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TRAVIS
I never get sick. I don't know why this is the case, but I just never seem to be afflicted by any disease - large or small. Maybe my body is so finely tuned that it rejects diseases before they have a chance to enter my system?or maybe I have a superhuman immune system that beats down any little nasty that invades before the rest of my body notices?
This last paragraph is, of course, a load of crap. The last week here in South Africa for me has included the heady combination of 236 used tissues, the loss of one lung through incessant coughing, going to bed at 7pm each night utterly exhausted, and generally feeling nauseous every time I go to eat something. On top of that, I collapsed and spewed all over myself while taking an AFL coaching session in the middle of Umlazi (that was a little embarrassing). I put it down to being over-tired after the MTV / Evermore / Bliss 'n Eso tour and being horrendously busy leading up to the roll-out of Footy Wild into primary schools on August the 6th. It seems like we haven't stopped over here for months.
So I sit here and await for this bout of sickness to blow over. The bad thing about being sick while your involved in development work is that you know that someone else has it far worse that you. At least I don't have AIDS?or Tuberculosis?or Pneumonia? but it makes it a damned sight harder to feel really sorry for yourself.
All 'Get Well Soon!' cards can be sent via the Oaktree Foundation.
MIRA
Our second encounter with petty crime came right in the middle of our Tour with MTV, Bliss n Eso, Evermore and NOVA 100. Thank goodness it was performed by amateurs this time. On the Saturday of the Tour I decided I had about half an hour spare to duck into the Checkers (shopping centre) in Hillcrest, to print a few things.
I parked the car in the basement undercover car park and returned twenty minutes later. After wandering around for about 10 minutes wondering where on earth I'd parked the car, I spotted a few policemen and some security tape on the other side of the parking lot. Lo and behold, there it was. Our 1996 Mazda Midge was sitting in the middle of the lot, about 200 metres from where I'd first parked it.
All the windows were wound down, the driver's lock and ignition had been forced with a screwdriver and the fuse box had been broken to disarm the immobiliser. Funnily enough they hadn't managed to get gear lock off the gear. All we could deduce from this was that our thieves must have tried to get away with the car stuck in fifth gear. They presumably tried to roll-start the car (only explanation we could muster for the windows being down and no cables hanging down for hotwiring), but couldn't get the car out of fifth gear and thought they'd better abandon it before they got caught. They even ended up walking away empty handed, leaving Dan's new digital camera in the glovebox.
The whole ordeal was just another little nuisance to deal with during the Tour - but we all enjoyed the challenge of roll starting the car ourselves to avoid paying a tow-truck to get to the local mechanics.
SIMON
Wow, I can't believe I've been here for one month! I know it's a cliché, but time really does fly. From the S4S Tour to getting involved with all of our partner organisations, it's been flat out since day one. I was unfortunate enough to spend three-and-a-half weeks of the last month with a cold - I think illustrates just how busy it's been!
On Friday, I spent the afternoon working with the year 10 students at one of our partner schools. This was my first time in our schools and, needless to say, it was an incredible experience.
Just talking with the kids really shows the contrasts between Australia and South Africa. They have a curfew of 5pm everyday, but wouldn't dare stay out late as they may falling victim to Malgaju, the renowned serial killer gang who 'cut off your ears and private parts'. The kids were shocked when I told them I didn't know anyone my age (I'm 24) that had given birth - they all know too many teenage mothers to count. When they asked about Australian traditions I told them we liked barbeques and the beach. I felt a little uncultured when they told me of their many Zulu and Xhosa traditions. There is one tradition called labola, where a groom-to-be's family must pay his fiancés family a labola of 11 cows before he can take her hand in marriage. I can't work out if it's a good or bad thing that my family doesn't own any cows?
BEN
Following the astonishing experiences of the S4S tour with Evermore, Bliss n Eso, MTV and Nova I learned that South Africa is a unique country with unique and enormously challenging problems.
Many of these problems are extremely prevalent amongst the youth of the country, including: HIV, unemployment, crime, gangsterism, and teenage pregnancy. So to finally witness a GoLD session taking place in rural setting of Sidelile High School last Friday after being in South Africa for over a month was fantastic. To see first hand the unique teaching methods of GoLD being employed in a season on health relationships made me appreciate the revolutionary role GoLD is playing in attempting to transform the lives of so many young South Africans. Witnessing 30 year 10 students openly discussing their experiences with HIV, sexual assault and teenage pregnancy made me realise that there is hope within the younger generation of South African, that they have the ability and the willingness to learn and to teach their peers and their community how to create a better life for each other. After the 2 hour long lesson (that was conducted after school had finished on a Friday!!) I was captivated by the motivation and enthusiasm of the kids and sure in my knowledge that these student will create change!
Throughout the remainder of this year I look forward to sharing with you day-to-day experiences that form part of the life of an Oaktree volunteer in KwaZulu Natal South Africa.
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