I am going into the 7th week of my internship. I feel like I have seen a lot and learned a lot from what I have observed, but I also feel like I haven't really done much. I only have a month left, so I am hoping that during this last part of my internship I will be able to actually DO a lot more. Tomorrow I am supposed to go with one of my coworkers to a school in Khayelitsha to talk about the 5 cent project. This is the first sign of support I have gotten from the staff. The frustrating part of all of this is that the 5 cent project was my supervisor's idea. She asked me to work on it and up until now I haven't gotten much support in doing so. I am optimistic that things will get better!

The political climate in Khayelitsha is also really intense right now. Last week we actually ended our day early because there was a possibility of a transportation protest. Thankfully it never ended up happening. If it were to happen, the protesters would attack taxis, buses, and even cars. People have already died due to attacks on forms of transportation and this protest was supposed to be the worst yet. It was supposed to impact not only Khayelitsha, but the city of Cape Town as a whole. As I said in a previous post, all these people are asking for are basic living essentials like proper housing and toilets. Unfortunately they are going about it in a violent manner. I haven't been to work in four days, so I am not sure where things stand right now. I will find out tomorrow. If a big protest happens, access to and from Khayelitsha will likely be shut off so I won't be able to work obviously. It also would be unsafe, so our private transportation would not run. If a protest starts while I am already at work, my co workers would take me home.

As scary as these violent protests are, it is so eye-opening to see it and hear about it firsthand. This is just another experience that I have had here that is making me so incredibly thankful for my life back home. I can only hope that the tension will ease up soon and the political climate will improve. Here is a link to a news article to give you a better idea of what is happening:

http://www.thepost.co.za/de-lille-forced-to-leave-khayelitsha-meeting-1.1358904#.UCgLZqDXfSg