EIL Intercultural Learning

Danielle Rosenberg Polak and Qiqa Mcilong ration out fruit to children at a HIV awareness talk.

I was delighted when I found out that I had successfully secured a position on the Global Awareness Programme with EIL. It was the only travel award that I had applied to and had felt really passionate about all the component of the award. I was excited about going away for eight weeks to South Africa and I knew working in a HIV respite centre and living in a township would open my eyes to various issues and allow me too consider a new culture and way of living.

Some of the Clients during creative activities such as art and painting. Photo by Gill Carter, Global Awareness Volunteer in South Africa 2010

Kayamandi, Cape Town South Africa. Photo by Paul Quinn, Global awareness volunteer 2010 in South Africa

Kayamandi, Cape Town South Africa. Photo by Paul Quinn, Global awareness volunteer 2010 in South Africa

Paul & Gill, Global awareness volunteers 2010 in South Africa. Photo by Paul Quinn

After what was an incredible weekend we came back to the office on Monday for our last week, but there was zero time to get nostalgic about anything. My card teacher’s condition had deteriorated a lot over the weekend and his infection was getting worse, so he was sent to hospital again. But later on, the other client who had been catatonically depressed and hospitalised the week before, walked in with a big smile on his face. The turn around period for some people is quick. A lot of the clients made leaps and bounds in their health during my time at the project.