Today I asked my coworker, Mrs. Duma, if it would be safe for me to walk around in Khayelitsha alone. I never intended to walk around alone; I was just curious what her response would be. She said if I was to walk around alone in Guguletu or Mfuleni (other townships) I would be safe. She then said that walking around alone in Khayelitsha would not be smart. This is mainly because recently there has been an increase in the amount of protests in the Khayelitsha a...

I am almost half way done with my internship at Empilweni. So far it has not been at all what I was expecting. I was hoping to get a lot of one on one client contact and practice all of the skills I have been learning for the past year in the Family and Human Services program. Due to the language barrier, that has not really been possible. I have however been exposed to more diversity than I could have ever imagined. Working in Khayelitsha and observing the way...

I have been here for almost 5 weeks now. So far this has been a great journey. I have seen and experienced some amazing things and worked with some remarkable people. There are times that I miss home, but I wouldn't call it home sickness. This week however, that has changed a little bit. For those of you who aren't family, my cousin and his fiancé are getting married this coming weekend. I wish more than anything that I could be there with my family! I am...

Today is the beginning of week 4. It is absolutely crazy to think I have been here for almost a month. Today at work, I mainly worked on the fund-raiser I am establishing. What I plan to do is get local schools to partner with Empilweni by helping us with the "5 Cent Project." The 5 cent rand coin is pretty much the same as our penny. It is kind of pointless but a bunch of them can add up into a large amount of money. The 5 Cent Project is basically what we kno...

Yesterday I had a great day at work. It was Nelson Mandela's birthday. In South Africa, it is a HUGE celebration. This is the description giving on the Mandela Day website: The overarching objective of Mandela Day is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so build a global movement for good. Ultimately it seeks to empower communities everywhere. "Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day." To ...