Life in the ZA

Hello, all! Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this blog. Hopefully I will be able to keep on top of it enough to make it worthwhile. I left for South Africa 1 week ago today, which seems unfathomable because I have already experienced so much it feels as though I've been gone for at least a month. Left Detroit last Saturday afternoon, connected through Atlanta and Johannesburg before finally arriving in Cape Town late Sunday night SA-time (GMT + 2, EST + 7). There were a few setbacks in Johannesburg when I realized I was not on the same flight as the rest of the group to Cape Town (despite congruent departure / arrival times) and after narrowly dodging solicitation for bribery and a flight delay, I made it to a fantastic hostel where Mischelle (another Madison intern) and I spent our first night in SA.

I can't believe how many people I have met from literally all over the world since being here! Lots and lots of Europeans at the hostel, such as a crazy Dutch freelance journalist, Norwegian and Danish grad students, Irish, British, etc.

The next day we taxi'ed to the Perspectives Apartment Complex where I will be staying for the next 3 months! Met with Melanie, the Connect 123 (internship broker organization) coordinator who gave the MSU group a brief orientation to the city and apartment, then moved all my stuff in. I'm on the 11th floor of the building, and my apartment unit has a sweeping view over the downtown Cape Town skyline. The other side of the building has an even more stunning view of both Table Mountain / Lion's Head Peak (i think that's the name???). Met my roommate, Walt, who is also with the MSU group but is actually 27 yrs old. Apparently he graduated from Madison (PTCD) several years back, worked as a ski instructor at Aspen for a while then various other jobs for the next few years. Now he wants to apply to grad school for Int'l Studies, but the schools told him he needs more international work experience, so he went back to talk with @GrantLittke who told him the available internship options through JMC. Seems like a pretty nice guy. We are getting another roommate this upcoming week from Switzerland (though I think it is a Swiss student orginally from Norway) so that should change things up a bit, too.

South African society is even more fascinating than I had anticipated. It seems to defy easy categorization as either a developed or developing country with enormous social disparities among its populace. Race is very real here, in discourse as well as practice. Terms such as "Black," "Coloured" (Mixed race) and "White" are in turn complicated by the very significant pluralities of Malays, Indians, multiple African ethnic groups, and British/Afrikaaner differentiation. A ten minute walk from my apartment complex to an ultra-modern shopping centre involved passing quite new building developments, but alongside the sidewalk a couple lay visibly dying of AIDS. The geographic legacy of spatial apartheid is also fairly apparent in the city's racial distribution. There is definitely an increased number of Black Africans present in the higher strata of society, but at the same time I have been hard-pressed to witness any Whites that are not well-off (Note: This is at first glance. Perhaps this perception will change.)

The city of Cape Town is visually stunning . Definitely rivals the south of France as most beautiful place I have ever seen. Probably helps that it is summer, but the mountains, flowers, and sunshine are incredible. We have a rooftop pool deck at Perspectives for which I feel very blessed.....IN-CRED-I-BLE! I have tried to make it up there at least most days. There's also a chill coffee shop ("Mugged") on the first floor with free wifi and a street-side, mountain-view veranda. That's where I am now. haha Gives EL's Espresso Royale a run for its money.

I also started my actual internship last Wednesday, but I will write more about that in the next entry as I don't want to make this one overly convoluted. As the South Africans say, "Cheers!"

CTRC Overview

Taken from the CTRC website: (http://www.ctrc.co.za/)

"The Cape Town Refugee Centre is a non-profit, non-government organisation that caters to the interests and needs of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers in the Western Cape. The Cape Town Refugee Forum, as it was originally named, was established in 1994 by an alliance of organisations such as the Red Cross Society of South Africa, the Trauma Centre, Catholic Welfare and Development, Catholic Justice and Peace, the Salesians and others, as well as representatives of refugees and asylum seekers and a number of concerned local individuals.

The Forum was created with the aim of devising ways to address problems facing the growing number of refugees and asylum seekers in the Western Cape. By 2001, the decision was made to operate as a non-profit organisation with a new constitution, a management board, and a new name: The Cape Town Refugee Centre.

It must be emphasized that refugees/asylum seekers are not illegal immigrants, but are people who have legal rights to international protection in terms of the United Nations Refugee Convention, to which South Africa is a signatory. They are people who have been forced to flee from war or persecution in their own countries. Many arrive in South Africa with nothing, as they have to flee leaving all their possessions behind. CTRC plays an essential role in the transition into their host communities.

Our mission is to engage refugees and asylum seekers in improving the quality of their lives through capacity building, education, psychological and emotional support, networking, lobbying, advocacy and integration into their host communities. In partnership with other local, national, and international organizations and individuals, CTRC continues working to create a safe, welcoming, and supportive community in the Western Cape in which refugees and asylum seekers can thrive.

Although there are other organisations in the Western Cape which assist refugees and asylum seekers, the Centre is the only one that has a comprehensive approach to service provision. The Cape Town Refugee Centre enjoys local, national, and international recognition and is held in high regard by peer organisations, as we believe in working together with other partners in order to effectively and efficiently address the needs of our clientele.

CTRC is a member of the Tutumike Network (Let Us Work Together), a Western Cape network of nongovernmental organisations promoting the rights of refugees, and is an affiliate of the National Consortium on Refugee Affairs. CTRC is an implementing partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR, the organisation’s main source of financial support."

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