'Cause this is Africa

Becasue this is Africa! That's what everyone says right after they tell you how dangerous something is.





"Hold your bag when you walk down the street and never make eye contact with the mini buses, because this is Africa."





"Take three or four friends with you to the ATM, because this is Africa."





"Never leave your window rolled down while stopped at a red light, because this is Africa."





"Don't take your camera out even if you want a picture, because this is Africa!"


Today was my last day with the kids at Home of Hope. I will miss the little guys, but I can't say that I will miss all the bites, head butts, smacks, falls off the playsets, massive fights, or the dirty nappies!

Beach Walk

I have never walked so much in my life! I just thought Croatia was a lot of walking. Here in Cape Town, you have to walk 30 minutes to get anywhere! Thirty minutes doesn't seem like a lot, but when you add in the walk back and all the sketchy buses and people that you are having to run from, it adds up!



But, I really wanted to see Blawbaurgh beach before I left. So, me and Laina decided the walk was worth it. We set out after work to walk to the beach. We walked through a homeless village, a mini bus parade, and a Chinese shop where all the drug lords hang out. Then, we made it to the beach. Once we got there we were debating if we really wanted to concur the walk back. It was a great beach! Kinda deserted, but great. I have never seen a sport as cool as kite surfing. If I didn't have a fear of water, I would definitely give the sport a go. These people get air born for up to minutes at a time, and they go so so fast. It looks bloody awesome, as all the British folks would say.

Table Mountain is still the most amazing thing to me. In the picture above you can see the 'table cloth' directly above the mountain. This happens almost everyday. Rarely is Table Mountain completely uncovered by clouds. Some days, if you didn't know that Table Mountain existed, you would be completely oblivious to it. The clouds just take it over. Directly beside Table Mountain is Lions' Head.

Just thought I would give a quick post on the beach walk! :)

Hope

The kids that I have had the chance to meet through my experience with Home of Hope are absolutely adorable! Yes, they can be annoying little ankle bitters who wipe snot all over you, but they can also be so so so sweet. I stopped a moment today to think of the kids and the future that they might have. All of these kids have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and most of them are HIV +. So, they are going to have a tough life. Home of Hope is trying to help these kids and give them a better chance in life, but in the long run there's only so much you can do. It's very disappointing to know that these kids, who have no say in the disorders they are put in this life with, are very likely to end up living under the bridges like the street people that we fed a few nights ago. The possibility that these kids will grow up, finish high school, get a job, and be able to take care of themselves is very very slim. It's nice to be able to help these kids grow and develop into the best person they can be, but there's only so much you can do.


I got the chance to volunteer with a girl from New Jersey who is studying Anthropology/Biology back in the States. She is writing a thesis on FASD, so she is very aware of the problems that these kids face. She is studying the differences in the prevalence of FASD in the US and SA. She was telling me that in the US, FASD is controlled through awareness and counseling. The highest prevalence in the US is with the Native Americans because they were moved about so much in the previous years. According to her, they had nothing better to do than to drink and they did not know of the risks. Whereas, here the kids that are suffering from the disorder are mostly orphans, street kids, and kids of the townships. One reason behind this is lack of awareness, and another is lack of care! Some of the children's mothers are mentally retarded themselves and just don't understand, and others no nothing else to do but drink.
The awareness of FASD is still very low here in SA. But, the problem is just beginning to be recognized. So, maybe in the near future awareness can be raised for this disorder and more children can be sparred from the effects of it.

How much of a difference can a few volunteers really make? We were talking about this earlier and came to the conclusion that we will not even think about it. Some days it just seems so tough. We make all of these sandwiches and take them to the street people, but then we just leave and all these people are just left without a warm place to sleep and a decent meal or medical care.

We spend so much time wiping these kids noses and trying our best to help them reach their highest potential, and then we just leave and the kids continue on with their life.

I absolutely love this picture. We worked a while to get all of the kids in one area around me. The final product turned out priceless! :)

Snotty Noses

I never want to wipe another snotty nose in my life! Especially a green, slimy one! It's winter in South Africa, so all the kids are passing around various flues. All six of the kids at the orphanage bring along green snotty noses every morning. So, my entire day was spent wiping nose after nose after nose after nose. Even though the kid in the picture looks so cute, innocent, and clean, in real life he's actually a snotty nosed little bugger! Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, but the snotty noses are turning me off a bit for the moment.


Snotty noses aren't the only thing that I am tired of....fights are another! Breaking up arguments seems like my life's work, second to wiping noses. I do not understand why one toy can be so darn important. These kids will kill each other over one freakin lego, when there's about 500 other identical legos in the toy box. I just don't get it!
OH! and there's one kid that has decided it's so much fun to bite me. Every morning as soon as he gets a break from fighting the other kids, he waits for a moment when am not looking and bites me. Crazy, crazy kid. I have so many bruises on my legs where he has bitten me. He's worse than a dog, when he bites he just won't let go.

The little boy in the photo below has grown on me. At first, I absolutely HATED him. He would not listen to anything I said and he would head butt me as often as possible. He would try to kill the other kids, and he's autistic so he's pretty capable! But, one day I had some one on one time with him (which is rare), and he won me over! Not to say that he's gotten any better...but he's a pretty cool kid. He still head butts me for fun and tries to kill his friends and the dog, but we sort of have an agreement now.

Kids are cute, but I definitely don't think I can handle a career dealing with them.

Peninsula Tour

This Sunday I was able to participate in the Cape Peninsula tour. It was absolutely fabulous! Getting out of Cape Town was so nice, and the tour led us to some much safer, nicer areas! We got to drive up Table Mountain, through many beaches and marinas, to Boulder's Beach penguin colony, and down to the most south western point of Africa. The tour took about 8 hours form start to finish. I have some favorite pictures that I want to share:

Penguins at Boulder's Beach:
Wild ostriches along our drive:

I LOVE the rainbow above the mountain:

Table Mountain and Lion's Head: