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Olivia Brian
My word of the month is transition. Over the past few weeks everything has been about transitioning from semester one to semester two; from the first volunteer team to the second volunteer team; from my old housemates to the news ones and so on.
The semester one volunteer team are home safe and sound in Australia after having completed their seven-month volunteer placements with Schools 4 Schools in South Africa. The three fresh semester two volunteers - Julia, Dan and Susan - have arrived and are starting to sink their teeth into the program. They spent their first three weeks participating in the Schools 4 Schools Partnership Exchange Program - taking in the tourist sites of Durban, learning about Zulu culture in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, doing home-stays with our GOLD Peer Educators and learning their way around to the schools and the offices of our partner organizations - GOLD, YFC, Noah and Sethani. They also did hand-over sessions with the out-going volunteers. It proved to be a really fruitful time and the ideal introduction to their time in South Africa and the work their roles entail.
We ran an incredibly successful Partnership Exchange Program and Leadership Forum, and it was an amazing high to finish on with the semester one team - such a tangible outcome of our time here together. As housemates, mates and a team we worked really well together and it was very sad to see them go - the bonds we formed were strong and I still keep expecting to see them walk through the front door!
We are busy getting the new volunteers settled into their schools and partner organizations, planning and delivering our new-look school session program, preparing the five students and one facilitator who will be going to Australia in September for the Partnership Exchange Program, preparing for the launch of the new Online Program and compiling the project ideas that the learners came up with on the Leadership Forum.
I know it will be another exciting and productive semester, and I can't wait to share its outcomes with you!
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