EIL Intercultural Learning

Once I had got to the volunteer hostel in Cape Town I met lots of other volunteers,and ofcourse the generic volunteer conversation was had, this little almost interview like chat is generally to break the ice and to find out the core details. It goes along the lines of your name, where your from, how long you are here from and then; what project you are working on. Generally, I managed to get by the first 3 parts with no problems, I can say that most of the time, I succesfully managed to tell people my name, nationality and length of stay with absolutely no problems! Then when it got to the part aout my project and area, well, thats where things got difficult. All volunteers get a guilded tour around Kayamandi on their orientation week, its a township located one hour outside Cape Town and it hosts 33,000 people, many of whom are living in tin shacks. I told the fellow volunteers, most of whom had been in Cape Town for many weeks or months that I would be working in The Legacy Centre in Kayamandi. And so, when I announced to the volunteers that I would be working and living there, they were not only shocked but almost aired a sense of concern for me. Now, as you can guess, I was starting to freak out, all the other volunteers had seen Kayamandi and had passed on their comments about the poor conditions and poverty. I was the only volunteer in my group to be working out there too. To add to my situation I had heard  that my host mother is known to sell and eat chicken feet. What had I got myself into!?

Im in Kayamandi over a week now, and I can say that all my fretting was over nothing. I love this place. My host family is so welcoming and friendly, I've made two new best friends with my host sister and host cousin; Lalita and Latita (although admitedly I do get their names mixed up sometimes!) I'm staying in a house which has running water and electricity, however next door isnt as lucky with only a tin shack as a house. Although it's not nice to see such poverty on a day to day basis it is nice to know that I'm seeing the reality of the situation. I dont have to go searching for what life in a poor township is really like because its right next door. Although I had my reservations to begin with, I know that living here in Kayamandi township is the greatest hing I could have done, it's encouraged me to make up my own mind and opinion, sometimes you just have to pay no attention to others.

When I arrived at the Centre there was so much going on, a woman had been bought in who was a past HIV positive client at the centre. She had been found after she had defaulted and had stopped taking her medication. Her shack was in beyond poor conditions with rain water running through the shack because there wasn't a proper floor. However, it wasnt just this one woman living in this small decreped shack, there was 5 children as young as 5 months too. Their clothes were torn and full of holes, they had no shoes and they were covered head to toe in dirt. Once they got to the centre they had to bathed 3 times to try get them clean, their father had gone and left them. Now, the children  are living with members of their family such as aunts and uncles as their mother stays in the centre to go back onto her ARV's and to get some rest.

Our first reaction can sometimes be to blame the mother, accuse her that the children wernt being taken care of. However if we stand back and look at the situation what would each one of us do? What would you do if your partner had left you, you had no money, you lived in a shack, was HIV positive and had 5 children to try provide for even though you had no income, what could anyone do? We must try not to blame or think negatively but understand the situation and sympathise and try encourage. The mother is now in the legacy centre getting some care and some well deserved rest. She is back on her medication and hopefully in time will build up more strength and a better life for her andher children.

So, one week in, Im so glad I'm in Kayamandi.. and theres no sign of chicken feet on the menu yet!

Gill :)