference a prayer was said before we left and movies with religious undertones were played.  Also while driving around Port Elizabeth after the conference I saw a shop called "God's Own Shoe Store."  I wasn't quite sure what to make of that store, I'm still not, but it is interesting to see how religion plays such a major role here, which is something I am not used to at all back in the U.S. unless I travel down south.

In the Jo'burg

Hi friends,

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to say hello from Johannesburg!  On Tuesday morning, Monique and I left for Jo'burg with 3 of the students who are on the executive board of the SIFE UWC team.  Jean, Andrea, and Ashley are three PHENOMENAL student leaders who have completed absolutely incredible work for their Greening the Bush Initiative, which includes 5 major projects.  This week, I have the opportunity to join Jean, Andrea, and Ashley as they present their accomplishments at the SIFE South African National Competition.

Of the 27 SIFE chapters in South Africa, 26 of these teams have convened in Jo'burg this week for the competition.  Today was the first round of competitions, and let me just say that I could NOT be more proud of the SIFE UWC team!  Seriously--they were so great!  They knocked their presentation out of the water; their charismatic and genuine personalities are unmatched, and their presentation was a very honest and honorable depiction of their achievements this academic year.

At the end of today, awards were given out to SIFE teams whose presentations most effectively captured SIFE themes; which include (1) effectively demonstrating that the team mastered the triple bottom line criteria (people, planet and profit), (2) demonstrated they had a solid plan for team and project sustainability moving forward, and (3) demonstrating an entrepreneurial approach.  During the first round of presentations, the 26 presenting teams were divided into four "leagues", which presented together.  Therefore, a first, second, and third place award was given to the SIFE teams from each of these four leagues for the above categories.

And...

...out of the 3 categories, SIFE UWC won TWO awards!!!!!!

Yes, TWO!  We were so proud of them!  SIFE UWC won a first place trophy for our league for the award recognizing the team that most effectively demonstrated that their projects mastered the triple bottom line criteria.  SIFE UWC also won a second place trophy for our league for the award recognizing teams that demonstrated a solid plan for team and project sustainability.  Woot woot!

Tomorrow morning the teams that will be advancing to the second round of the competition will be announced.  Two teams from each of the four leagues will advance forward.  From these eight teams, two teams will be chosen for the semi-final competition tomorrow afternoon.  At the end of the day tomorrow, the South African SIFE 2012 champion will be declared.  The six teams that presented in our league today all did a very nice job in their own unique way.  At this point, we are unsure which two teams from our league will advance; Monique and I really felt like all the teams have a chance.  The three members of the SIFE UWC team definitely did a great job today, so no matter what happens tomorrow, I am incredibly proud of their determination and achievement.  They are so passionate about their projects and their positive impact on the environment and the community, and I am very pleased they have had this opportunity to share their projects with others :)

Hooray for SIFE UWC!!! :) :) :)  I have some awesome photos of the SIFE UWC team, which I will try to post when I have better internet access so you can see the students that I am so proud of! :)

Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow! :)

With love,
Kaity

The Long Story Short

Hi friends,

It has been over a week since my last post, and I am sure you all missed me...right?  Sorry for the wait!  I can not believe that the first weekend I was here, I was afraid I of being bored and having too much free time during this internship; now I am wishing I could spend an additional few months here to fit in all the adventures and cultural experiences I want to have in my internship and personal life while here in Cape Town!

I have been having an absolute ball here the past couple of weeks--so many exciting activities and events have been going on both in my internship and through personal adventures on the evenings and weekends.  I could spend hours and hours writing a novel about my experiences...but, for the sake of time, and my attempt not to bore you all to death with overkill of details, I will use this post to write the Long Story Short of the happenings in my life! :)

Visiting The Ark

The week before we left for Port Elizabeth, I went on a service-trip with Sashley and about 26 students to a shelter called The Ark.  The Ark City of Refuge is a shelter in the town of Mfuleni that houses a variety of people who are homeless, have addictions, or are orphans. The Ark started as a rehabilitation center for those addicted to drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc, but now has over 800 residents who were in need of shelter for many reasons. The Ark is a large, open campus that is partly funded by government, but mostly runs on donations.  As indicated by the name of the shelter, The Ark operates based upon a Christian ministry and philosophy.

My office has begun a partnership with The Ark, by which student volunteers will taken monthly trips to The Ark to play with the children who live there.  Of the 800 residents of The Ark, there are over 250 children; some of these children are staying at The Ark with their parent(s), but some are orphans.  The children who live at The Ark go to primary school at the facility, so they are not exposed to a lot of outside opportunities, experiences, or people.  Therefore, by visiting these children on a monthly basis, the UWC student volunteers can build positive relationships with these children and become mentors, role models, and friends.

This is LAMBS, the Loving Arms Ministry Baby Sitting facility.  The babysitting services offered at The Ark are open to children who live at the shelter, but is also a free service for families in the surrounding community.

 The UWC students listening to one of the workers at The Ark explain the mission of this shelter.

 A view of the bedroom in the residence for young girls.

 At The Ark, residents are able to take classes and workshops to learn life skills.  The goal is to educate people so that they can eventually live on their own and find employment.  This is the sewing shop on site, in which people can learn and practice skills of sewing.

 A very large washing machine, which is used to wash 800+ people's clothing and bedding. 

 Huge pot of stew.  The residents of The Ark each have different jobs to maintain and support themselves; some cook; some clean; some do the wash. There is one main kitchen at the shelter, so the food is made in mass quantities and then distributed to each residence.  The residents are expected to do their own dishes and cleaning.

 The playground for the children!

 Playing with the children. :)  They were so happy we were there because they aren't allowed to use the playground without supervision.

 Hehe, being shy with the hula hoop...

 ...but not so shy when it came to jump roping!

 Playing traffic jam on the slide :)

 The group of UWC student volunteers and the children! :)

Adventure to the Eastern Cape

During my previous post documenting the beautiful sights along our drive to Port Elizabeth, I mentioned that I would blog separately about the different adventures and stops we had during the road trip.  So, here is the long story short of those adventures!

Cape Agulhas
The first major stop along our road trip was at Cape Agulhas, the southern-most tip of the African continent.  This is also the point at which the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet.  While at Cape Agulhas, we climbed up the lighthouse, walked along the rocky shore, and then walked down a lovely pier.  It was beautiful and breathtaking!

 The Indian Ocean.

 Beautiful rocks along the shoreline.

This monument marks Cape Agulhas, the southern-most tip of Africa.

 The Cape Agulhas Lighthouse.  We climbed up wooden ladders to get to the top!

 Beautiful boats that remind me of Poppa and his tug-boating days.

I think this should be a postcard.

This photo is amazing.  It reminds me of my mom! :)

Sea View Game & Lion Park
On the second day of our road trip, we went to Sea View Game & Lion Park in just outside of Port Elizabeth.  When we entered the park, we got to drive along dirt roads up and down winding hills through the bush.  Driving so close to the giraffes, zebra, and other animals was amazing.  When we got to the sanctuary of the park, we were able to handle different cubs and pups!  Tim and I got to handle 4 lion cubs, 3 tiger cubs, 2 hyena pups, 1 black leopard cub, and 2 young servals.  It. Was. AMAZING.

 I am obsessed with giraffes.

 You weren't supposed to get out of the car...but I wanted to get closer...

 This is a kudu, a South African antelope.

 Zebras are so majestic.

 Mommy lion.

 This lion cub was about 8 months old--see his mane starting to grow in?

 The tiger cubs were either fast asleep or super playful and feisty!

 We played with the hyenas just after they had a warm milk bottle, so they suckled on our fingers and cuddles with us!

 My mom LOVES meerkats...

The black leopard cub liked to sneak and pounce around.

This serval was so beautiful and super soft.  A big bigger than my housecat, Cali, but maybe they could be friends?

Addo Elephant Park Safari

On the third day of our road trip, we went on an 8-hour full day safari through the third largest national park in South Africa: Addo Elephant Park. 

As you can see by the above map of Addo Elephant Park, it covers a very large area.  Currently, Addo is about 180,000 hectares (444,700 acres) of land, but it took quite some time for the park to expand to cover this much area.  Originally, Addo Elephant Park was founded in 1931 to provide sanctuary to the 11 remaining elephants in the area.  Much of the land within the park was previously farmland, and all but 11 of the native elephants were poached because they destroyed the crops.  

Because the herd was so small, there was a lot of inbreeding amongst the elephants in the park.  Unlike other types of elephants, the African elephant--regardless of gender--should naturally have tusks, which are an important tool for feeding.  However, because of the inbreeding within the herd, many of the elephants in the park today do not have any tusks.  Therefore, African bull elephants from other reserves have been introduced into the population to help sustain the elephant herd and prevent the defects caused by inbreeding.

In addition to the elephant population, Addo Elephant Park is home to a wide variety of animal and plant species.  During our safari, we saw African elephants, the Bushnell's zebra, ostriches, meerkats, the yellow mongoose, kudus, elands, buffalo, warthogs, black-backed jackals, a blue-capped heron, a secretary bird, a variety of other birds, and most spectacularly--a black rhino!  The whole time we were on the safari, I was like a little kid in a candy shop.  I was so giddy and happy to see every animal we came across!  Our safari was through a company called Criss-Cross Adventures, and our safari guide was a really awesome man named Chris.  He does safari tours almost everyday through the park, so he was insanely knowledgeable of the park history, the biodiversity, the animals, and how to track them down.  It was such a great day!

 Hehe warthogs are so ugly they are cute!

 The black-backed jackal looked cute.

 Hehe.  Chris parked our car right in the elephant's path, so he had to walk around us.  Elephants remember and use the same paths through the park for years, which is pretty crazy seeing how big the park is and how dense the bush is in some areas!

 The blue-capped heron.

 This elephant is so majestic.

 Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  So ugly he is cute! Right? 

A fierce buffalo.  Not as cute as Dani's Buffalo Bills pillow pet...but still a buffalo.

 This photo represents everything that Americans think of when they think of Africa.

 Hehehe.  He is a baby!

 The Bushnell's zebra is so beautiful because of it's unique grey stripes between the black ones.

The herd was on the move.  Such a beautiful family!

Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour

On the fourth day of our road trip, we went on a canopy zip-sliding tour through the treetops of the Tsitsikamma forest.  This was the only day on our road trip that rained, and it was a perfect day to rain!  I think that zip-sliding in the rainforest in the rain added to the experience for sure.  And, the rain brought out the beautiful and fresh scent of the forest!  I was super scared to do the zip-sliding--I was expecting it to be super high above the ground and slides that spanned across valleys--but no worries, the zip-sliding was not nearly that terrifying!

 The view from the canopy of the trees in Tsitsikamma.  I love the moss!

 Looking up the tree from the platform below.

 Friends peeking through the tree  This tree was massive and the bark was in a beautiful spiral pattern to strengthen its trunk.

 Tim about to zip-slide!

 Me about to zip-slide!

 It was a beautiful day in the canopy of this rainforest. :)

Cango Caves

The final major stop along our road trip was at the Cango Caves, which are in the mountains outside of a town called Oudtshoorn (pronounced oats-horn).  The caves have 6 large, open "rooms" or caverns

that are open to the public for tours.  They also have an adventure tour, that takes you deeper into the caves past these 6 "rooms", but the adventure tour requires squeezing in tight spaces and crawling on your belly to get through (which is a bit intense for me!).  So, we went on the one-hour standard tour and got to see the major "rooms" of the cave.  These cavern rooms were HUGE Rochester HUGE.

In the cave there were so many beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, which were all so unique in shape, size, and age.  On a sad note, there was some vandalism in which some people had broken off the stalactites for souvenirs.  :(  But, overall, the space is quite stunning and impressive!  Before the Cango Caves were made into a reserve, concerts were held in the first main room.  I can't even imaging how amazing a singer's voice or a choir would sound as their voices echo around the cave!

 This stalactite formation is known as the "organ pipes".  It was huge and absolutely stunning!

 A cool view of the folds in the stalactite formation.

Holy stalactite Batman!

 One of the large "rooms" within the cave.

 Another stalactite formation in the background, with a stalagmite formation in the foreground.

 This unique formation, called the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" is a formation in which a stalactite (growing downward from the ceiling) merged with a stalagmite (growing upward from the floor).  It is super cool, right?  It reminds me of the big pillars that make up the castle in the Little Mermaid (don't judge me).

Baby stalactites growing on the cave ceiling!

Work and Fun at my Internship

Since returning from Port Elizabeth, I have been very productive in my internship, and many of the projects I had been working on have progressed well.  I have also spent some great quality time with my co-workers on the evenings after work, as well as a bit on the weekend, which has been so wonderful.  My colleagues here are becoming my South African family. :)

Re-Visioning Process

During the first few weeks of my internship I spent most of my time doing a comparative analysis of the Leadership and Social Responsibility units at other universities in the States and South Africa.  My supervisor and colleagues feel that they have taken on too many projects, and as a result, they feel their efforts are diluted.  Therefore, my supervisor wants us to do a complete analysis of our department and determine if we are being the most effective at developing student leaders in accordance with the department mission and vision.  During the re-visioning process, we are trying to answer the following questions:

• Do the projects and programs we conduct have a significant impact on student leadership development?  Are there different programs we could develop to better impact student development?
• Are the job responsibilities of each member of the unit organized in a way that allows for projects to be completed effectively and efficiently?
• Are the projects and programs that we conduct aligned to our vision, mission, and the institutional goals and graduate attributes?
• Are our projects and programs comparable to those of other institutions?  What can be we improve on?  Where are we excelling?

As a part of this re-visioning process, I did a comparative analysis of 8 universities in the United States:

• Central Michigan University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• University of Minnesota
• Bowling Green State University
• Morehouse College
• Spelman College
• Loyola Marymount University
• California State University, Fullerton

I then created a presentation outlining the portfolio areas, vision, mission, strengths & weaknesses of the Leadership units at the universities, and made recommendations for how our department should move forward in light of this analysis.

If we lived in a utopian world with unlimited resources, I think that a top-notch Leadership and Social Responsibility unit should be able to incorporate most, if not all, of these aspects:

But, since we don't have unlimited resources, the following slide depicts my recommendations for how the Leadership and Social Responsibility unit should move forward:

My presentation was very well-received by my supervisor and colleagues.  They whole-heartedly agreed with my feedback and recommendations.  I am very pleased because I wanted to express my suggestions for improvement without coming across offensively or as an outsider who feels she is superior, since that is not how I feel or want to be perceived.  Overall, it was a great success.

I am hoping that by the time I leave my internship at UWC, my unit will have a solidified plan of action for how to move forward with their re-visioning process, so that they can create and successfully execute their short- and long-term goals.

Advanced Leaders Programme

My office coordinates two leadership programmes.  The first is the Emerging Leaders Programme (ELP), which is held in the first semester with weekly class sessions for 8 weeks.  To participate in ELP, there is an extensive application and selection process.  After finishing the Emerging Leaders Programme, these students are invited to continue their leadership development journey by taking the Advanced Leaders Programme (ALP).  The ALP course is split into three sessions throughout the academic year.  Early in the first semester, the students come to the first session, which is two consecutive days long.  Then, at the end of the first semester, there is a second session, which is three consecutive days long.  The third and final session is in the second semester, and is two consecutive days long.  Each of these three sessions focuses on a different topic(s) related to advancing their leadership.

On June 25th, 26th, and 27th, we conducted the second session of the Advanced Leaders Programme.  The topics of the session were diversity and power in leadership.  When I arrived to Cape Town, I was able to work with Tonia, Monique, and Arnold to create the curriculum and lesson plans for this ALP session.  The first day of the session, we facilitated discussions around diversity.  However, instead of calling it "diversity" we called it "intercultural bravery".  Tonia, Arnold, Munya and I went to a staff training in early June that was focused on the topic of intercultural bravery.  The topic was framed in this manner because when people hear the term diversity, it can often bring up tension, risk, anxiety, and fear of offending others or being offended yourself.  Learning about the differences between others, and having positive discussions about these can be a risky venture; it can be sensitive and stressful.  Therefore, we decided to utilize this concept of intercultural bravery to acknowledge the reality that you need to be brave, vulnerable, and open to get the most out of the conversation.  On this day, I co-facilitated a session on intercultural bravery, and then facilitated my own session called "Crossing the Line".  I had experienced the Crossing the Line session in my own training at BGSU, and adapted it for this student population.  I was incredibly impressed by the students in this session because they were so introspective and open to sharing their thoughts, concerns, and feelings.  I could tell each of the students in the ALP session wanted to get the absolute most out of their time there. :)

On the second day, we went to the Cape Town Holocaust Museum and the District 6 Museum (which showcases the history of segregation and forced removals in District 6 during apartheid).  Viewing the displays in these museums was intended to demonstrate to the students how power in leadership can be misused.  We also wanted students to reflect on how a lack of understanding and acceptance of the differences between diverse people can lead to extreme racism and disaster.  We created reflection sheets for the students to complete while exploring the museums, and we had a reflective post-trip discussion about the experience.

On the third day, Monique and I facilitated various sessions about effective use of power in leadership.  The students were able to discuss and role play the various types of power and analyze how they enhance and strengthen own their power, as well as how they give their power away.  In relation to the museum visits from day two, we discussed corruption in power, our role as citizens, and the power of peer leaders to break the cycle and confront people who say or do racist and inappropriate things.

Overall, the Advanced Leaders Programme was a really great opportunity for me.  I whole-heartedly believe that we are all life-long learners and can therefore learn from every experience we have; so being able to participate in ALP was just as much of a learning experience for me as it was for the students in the course.  By hearing the students speak about their past and leadership from their individual lenses, I learned a lot about the culture of South Africa and the complexities of the world.

 It wouldn't be student affairs without an icebreaker activity.

Some of the students having a discussion about power.

 This is Joe, who gave us a tour of the District 6 Museum.  Joe was a child when his family was forcefully removed from District 6.  The wall behind Joe is a collage of the events that occurred starting on February 11, 1966, when the forced removals and demolition of District 6 began.

The ALP class at the Holocaust Museum.

Co-Worker Bonding
Outside of the office, I have spent a few evenings having fun with my co-workers, who I have become close friends with and will miss dearly when I leave Cape Town.  Of my co-workers, I spend the most time with Sashley, who is a phenomenal person.  I tell her I am her favorite American (not sure if this is true, but I still love her tons nonetheless).  Sashley is genuinely a kind person and has been so supportive and friendly toward me throughout this internship.  I have gone to the movies with Sashley and two of her friends, Juanetil and Caryn, a few times; we have seen a few great chick flicks and had some fun and wonderful conversations!  I really have appreciated getting to know them.

Also, Sashley has let me spend time with a variety of her family members on several occasions.  A few weeks ago, Sashley brought Tim and I to her aunt's house to have a traditional Muslim dinner with her cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandmother.  Although Sashley is Christian, her Dad's side of the family practices the Muslim faith.  Two weekends ago, I had the amazing opportunity to spend the whole day with Sashley.  In the morning, I went to church with Sashley in her hometown.  It was a very interesting cultural experience, and since Sashley's faith is a very important part of her life, I appreciate being able to experience a service with her.  After the service, I went to a family lunch at Andre's house (Sashley's fiancee).  I got to spend the afternoon getting to know Andre's family, and his sister's even did a dance performance for me! :)  Afterward, Sashley, Andre and I drove to the Sunset Beach area of the Cape Town peninsula near the town of Milnerton.  I wanted to see the view of Table Mountain and Lion's Head from this beach, since I had heard it was a phenomenal view.  And, it truly was!  When we were done at the beach, we went to the movies.  As usual, it was another great day with Sashley, and Andre too.  I keep telling them that they need to come to the States and visit with me for a vacation--they definitely plan to!  I sure can't wait!

Besides my awesome quality time with Sashley, I enjoy my time with Monique.  Monique and I share an office, and we tend to have way too much fun in our office.  We are too ridiculous, and our ridiculousness bounces off one another.  I like to joke that Tonia put us in an office together since we are both too crazy to be exposed to the others...I will be spending lots of time with Monique in Johannesburg for the SIFE National Competition, which should be thoroughly AWESOME!  Stay tuned for more on that :)

Adventures on Long Street

Long Street is a popular location in the heart of the city of Cape Town.  Besides being long (as the name implies) Long Street hosts a variety of venues that are attractive to both locals and visiting tourists.  During the day on weekends, there is a craft market on the corner of Long Street and Longmarket Street, where local people set up stands to sell their crafts, souvenirs, and African-inspired goods.  There are also lots of shops on Long street, which include a few chain stores and many local shops for clothing, music, and souvenirs.  Besides these shops, there are also a variety of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs on Long Street, which make this area a hotspot for nightlife.

Last Saturday, I was able to explore Long Street with my friends.  During the day, Tim, Raji and I went to Long Street and walked around the shops and the craft market.  We took our time casually walking around the stands and stores, and it was difficult to not just go ahead and "buy all of the things!", as I would say emphatically.  If I had unlimited souvenir shopping money and luggage space, I would want to buy souvenirs galore.  But, unfortunately, I had to control myself.  I did buy a couple of items throughout the day, but managed to do a good job getting the vendors to lower their prices. 

Happy to report that most of my purchases were for friends or family and not myself. :) Success!

Self control: 1
Shopping addiction: 0

After we walked around the shops, we went to a cute local cafe called Lola's.  It was adorable and the food was amazing.  To be honest, all of the food we have tried here, whether at restaurants or homes of my local friends,the food in South Africa is AMAZING.  At Lola's, I had a french toasted croissant with bananas.  Mmmmm.  It was delightful.  Raji and I also split a piece of cheese cake.  So much for losing weight in South Africa...

After exploring the shops and having lunch, we went home for a few hours, and then in the evening Raji, Giselle, and I returned to Long Street for a night out on the town.  My goal for the night was simply to drink a South African brewed beer and explore the wide variety of bars and pubs on Long Street.  The night was a success.  In fact, it might have been too much of a success...

 If you can't read the bottle, this is a Bonecrusher Darling Brew, a beer made in South Africa.  This beer is named in honor of the hyena, who is both a bonecrusher and a darling.

Some beer-sponsor-women brought us a round of free beers.  Hooray!  Giselle was obviously okay with this, haha.

Me and Raji enjoying the bar atmosphere.  The drink in my hand is called a "Long Street Iced Tea" and was delicious, but potent.

Overall, the night was a heck of a good time!  Typical shenanigans and fun.  Oh, but there was one unexpected sight to see.  At one of the bars we went to, called Dubliner's, there was a large group of people on the dance floor sporting an unexpected and humorous fashion.

"What were they dressed in?", you might ask.

Santa outfits.

Sexy Santa outfits.

Apparently, Dubliner's was hosting a "Christmas in July" theme night, and we missed the memo.  So, needless to say, Dubliner's was a very fun and humorous hangout for evening.  I got my groove on dancing amongst the Santa-wannabes, and later in the evening a band came on stage, which made the dance-party even more fun.

The End

Okay, so I guess that was false advertising a bit, hey?  I tried to keep this long story short, but seem to have babbled on for far too long.  Hope you can see why I am loving my time in South Africa! :)


With love,
Kaity